Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "CSI:NY"- they belong to Anthony E. Zuiker and CBS.

CHAPTER THREE: He's Back

Flack flashed his badge at the nurse who looked like she was about to protest Danny's running in the halls. He hit the button for the elevator, and when it didn't show up in five seconds, Danny was beelining for the stairs. Flack chased him up the stairwell. "Danny! Slow down, man, I'm sure he's fine." And I don't want to run up three flights of stairs. Not when I'm not chasin' someone.

But Danny had a one-track mind right now, and Flack couldn't blame him. As they hit the third floor, Danny yanked open the stairwell door and disappeared into room 304. Flack skidded to a stop outside the room with an irate nurse on his heels. "NYPD," he said, flashing the badge. "We're going to need security outside this door 24/7."

"For what?" the nurse demanded in a thick southwestern twang. Flack could see that 1) she wasn't from around here, and 2) she was just a med student, and had no authority, even though she acted like it. "Until when?"

"Until I say otherwise," Flack barked. Normally he wasn't a fan of pulling rank, but this was an exception. It was a friend…and it was Sonny freakin' Sassone. When he noticed the redhead still glaring at him, Flack shook his badge at her.

"Now," he said pointedly.

The nurse stalked off muttering something Flack was pretty sure he didn't need to hear. Flack stepped into the room. Danny was standing by the bed, catching his breath and inspecting the person lying in front of them. He was gripping his hand in a deathgrip, turning his knuckles white.

"He's back, Louie. I don't know how. But he's back. Sassone…he's after us again."

His brother didn't respond. Neither of them had expected him to. Louie Messer had been in a coma for five years. And while the doctors said there was no change every time Danny came in to visit, Danny refused to take him off life support. He was holding out for the miracle. "Louie is a tough ol' bastard," he'd told Flack more than once. "If anybody's gonna pull through, it's gonna be him."

And Flack smiled and nodded with him, even if he didn't believe it. But that's what friends did.

A young man in a hospital security uniform tapped on the door, and Flack went out into the hall to explain the situation.

Louie Messer had been beaten to within an inch of his life clearing his brother of murder five years ago. Sonny Sassone was in prison. But if he ever got out, he was going to come after the Messer brothers. It wasn't speculation, it was a statement of fact. Louie had worn a wire, gotten Sonny to confess to murder. Sonny took it as a personal affront. And he'd never liked Danny to begin with. Danny had always been the pain in the ass he couldn't control. "I'm dead serious," Flack told the guard. "If you gotta piss, you'd better wait until there's another guy here. If you need a cup of coffee, you can get Nurse Ratched down the hall there to get it for ya. But you. Don't. Move."

And then, as he watched Danny bury his head in the hand that wasn't holding his brother's…he called Mac Taylor.

"Mac….yeah, hey…no, Hawkes is wrapping it up, I'm at Angel of Mercy with Danny…we have a…situation."

"The COD is painfully obvious," Dr. Sid Hammerback noted, clicking his glasses together and pointing to the former gang member's head. "He was executed." He looked at the woman standing in front of him. "Hate to be morbid, but I wish they were all this easy."

Stella Bonasera had figured as much, but she wasn't the ME. "Did you find me a bullet?"

The ME nodded and handed her a manila evidence bag. Stella shook the bullet out onto her hand. ".45 millimeter," she noted. "Did-"

Heavy, quick footsteps stopped right behind her, and she jerked in surprise. "Mac," she breathed. "What the hell?"

"Turn him over, Sid." Mac Taylor demanded. Stella caught the concern…the anger…in his green eyes. This wasn't just another case. The only time he got that fire in his eyes was when something hit close to home for him, or anybody on the team. As Sid carefully rolled Sal Cuccione over onto his side, Stella's eyes widened. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Mac shook his head grimly. "Just got off the phone with Flack. We're definitely dealing with Sonny Sassone and the Tanglewood Boys."

"But Mac…Sonny Sassone is still in Sing Sing." Any other day, she would've laughed at the alliteration. Any other day, when it was anybody but Sassone...

"Well, I hate to ask the painfully obvious," Sid cut in, "but then how did he kill your vic?"

"I really don't know if I want to know the answer to that one," Mac responded. "But even if he didn't pull the trigger, he probably knows who did."

"Where's Danny?" Stella asked. "Does he know?"

Mac nodded. "He was working the scene with Hawkes. They're at Angel of Mercy right now with Louie Messer."

Stella nodded, seeing the whole picture. "So we need to figure out what the hell Sal Cuccione did to piss off Sonny Sassone from prison."

"There's more to it," Mac added. "Hawkes found a note at the scene. 'Danny, see you soon'."

"So his ultimate goal is Danny." Stella frowned. "He's not going to like it when you pull him off this case."

"He doesn't have a choice," Mac said flatly. "IAB will have a field day. It was bad enough the first time five years ago. He can't be anywhere near this case." He took a deep breath and let it out. "And if Sassone's got feelers out, he's not safe."

He had no idea how right he was.