Title: To The Ends Of The Earth
Author: T'Lin
E-mail: LinkyS@svpress.us
Fandom: CSI: NY/CSI: Vegas
Pairings: M/D/D, G/N
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Danny is kidnapped, and the investigation leads Mac and Don to Las Vegas, where they join with Grissom's team to track him down.
Spoilers: Takes place shortly after "Run Silent, Run Deep"
Disclaimer: The CSI characters are not mine, I've just taken them out to play with for a while. No copyright infringement intended, nor any money made.
A/N: In answer to the challenge in the CSI_triad lj community. This is my first CSI:NY story ever, and only my 2nd CSI ...

They had all assumed the worst was over. After all, Sonny Sasone was in jail, and the rest of the Tanglewood boys were lying low ... Sonny's arrest, following Louie's death, had them all scared, and rightfully so. Admittedly, those first few weeks, everyone was a bit tense ... especially Don and Mac ... the two of them kept a constant watch on Danny, fearful that one of Sasone's boys would come after him like they had Louie.

But one week, then another, went by and no trouble. For the past couple of days, things seemed to be back to normal around the lab ... and now this. Obviously, someone had been watching, waiting for their chance to catch him when he was alone.

When the note arrived at the lab just before noon, a stunned silence fell. Within seconds, the wheels were in motion on this investigation, but there was literally nothing to go on ... Stella was in charge, and she was worried.

Hell, they were all worried - kidnappings could go both ways, and with one of theirs being the one missing, it was even worse than usual...they had to work fast, careful, and at the same time, they had to keep not only one, but two concerned and nearly frantic lovers calm and distracted.

That would be virtually impossible, of course ... neither Mac nor Don would stand for being sidelined on this one, despite the conflict of interest their involvement entailed. Stella couldn't really blame them ... if someone she loved was kidnapped, she knew she wouldn't be able to sit back and let others do the searching, either.

********

Mac sat impatiently at his desk, sifting through the minuscule amount of evidence that had been gathered so far. The note had said he would be called, so he waited by the phone even though he'd much rather be out doing something -- anything -- to get Danny back safe and sound. But right now, there wasn't much for anyone to do.

The only lead they had was from a rather unreliable witness -- a junkie who had been sleeping in the ally, and apparently heard a commotion. All he saw was a man, vaguely fitting Danny's description, being shoved into an old beater, possibly black or blue ... make and model unknown, but there was, remarkably, a partial plate.

Stella had been in charge of processing the area, and found evidence that it had, indeed, been Danny ... he had dropped his notpad. There, the leads ended. A search was currently underway for the car, but without more information, it would be a long and possibly fruitless search. Stella did have one idea that she was following up on. She said she'd let him know, as soon as anything new turned up.

Mac jumped when his phone rang. He had already set things up to record any incoming calls, and trace their origin ... pushing a few buttons to set things in motion, Mac answered, "Taylor."

There was silence for a moment, then a muffled voice said, "Your boy toy is gonna pay for what you did to Sonny."

"If you want someone to pay, why not me? I'm the one who arrested him. Danny had nothing to do with that case." Mac tried to be reasonable, and remain calm. Loosing his cool wouldn't do anyone any good ... especially not Danny.

"No, I know you," the voice said with a harsh chuckle, "we hurt you, you don't give a damned ... but we hurt your boy ..." it came out as almost a question, but this unfinished statement was enough to let Mac know that Danny's captor did, indeed, know him very well. His own personal safety was always at the bottom of his priority list ... any member of his team would come before himself ... Danny above all others, including Don.

Mac fought the urge to yell at the disembodied voice ... he couldn't lose his cool now. Losing control would only prove that Danny's captor was right, and give him more to work with. "What do you want?" he asked, hoping to buy time for Danny, if nothing else.

"I have what I want ... your boy," and then he chuckled, adding, "I have plans for him. But I'll make a deal with you ... get Sonny out of jail, and I'll consider letting him live once I'm done having my fun with him."

The sound of his voice, combined with that sadistic chuckle, made Mac shiver. He remembered what Danny had said about the Tanglewood Boys, and how they had treated him in the past ... especially after they discovered that he was gay. Mac's vivid imagination took over, adding fuel to the fire of his determination to find his lover.

********

Stella's theory panned out. She had taken the partial plate, and vague description of the car, and cross-referenced it against all known and suspected Tanglewood Boys, and got a possible match -- Eddie Sasone, Sonny's kid brother.

Considering everything that had happened in the past few weeks, there was no problem getting a judge to grant a search warrant of his home and business, and Stella conducted a search in record time.

