First thing-i'd like to apologize to everyone who has been waiting for this story to be updated--i wasn't in my writing mood and hadn't got the chance to fix up this chapter and update...but it is finally here, and i thank you all for waiting so patiently.

Second thing-all normal disclaimers apply.

Third thing-go read the story.

Crawling in the Dark

Chapter Four

"Alright...I guess we'll see him in a few minutes. Thanks, Flack."

Stella closed her cell phone and slipped it back into her lab coat pocket, but didn't head towards Mac Taylor's office right away. Something about Flack's call bothered her...he had sounded tense, and for as long as Stella had known him, the detective was nearly always levelheaded...unless there was something wrong. And there was the way he had hesitated, when she'd asked about Danny... Stella shook her head. It was probably nothing, she thought; maybe he was just having a bad day.

Still, she couldn't keep the nagging feeling out of the back of her mind as she walked back to Mac Taylor's office. She found him sitting at his desk, flipping through a folder that Stella recognized as the one that held the photographs from the Roberts' apartment. She knocked on the doorframe to catch his attention.

"Just got a call from Flack," she told Mac. "Danny's on his way with the boy from the crime scene."

Mac raised an eyebrow. "With the boy? I thought he said he was processing him in the hospital."

Stella shrugged. "I guess he didn't get it all finished." She inspected Mac's face closely, trying to read into what he was thinking. She knew that the whole Minhas ordeal had had as much as an affect on Mac as it had had on Danny. It wasn't hard for Stella to see that Mac had become a mentor of sorts to the younger man, and having to have him pulled from the promotion grid had stung Mac more than he let on.

If Mac was bothered, though, he wasn't showing it. His face was an impassive mask as he joined Stella at the door, handing her a picture from the folder he had been holding.

"Take a look at these footprints," he said, pointing at the picture. Stella looked down at the photo in Mac's hands. It was the photo Danny had taken of the apartment door, with boot prints stamped firmly across the wood. Looking closely, Stella could make out the ridges of the prints, and she raised an eyebrow.

"They're different," Stella said. Mac nodded, pointing the v-shaped ridges on one of the prints. "This one's got more of a V-shaped ridge, while this one-" he moved his finger to the other print, "-has straighter ridges." Stella looked carefully at the photos, tracing the treads of the boots with her finger. There were definately two distinct patterns on the door.

"There were at least two of them," she said, running a keen eye over the photo. "Aiden's running prints from the door handle right now, but if the door was kicked in like it looks, the killers might not have needed to use it."

A beeping from Mac's cell phone interrupted their conversation, and he reached to his waist to read the screen.

"Hawkes," he said. "He's done with the autopsies."

Stella nudged her head in the direction of the morgue. "Shall we?"

Mac stepped aside to let her through, waving a hand.

"Lead the way."

They found the mortician ethusiastically cutting into what Stella recognized as a human brain. If it had been anyone else, Stella would have been worried about the happy grin on the mortician's face, but she had known Sheldon Hawkes long enough now to know that he was never completely happy unless he was delved into his work.

He looked up though when they came in, and put down his scalpel. "You guys here for the Roberts?"

Stella nodded. "Show us what you got."

"Well, there aren't many surprising twists with these two," Hawkes said, leading the two of them over to the autopsy tables." Pretty much what you see is what you see."

"Josh Roberts," he said, pulling back the sheet on one of the bodies. "Died of a single gunshot wound to the belly, bled out. The bullet was lodged in his spinal cord-would have paralyzed him from the waist down until he passed out from blood loss." Hawkes pulled out an evidence container containing a single bullet and handed it to Mac

"That explains the crawling," Mac said aloud, holding up the bullet. "He was trying to reach his son, hiding in the other room, but he couldn't get up."

Hawkes let go of the sheet to point to several light colored bruises around the victim's eyes. "There's some bruising on the eyes and cheekbones, they seem to be a few days old-the nose seems to have been broken, too, pretty recently. I'd guess your vic got into it with someone about a week before he died."

"Could be motive," Stella said. "Someone wanted to teach him a lesson, came back to finish the job."

"I also found splinters in his hands," Hawkes added, holding up the victim's hand to showcase the tiny slivers of wood stuck in the man's flesh. "I've already pulled a few of those out for you, too." He handed these to Stella, who held them up to the light.

"If he was crawling, these splinters are probably from the wooden floor of the apartment," Stella said. He gestured to the other autopsy table with his free hand. "What about her?"

