Disclaimer: I obviously do not own CSI: NY. I just own my car, my laptop and my crazy muse who seems to want to write 4 different stories at a time. I also do own any characters that you do not recognize. You can borrow them if you ask permission first! I also do not own the chapter title. That belongs to the wonderful Charles Dickens.

A/N: Here's the next chappie!! Thanks to all who reviewed. As always, please R&R. My muse loves the attention. :D Thanks once again to PrincessG and Axellia for being my betas! Any mistakes that are left are completely my own. Okay, guys. I'm posting this a day early since I might not be home tomorrow night. Enjoy!

Chapter 15.

A Tale of Two Cities

When Danny got home that night, he was feeling very discouraged. They had not been able to determine where Dubois might have gone. He was sitting on the couch, a beer dangling in his fingers when Cory got home.

Cory walked into the dark living room and noticed Danny sitting on the couch. "Danny? Chere? Are you okay?"

"No," came the quiet reply. "Ya know. Sometimes this job sucks."

Cory sat down, stunned. "What happened today?"

"We found out who the killer is. He was a teacher at the boarding school. I don't understand how someone in that position can abuse their power like that? He was molesting these girls. Probably raping them. Then he kills them because they are going to go to the authorities. That's just…" Danny trailed off in his disgust.

Cory got up and walked over to where he was sitting. Silently, she began to massage his shoulders, trying to decide what she needed to say. "You know, I've been working to put away some of the nastiest pieces of horse manure that the human society has to offer. There is no answer to your question. I don't think anyone can comprehend what makes a killer's mind work. I'm sure that it has something to do with having power over something."

Danny sighed, knowing that she was right. "I know. It's still frustrating."

Cory laughed. "That's part of being a cop, sweetie. That's why you just have to do your best to put him away when you do find him."

Danny took a swig of his beer. "Awright. How was your day?"

Cory shrugged her shoulders. "Same old thing. Still trying to track down the Martinez Brothers. Right now, they are in Venezuela, so I'm not really going to get a chance to arrest them. I just want to get enough evidence so that if they ever step foot on American soil again, they will be arrested. That's all I can do now."

Danny tilted his head back to look at her. "You'll catch them, ya know. You're too good at your job not to."

Cory smiled, "Thanks, sweetie. I think I needed to hear that." She leaned over to kiss him, but the phone rang. Reaching over him, she picked it up. "Hello?"

"Cory?"

"Elizabeth? What are you doing calling me?"

Danny looked up at Cory. Elizabeth? Cory's sister? I thought that they weren't speaking. Something about a fight that they had.

"Yeah. I just wanted to call and to apologize to you. I never should have yelled at you for moving away. I miss you."

Cory smiled and settled onto the couch. "I miss you to. I understand why you were upset that I moved, but this is where I'm meant to be."

"I know. Just as I can tell by your voice that you are happy. But, that's not the only reason I called."

"Okay. Why did you call?"

"You have got to mend fences with Mom and Dad. It's been murder since you've been gone. Anytime I try to ask them something about you, Mom looks pissed and Dad just walks away! What happened?"

Cory sighed. "I wish I could tell you, but it's between me and them. The most I can tell you is that they disagreed with some of my decisions. I've tried to call them. But they won't return my calls. I don't even know if they got my warning about the assassin that is after me."

"They did. They warned me and that is actually what gave me the courage to make this phone call. I didn't want anything to happen with you thinking that I was still mad at you. I have taken steps to ensure my safety."

Cory breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I'm worried about y'all. What about Mom and Dad? Have they taken protective measures?"

"Yeah. I think they are planning on coming a visiting you. Dad said that he was tired of the rift and he didn't care what Mom said, he was going to get his daughter back." Elizabeth laughed. "I actually felt a little jealous that that! But we've come to an understanding."

Cory laughed, too. "I'm glad. I never meant for you to have to deal with my demons. How's your practice going?"

"Oh, you know. Same old thing. Trying to put away the bad guys. I blame you, you know. I wanted to be a defense attorney! But, no. You had to be all idealistic and shit and convince me to be the ADA. Speaking of which, I just got a promotion!"

"You got a promotion! Congratulations!"

"Thanks. I have to thank your friend, Tim. He decided to move back to New York, so I got his job!"

