Hellooooo everyone!

I'm sorry for such a long wait on this chapter-but i had my reasons! I had two chapters already done for this story, when my disk decided to break. SoI had to completely rewrite this chapter around hockey, homework, and all that other fun stuff going on. I'm also trying to fix some of the errors in the last chapter, brought up by PRTFCSI and Mindy...but since i'm posting this chapter at midnight, i'm going to wait until tomorrow to fix the previous chapter errors. Anyway, thanks to all of you that reviewed! Thats the most i've ever gotten on one chapter hehe

DISCLAIMER: I...dont...own...csi. Capisce? Now, on with the story...

Crawling in the Dark

Chapter Two

Mac Taylor toyed with the antenna on his cell phone, trying to will it to ring. He had been waiting for a call from Stella for at least an hour, but so far, the phone had been silent.

The CSI office was no help, either. With most of the CSI's out on cases, and lab techies working dilligently on processing evidence, it too was silent, save for the muffled music coming from Chad's headphones. Even from across the hall, Mac could make out the beat of the music. Normally, he would chastise the lab tech for the noise, but for now he was greatful for the distraction. The whole situation with Danny was making his head spin.

In his entire career as a CSI, Mac had never met a man like Danny Messer. A brilliant CSI, probably one of the best Mac had known, but a totally uncontrolable loose cannon. For one thing, he depended on his instincts, on his heart to make crucial descisions, instead of his head. Sometimes it had worked out...but other times, like Minhas, it had sent everything spiraling out of control. He honestly didn't know what to do with him. Taking him off of the promotion grid was a temporary solution...it wouldn't last forever. Mac was at a loss at what to do next...

The cell phone in his hand began to ring, and he was happy to see that the caller ID read 'Stella'. He answered it and put the phone to his ear.

"Taylor."

"Hey Mac," the familiar voice said over the phone. "Sorry, I know i said I would call earlier, but we had a little problem at the scene."

Mac raised an eyebrow on his end of the phone. He knew that this was Danny's first case back since Minhas- was it possible that something had happened already?

"What happened, Stel?"

Stella must have noticed the terse tone of his voice, because she chuckled slightly on the other end.

"Nothing terrible, Mac. Nothing like Minhas. That's what you were thinking of, wasn't it?"

"No," he lied, bemused at how well she did know him. "So are you going to tell me what happened or do you want me to call Flack?"

"Alright, alright," Stella said. "We found the vics on the floor, one of them looking like they were trying to get to a room in the back of the apartment. Danny and Flack checked it out. The room was empty...but the vic's 5 year old was hiding in the closet."

"Any injuries?" Mac asked, concerned.

"No, just a cut on the forehead, nothing worse. He was shaken up pretty badly, though. Danny's the one that found him-he's at the hospital with him right now."

Mac leaned back in his chair. "How long have they been there?"

"About an hour, hour and a half. I was about to call him, unless you wanted to."

"No, no. Leave him alone," Mac said. "If he's there with the vic, let him process him and do what he needs to do. There isn't a reason to disturb him until he's done. He knows to call in if he finds anything."

If he doesn't go off on his own again...

"Alright," Stella said. "I'm about five minutes from the lab, so i'll see you then. Bye."

"'Bye." Mac snapped his cell phone shut, and placed it inside his jacket pocket, then caught sight of Aiden walking by the office.

"Aiden!" he called to get her attention. "Stella's got a case coming in in about five minutes. Head down to the lab, see if you can get a head start."

"Sure thing, Mac," she said, turing back towards the lab. Mac thought of something else, and called her back again.

"Aiden?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell Chad to turn down the music, okay?" Mac watched as Aiden headed towards the lab, being sure to smack the lab tech on the back of the head as she passed him.

Danny peered through the glass of the hospital room, placing his hand on the window to signal the small boy on the other side that he hadn't moved. Inside the room, Trevor was wrapped tightly in his hospital blanket, his eyes glued to Danny as if it would kill him to look away.

