A/N: So this chapter is based off Season one, "Tanglewood" and also season two episode 20, "Run Silent, Run Deep." Where the body is found in the endzone. I changed this up a bit. The dialogue in the flashabacks for that part are pretty much spot on, but I changed the kid who dies. It isn't a drug dealer, but a kid from the gang I made up called the Lakeside Bullets. Also the very last scene is from the same night that Danny and Aiden are in the bar, it's just seperated by flashbacks. This one is pretty much all from the summer of '91.

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI:NY, its character's, or it's plots. I've just tampered them for My pleasure :).

"This is a phony," Danny Messer nodded his head as he looked at the photo of a tattoo Mac had asked him to check out. He was familiar with the Tanglewoods. He knew this tattoo was a fake. And he also knew that Sonny was probably the one who killed the poor kid.

"What exactly are the Tanglewoods into?" Mac Taylor asked his CSI. Danny shrugged his shoulders and stuffed his hands into the pocket of his light gray dress pants with thin white pin stripes.

"Cars," Danny nodded his head. "Girls. Guns. Coke. Mac these guys just don't give a fuck," Danny said, flicking his right hand under his chin, the sign in sign language for the word "fuck". He then continued to explain. "They hang by the mall. You should know that The Lakeside Bullets are their enemies. Very dangerous. They kill anyone. Very organized. They're high up there with the mafia clans."

"Thanks," Mac nodded his head, grabbing the photo. "How's your case coming?"

"Lies," Danny started. "We're going to Lee's house to talk to his wife right now, Aiden and I."

"Okay," Mac nodded his head. "Hey, Danny," Mac started as Danny walked away. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, nodding his head at his boss indicating he was listening. "I saw on Aiden's computer that she ran a background check on Alex Reeves?"

"Yeah," Danny cleared his throat, his finger scratching his eyebrow. "It's nothin' Mac."

"Be careful," Mac warned. Danny nodded his head and hurried out of the crime lab.

Danny had quietly watched Alex climb into the passenger's side of Sonny Sassone's 1990 Dodge Aspen. She was going on a date with the guy to piss him off. She knew that he'd be angry with her if she hung around the Tanglewoods. He had distinctly told her not to go anywhere alone with Sonny. He'd probably try to have sex with her. And the second he had told her this, she had decided that he thought she wasn't capable of taking care of herself. And this meant she'd have to prove him wrong.

He was jealous. Jealous that Sonny was on a date with the girl he'd been in love with since he was 10. Pissed that she was doing this to make him angry. He was upset that she had chosen Sonny over him. He had waited up all night waiting for the sound of the Aspen drop her off, so he could climb through her window like he did almost every night and tell her how stupid she'd been for getting in a car with a 21 year old when she was just 15.

Now, 2 in the morning, he had heard the engine and peaked his head out of his bedroom window to see Sonny help Alex climb into her window. He opened his own window when he saw Alex lean out of the window and kiss Sonny on the cheek before she closed the window and Sonny hurried off. If her mother knew she had been on a date with a 21 year old, she would have gotten her ass beat, he thought, as he jumped from his window and hurried over to hers.

"Alex," he whispered, lightly knocking on her window. "Lex!"

"Shhh!" she said, opening the door. "My parents are sleeping," she whispered, popping the screen out for him. "What do you want?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest as he jumped up and into her window.

"Are you stupid, Lex?" Danny asked, fixing his shirt. "Going out with Sonny. He's 21! He could have slipped something in your drink and raped you."

Alex rolled her eyes. "You're pissed because your brother won't let you hang with them and that means you won't be a Tanglewood."

"You shouldn't be hanging with him Lex."

"He's a sweet guy," she shrugged. "Save for the pot and shit. You shouldn't be running with them anyway, Danny. Let it go."

"No. I don't want you around him."

"What are you my clingy possessive boyfriend?" she growled, heading towards her bed.

"Well someone's gotta look out for you. Sonny is not some nice innocent boy."

"Why do you care?"

"Because Alex," Danny sighed, waving his hands in the air like he did every time he was frustrated.

"You like me," she grinned, standing up.

"I do not. I just don't like you runnin' around with guys."

"Because you like me. You're jealous of Sonny." She walked towards him and gave him a smile as she looked him in the eye. "Admit it, Danno."

"You're crazy," Danny shook his head, taking a step back from Alex. He let out another sigh when she continued to smile at him.

"Whatever," she shrugged turning around. She headed for her dresser and unbuttoned her jeans.