There was no sign of Eddie or Danny at either location, but trace found at the garage that Eddie owned proved that he was the one who had taken Danny, and had held Danny captive at the garage for a while. Unfortunately, it looked as if they had been gone for a while, and most likely would not be back.

********

Eddie Sasone was on the move. His car had been spotted in a rural town in PA, but he was able to shake the cop who started chasing him. The PA State Police, in cooperation with the NYPD, set up roadblocks, but to no avail. Apparently, Sasone knew enough to stay away from the major roads, and get out of town.

Every couple of days, there would be another sighting, and another chase ... only to loose him once again. Unfortunately, there had been no pattern to these sightings, so it was virtually impossible to figure out where they would turn up next. All was not lost, however. Danny had been leaving clues behind, whenever he could. Thanks to Danny, they now knew that Eddie was not alone in the kidnapping; Eddie's cousin, Vinnie DeNozio, was with him.

Nonetheless, nearly a week had passed since Danny's kidnapping, and Mac and Don were chomping at the bit. Every time new information came in about Danny, they wanted to go to process the scene themselves. It took a bit of persuading on Stella's part, but they agreed to remain in NY ... with the understanding that, the instant Danny was found, they would head to the scene.

There were no arguments from Stella on that ... she knew Danny would need them more than ever, once he was found.

********

It looked like a typical auto accident resulting in a fatality. Gil was not one to speculate, but at first glance, he presumed that speed, and possibly alcohol, were involved. Nothing overly unusual about that on these windy desert roads in the middle of the night, and not something that his team would usually investigate. But there was something about this case that had given it a high priority in the eyes of the LVPD, and that was the NY plates on the car.

There was an APB out on this particular car ... possible involvement in the kidnapping of one of their own, a NYC CSI named Danny Messer. When Brass called, he had given Grissom the heads-up, and let him know that his counterpart in NY, Mac Taylor, had been notified. Danny had been missing for over a week now, and the NY team had begun to lose hope of finding him alive ... Grissom knew first hand how that felt.

Hopefully, if this car, and its driver, had been involved with the kidnapping case, Grissom and his team would find some evidence that would lead them to Danny ... or at least his body.

Grissom got to work processing the scene ... he wanted some answers to give Taylor when he arrived.

*******

And answers they had ... just not the most important one. When Mac Taylor and Don Flack arrived in Grissom's office, nearly five hours after being called, Gil had not yet found Danny. As the CSI's from NY entered his office, Gil stood, and stepped toward the door to great them. "Mac, long time," he said, holding out his hand to his NY counterpart.

"Yes, it has been, Gil," Mac replied, shaking hands, then added, "This is Detective Don Flack."

"Detective," Gil said shaking his hand as well, then continuing to both of them, "I'm afraid we haven't found your man yet, but my people are good ... we will find him."

"I have every confidence that you will," Mac said with a sad smile. "Can you fill me in?" he asked, as he took the seat Gil offered him.

Gil was about to reply when Don spoke up, "I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help," then with a small smile, he continued, "I'm not too good with sitting around waiting for something to happen."

"Understood," Gil said, then hit a button on his phone, "Nicky, could you come in my office for a moment?"

"Sure thing, Gris," came the reply, and within seconds, Nick entered his bosses office.

"Nick Stokes ... Lieutenant Mac Taylor, and Detective Don Flack from NY," Grissom said, and Nick shook hands with each of them, as Grissom continued, "Nicky, I was wondering if you could fill the Detective in on where we are so far. And while you're at it, put him to work in any way you need him."

"Will do," Nick said, then turning to Flack, added, "Follow me, Detective ... a fresh pair of eyes might be just what we need right about now."

"Call me Flack ... everyone else does," Don said, and followed Nick out into the lab. As the door closed behind them, Gil could hear Nick telling Flack what they had so far.

"Thanks for keeping him busy, Gil," Mac said, as he watched Don follow Nick out of the office, then he turned his attention back to Gil, adding, "This ... waiting has been driving us both to distraction. We have to find Danny."

"We will, Mac," Gil assured him, then added, "I know how difficult it is to feel so ... helpless. Kidnappings are never easy, but when it's one of your own ..." as he said this, memories of Nick being buried alive flashed through his mind, and he shuddered. Shaking his head to clear it of the images, he continued, "Remember, I've been there ... and I promise you, we'll find him."

Mac nodded, then said, "Danny's more than just 'one of my people'."

Grissom smiled, getting his meaning, and said softly, "So was Nick, to me." Seeing that Mac understood that he really did know where he was coming from, he added, "but that's not common knowledge. May I assume that your relationship with Danny is known?" and seeing Mac nod, he continued, "then that would explain why you weren't the one in charge of the investigation in NY."