"That's great, Beth! You deserve it. You've worked so hard. I'm so proud of you."

They continued to talk until Cory looked at the clock and realized that they had been talking for almost an hour. "Sis, I hate to do this, but I've got to go. I have to make dinner for Danny and me."

"You cook for him? Why doesn't he cook for you?"

Cory rolled her eyes. "He does, but tonight's my night to cook. He's been dealing with a tough case and I want to pamper him a bit."

"Well, in that case, don't let me stop you. Next time you're down here, let's have lunch. I miss talking to you."

"I miss talking to you, too. Bye."

Cory hung up the phone and walked into the kitchen, only to find Danny putting a salad together. "Sorry! I know it's my night to cook."

"Whatever, bella. I know that you were talking with your sister and I don't mind."

Cory walked up behind him and put her arms around his waist. "What did I do to deserve such a great boyfriend?"

"You're great in bed."

"Danny!" Cory smacked him on his behind. "You'll pay for that comment."

Danny waggled his eyebrows. "You promise?" Then he bent his head and captured her lips in a soft kiss.

The next morning, Danny and Cory woke up at the same time. Danny looked down at Cory, a smile on his face. "Mornin'."

Cory smiled back at him, giving him a small kiss. "Mornin'." She stretched and yawned, feeling at peace for the moment.

Danny looked down at her and gave her a wink. "Why don't you hit the shower first? I'll make breakfast."

Cory shook her head. "No. You go ahead. I don't have to be in until late and since you cooked dinner last night, I don't feel right not cooking."

Danny tried to protest, but Cory just brushed him off, walking out of the bedroom. Deciding to take a quick shower, he made his way into the bathroom. Once he was done, he walked into the kitchen, where Cory was making pancakes.

Cory winked at him when he walked in. "I hope you're hungry. I know I certainly worked up an appetite last night."

"You're just insatiable."

"Whatever, Messer. I didn't hear you complaining last night. Why don't you finish the pancakes and I'll go take a shower."

Danny nodded his agreement and Cory walked into the bathroom.

Elizabeth Reid also woke up early the next day. She hummed softly along with the radio, feeling confident that her family was once again going to be a family. She trusted Cory enough that she was sure that Cory could mend fences with her dad.

She took a quick shower and quickly dried her shoulder length blonde hair. She applied a light dusting of make-up and drove to her office. When she got there, she grabbed her mail from her secretary. She sat down at her desk and began to open the envelopes. She paused when she came across a plain white envelope with her name typed on it. Cautiously, she opened it.

"I know where you live."

Elizabeth read that line and dropped the letter in horror. "Oh, God. Is this the assassin?" She walked quickly to her door and turned to her secretary. "Sally? Can you please get me a plain plastic bag?"

Sally looked at her with a question in her eyes. "Don't ask, just do it. I'll explain later." Elizabeth turned back to her desk and picked up the phone, dialing a familiar number. "I'd like to speak to Agent Henderson, please." Elizabeth waited for a moment. "Agent Henderson? Hi. It's Elizabeth Reid. Cory's sister."

"Hi. How are you?" Agent Henderson asked.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"I can't complain. What can I do to help you?"

"I have a bit of a problem. Did you hear about the contract out on Cory's life?"

"Yes. I was very disturbed to hear that."

"Yes, well, it seems like this assassin likes to strike at the person's friends and family. I got a disturbing note. It read, 'I know where you live.' I'd like to see if you can send someone out to review it."

"Certainly! I'll send someone right now. Have you told Cory?"

"Not yet. That's my next call. I just wanted to notify you first."

"Definitely. I'll have someone out there within the hour. Are you still working for the Federal DA's office?"

"Yes. Thank you so much. I'll let you go now. I know that you are busy."

"Sure. Be careful. Bye."

Sighing, Elizabeth hung up the phone not looking forward to calling her sister.

At lunch time Danny was still at the lab processing the evidence when he got the call. TSA agents had detained Henri Dubois at LaGuardia Airport where he had been about to board a flight for Nepal. Smiling in triumph, he made sure that he had all of the evidence processed while Angell went down to arrest him. He called Cory, to let her know and was surprised to learn that she was on her way to meet him for lunch. She arrived just was Dubois was brought in.