"Come on why you gonna change in front of me like that?" he sighed shaking his head.

"Oh? Does it bother you?" She asked him, pulling her shirt over her head as well. She turned to face him and gave him a small grin. "Admit it, and I'll get dressed."

Danny turned to look away, and licked his lips. "Lex don't play around. Come on."

Alex rolled her eyes, but turned back to her dresser. "You're such a brat," she said, grabbing large t-shirt and threw it over her head.

"I'm a brat? How am I a brat?"

"They never let me go anywhere with them," Alex mocked, rolling her eyes. "Lex, make 'em lemme go. Lex you shouldn't be hanging out with them. Why do you gotta get dressed in front of me, Lex. Come on, Lex, come on."

"I don't sound like that," Danny defended himself.

"If you say so," she shrugged. "That's what you sound like in my head, brat."

"You're unbelievable, you know that?" He asked her, grabbing her wrist.

"So?" she asked stepping closer to him. "Your point?"

Danny shrugged his shoulders. "No point," he whispered, grinning at the twinkle in her eye. "Ok," he smirked. "I like you."

"Really?" she whispered, tucking her brunette hair behind her ear.

"Really," Danny smiled, grabbing her chin. "I do."

"Okay then," she nodded her head, her cheeks turning a rosy color.

His throat burned as the dark colored liquid ran down his trachea. His ass hurt as he sat on the hard stool in the tiny bar, smoke burning his eyes as he set his finished glass on the bar, and opened his brown leather jacket to grab his pack of Marlbol from the inside pocket. He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall to his right, and shook his head. It was only 9 at night. Time was slowly moving forward, and he didn't like it one bit.

"How'd I know you'd be here, Messer?" a voice called from behind him. He turned to see Aiden Burn smiling at him. She set her purse on the bar and sat besides him.

Danny shrugged his shoulders and slouched over as the bartender hit him with another drink. "Because when I'm pissed this is where I come."

"Why you pissed then?" she asked him, as she turned towards the bartender and ordered a beer for herself.

"I hate when we go home and we don' get a case closed," he told her. "Someone's dead and we can't arrest the bastard who killed her."

"Ay," Aiden grinned, bumping elbows with him. "We know he did it, Mess. We're gonna get him. We just need to get some solid evidence. Mac may say follow the evidence, but it's your gut that tells you what to look for."

Danny nodded his head in agreement, and sipped at his coke and rum. "Still sucks, Aiden," he sighed. "We know he did it but we can't get 'em. We can't arrest him. How does that make us good cops? We can't even do our jobs right."

"That aint true," Aiden shook her head. "You win some and you lose some. And the ones you lose, you carry with you. Every step, every day to remind yourself how important it is to catch the next guy."

Danny slowly nodded his head. "It's frustrating."

"Don't be mad," she whispered. "We're gonna go to work tomorrow and we're gonna get 'em." She set her hand on his left shoulder and squeezed gently to show him she was there. They'd do this together. "So whose that girl you were on the phone with last week?" she grinned.

"Oh?" Danny laughed. "You mean the girl that stood me up tonight?"

"She didn't!" Aiden giggled. "Don't they know not to stand Danny Messer up?"

"Shut up, Burn," Danny grinned, watching Aiden become pleased with the fact she had made him crack a smile. "Mocking my player moves. If I recall, I seemed to have gotten your panties in a bunch before."

"Once," she rolled her eyes. "One time Danny. It barely counts we were drunk."

"It counts Burn. If I 'member what your ass looks like, it counts."

Aiden rolled her eyes, and shook her head. "Doesn' count."

"Does."

"Not even the point here, Messer. The point is you got yourself a girl and she stood you up 'n now you're drinkin'."

Danny shrugged again, and finished his glass, as he lit up the cigarette he had pulled from his jacket pocket before Aiden had showed up to make sure he was okay. "We grew up together, that's all," he told Aiden, pressing his lips to the cigarette.

Aiden let out a loud cough, "Bullshit," she mumbled as she pretended to have a fit of coughs.

"Okay. So we grew up together and I dated her for a bit and we bumped into each other, that's all."

"Whatever," Aiden laughed, smacking the bar. "I'll let you drink your pain away or whatever you're doing."

"Waiting for my date," Danny corrected her.

"That stood you up," Aiden rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Dom," Danny Messer groaned, picking up a rock from the beach and throwing it in the Coney Island beach water. "We're gonna be late for dinner. Mommy's gonna kill us."