Hawkes turned to the other autopsy table where Dana Roberts lay.

"Single bullet through the chest, there's an exit wound between the shoulder blades. Shot pierced her heart, killing her instantly." He held up Dana's hands in his own, showing them palms up to Mac and Stella. "No defense wounds that I could see."

"She didn't have time to make them," Stella said, shaking her head. "They caught her off guard."

Hawkes nodded, and pulled the sheet back over Dana Roberts's face.

"Thanks, Sheldon," Mac said.

"No problem," he said, retrieving his scalpel from the table. "Now if you don't mind...I've got to pick this guy's brain." He flashed both of them a smile, and then gave his full attention to the brain on his table.

Stella shook her head as she and Mac began the walk back to the lab. "You ever get the feeling that he likes his job a little too much?"

Mac grinned slightly. "Sometimes." He rolled the bullet in the plastic container Sheldon had given him. "The bullet's in pretty good condition. I'll see if i can't match it to the one we pulled out of the wall of the apartment, find a weapon in CODIS."

Stella held up the tiny slivers that Hawkes had pulled from Josh Roberts's hand. "Well, these splinters back up the autopsy, they prove that Josh Roberts was crawling on the floor of his apartment. Aiden could use some help processing all the evidence from the crime scene-at least until Danny gets here, so i'll be there if you need me."

Stella saw a shadow pass over Mac's eyes at the mention of Danny's name. "Yeah," he muttered, his face troubled. "Stella, about Danny..."

"What about him?"

Mac opened his mouth to speak, then hesistated. Closing his mouth, he shook his head. "Never mind."

But Stella wasn't fooled-she had worked with Mac Taylor long enough to know when something was bothering him.

"'Never mind'? Mac, come on. Something's on your mind."

Mac smiled wryly. "I can't hide anything from you, can I?"

Stella shook her head. "Nope. Now what is it?"

Mac was silent for moment, and shrugged his shoulders. "It's Danny," he admitted. "I...I don't..." Mac rubbed a hand over his forehead. "I don't know what to do with him, Stella. The past few cases he's been reckless, impulsive. I mean, the living statue case, and now Minhas..."

The two of them came to a stop at the entrance to ballistics, and Mac turned to face Stella.

"Taking him off the promotion grid, that's only temporary. Long term…I don't know." Mac sighed deeply, making it easy for Stella to see the tired lines tracing his face. He's really losing sleep over this, Stella thought. Her concern for him jumped up a notch, and she placed on hand on Mac's arm.

"Danny's had a rough time, Mac. We've got to let him get through it, it'll be alright."

Mac gave her a disbelieving look, one that in any other circumstances might have made her laugh, if not for what was behind it.

"Mac, it's only his first day back." Stella moved her hand from his arm to his cheek. "Let it work, alright?"

Mac smiled slightly, but his face was still troubled. "Yeah, you're right." He held up the bullet in its plastic container, and nodded towards the lab. "I'll run this through the database. Call me if you find anything." With that, Mac disappeared inside ballistics double doors.

Stella watched him through the glass for a moment, shaking her head. Mac was a great CSI, the greatest she'd ever worked with, but he was a terrible actor. She knew that he was no more less stressed out about Danny's situation than he had been before, although she would have liked to have thought otherwise, and he would never admit it. Then again, Mac had never been one to openly express how he was feeling-if Stella had learned anything through the past 15 years working with him, it was that he seldom told anyone if something was bothering him.

Glancing down the hallway, Stella could see Aiden bending over one of the lab tables, inspecting a piece of evidence carefully. A mountain more of it was sitting on the table next to her-with Danny coming in late, she was shorthanded on processing. Taking a final glance into ballistics, Stella headed towards the lab.

Danny glanced worriedly at the small boy in his passenger seat, at the same time trying to keep an eye on the road ahead of him. Trevor hadn't said a word since they had left Flack, but instead had stared aimlessly out the window of the car. His eyes, red and bloodshot, never seem to focus on anything, but simply skim over everything he saw.

Once again, Danny cursed himself for leaving the bag where Trevor could have found it. How could he have been that stupid?

Danny pulled his car into a parking spot in front of the New York City Crime Lab, and turned off the engine. Tentatively, he touched Trevor's shoulder. The boy flinched, and shrank away from Danny's hand. Danny pulled his hand back, unsure of what to do.

"Trevor, I'm sorry," he said, somewhat lamely. How do you apologize to a kid? he wondered. "I shouldn't have hid that from you, I..."

