A/N: Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! Answers to your questions are coming, I promise. See the first chapter for the disclaimer. I hope you guys enjoy this one, and please review. :)

Chapter Two

To say Danny was pissed was an understatement. Nine hours ago, the first solid lead came through in this case when a tourist found what she had thought was a dead body in an alley.

It was Jamie.

Nothing in Danny's career had ever prepared him for what he rolled up on in that alley. He and Maria had been grabbing coffee around the corner, and had decided to respond to the call. Part of Danny had hoped that it was Jamie, because that meant the nightmare of a missing brother would be over.

But instead, a whole new nightmare began.

When Danny had reached his brother's side, he had immediately crouched down and felt for a pulse. Weak and thready. Breaths shallow, rapid, and full of bubbling mucus. Blood pooling underneath the unconscious man, deep red and clotting. Face barely recognizable under the bruises, cuts, and drying blood. Limbs bent in unnatural arrangements, chest rising unevenly.

Danny had feared, for the first time, that Jamie wasn't going to make it.

Danny had held his hand on top of Jamie's chest lightly, feeling the displacement of his younger brother's ribs as he breathed. Danny had closed his eyes, biting his lip. "Stay with me," he had told his kid brother. "Just stay with me."

Jamie hadn't responded.

And now, Jamie was up in the ICU, and Danny was cursing the boxes of evidence before him that held way more questions than answers. Maria had run out for Chinese, leaving Danny to attempt to untangle what they know and what they don't.

The biggest unknown: who had held Jamie for two days.

Nothing found in the alley provided any clues in that regard. And no leads the investigation had previously turned up bared any fruit from anywhere except the headache tree. Danny scrubbed his hand over his face in aggravation. Nothing had been going right in this case since day one.

What he did know was that Jamie never made it into work on Monday. And the last time anyone had seen him was when he left Sunday night dinner with the family. His wrecked car was found four miles away from his apartment, broken into with blood inside that had been positively identified as Jamie's. Obvious signs of a struggle. Jamie's off-duty weapon was found in the glove compartment.

No indication Jamie ever got to it.

Danny sighed heavily, dropping his head down toward the desk. Four miles from Jamie's apartment didn't mean that was where Jamie was abducted. That only meant that was where his car was dumped. Although towed was more likely, given marks on the undercarriage. So he had no idea where Jamie went missing from, though his best guess was somewhere between his father's house and his brother's apartment. And that was too many streets to cover for clues that might not even be there.

More dead ends.

Danny shook his head, flipping through the file. The key to solving this was currently unconscious in the ICU on a ventilator, unable to answer any questions. Fighting for his life. Danny pushed the last thought out of his mind. Nothing he could do would make Jamie get better any faster, but he could at least make sure someone paid for it.

Maria walked back in, passing a container over to him. "Anythin'?" she asked.

"Canvass of the alley got nothin'," Danny replied. "Lab's still workin' on the evidence they got from Jamie. Evidence from the car turned up nothin' new, but CSU's sweepin' it again now that Jamie's been found to find any trace that matches where he might've been held."

The file with the photographs remained untouched, something that didn't go unnoticed by Maria as she handed Danny a container with food. "Pictures give you anythin'?" she probed gently.

"I haven't looked at them," he acknowledged.

She nodded.

He sighed again. "It's my kid brother, Maria," he said softly.

"I know," she replied.

He rested his hand atop the folder briefly.

"There could be an answer in there," she urged.

"Or more questions," he countered bitterly.

"Never know until you look."

"You seen 'em?"

She half-nodded, half-shrugged. "I'm not the great and wonderful Danny Reagan, but I think there might be somethin' there."

Danny snorted slightly. "Great and wonderful, huh?"

Maria smirked. "So I hear, anyway."

He pulled the folder closer to him.

"How is Jamie doing?" she asked, taking a bite of her food.

He sighed. "Transferred up to the ICU. Blood pressure's still low, but gettin' better. Surgery went well, but he's on the vent until his lung heals up enough that another tear isn't a problem. Crushed ribs, broken wrist, broken leg. Tons of bruises, cuts, burns all over. Not to mention the concussion and slight swellin' that hopefully hasn't done any permanent damage." Danny shook his head. "Kid got beat to hell, burned, cut up. And we can't find a single thing about who did this."

"We'll find them, Danny," she assured him.

"He wasn't undercover," he replied. "Wasn't an old assignment that came back to bite him. All of them are either still in prison or had an alibi. He's got enemies, but…"

"But?"

Danny exhaled slowly. "But what if this wasn't about Jamie at all?"