"Whatta about Louie, Danny?" Dominic Messer asked following his big brother towards the boardwalk. Danny rolled his eyes at his younger brother's stupidity. Louie had ditched them on the beach to hang out with Sonny Sassone. They were gonna make a gang, Louie had told Danny. Dom didn't understand. He was too naïve.

"He's gonna get his ass beat when he gets home," Danny said, turning the Mets cap backwards on his baby brother's head, and wrapping his arm around his shoulder. "We aint gonna, 'cause we're gonna be home in time."

"Is Alex gonna eat with us?" Dom asked, looking up at Danny. "I like her."

"She likes you too," Danny nodded his head. "But she's not eating with us. Her Ma's in the hospital."

"Oh," Dom mumbled. "How come?"

"She's sick, Dom," Danny rolled his eyes as the two walked to the end of the boardwalk and turned down an abandoned street that he and Alex had discovered when they lost track of time after they'd gone for a hot dog.

"I hate this short cut, Danny," Dom continued to talk while Danny had blocked out his baby brother's little voice. They'd been on their street, almost home when they heard a loud screeching noise. Danny had turned to his left to see a beat down Oldsmobile come to a halt besides them.

"You the Messer boys?" the driver asked, glaring from Danny to Dom.

"Who wants to know?" Danny asked, slowly walking away from the car, subconsciously pushing Dom behind him. The driver nodded his head at the passenger seat, and Danny watched as a man dressed in all black smoked a cigarette.

"I've got a message for the Tanglewoods," the driver spoke, pulling out a gun. "You let your brother know. We catch them messin' with the Lakeside jus' one more time, an' they're gonna get a bullet in 'em."

Danny slowly nodded his head, and hurried off, pulling Dom along with him.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Danny Messer hated when his mother cried. Something was wrong for her to be like this. She rarely cried in front of her children. Louie had fucked up, he thought, watching his mother cry from his bedroom. He wanted to hug her. Tell her everything would be all right But that was a lie. He knew that if the Lakeside Bullets had anything to do with Dom's disappearance like Louie had mentioned to Sonny, his brother was dead.

"Danny!" Alex yelled standing outside his window, as she pounded on the glass. He turned around and hurried to the window, opening it for her.

"Shhh. My Ma'll hear you," he whispered, popping the screen out for her. He grabbed her arm to help her through the window.

"Did the Tanglewoods find Dom?" Alex asked, sitting on his bed.

"No." Danny glanced around his room, unsure of why Alex hadn't just used the front door in the middle of the day.

"Sonny told me it was Lakeside. I called my cousin, Vinny. He seemed shady about it."

"Vinny's running with them, now?" Danny asked his eyes widening. "Alex he took my brother!"

"Like your brother has done good in his life," Alex defended her cousin. "Look Danny. Just because he runs with him doesn't mean it was his idea. Is your mom gonna call the cops?"

"Dad's talking her outta it," Danny nodded his head. "Told her if he doesn't come home by 7 she can call."

Alex nodded her head. "She needs to Danny."

"They're not gonna do anything. He's just some gang member's little brother. Bound to wind up like his big brother. It'll get pushed aside. He'll be forgotten about. Louie and Sonny will take care of it."

"Because killing is right," Alex nodded her head. "Danny you're better than that. Don't get caught up with them."

"I'm not," Danny promised her, though they both knew it was a lie. He watched her nod her head and cross her arm over her chest, an indication she knew he was lying to her. She headed towards his dresser and opened his underwear drawer. "What are you doing?"

Alex pulled a silver gun from under his underwear. "Why do you have a gun then?"

"Alex!" He growled, walking over to her, and firmly grabbing her wrist. "Put that back. It's not a toy."

"No, Danny. You shouldn't have it!"

"Your gonna kill someone with that thing!"

"Get rid of it!"

"No." Danny turned his head to the side at the sound of footsteps. "My Ma is coming but it back," he whispered, causing Alex to drop the gun back in his drawer and close it immediately.

"Bullshit!" Alex yelled. "I saw you flirting with her!"

"I wasn't, babe," Danny sighed, his mother opening his bedroom door to figure out what the commotion was.

"Oh my God, Daniel," Alex growled. "You touched Stacey Will's boob."

"What!" Danny rolled his eyes. "Are you blind. I did not. She tripped, and I helped her get back up."

"Don't lie! Cheater!" Alex shouted, hurrying out of his bedroom, brushing past Mrs. Messer. "Hi Mrs. Messer," she shouted, leaving through the front door.

"When did she get here?" Mrs. Messer asked, sniffling a bit.

