A/N1: Bless MariaLisa and her cotton-pickin' heart for beta'ing this during her layover in Houston, Tx! Big Hugs

A/N2: And back by popular demand, more Nona!

Rated: M for language for those of you with sensitive eyes.

DISCLAIMERS: The CSI:NY characters belong to Jerry Bruckheimer and the wonderful writers for CSI: NY. However everything else is mine.

The Meeting of Past and Present

What is the past

When it stares, unflinchingly, at you

With time on its side

If not a hint at the future

-Sally Jetson

"Lindsay? Ma?"

Danny tentatively entered the room as he saw Caitlin's arms around Lindsay, the younger woman's face tucked into the crook of her neck. He squatted in front of Lindsay and palmed her knees.

"Hey Montana, ya okay? What upset ya? Was it all that talk at the dinner table… about the Fed's and…"

"Danny," Caitlin began with a tinge of exasperation in her voice, "this isn't about the Fed's…."

"Then what's it about?" Danny replied a bit confused.

"Why don't you think about it for a moment, Danny."

Suddenly Lindsay murmured from beneath the curtain of hair that had fallen across her face.

"He can be a bit dense at times."

"They all can be at times," Caitlin commiserated as she stroked the hair back from Lindsay's face.

Lindsay reached out and intertwined one of her hands with one of Danny's that was resting on her knee.

"Thanks Caitlin for being here for me." Lindsay lifted her head and smiled faintly at Caitlin. "I can take it from here, thanks again."

"Are you sure?"

Lindsay nodded and Caitlin caressed her cheek as she reassured, "Danny has the strength to support you; don't be afraid to lean on him."

Then Caitlin firmly cupped Danny's chin.

"Danny, you need to put all this Nicky Roselli business out of your head; it will do you no good to go back there. Let the Fed's and your father deal with this, right now you need to be here for Lindsay. Understand?"

"Yeah Ma, sure..."

Danny grabbed Caitlin's hand as she rose from the bed and turned to leave. He squeezed it. "Thanks, Ma"

Danny took the spot on the bed beside Lindsay, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pressing a kiss against her temple.

"Sorry Linds. Ma's a great pinch hitter but I'm here for ya now." His thumb traced a comforting circle on the palm of her hand. "I know you gotta tough road ahead of ya going back to Montana for the trial."

She took a deep, tremoring sigh but didn't say anything.

He continued softly, "But I'll be calling you every day, probably two or three times day at least and…" She half-laughed and half-groaned at that. "And you'll have family out there backing ya up. There aren't many things better than having your mom to take care of you during tough times."

He felt Lindsay's hand tighten on that last sentence. He put a finger under her chin to lift it so he could look into her eyes; they were bright with tears.

"What is it?" he murmured.

Her chin began to tremble as she furiously swiped at the tears with the back of her hand.

"Danny, not everyone has a mom like yours," she replied in frustration.

He took a deep breath and mentally checked his thoughts before speaking.

"Lindsay, I know you think your mom blames you for Laurel's death but we both know that you're not responsible and I think that deep down your mom knows it too."

"But sometimes, Danny, people just don't let go of things. It's the way they distract themselves from the actual issue… the true cause of their pain. Do you know what I mean?"

Her eyes implored him to understand.

He looked away at hearing her question because something inside his gut twisted. He released her hand and ran his hand nervously down his thigh, stretching out his leg before bending it back into place.

Finally looking at her again, he replied softly, "Yeah, believe it or not, I know exactly what you mean."

Her eyes questioned him silently. So what do I do?

I have no fuckin' clue! His eyes answered.

He was in no position to give her answers… only love and support. That's all he had to give her. And that's exactly what he was going to give her!

"Lindsay, lemme talk to Mac tomorrow about taking a leave of absence. I'll take it without pay if I have to and I'll go to Montana with you. I'll be there with you every step of the way."

Her face beamed a watery smile at him as she cradled his cheek in her hand.

"You don't how much it means to me to hear you say that but hearing your offer makes me realize that this is something in my past that I need to deal with myself."

He opened his mouth to protest but she placed her fingers over it.

"Trust me, I want your support and I promise I'll be in touch constantly but…but this is something I have to do for me."

"Okay," he swallowed hard, the realization finally hitting him that she was leaving in a couple of days for who knew how long, to face God knew what and he wouldn't physically be there for her. Suddenly he wanted to have her all to himself, to make the most of every last second they had together.

"Hey, I don't know about you but I've had enough of the Messer clan; whadda say we head home?"

"Are you sure that it wouldn't be rude?" she replied with a trace of relief in her voice.