Angell smiled at Cory, when she saw her. "Cory, you are way too uncanny. How did you know that we would need your help?" At Cory's confused look, she continued, "He's pretending that he doesn't speak anything but French."

"Oh…" Cory trailed off. Then she winked. "I think I can help with that!"

Angell laughed and motioned for Cory to follow her into the interrogation room with Hawkes. Cory walked in silently. She scrutinized Dubois, deciding that he wasn't nearly as good looking as his picture.

Angell started the investigation. "Mr. Dubois. I am Detective Angell. Are you aware of why you are here?"

Dubois looked at her. "Je ne comprends pas."

Cory fought down an urge to roll her eyes. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he understood Angell perfectly. She decided to step in. "Bonjour, Monsieur Dubois. Mon nom est l'agent spécial Corrine Reid avec le FBI. C'est Angell révélateur avec le NYPD. Comprenez-vous pourquoi vous êtes ici?"

Dubois looked at her, with surprise in his eyes. "Non."

Cory looked at Angell. "Tell him whatever you want and I'll translate for you."

Angell nodded. "You are here because of the deaths of four women and the assault of a fifth woman who was found in your apartment. We have evidence and an eyewitness to prove your involvement."

Dubois began to talk rapidly in French. Cory waited patiently while he finished his tirade. She held back a laugh of derision as she translated. "He says he has no idea what you are talking about. He said that he is here legally and you have no reason to hold him." She turned towards the two-way mirror and raised her eyebrows at Danny.

Danny saw her gaze and laughed as he could tell she was trying not to laugh.

Angell rolled her eyes. "I do have the reason and the evidence to back up my claims. Do you know these women?" she asked as she placed photos of the women on the table.

Cory translated as he looked at the pictures. He said, "Non."

"Why are you lying to me? I know for a fact that you know all of these women. They were students at the boarding school where you taught drama."

Dubois stayed silent while Cory translated.

"Aren't you going to defend yourself?" Angell asked.

Cory waited patiently while Dubois talked nonchalantly. "He says that now that you mention that they were at the boarding school, he remembers them. But you can't expect him to remember every single student he ever taught. Plus, they look different than they did in high school."

Hawkes decided to step in at that moment. "We have evidence from your apartment that reveals that each of these women were there. There is blood and DNA present in your apartment. Now, why don't you cooperate?"

Dubois lost his façade at that point and responded in English. "Why? You're going to convict me anyway."

Angell looked at him. "With the evidence we have, yes. We just want a reason."

Dubois laughed. "There is none. Their time on this earth was up and it was my job to end it."

Angell raised her eyebrows in disgust. "So this had nothing to do with the fact that you raped these women and they were going to bring charges against you."

Dubois didn't answer.

"Since you admitted to killing these women, let me read you your rights." Angell began to recite the Miranda as she put the handcuffs on him. When she was done, she led him out of the room and towards booking.

Cory looked at Hawkes. "Wow. He's a slimy piece of work." She was about to continue when her phone rang. "Hello?"

"Cory?"

"Elizabeth? What's wrong?"

"I think I got a note from the assassin today. It was on plain paper and it just said I know where you live. I gave it to Agent Henderson. He's going to run the forensics on it."

"Beth. Be careful. I want you to have around the clock protection. Don't go anywhere alone. If I could convince you, I'd tell you to go into hiding, but I know you're stubborn, so I'm not going to press that. What about Mom and Dad? Has he contacted them?"

"Not that I know of. I did call them to let them know and Dad said that there wasn't anything in their mailbox. He said that since there was circumstantial evidence to show that he was in Texas, he was going to step up his own security."

Cory breathed a sigh of relief at that, while Danny walked into the room, a question in his eyes. "Okay, sis. I love you. Please be careful. I'll call Mom tonight and see if we can mend fences."

"I love you, too. Be careful. Talk to ya later."

Cory hung up the phone and turned into Danny's arms. "Frasier contacted Beth. He sent her a note saying that he knows where she lives."

Danny's arms surrounded her in comfort. "Bella. It's okay. You're family is taking steps to protect themselves. That's all you can do. Why don't you go back to work? I'll finish all this paperwork and then we can go to dinner. How about Francesca's?"