"She never left, Ma," Danny shrugged. "Been here since lunch." He plopped onto his bed, and rested his arm behind his head, looking up at the ceiling.

"She mad at you?"

"Yup," Danny nodded his head, trying to hide the smile on his face. Even when Alex was pissed at him, she came through and covered for him. "Apparently I cheated on her or something. Who knows Ma? Girls start too much drama."

"Have either one of your brother's called?" Mrs. Messer asked her middle child.

"No," Danny sighed shaking his head. He turned to face his mother who was on the verge of tears once again.

"Did you and Alex have sex?" she asked, glancing around the room, realizing that Danny's window was wide open, and the screen was lying against his dresser.

"No" Danny coughed.

"Put the screen back before your father finds it, Danny. I didn't see it, okay?"

"Thanks, Ma," Danny sighed watching her leave his bedroom. He stood up from his bed, and grabbed the screen, placing it back on his window.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wanna go to AC?" Danny asked her, resting his hand on the threshold of her front door.

"I…Mom's in the hospital," she shook her head. "I shouldn't."

"Come on. Babe. Louie's lettin' me go. Sonny n' Salvador don' mind if you come. It's a free night out. Get your mind off things. Your ole man's at the hospital wit her right? He won' even notice. Where's Drew?"

"Stayin' with his friend."

"Home alone?" Danny nodded. "Come on."

"Fine," Alex sighed, liking the idea. "But I gotta be back by 9 tomorrow morning. That's when Drew is coming back."

"Deal," he smiled.

"That's an ugly hat," she giggled nodding to the tan French hat, his carpenter jeans and his velvet tracksuit zip up sweatshirt. "You look like a dork."

"You have room to talk," he rolled his eyes. "Your hair looks like you stuck your finger in an electrical socket."

"It does not," she rolled her eyes. "That was the 80's. This is the 90's."

"Whatever," Danny shrugged, wrapping his arm around her waist as she locked the door behind her.

She'd been expecting to have fun. She'd been expecting to get her mind off the fact her mother may not make it home from the hospital this time around, and she hadn't been expecting the pit stop outside the Giant's stadium.

"Stay in the car," Louie ordered Alex as he and Danny climbed out of the car. She watched as Sonny Sassone's car skidded to a stop and he and another man got out of the car, while Danny casually tried to act like whatever was going on wasn't bothering him. Alex climbed into the front seat of Louie's car, and rolled down the window to listen to what was going on.

"Drinking already," Alex shook her head at Sonny shutting his front door with a 40 in his hand.

"Yo Louie!" Alex heard Sonny grin, waddling over towards Louie. "Sorry about the detour. I had to pull over! I'm hearin' all kinds a knocks and pins in my trunk!"

Alex glanced at Danny in his Adidas tracksuit, his hands stuffed in his pockets, a stupid cigarette tucked behind his ear, just like his big brother. "You're not fucking cool, Danny," Alex mumbled, and then turned her attention to Sonny who pulled a kid from his trunk. "What the fuck?"

"Bonjourno!" Sonny grinned. "Stick around Messer!" he said, pointing towards Danny, who leaned against the car, putting his cigarette in his mouth. "Don't turn away! You may learn somethin'!" Both Alex and Danny turned their heads away as Sonny beat the poor kid up. "If I catch you! Messin' with one of my boys' again! I'm gonna burry you in the end zone!" Sonny yelled at the boy.

"Come on!" Danny yelled. "Enough already! The kid is bleeding from his face and everywhere else! Come on! Leave 'em alone!"

"Louie, take care of your brother," Sonny ordered Louie who turned towards Danny.

"Take off!" Louie Messer shouted at his little brother, back handing him across the face. "Hit the road. Get outta here, D!" he shouted, pushing him to the ground. "You're embarrassing me in front of my boys! You're a disgrace. That kid killed Dom!"

Danny threw his cigarette at Louie and then stood up to hurry towards Louie's car, and climbed into the driver's side, putting the car into reverse.

"You okay?" Alex asked her boyfriend when they were home. The car ride had been silent. She'd been afraid to speak. Danny was too pissed off, hurt, angry, upset, every raw emotion in the book. She could tell by the way he clenched his fist around the steering wheel, and didn't set his free hand on her thigh like he usually did when he drove her places.

"Fine," he whispered.

"They killed that kid didn't they?" she whispered. "They know he killed Dom."

"Drop it, Lex," Danny warned her, turning the car off, and climbing out. He opened the passenger door for her, and walked her to her front door. "You want me to stay with you tonight?" he asked her when she unlocked the front door.

