Here's yet another chapter. Again I apologize that there so short. I'm trying as best I can to get this finished. I'm in the home stretch and it's making me anxious. Again thanks for the reviews. Enjoy!

I own nothing dealing with CSI NY or Walker, Texas Ranger.

Chapter Twenty-One

What came over him after that he had no clue. One thing and one thing only mattered; getting to Arianna and making sure she was still alive. Giving her a chance to get away from Mandala and his urge to relive the Psycho movie. Using his enter body he shoved a shoulder into the man who held him hostage; lashing out with his foot at the same time like Arianna had taught him. Catching him at the knee cap he ignored the screams of pain. Seeing another of Mandala's thugs running at him out of the corner of his eye Danny kicked the gun away that his capture had been aiming at his head just as it went off. Watching with mild satisfaction as the man who'd been ready to take him down slumped to the ground; eyes wide when his hand touched his chest only to come away covered in blood.

Wasting no time he ran like the devil was on his ass; not an easy thing to do when your hands were tied behind your back. Running in a straight line would be the fastest way to get to her but would result in a body full of bullets. By now Mandala and his men had realized what was happening and were wading into the fray. Zig-zagging as best he could; using the many over turned chairs and tables as cover along the way he finally made it where his fiancée still lay.

Face white from loss of blood she wasn't moving; he couldn't see the rise and fall of her chest. Trying not to panic; wishing his hands weren't useless at the moment; Danny leaned down putting his ear to her mouth to see if he could hear breathing. It was shallow but he heard it none the less and it gave him a small sense of hope. There was no way he could believe that after everything they'd been through; after all the twists and turns because of this that it would all end so quickly.

As if suddenly realizing after all this time that the young New Yorker was standing over the rangers prone body Mandala came to life. Before he was able to move; to do anything to defend his self the drug lord had collided with him. Planting his feet into the carpet he tried to stop them from ramming into the wall; knowing full well how much it was going to hurt. In the end the effort was for nothing and he felt the air rush out of his lungs as his back connected with the very solid and unmovable stone wall.

Locking his knees to keep from crumpling from the pain Danny saw the gleam of insanity in Mandala's eyes as he raised his knife; ready to do to him what he'd done to Arianna. Using what little strength was left he kicked out; landing his foot square on the drug lords jaw; buying his self some time.

Looking around for anything he could use as a weapon or a sharp object to cut his binds; not an easy task considering he no longer had his glasses; the young man spotted some broken glass on a table not to far from where he stood. Inching towards it little by little he kept an eye on his opponent who was slowly making his way to his knees.

Just a little closer......Gotcha! Danny triumphed in his head.

Snatching it up he made as quick of work as possible of the plastic bindings. Winching in pain as the glass cut up his fingers and wrists he ignored it; focused on being fast instead of accurate. Finally after what seemed an eternity he felt them break. Letting the binding drop to the floor he was just in time to avoid being slammed into the wall again. Sidestepping Mandala he tried not to laugh as the man ran head first into the wall. To full of rage to use the training Arianna said he possessed.

Trapped in a land of fog she felt every aching muscle; every bruise on her body. Bringing her hands up to her face she saw the blood on them and felt her head get light again. In the back ground she could hear body's connecting with one another; could hear the grunts and groans of hand to hand combat. And even though she wasn't facing that direction. Even though she knew she was only semi-conscious right now could see Danny fighting Mandala. Could see him losing horribly.

Crying out as the Colombian man broke his wrist Arianna felt helpless. This wasn't the way things were suppose to be going. The CSI wasn't even suppose to be here. He was suppose to be with Don and the rest of the team some place safe while she took care of Mandala. Not fighting the man who had been after her all this time.

"Littlewolf it's not your time." A voice whispered behind her.

Whipping around she came face to face with her mother. Black hair flowing behind her she was dressed in the turquoise burial robe they adorned her for her funeral. Tears welled up in her eyes; all injuries forgotten. Reaching out she tried to grip her hand and got nothing but air.

"Then why am I here?" It was hard to speak past the lump in her throat.

"That I do not know." Thunderwolf confessed. "What I can tell you this your destine to be with Danny. To save him and everyone else from the evil man who's taken pleasure in ruining your life."

"Then send me back." Arianna told her.

Bowing her head her next words were sad as she spoke. "I can't do that. Only you can."

"But you're the ones who called me here." Arianna argued. "Only the ancestors can call a person here when they believe it's there time to go."

"You've always had a strong connection to the ancestors and our world beyond the living." Thunderwolf reminded.

"So you mean I sent myself here on purpose?" Arianna was confused.

Stepping forward to stand next to her the older woman waved a hand in the air. The fog cleared and a picture appeared. It was more like a slide show though; moments in time when she'd had to deal with Mandala and the results of what he'd done. Starting the case, watching as member after member of her team was brought to the morgue for getting too close. Again tears filled her eyes as Gage appeared; standing next to her as the men they'd just taken care of were rounded up.

Bile rose in her throat as the image of him lying lifeless in the barn was followed by his funeral; the sound of the guns echoing in the hollowness. Next came her first meeting with Danny; then the many times she had to fight for her life since coming to New York. Finally the present was before them and she had to watch helpless once again as Mandala aimed another punch at his already bleeding face.

"Your fear of the unknown. Of having to face Mandala all over again and the prospect of losing another man you loved made you believe that dying would be better then living in a world of fear. Living in a world without Danny because you were sure that he was going to die." Thunderwolf explained.

"But I sent him away so that he wouldn't die" Arianna argued. "I never wanted that for him. Never wanted my past to ruin his future."

"But is that still what you want?" Thunderwolf wondered. "I know that you plan on pushing Danny away when this is all over with. Plan on telling him that he's better off here in New York; as far away from you as possible."

"That doesn't mean I want him to die." Arianna fumed.

"Are you ready to put all your fears one hundred percent aside? To do what needs to be done to end this?" Thunderwolf asked.

"Yes; I always have." Arianna answered.

"In your head yes; but not your heart. And it's going to take believing it on both to get you out of here and back to that ballroom where your desperately needed." Thunderwolf explained.

Wiping her eyes; trying to get rid of both the tears and strain on them from lack of sleep she watched as Danny made yet another attempt to get away and she knew. Knew that even if she was going to tell him that they couldn't be together after all this she didn't want him to die. In her head she'd known all along that that was the plan. But her heart hadn't been able to get past the fear of losing him because of who she was and what her job meant. Not because of one single man but every man out there like him that wanted her dead.

"I'm ready to go back." Arianna told her mother. "I need to go back and finish this like I planned to all along."

Smiling she nodded her head; waving a hand in the air once again. Suddenly without so much as a word she was gone; leaving the young ranger alone in the mist.

Gradually the sounds started to get louder; the pain in her body more intense until she was brought to her knees. But instead of fear she felt a renewed vow that no matter how much she hurt; no matter how much blood she'd lost or how close to death she was it was time to end it.