Trevor continued to star blankly out of the window; Danny couldn't even tell if he had heard a word he had said. He put out a hand again to touch the boy's shoulder, and held it there even when Trevor tried to flinch away.

"Hey...hey, Trevor, listen to me."

Trevor didn't speak, but turned his head away from the window, and glanced down at his stocking feet.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your mom and dad. No one...no one should have to go through that, alright?" Motionless, Trevor sniffled, and two drops fell from his eyes onto his lap, making dark circles on the legs of his hospital scrubs.

"And they guys that did it? They deserve to be punished." Danny put his hand under the boy's chin and lifted his head up. "They're going to be punished. Alright?"

Trevor rubbed a hand over his eyes and sniffed.

"You promise?" he asked softly.

"I promise," Danny said firmly. How many times had he said those words, to countless victim's families? Most of the time, he was always able to keep his promise...but there were those times when he couldn't, when the evidence wasn't enough, when the bad guys got away.

This time, though, it was different. He was not going to let Trevor fall through the cracks-he was going to keep this promise even if it killed him.

Trevor rubbed his eyes one last time, and took a shaky breath.

"Okay," he murmured softly. He looked up at Danny. "Now what do we do?"

"Now?" Danny echoed, giving the boy a small smile. "Now we find the bad guys."

Aiden stood back from the lab table, her eyes scanning over the items she had spread across it. Two sets of bloody clothing, prints from the door handle and boot prints from the wood of the Roberts' apartment door, a broken chain lock, and several of the Roberts' personal effects.

So much evidence, so little time, she thought. As far as she knew, Mac and Stella were still down in the morgue getting Hawkes's report, and she couldn't even begin to fathom where Danny was. The last time she had talked to him, he was on his way to the crime scene...and that had been hours ago.

Where the hell are you, Messer?

Sighing, she pulled on her gloves. The evidence wasn't going to process itself, and she didn't have all day to wait for him.

Josh Roberts's shirt was first on the list. The bottom half of it was soaked in blood-that made sense, seeing as how he had bled out all over his apartment floor. Aiden focused her attention on several brown stains around the shirt's collar. It looked like dried blood, but just to be sure, she collected some on the end of a Q-tip, and dripped a few droplets of a tell-tale liquid. Just as she had expected, the end glowed pink.

"Looks like blood," a familiar voice said from behind her. She turned, half expecting to see Danny, but instead all she saw was the slender lab techie Chad standing behind her.

"Oh, its you," she said, disappointed. Chad put a hand to his heart, pretending to be hurt.

"Oh, buuurned by Burn," he said in a mocking mournful tone. "That and the bruise on the back of my head, I'd say I'm having a pretty good day." His eyes quickly found the mass of evidence on the lab table, and his eyes lit up.

"Need some help?" he asked

Aiden rolled her eyes, and held up the Q-tip with the positive for blood. "Found dried blood on the vic's collar, seems to have been there a lot longer than the blood from gunshot. Could you run it through DNA for me, make sure it's the vic's?"

Chad mock-saluted her, and taking the Q-tip from her hand. "Aye aye, captain," he said. "Back in a bit."

Chad made his exit, holding the lab door open for Stella as she entered.

"Hey, Aiden," she said, pulling on a pair of CSI gloves as the door shut behind her. "Find anything?"

Aiden shook her head, peering over the rest of Josh Roberts's shirt, and onto his jeans. "Nothing out of the ordinary...well, besides the blood, I mean. But trust me, we got a lot more to go." She waved her hand at the pile of evidence still waiting to be processed. "I don't know where the hell Danny is, but he'd better get in here pretty fast or I'm gonna shoot him."

Stella pulled out the pair of jeans belonging to Josh Roberts from the evidence pile and shook her head.

"Flack just called, he's on his way. He got tied up with the victim's son at the hospital."

Aiden looked up from the shirt. "The Roberts had a kid?"

Stella nodded. "We found him hiding in the back of a closet, pretty shaken up."

"Yeah, who wouldn't be?" Aiden quipped, shaking her head. "Poor little guy..."

"Yeah," Stella agreed. "Take a look at this, though." She held up one of the pant legs of Josh Roberts's jeans, pointing to a brown smudge where his knee would have been.

"Looks like dirt," Aiden said, taking a closer look. "Could tell us where he's been."