"Please?" she asked. "I'm scared Mom's gonna die tonight, Dan. She's real, real sick this time."

"Okay," Danny nodded his head, stepping into her house, his arms wrapping around her. "I bet yah she's gonna be fine, just like last time."

"I hope," Alex whispered, squeezing onto Danny part in fear for her mother, part in fear for Danny, and part in fear for what the Tanglewoods would do to the kid that they were sure killed Dom.

"Hey," a small, timid voice whispered. Danny turned to see Alex standing in purple scrubs, her hair pulled back in a pony-tail that he could tell had been pulled up hours ago as it was falling from it's scrunchy, and into her face. Bags under her eyes told him she had a rough day, and blood at the bottom left hand corner of her shirt told him something bad had happened to her.

"Was' sup?" Danny asked, immediately standing up from his stool, to wrap his arms around her. "Are you alright? Wha's happened?"

"Fine," she whispered, taking a step back, indicating that she didn't want his hug. 20 years ago she would have welcomed his arms, and cried into his shoulder. She stared at Aiden for a second and then turned back to Danny. "Sorry I'm late… bad day at work… cell died," she let out a pathetic laugh and waved her phone in the air. "You smell," she said, scrunching her nose. "You smokin' that shit again?"

"No," Danny shook his head, lying. He internally cursed, recalling Alex's keen smell. She could pinpoint the smell of cigarette smoke floating on your clothes, even in a smoky atmosphere like this one. She knew the difference between the smoke in the air, and the different smell of the smoke embedding itself on his hands, and in his clothes.

"What happened?" Danny asked, watching Aiden slip away from the bar quietly without distracting them.

"Don' change the subject," she shook her head, grabbing his jacket, and pulling out the cigarettes. "That's disgustin' Danny. Y'know Ma died 'cause of that shit, right? 'N here you are, smokin' it."

"Sorry, Lex," he whispered, grabbing the pack from her and setting it back in his jacket. She had always told him it was gross when he smoked. And when her Mom had been diagnosed with cancer, he quit. The habit had picked up once again as he went through the Police Academy during the day and tried his best to stay awake for night school so he could become a CSI like Detective Mac Taylor. Slowly, as he hung out with his patrol partner, and later grew closer to Flack, a pack a day was creeping up on his health. And he hadn't cared.

"Denny died today," she whispered, sitting on one of the wooden stools. "You remember me mentioning him?" she asked. "When you and that guy with the black leather jacket and long girly hair?"

"Yeah."

"S'shame," she shook her head. "He'd be drop dead gorgeous if he cut that shit off his head."

"Lex," Danny said, rolling his eyes as she tried her best to change the subject.

"I'm sorry Danny," she said, agitation evident in her voice. "Right well he died. He's been my patient on n' off for three years. In n' out of the hospital 'cause of his heart. He just got his transplant last night. He was so happy. We all were and I was there in the room and somethin' went wrong, and he bled out. Right there under the knife." She shook her head, and bit her bottom lip. "And the fuckin' cardiologist was a coward. I hadda tell 'em Danny. That their kid was dead. That he fucked up. He was too big a pussy to do it himself."

"That's not your fault. It's the doc's."

"I feel so bad though," she whispered, wiping her eyes. I should have prepped him instead of letting the intern do it. I should have known he didn't have enough oxygen getting to his brain when the doc switched his heart out. If I just paid attention, Dan, he'd be here."

"Hey. Were you the one cutting him open?" Danny asked her.

"No," she whispered. "Might as well have been."

"If you didn't cut him open it wasn't your fault. That pussy doctor should have apologized. He better go to the funeral."

"He won't," she whispered. "He's a coward. What's it your mom used to say whenever your old man did something and didn' take blame?"

"Vigliacco," Danny nodded his head.

"Right what you said," nodding her head as well. "That's what the scumbag is."

"It's not hard to say Alex."

"I don't care. I'm over 12. I'm too old to learn a new language."

"Vigliacco," Danny said again, this time directing the word to Alex, who punched him in the arm. "Ouch," he laughed rubbing the spot she hit.

"Like it hurt!" Alex said, shaking her hand. "Damn. You're packing under there."

"I work out," Danny rolled his eyes.

"No shit!" she laughed. "Coulda warned me, jackass." Danny gave her a small smile, the two falling into a comfortable silence before Alex finally spoke. "No matter what, we always get stuck with each other."

"Damn straight, Lex," he grinned. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Good," she smiled, linking her arm with his and resting her head on his shoulder.