They had brought him in sedated, still holding onto Danny's hand, only an hour before. He had been checked out, and, finding no worse injuries than the cut on his forehead, stitched up while he was still asleep. Because he was part of a homicide investigation, the hospital had given him his own room, but really could not do much more then send in a psych doctor to talk to him when he awoke. That was who was with him now, inside the hospital room on the other side of the glass. Danny expected Trevor to be afraid of her, too, as he had been of Flack and Stella when he first found him, but the woman seemed to bring a sense of calm to the little boy. She had been able to send Danny out of the room to talk to Trevor in private, even though Danny promised to stay where he could see him. The child's eyes hadn't moved from Danny's the entire time, even as spoke to the doctor.

For now, Danny was grateful to have the boy under someone else's care. It gave him a chance to piece together his jumbled thoughts; about the crime scene, about Trevor, and about past events that were continuing to prey on the back of his mind.

He had been shaking. Shaking, because he thought someone might jump out of the closet again. Four year olds were afraid of the monsters in their closets, not full grown CSIs. Not Danny Messer.

And then there was Trevor...

The boy was barely five years old...and he was an orphan. He had seen his parents murdered, and hid in a dark closet to save his own life. Danny couldn't blame him for being afraid of his own shadow after an ordeal like that...but the way Trevor had attached himself to Danny had blown his mind. Why me? Danny wondered. Why now? Why did i have to be the one to open that closet? He was relieved that the little boy had survived; it always tore at his heart to see a young child the victim of such terrible crimes; but why couldn't Flack have opened that door? Or Stella? Why couldn't have Trevor attached to them?

In the ambulance, in the apartment, it had all been happening so fast, Danny hadn't known what was going on. But not that he had a chance to really sit, and think about what had happened...

I've got too many problems of my own right now, Danny thought, turning away from Trevor's gaze through the window. I can't do this...

"Mr. Messer?"

Danny shook himself out of his reverie, and looked to the doctor now standing at his shoulder. He recognized her as the same one that had been talking to Trevor earlier; the tag on her medical coat reading Dr. Andrea Michaels; and stuck out his hand for her to shake.

"Detective Messer," he corrected, shaking the woman's hand, then gesturing at the hospital room she had just come from. "How is he?"

The doctor followed Danny's gesture, then sighed.

"It's hard to tell, this early," Dr. Michaels said, gesturing to a set of chairs outside of Trevor's hospital room. "Please, have a seat." Danny hesitated, glancing back at the boy through the hospital glass. The doctor seemed to read his mind, and nodded at him assuredly.

"Don't worry. He'll still be able to see you."

Danny followed Dr. Michaels to the chairs and dropped into one, giving her his full attention. Dr. Michaels glanced again at Trevor's room, then turned to Danny, a serious expression on her face.

"Mr.-Detective-Messer, I don't have to tell you of the horrors this little boy has lived through. His parents were murdered, he was hiding for his life in a closet, covered in their blood. No one should have to expirience that, no matter what the age, but Trevor did. He's the only one that survived, and now...he's going to have a long road ahead of him before he recovers."

"How long does it usually take for someone to recover from something like that?"

Dr. Michaels shrugged apologetically. "I really couldn't tell you, Detective. It all depends on the patient, and their will to recover. Right now, Trevor has what we call "survivor's guilt". On a fundemental level, he blames himself for not being able to help his parents, and being the only one left alive."

Danny was bewildered. "Survivor's guilt?" he blurted. "He's only five years old! How can he--"

"Thats just it, Detective," Dr. Michaels interupted gently. "There was no way Trevor could have helped his parents, both you and I know that. But he doesn't. He doesn't know why he's alive, and why his parents aren't."

Danny let out a breath, and took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes with his other hand. "Poor little guy..."

"That's not the half of it," the doctor said, shaking her head sadly. "His parents were the only relatives he had for 3,000 miles. He has grandfather on his mother's side in San Fransisco-we've already called him-he says there's no way he can jump on a plane to be down here on such short notice."