"Yeah. Check this out-there's some kind of lighter substance mixed in." Stella pulled a piece of tape off of the roll on the lab table, and carefully smoothed it out over the stain. With a delicate tug, she pulled the tape back off to reveal several dirt particles as well as lighter, finer tan slivers sticking to the surface.

"Looks like saw dust," Aiden said. "Construction area?"

"Could be. I'll take it over to trace, see if i can't find out where the dirt might have come from." Stella folded over the tape so none of the particles could escape, and headed back the way she had come, towards Trace.

Aiden turned her attention back to Roberts's jeans, but had only glanced at them before she was again interrupted by Chad tapping her on the shoulder.

"Tested the blood from the vic's shirt," he said, holding up a sheet of paper. "Compared it to the vic's-it doesn't match."

"It doesn't match?" Aiden said in surprise. Chad shook his head.

"Nope. I did find a match in AFIS, though." Chad handed her one of the sheets of paper he was holding. She took it, and found herself looking at a Puerto Rican man with dark hair and dark eyes.

Antonio Peralo. The name under the picture read. Arrested May 2005.

"Says here he was arrested for assaulting another customer in a bar fight in Queens," Aiden said, reading further down the page. "Paid a fine, did time, went home."

Chad pointed further down the page. "Last known address is south of the Bronx."

"That's near where the Roberts were found," Aiden said aloud. She glanced at the bloodstain on Josh Robert's shirt again, them at Antonio Peralo's photograph.

"And..." Chad added. "He was last known to be employed for a construction company in the same area."

"Sawdust," Aiden said, remembering the wood splinters on Roberts's jeans. Time for a field trip, she thought. "Thanks, Chad," she said, putting the paper on the table. Chad grinned.

"Anytime," he said. "Anything else?"

Aiden shook her head, and pulled off her protective lab gloves. "I'm going to go have a little chat with Antonio Peralo."

Picking up the paper with Peralo's address and taking out her cell phone, Aiden began to dial Flack's number, intending to have him meet her at Peralo's apartment, but a familiar figure coming around the corner stopped her dialing. It was Danny, holding in one hand the brown bag that Aiden recognized as one that hospitals gave out to patients to keep their belongings in, and holding the hand of a small boy in hospital scrubs in the other.

The Roberts' sonAiden realized. But why was he here? Danny was at the hospital for hours, that should have been enough time to interview the boy.

"Hey, Messer!" Aiden called. Her voice catching his attention, Danny looked up and gave her a small smile.

"Hey Aid," he said. "How's it goin'?"

Aiden smirked, and gestured back towards the lab and the mountain of evidence. "Just great, Messer...I always wanted to process half of the Bronx all by myself."

Danny's face fell. "Yeah, sorry about that," he muttered, holding up the bag in his hand. "'Fraid I'm leaving you some more," he said, handing her the bag. Aiden rolled her eyes, but took the bag from Danny's hand, and finally acknowledged the little boy at Danny's hip.

"Who's this?"

Danny followed her gaze. "This is Trevor. He's going to be hanging with me today." Hanging with you? Aiden wondered. During the investigation?

"Trevor, this is Aiden Burn."

Aiden smiled at the boy, and kneeled down to his level. "Hey there, guy. How ya doin?"

"Hi," Trevor said shyly, pressing himself closer to Danny. "Are you one of the good guys too?"

Aiden laughed, and stood up to stand next to Danny. "Yeah, kid," she said. "But you better watch your back, hanging out with a shady guy like Danny, here."

Trevor shook his head defiantly, his shyness forgotten. "Danny's not shady, he's one of the good guys!"

Aiden laughed at the little boy's earnest, and glanced over at Danny. "Looks like you got a fan club, huh Messer?"

Danny shrugged and shot Aiden a grin. "I guess so." He raised his eyebrows at her. "You know, if you wanna join, Burn..."

Aiden rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No, thanks, Danny, I got better things to do than over inflate your ego."

"Ouch," Danny smirked, putting his hand over his heart. Aiden held up the bag.

"I'll drop this off with Chad-we got a name off a trace on the vic--" Aiden caught her tongue, remembering that Trevor was in earshot, and dropped her voice to a low whisper. "Off of the vic's shirt. Me and Flack are on our way to bring him in. Wanna come?"

Danny glanced down at Trevor, then shook his head.

"Nah...I got things to care of here. Call me when you get back, though, alright?"

"No problem. See ya later, Messer," Aiden said. She waved at Trevor. "Bye, Trevor."