"Nah, not at all."

-----------------------------------------------

"Ma, we're gonna head back."

"Danny, so soon?"

"Yeah, I'm on tomorrow and with Lindsay leaving…"

"Aye, of course, let me fix some leftovers for you to take with you. Joe and I will never eat all this food on our own."

"That'd be great Ma."

Maria, seemingly dozing in a nearby armchair, gave a dignified sniff and rose.

"Lindsay," Maria wagged a bony finger at her as she approached, "Back in my day, women were taught how to take care of their men," she began without preamble, "But these days they don't do that so let me tell you the secrets to keeping a man like my Danny."

Maria beamed indulgently at Danny.

"Nona, I love you but…" Danny grinned back, wagging his finger at Maria.

"It's okay Danny," Lindsay's eyes twinkled and the cleft in her chin deepened, "I want to hear this."

"Ok Nona," Danny held his hands up in amused resignation, "let her hear it!"

"First you must know your way around the kitchen. A man should never find the nourishment outside his home tastier than what he finds inside his home. And that goes for the bedroom as well."

"Now you're talking Nona." Danny rubbed his hands together enthusiastically in agreement.

"Don't interrupt me, Danny." She trained the bony finger on him. "It's rude and I'm not finished."

She leaned conspiratorially towards Lindsay and smiled that wicked smile that indicated that the other shoe was about to drop.

"And finally…" the rasp in her voice was more pronounced as she lowered her voice, "…secret money…"

"Secret money?" Lindsay questioned, her eyebrows raised.

"Nona, I heard that," Danny growled.

"That's right, Danny," she turned glittering eyes on him, "You're supposed to hear that."

"Then I don't get why it's called secret money." Danny retorted, quoting the word secret with his fingers.

"The secret isn't the existence of the money. It's how much there is, where it's at and what it's for. After all a relationship is a two-way street. Lo capite mio nipote?" Maria paused dramatically.

"You mean like blackmail?"

Maria clicked her tongue disapprovingly and waved a hand at Danny, "No, no, blackmail is such an ugly word…. think of it as…. insurance…no, no… more like an incentive. She takes care of you but if you don't take care of her she has a way out."

She turned back to Lindsay and nodded once, emphatically, "Remember, secret money."

"Maria, you're a gem. I'll get right on that." Lindsay winked at her and gave Danny a sideways glance.

Danny grimaced at her as Caitlin remerged from the kitchen with one large bag and two foil wrapped plates.

"Ma, do you have secret money?"

Caitlin smiled knowingly as she set the items on the table. "Of course, Danny."

"And I thought relationships were about trust, love, commitment and all that other crap," Danny muttered.

"They are Danny," Caitlin patted him on the cheek patronizingly as she glanced at Lindsay, mouthing, "Secret Money."

Joe and Uncle Sal came in through the front door accompanied by a gust of cold air and the distinctive odor of cigar smoke.

"Dad, Uncle Sal," Danny implored, "Ma and Nona have been feeding me a load of crap about something called secret money."

Joe and Uncle Sal exchanged looks.

"Danny, let me pour you a scotch." Uncle Sal offered as he empathetically clapped a hand on Danny's shoulder.

"No thanks Uncle Sal, we're on our way out."

"Dad?"

Joe pulled another cigar out of the box on the fireplace mantle and turned, "Cigar?"

"No Dad, I don't want a cigar. I want a straight answer."

"See, therein lies the problem with you Danny. You want to wrap your head around everything, pull it apart and understand it."

"Dad believe it or not, that's actually a good thing," Danny sighed exasperatedly

What can I say, mio figlio? It is a tradition. It protects all the involved parties." Joe shrugged.

"That sounds more like a business arrangement than a relationship."

"Business arrangements are relationships too." Joe countered securing the cigar between his teeth.

The ringing of Danny's cell phone interrupted the conversation.

"Our taxi's here," he announced.

"Keep your eyes open on the way home," Joe advised as he hugged Danny and then Lindsay. "Lindsay, always a pleasure."

"Take care, Joe." Lindsay smiled.

Maria hugged Lindsay, "Lindsay, if you ever have any trouble with Danny you talk to me. I know things and I have my ways."

"I'll keep that in mind, Maria."

Maria enveloped Danny in a fierce hug as she rasped into his ear, "She's a nice girl and I'm an old woman, mio nipote. Don't make me wait too long."

Danny felt a faint blush creep up his neck and hoped that no one noticed but Lindsay was busy with her goodbyes to Caitlin.

"Lindsay, I'll be thinking about you while you are out in Montana. Remember what I told you."