"Short notice?" Danny said in disbelief. "His daughter and son-in-law were murdered, and his grandson's homeless and orphaned-that's not motivation enough to get off his ass and get a plane to New York?" Danny found his voice rising, and Dr. Michaels placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Detective, you need to calm down. It's not good for the patients, especially Trevor-it upsets them."

Danny cast a glance down the hallway, where he could see several patients looking up from their hospital beds to find the source of the disturbance. He gave them a weak wave in response.

"Sorry," he muttered. Gotta work on those impulses, Messer, he thought to himself. "So...what's going to happen to him now? Ya know, if his grandfather's not coming?"

"Well," Dr. Michaels said, "we're expecting his grandfather to come sometime in the month-" Danny bit his tongue against the reply he had to that fact- "-but he can't stay here during that time. Social services will have to place him in a home, or an orphanage, until someone comes to take him."

"Wait-what do you mean 'he can't stay here'?" Danny asked. Dr. Michaels shook her head.

"Technically, there's nothing wrong with him. The stitches will need to be removed later, but other than that, he's perfectally fine, physically. He doesn't need to be here."

Danny's jaw dropped. " He doesn't need to be here!" he said, a bit of anger rising in his voice again. Dr. Michaels gave him a 'calm down' look, but he ignored her and jumped to his feet. "His parents were murdered. He saw them get shot, he watched them die. And you say he doesn't need to be here? That he would be better off in some orphanage?" Danny's fists clenched at his sides, but the doctor didn't seem to be phased or intimidated by his outburst. She placed a calming hand on his shoulder, and despite his instinct to jerk his arm away, Danny didn't move. Instead he blinked, surprised to find himself nearly shaking with anger. While the doctor didn't seem to be phased by his outburst, he definately was.

What the hell was that about, Messer? he thought to himself, unclenching his fists and staring at his hands. Thats the kind of stuff that gets you fired...you're already on the fence with Mac. Stop pushing it.

"Sorry," he muttered to Dr. Michaels, unwilling to meet her eyes. You've just met this kid, Danny thought. You've met a million kids like him. Shit happens, it sucks, but they get through it. He's not the only kid whose ever lost someone. What makes him so special?

Danny couldn't answer that question.

"Detective, please sit back down," Dr. Michaels insisted. "There's more we need to talk about."

Danny shook his head. "No, I really-I have to get back to the lab." He couldn't risk blowing up like that again-he needed to get out of there, and calm himself down before he tried to do anything else. Maybe i should have waited to come back...

"I'll send someone back to process him, i can't--" Danny started to turn away, but the doctor grabbed his arm.

"Detective, I agree with you."

Danny stopped, but didn't turn back right away. Instead, he stared at his shoes, not wanting to face the woman again.

"What?"

The doctor manuevered him back into the hospital chair, then took a moment to look back on Trevor. The boy's eyelids were drooping, and Danny could tell that he wanted nothing more than to sleep. But everytime it seemed that sleep was going to over take him, he suddenly jerked awake, and even though he hadnt said a word, Danny knew why. He had been doing the same thing, every night, since Minhas. It was the only way to keep the nightmares at bay.

"Detective, It will take some time for Trevor to recover, but there are ways to make the process...more comfortable, and easy for him. Being in a house full of strangers is not one of those things. He needs someone he's comfortable with, someone he trusts implicitly."

Danny looked away from Trevor, and at the doctor.

"How can he trust anyone, after what happened?" Danny said, more to himself than to Dr. Michaels.

"It will be hard for him, to trust anyone, for a while. For some it may be easier, but sometimes, when a tragic event occurs in a child's life, they latch on to someone. Someone that, in their eyes, can make it all better. Make the pain go away. That person becomes their anchor, and keeps them from floundering." At this point she paused, staring at him for a moment.

Danny shifted uncomfortably at the look the doctor was giving him, but nodded. "Yeah, I heard about that..."

"Detective...I'm not going to beat around the bush. That little boy in that room needs a hero, someone to save him, and help him get through these difficult times. You, are his hero Detective Messer, and it is my professional opinion that Trevor would be able to recover much more quickly and easily...if he were to stay with you."