"That's right, Stella was in charge," and with a rueful smile, he continued, "but she was smart enough to know that neither Don or I would ... well, she knew that we had to come here, even though ..." and his words trailed off.

Grissom could see how difficult it was for Mac to keep it together, and decided that this was as good a time as any to present the evidence to him. Nothing like cold, hard facts to help focus the mind, and keep emotion at bay. He pulled out the report that Nick had given him and started to tell Mac everything they had so far.

"First off, we have identified the driver of the car, who died on impact, as Eddie Sasone," he said, then continued, "there was also evidence of a passenger, who had been thrown from the car ... he was found shortly after we arrived, and was transported to the hospital. He was positively ID'd as Vinnie DeNozio, and is currently in critical, but stable, condition."

Grissom paused, seeing that Mac was still with him, before he added, "Unfortunately, he is in a coma, so we have not been able to get any information about Danny out of him."

"But you know that Danny wasn't in the car," It was more of a statement than a question, but Grissom answered nonetheless.

"There was a small amount of Danny's blood in the back seat ... but it was all dried, and not consistent with what one would expect to find, had he been in the car during the accident." Grissom could see the relief on Mac's face, as he continued, "our best guess is that they had hit him at some point, possibly giving him a split lip, or some such injury, and that was what the blood was from. There is no evidence that he was in the car when it crashed ... which of course begs the question, where is he?"

"And that is the one thing we don't have a clue about ... am I correct?" Mac asked, feeling relief over what news he had been given, but apprehension about ever finding his young lover.

"We're not completely in the dark," Grissom said, then started to tell him about what they had found so far, "There was beer and food in the car, and a receipt from a 'gas and go' about three miles from where they had crashed. We're working on the assumption that they found a place to hole up for a while, dropped Danny off, and headed into town for supplies. My team is, as we speak, anylizing the trace found on the car, looking for anything that could pinpoint where it has been."

"Working from an assumption," Mac said with a question in his voice.

Grissom smiled, "Not something I usually condone but ... sometimes ... well, you have no choice."

"I hear you," Mac agreed, and was about to say something more, when a gorgeous, leggy redhead stepped into the office, a cell phone in hand.

"Gris, a call just came in to 911 ... it was Danny," she said, then seeing the stranger sitting across from him, who practically jumped out of his chair when she spoke, she continued, "he has no idea where he is, but they're triangulating on his location, and will send it out to us as soon as they have it."

She had no sooner finished what she was saying when Nick and Flack stepped back into the office, and Nick said, "There were particles of an exotic plant in the tire treads ... we've narrowed down our search to a no-tell-motel about five miles south ..."

But he stopped as Catherine held up her hand as her cell rang. A second after answering she said, "Got it. The call came from the 'Shady Palms' Motel."

"Five miles south of the gas and go that our vic stopped at," Nick added, as he and Catherine looked at each other.

"Let's go, people," Grissom said, giving Mac a pat on the back as they left the office.

Mac smiled, and wrapped an arm around Don, as they left the office. He was proud of Danny and his resourcefulness ... he had no idea what Danny had experienced at the hands of his captors, but he hadn't given up. As they got into Grissom's Tahoe, Mac whispered to Don, "I knew he'd be OK."

"I know you knew that ... but I," Don confided in a whisper, "hell, he's been through so much, and I ... I couldn't protect him."

"Don, this isn't your fault," Mac said, holding Don in his arms, as they sped off, siren blaring. "He's a tough kid ... he'll get through this just like he got through everything else ... but this time, we'll be there to help him, OK?"

"Ok, Mac," Don agreed, pulling himself together when he realized that Nick was watching them from the front seat.

Nick hadn't intended to eavesdrop on the conversation in the back, but the intensity of it was hard to miss. He looked away as soon as his eyes locked with Flack's, catching Grissom's eye as he did. With one hand, Grissom signed 'later' and went back to driving. Nick faced forward, confusion on his face.

******

The emergency vehicles arrived first ... Danny was already hooked up to an IV, and in the ambulance when the Tahoe pulled up at the scene. The vehicle had barely come to a stop when Mac and Don climbed out, and ran to the ambulance. As Grissom got out, an officer approached, saying, "We did our best to preserve the scene, but he needed medical attention ..."

Grissom cut him off, saying, "I understand. It's not a problem, we have enough evidence to make a conviction ... although we may not have anyone to prosecute." He smiled a little as he said this, he could see that the officer was nervous, and tried to ease his mind as best he could. Turning to Nick, he continued, "Nicky, start processing the scene ... I'll be in shortly."

Without waiting for a response from Nick, Grissom walked over the the ambulance. The young man strapped to the gurney was a mass of cuts and bruises; his left eye was swollen shut, with a deep gouge over the brow and caked blood matting his hair in places. Add a bruised jaw and split lip, and it was evident that he had taken quite a beating. And by the look of his hands, he had fought back.