"Bye," Trevor said, grinning and waving his hand in return. Aiden began to walk back towards the lab, but suddenly stopped.

"Danny?" Aiden said, turning back to face the pair.

"Yeah?"

Aiden smiled. "It's good to have you back."

A real smile spread across Danny's face, more than just the casual grins he had been wearing. "Thanks."

Aiden turned and disappeared back into the lab, and both Danny and Trevor stared at her as she walked away.

"I like her," Trevor said with a smile. "She's pretty."

Danny grinned, watching Aiden through the window. "Yeah, she is."

"Is she your girlfriend?"

Danny's head snapped away from the window, and he glanced down at Trevor in surprise.

"What?"

"Is...she...your girlfriend?" Trevor enunciated slowly. Danny glanced back at the window at Aiden, then back at Trevor.

"No, she's--"

"'Cause you act like she's your girlfriend," Trevor said matter-of-factly.

Danny blinked, then shook his head. "No...Aiden's just my friend." He caught Trevor's disbelieving glance. "Really," he insisted.

Trevor giggled. "Right."

Danny opened his mouth again, but closed it in defeat, shaking his head. He was arguing with a 5 year old...even with his short experience with little kids, he knew it was pointless. Trevor grinned triumphantly, apparently realizing that he had won the battle.

Aiden's just my friend, Danny reassured himself. Friend.He hadn't ever doubted that before-Aiden had always been there for him when he needed her, and he never thought of her has anything less than his friend.

But Trevor's know-it-all grin was making him doubt it. You act like she's your girlfriend...

Danny glanced quickly back at Aiden through the lab window. Sure, the two of them were together a lot and they were close...

Wait. He's five, Danny thought, and suddenly he was annoyed that he had let the boy get to him. What did he know about girlfriends? Danny shook his head. Get a grip, Messer...

Trevor grinned at him for a minute more, until something further on down the hall behind them caught his attention, and he tugged on Danny's hand insistently.

"Danny-"

"What?" the CSI asked absently, still trying to shake the boy's words from his head. "What is it?"

Trevor waited until Danny was totally broken out of his thoughts before he pointed with his free hand down the hall behind them.

"Who's that?"

"Who's who?" Danny turned to follow Trevor's hand, and instantly felt his stomach drop somewhere near his shoes. The figure that Trevor was pointing at was Mac, exiting the doors to ballistics and heading his way. Oh, no...Danny thought, a sinking feeling in his chest. This had been the moment he had been dreading ever since he'd returned-facing Mac Taylor. Of course, when he'd originally dreaded it, he wasn't breaking half of the CSI rules and regulations by carting a five year old behind him...

It seemed to take forever for Mac to reach where the two of them were standing, yet Danny felt like his feet were frozen to the floor. He couldn't run away now; he didn't have a choice but to stay and get it over with...

Mac approached them, his face expressionless except for a single curious glance down at Trevor before he looked back at Danny.

"Danny," he said neutrally.

For a moment Danny couldn't speak; he could barely manage to breathe with the crushing feeling pressing down on his lungs; but he managed to choke out a short greeting.

"Mac," he said stiffly. The stoic expression on Mac's face didn't make it any easier, and without even meaning to every muscle in Danny's body tensed uneasily. Trevor must have noticed Danny's nervousness; he looked up at Danny curiously.

"Welcome back," the Head CSI said coolly, nodding slightly towards the lab that Danny had come from, where Aiden was still sifting through bits and pieces of evidence. "The team's been missing you."

The team. The team. Not you, Danny thought. Of course not, why would you?

"Ah...thanks," Danny replied hollowly. An awkward silence hung between them, laced with tension. It pained Danny to feel it; it had never been like this before Minhas, but Danny had expected nothing less now.

Maybe I could have taken a few more days off..., he thought miserably. Or a few weeks...

"Uh, Mac, this is Trevor Roberts," Danny said, gesturing at Trevor. Better I bring it up first, before he starts...Danny thought. "Trevor, this is Detective Mac Taylor."

"Hi," Trevor said, looking up at Mac. Mac smiled down at the boy, and gave him his hand to shake. Trevor grasped it warily; he had apparently sensed the tension between them, although Danny was sure that he couldn't have known what it was or why it was there.

"Hey there," Mac said warmly, smiling at him. "Nice to meet you, Trevor." The smile on Mac's face seemed to have done its trick; the wary look Trevor was giving slowly faded to a small grin as he shook the taller man's hand.