Cory smiled. "Sounds perfect." Cory gave him a small kiss. "I'd better head back. Since I ended up in the interrogation, I don't have time for lunch now."

Danny nodded his understanding. "Have a good day. I'll see you tonight."

When Cory got back to her office, she sat at her desk, deep in thought. Finding some courage, she picked up her phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Daddy. It's your oldest daughter." She held her breath, both from surprise and from fear that he would hang up the phone.

"Hi, pumpkin. How are you?"

Cory smiled in relief. "Busy. Have you talked to Beth today?"

"I have. She told me about the letter. I've had security tightened around your mother and me."

"Good. I was worried. I'm sorry about the way I left. I never should have sprung the whole seeing ghosts things on you two."

Harold Reid laughed. "It was definitely a surprise. I'm trying to get your mother to accept it. She is where you get your stubbornness from. I know what you did was hard, but I can tell how happy you are. I think you made the right decision. Darlin', my other line is ringing. I've been waiting on this call; can I call you back later?"

"Sure, Daddy. I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetheart. Bye."

Cory smiled as she hung up the phone, pleasantly surprised that her dad didn't hate her. With lightness in her heart, she got back to work.

After they got home from Francesca's, Danny and Cory sat on the couch, thinking about the events that had transpired that day. Cory was silent as the realization that her family was in danger actually set in. Danny saw the worried look on her face. "Are you okay?"

Cory looked into his eyes. "Just worried. The realization that my family could get hurt is starting to set in. Oh, I talked to my Dad today. He's okay with my decision to move to New York, now. He's trying to get my mother to forgive me."

Danny noticed the tidbit of information she just had given him. "Is that why you never talk about them?"

Cory nodded to him. "Yeah. We had this big fight before I left about me seeing ghosts. My mom just went ballistic when I told her. I've never seen her so upset. My dad followed her lead. She told me if I left, then I was no longer her daughter." Cory shuddered a bit at the admission.

Danny felt her shiver and hugged her tighter to himself. "I'm sorry, bella. That sounds a bit like how my dad reacted when I told him I was joining the force. Talk about going outside the family."

Cory nodded. She leaned back onto Danny, soaking in a bit of his strength. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before. I just…" she trailed off.

"Admitting it made it real?"

Cory nodded. "Exactly." She yawned. "Wow, I'm tired. I think I'm going to hit the sack." She extracted herself from Danny's arm and started walking towards the bedroom, Danny following her.

Danny had just made it to the hallway, when the phone rang. He went back, to pick it up and Cory continued into the bedroom.

When Cory got into the bedroom, she noticed that it was very cold. She looked up and saw Armando standing beside the bed, looking grim. "Armando?"

"I'm sorry, Cory."

"What are you sorry for?" she asked.

Armando didn't answer. He just motioned to a spot behind her.

Meanwhile, Danny had answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Is Cory there?" asked a tear-filled female voice.

"Can I ask who is calling?"

"This is Beth. Is this Danny?"

"Yeah. She's headed to bed, Beth. Do you want me to get her?"

"Please. I need to tell her…"

Danny felt lead fill his stomach. "Tell her what?"

Danny did not get a chance to hear her response. He heard a scream ring out from the bedroom and dropped the phone to run in there.

Translation of French

Hello, Mr. Dubois. My name is Special Agent Corrine Reid with the FBI. This is Detective Angell with the NYPD. Do you understand why you are here?

AN: (hiding behind my muse) Please don't throw anything at me! I promise I have the next chapter written, so you won't have to wait long before the update! I am trying to updated on a weekly basis. That gives my muse the time to write chapters for all my stories (including the smut).

CSI junkie 247-New penname? Cool. There will be romance, but not for a couple of chapters. It's all about the angst right now.

brainDamage089-Yes, teachers who do that are GROSS! Why? So...Have you read HP 7? I thought it was great! The last 7 chapters read so fast! I'm bursting because some of my friends haven't finished it yet, so I can't talk about it!!! Oh, well. I'll just put the extra energy into the story I'm writing for HP, which will be complete AU since I started it before DH came out. I'm glad that you loved the last chapter.

mj0621-Awww...I'm blushing. I hope you don't kill me for the cliffie. When I wrote this originally, it wasn't as bad of a cliffie, but I thought this was better. :D