Lindsay scrunched her eyes closed to hold back her tears as Caitlin embraced her.

"I will," she murmured.

Uncle Sal cuffed a hand around the back of Danny's neck as he pulled him into a hug. When they pulled apart, Danny noticed a light in Uncle Sal's eye that he couldn't remember seeing since before his Aunt Teresa and Cousin Michael had been killed.

"Danny, don't worry about the secret money. I can see that you and Lindsay aren't going to need it, okay?"

"Isn't that right, Lindsay?" Uncle Sal asked as he wrapped Lindsay in hug.

"You're right and very sweet to say so," she agreed.

Danny nodded. "Thanks Uncle Sal."

"Danny, Lindsay, here are your leftovers."

Caitlin handed Danny the bag and kissed him on the cheek, wrapping her arms around him.

"Thanks Ma, I love you."

After Caitlin released Danny, she shrugged into her coat and picked up the two foil wrapped plates.

"Ma, what are ya doing?"

"I'm taking food to those poor men in the car across the street."

"Ma, I'm sure they have a stockpile of food."

"You know Danny, nothing can replace a hot, home cooked meal especially on Christmas Day. It's not right that those men have to be away from their families today," she argued as they stepped out into the frosty air.

"Ma, It's their job, I'm sure they're used to it." He shrugged, "I've worked plenty of holidays; it's no big deal."

Caitlin stopped at the bottom of the steps and put a hand out to stop Danny, "Now, you sound like your father."

"Ma, I'm nothing like…"

"Danny," she interrupted earnestly, "I don't want to have this same argument again. If you are nothing like him, then don't say things like him and don't act like him."

She turned abruptly. Danny wrapped a hand around her upper arm.

"Ma, wait, I'm sorry."

She turned back to him.

"Just promise me that someday when you have a family that you'll be there for them, okay?"

"Sure, Ma, I promise," he replied quietly.

She kissed his cheek and gave Lindsay's hand a quick squeeze.

"Take care of him Lindsay. He can be a tad dense at times."

"Don't worry Caitlin," Lindsay reassured her as she looped an arm through the crook of Danny's and pulled him gently toward the waiting taxi.

Once inside the taxi, Danny rubbed his hands up and down his thighs as he let out a long slow breath.

"Lindsay, do you think I'm like my dad?"

The vulnerability in Danny's eyes made her consider her answer carefully.

"Yeah, in some ways I think you are but I don't necessarily think that is an undesirable thing."

Danny gave a slight snort. "That's a very diplomatic answer, Ms Monroe."

She laid a comforting hand on his thigh.

"Look Danny, I think the more important question you have to ask yourself is, 'if you are like your dad and that bothers you, then why does that bother you?'"

They lapsed into silence, neither one aware of the passing scenery disappearing into the darkening evening.

Unexpectedly the taxi veered into a dark alley jolting them to the right and then abruptly forward and backward as it slammed to a stop.

"What the…" Danny shouted at the driver.

"Shut the fuck up," the driver snarled at him as he twisted around and leveled a gun straight at Lindsay, "or she gets it."

"Okay, I get it," Danny said cautiously as he raised his hands slowly into the air. Danny stole a quick glance a Lindsay and she nodded reassuringly to him when he caught her eye. Good, she's okay!

"Take it easy. I'm gonna reach for my wallet and you can have everything in it." Danny bargained as he began to lower one hand.

"You think this is about some measly hundred you may have in your wallet," the driver sneered as he motioned with the gun for Danny to keep his hands up in the air. "You are so fuckin' clueless, man!"

The door on Lindsay's side swung open and a menacing voice commanded, "C'mon! You! You're going to the other car!" The gleam of a gun barrel played across Danny's glasses as the gun motioned for Lindsay to get out of the taxi

Lindsay swung alarm-filled eyes towards Danny as he grabbed her wrist.

"No- fucking- way! She either stays with me or you let her go." he spat out into the darkness.

The chilling cock of the taxi driver's gun against his temple forced him to swallow hard but he wasn't about to be separated from Lindsay that easily.

He took a deep breath engaging all his suspect negotiating skills this time as he spoke.

"Look, whatever it is that you want I'm sure we can work something out."

"You're fuckin' right we're gonna work something out," the voice menaced again. "Give me your pieces and your phones, both of you."

After they passed the items to the waiting hand, a generic prepaid phone was tossed into Danny's lap. "Now call your old man, Messer!"

Danny's stomach lurched in recognition when the voice hissed out Messer.

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A/N3: I leave for vacation tomorrow and I don't know when I'll get the next chapter written but rest assured it is here in my head! LOL!