"Nice to meet you," Trevor repeated, letting go of Mac's hand and glancing back up at Danny, as if to say, what's your problem? He seems alright to me.

Danny squared his shoulders as Mac turned his attention back to him, an emotionless expression replacing the warm one he had given Trevor. Of course that wasn't going to last long...

"Stella mentioned that you were with him in the hospital," Mac said brusquely, in a softer tone so that Trevor couldn't over hear. "Was there still some processing you needed to do here?"

"Uh-" Danny glanced down at Trevor, whose attention had drifted from the two of them to a vending machine down the hall. Most likely he hadn't eaten anything a while, judging by the longing look in his eyes as he stared at the vast array of skittles, chips, and another snacks in the machine. He really needs to eat something, Danny judged quickly. The last thing I need is him passing out. Reaching into his pocket, Danny pulled out a crumpled dollar bill and handed it to Trevor.

"Hey kid, why don't ya get us something to eat, alright?" Trevor took the dollar a held it tightly in his little hand.

"Can I get Cheetos?" he asked hopefully.

"Uh, sure, go ahead, whatever you want. I'll be right here, alright?" Trevor nodded and pulled his hand away from Danny's, taking off down the hallway towards the machine. Breathing a sigh, Danny turned back to Mac.

"Aiden's got his clothes, but I..." Danny shifted his gaze, Mac's steel eyed gaze trying his nerves. "...I didn't have my kit with me at the hospital. I just have to debrief him--"

"Did the hospital contact social services?" Mac interrupted. "It's not usual for them to leave a child in our custody after coming from a crime scene."

Danny's heartbeat quickened. "Ah, sure. Yeah, of course they did," he said quickly. He was surprised to hear that his voice, despite the rapid beating of his heart, was strangely calm and without a quiver. "They're coming to get him, after I'm done."

Mac stared at Danny for a moment, and his eyes seemed to see right through him. Oh, no, Danny thought. This is it. He knows, how could he not? He wanted to be anywhere but here now, with Mac's cold eyes boring into his, reading his thoughts.

"Okay," Mac said slowly, his eyes never leaving Danny's. "I'll let you get to it." Danny blinked in surprise.

Okay? That's it?

"Uh, thanks," Danny managed, letting out a quick breath, one that he hadn't even been aware he was holding. It worked...

He felt something being shoved in his hand, and he looked down to see Trevor shoving a bag of open Cheetos into his hand, his fingertips already orange and sticky.

"Danny I got you some Cheetos!" he said happily, popping one into his already orange mouth. Glancing up at Mac, he pulled the bag away from Danny's hand and offered it to the older CSI.

"D'ya want one Mister Mac?"

Mac shook his head with a small smile. "No, thank you. I'll see you later, Trevor."

Trevor shrugged, crunching loudly on another Cheeto and looping his free hand into Danny's. "Okay. 'Bye."

"Let me know when you're finished so we can get you up to speed," Mac said, looking back up at Danny. Danny nodded.

"Yeah, sure Mac."

Mac nodded shortly, and continued into the lab, stopping briefly to talk with Aiden before moving on. Danny watched him go and waited until he had turned a corner before finally letting out a shaky breath. Well, he thought dryly, getting past those steel daggers being shot at me, that wasn't bad at all… He took a few more breaths, and managed to get his rapidly beating heart to slow down enough to hear himself think.

Mac's easy acceptance of what he'd been doing surprised him. He was certain Mac could see through him as easy as if he were glass…but he hadn't. He had, at least for now, gotten away with it.

He shook his head, nerves still on edge.

You got lucky, Messer, he thought warningly. Don't push it…

Beside him, Trevor was wriggling uncomfortably.

"Danny, you're squeezing my hand!"

Danny quickly loosened his grip on the boy's hand. "Sorry, Trevor," he said apologetically.

Trevor crunched on another Cheeto and licked his orange lips. "S'ok," he mumbled nonchalantly. He held up one of the crunchy orange snacks to Danny.

"Want a Cheeto?"

No, Danny thought ruefully, I want a stiff drink and I want to get the hell out of here. He glanced down at the small boy next to him holding up a Cheeto, and found that, over the stress he was feeling and his own jittering nerves, another smile working its way onto his face again.

"Thanks, Trevor," he said, taking the Cheeto and popping it into his mouth. It was no stiff drink, but Danny was sure, gripping Trevor's hand a bit mre securely, a Cheeto had never tasted so good.

Comments and feedback greatly appriciated. : )

-breakthehabit