Reader's Challenge: There are two lines in this chapter lifted from episodes. You diehard CIS: NY fans can you pick them out, tell me who said them and from which episodes? One is obvious, the other is not. Let me know if you figure it out. BTW have I said how much I love Mac/Danny interaction. I do almost as much as D/L interaction!

DISCLAIMERS: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to Jerry Bruckheimer and the wonderful writers for CSI: NY. Any resemblance to scenes from the episodes is included for clarity and continuity and I do not claim any of those as my own work. However everything else is mine.

Ultimatum

Danny went into Mac's office pacing like a caged animal. "Danny shut the door!" Mac clipped out again. Danny hadn't seen Mac this mad since he had gone against Mac's direct orders to drop a case and he had gone ahead and worked it anyway. Dammit, how could he be back in this position again? He had worked so hard to keep his nose clean the last eighteen months and now… Damn that Montana!

Mac just watched Danny pace for a few minutes. When Danny calmed down enough to at least sit in a seat Mac began. "Okay, what was that all about?"

"Damned if I know." Danny replied sarcastically.

Mac knew it was personal if Danny was avoiding the question and getting surly about it to boot. Mac just raised his eyebrows and waited for Danny to continue.

"Mac, look I just need a friend right now not a boss." Danny said desperately.

Mac groaned inwardly. This was not promising. The last time Danny had said those very words to him had been in conjunction with Danny's DNA being found at a murder scene. Even though everything had sorted itself out in the end, it was not before Danny's brother, Louie, was beaten to within an inch of his life. Right now Louie was still in a coma from that beating.

"I'm listening," Mac said encouragingly.

"Mon- I mean Lindsay has this mistaken notion that I told you about the connection of her sister's death to this murder investigation. That… that… I didn't give her the chance to tell you herself," he replied running a hand through his hair.

"Well, I know for a fact that you didn't, I can clear that up very easily with Lindsay." Mac said matter of fact.

Danny sighed in relief. "Thanks Mac, that would get me out of a very deep hole."

"That you dug for yourself." Mac added.

"Hell no, Mac," Danny shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

"It didn't look that way to me Danny. When Lindsay was out in the hallway yelling at you that she never wanted to see you again and that you had screwed up her life, it seemed a bit more personal to me."

"Nah, Nah, Mac, it ain't that way at all. I mean you know how women are, any little thing can set them off," his accent very thick now.

"Sure, some women, Danny, but not Lindsay. She's not that kind of woman."

"Don't I know it," Danny muttered under his breath.

Mac continued, "Lindsay's the kind of woman that if she gets upset you go after her. The kind of woman that if you let her walk out of your life, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. The kind of woman that will stick by you through thick and thin and make you have fun while you're doing it. When a man loves a woman like that and she loves him back, he is invincible and she is to be cherished every single day of her life."

Danny was staring uncomprehendingly at Mac. "I am not in love with Mon- Lindsay, Mac. Don't say things like that, it ain't funny."

"Danny, let me put it to you this way. This lab cannot function smoothly with you two at odds with each other. If you cannot get this straightened out by the time she gets back from Montana, one of you will have to transfer." Mac said solemnly.

"And let me tell you," he continued pointedly, "right now the balance hangs in Lindsay's favor because as much trouble as she's in now it isn't nearly as serious as the stuff you've put me through in the past."

Danny was almost sure he saw a twinkle in Mac's eye. Danny shrugged his shoulders and mused, "Well you do have a point Mac." And figuring it wouldn't hurt to ask, Danny said, "Can I have a few days off to go up to Montana."

"No!" said Mac quickly. "I've already lost one CSI for a week, and I can't afford to lose another. But here is her parent's number. You're going to need it. The cell phones don't work reliably out where they live."

"Alright, thanks Mac.You think I have a shot?" Danny asked hopefully.

"Don't know, I guess it depends on how well you can talk, the talk." Mac quipped back.

"Oh I can talk the talk." Danny said with his accent thick again and more to himself than to Mac as he put the number away in his shirt pocket.

"There is just one more thing," Mac said as Danny got up to leave. "When and how did you make the connection of Laurel's death with this case?"

"It was actually quite by accident. There was something familiar about the morgue picture of Laurel that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Then I saw a picture of Lindsay and Laurel at Laurel's wedding and I began to see the resemblance. Then when I couldn't sleep, I came in early this morning to go over Laurel's file and it confirmed my suspicions that Laurel and Lindsay were related. I was just talking to Lindsay about it this morning when you interrupted us."

"Oh, sorry about the bad timing. I'll set that part right with Lindsay for you." Mac assured him.

Danny nodded in thanks.

Danny looked at Mac, "Mac, I think you did the right thing by sending Lindsay to Montana."

Mac nodded at Danny and neither one said what they were thinking. It wasn't a coincidence that Laurel had been murdered in Lindsay's apartment in Bozeman and now the killer is in New York.

Finally Mac said, "So get back to work. Grab Hawkes and get him up to speed on this case. I want this solved ASAP."