Grissom was touched by the scene before him ... both Mac and Flack where crowded into the ambulance with Danny, and it was apparent to Grissom that the connection between the three of them was very close. Suddenly, the conversation in the back of the Tahoe made more sense.

Clearing his throat, Grissom got their attention, and said, "Mister Messer, I just wanted to tell you that you are safe, and need not fear your captors any more ... one is dead, and the other is in a coma. The extent of his injuries is such that he may never recover from them. I thought you'd like to know." Then he smiled, and added, "You did a hell of a job letting us know where you were," then he turned to Mac, and said, "you should be proud of him."

"I am," Mac said. "Thank you, Gil ... for everything."

"I'll see you at the hospital," Grissom said, as he stepped away from the ambulance, and closed the door. As the ambulance pulled away, he returned to the motel room where Danny had been held.

Nick had already photographed the room, and was bagging and tagging evidence. Not that they really needed to, since there was no question about the guilt of Eddie Sasone and Vinnie DeNozio ... and with one dead, and the other brain damaged, there would most likely never be a trial ... but it was their job.

Gil watched Nick work, and smiled. He loved Nicky with all his being, yet they had never told anyone ... even when Nick had been taken, and buried, Gil had somehow managed to keep his feelings for the young man hidden from his co-workers. But right now, he wondered why ...

Nick turned, somehow sensing that he was being watched, and smiled at Gil, as he said, "That Danny was one very determined guy. The evidence of the abuses he suffered while here -- and I'd say they've only been here a couple of days, by the amount of trash -- is overwhelming. He was beaten and raped, no doubt, and tied up over there," he said, nodding his head toward the corner, where bloody ropes were attached to some exposed pipes.

Gil stepped toward the ropes, and crouched down to examine them, saying after a moment, "This explains the condition of his hands," then he stood again and went to Nick's side. "I read his file ... he's had a tough life, especially in the past year. A lesser man would have given up," then he smiled, as he added, "but love will give most anyone strength they didn't know they had."

"Yeah, Flack really loves the guy," Nick said, then looked around the place to make sure they were alone, before he added with a smile, "and I can relate ... my love of you is what kept me going, too."

Grissom smiled, and signed 'I Love You, too' before saying, "Not just Flack, Mac as well ... I think," Grissom added with a smile, "they are in some kind of three-way relationship."

"Well, that explains a few things," Nick said, then got back to work. In no time, they were done processing the room, and were headed back to the lab.

This case was closed, and they could call it a night. Grissom had spent the last hour of the shift in his office, finishing up the paperwork. A light tap on his door made him look up, and Nick was standing there. "Care to join me for breakfast?" he asked, with a twinkle in his eye.

"That depends," Grissom said, smiling a bit mischievously in return, as he added, "will we be dining alone, or with others?"

"I'm thinking alone ... unless ..."

Nick got no further, as Grissom stood, crossed the room and planted a kiss on him, "I think it's time we told the team about us." But there was no need, as cat-calls and whistles and 'way-to-go' could be heard throughout the lab. Grissom looked up, and smiled, "I guess they already know."

"Yeah, I guess they do," Nick agreed, and pulled Gris into another kiss that left them both a bit breathless. "Let's get some breakfast."

******

Danny was sleeping at last. Beaten, bruised and battered, but no permanent damage. At least not physical ... the emotional and psychological damage was unknown right now. Chances are, he'd be having nightmares for some time.

But Mac knew all about nightmares ... Danny had helped him get over his, and by god, he'd do the same for him. Looking across Danny's bed, he could see Don sleeping with his head on the edge of the bed, his arm draped over Danny's waist. Don would be there for Danny as well ... and the three of them would be stronger, as a triad, for this experience.

Mac reached out, and placed his hand over Don's, where it rested on Danny. Don opened his eyes, and smiled at Mac. Just then, Danny stirred, and whispered, "Mac ... Don? is that you?"

"Sh," Mac said, "you're safe now, go back to sleep."

But Danny tried to open his eyes, and sit up. "You really found me ... I thought I was dreaming," he said, as Don and Mac tried to calm him.

"You saved yourself," Don said with a smile.

"Go back to sleep," Mac added, "there'll be plenty of time to talk in the morning."

"But we kept moving ... further away ... I didn't think ... you'd follow," Danny said sleepily.

"I'd have gone to the ends of the Earth, and back, if need be," Mac said, "to find you."

"And I'd be right there, at his side, every step of the way," Flack added.

As he was held by the two men he loved, Danny smiled, as he fell asleep.

~the end