"W-what?" Danny sputtered, leaping to his feet again. "Wait a minute. I'm a cop, I can't take care of a kid! I...I.." Danny took a breath, then shook his head. "I'm sorry doctor. I mean I...i've got alot of things going on right now, I can't do this. I'll do what I can, come visit him here on my time off, I mean, he's still part of the case, I can be the one to interview him, but...isn't there a family friend? Somewhere he could go that's...not with me?"

Doctor Michaels sighed, and shook her head slightly. "We haven't found anyone yet. It depends what we can get out of him that he knows about his parent's friends. Chances are that won't be much.

"Detective, I can't force you to do this. No one can. But as you said, Trevor's still a part of the case. He's seen the killer, he knows what happened. It will be hard, but the first step to recovery is facing what you are afraid of. If he could go with you, know that you'll be there to protect him-"

"Doctor...I..." Danny took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. This was all becoming way to much for one day.

"I...I can't..." Danny shook his head, putting his glasses back on and turning away quickly. "I really have to get back to the lab...tell him I'm sorry..."

He started to walk down the hallway, hoping to make a quick exit. He needed to get out of there, to go home and think...but a small voice coming from one of the hospital rooms stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Danny, where are you going?"

Danny turned back to see Trevor, standing in a hospital gown, pulling an IV behind him as he followed him down the hall. His brown eyes seemed to be able to bore inside him, and he quickly turned back around so he wouldn't have to see them.

"I...I gotta go home, Trevor. I have to go back to work...I'll see you later, okay?" Danny started to walk away again, but Trevor's voice stopped him again.

"But...wait!" The squeaking wheels of the IV and the slapping of Trevor's tiny feet on the linoleum hospital floor made Danny turn around to see the five year old racing after him, much to the dismay of Dr. Michaels, who was following closely behind.

"Danny, don't leave!" Trevor reached Danny and grasped him in a hug, burying his face into his jacket yet again. "Please stay, Danny, I don't want you to go!"

Before he could stop himself, Danny was returning the hug, and was surprised to find his vision was blurry, tears obscuring his eyes. He didn't want to leave Trevor alone, he didn't want to leave him with a house full of strangers. But there was nothing he could do...Mac would fire him in a New York minute...he couldn't let himself get personally involved...a little late for that, Messer...

"I'm sorry Trevor, I'm sorry..." He quickly dragged a hand across eyes to hide his would be tears. First shaking, now crying? What the hell's the matter with you?

Dr. Michaels caught up with the boy, and carefully pried his hands off of Danny's jacket. "Trevor, why don't we get you back to your room? We can get you something for lunch--"

Trevor tried to shake off the doctor's arm. "No, I want to stay with Danny!" He was crying now, trying to get back to Danny and simotaneously pull his IV with him, but Dr. Michaels held up tightly in her grasp.

"Trevor, the detective has to go. You need to go back to your room--"

"No no no..." Trevor cried, reaching for Danny. "Please don't go, please don't go..." The doctor began leading Trevor back to his room, but his cries rang loudly in Danny's ears, tearing at his heart until he couldn't take it any longer.

"Wait."

Dr. Michaels stopped, and looked back at Danny, loosening her grip on the small boy. Seizing the oppurtunity, Trevor dashed away and grabbed Danny tightly around the waist.

What are you doing? Get out of there! You can't do this Messer, you know you can't...

"I...I..." Danny looked down at the small boy, his arms wrapped tightly around him. Around his hero.

"I'm not a hero," he said weakly. "I'm really not. I was just the first one there..."

Dr. Michaels smiled slightly. "Sometimes thats all the hero is, Detective. The guy that's there."

If you do this Messer, you're going to get fired. Mac's going to kill you. The detective inside of him knew what he should do. He shouldn't have ever gotten involved.

But the minute he stepped into that closet, he changed everything.

I became a cop so he could help people. I have to help him.

I'm going to help him.

Danny took a breath.

"I'll do it."

Thanks for reading! lets see if we can match the review number of 14 on the 1st chapter :)

-breakthehabit