Title: My Sweet, Sweet Boy
By: Aiden
Pairing: Don/Danny
Fandom: CSI: NY
Rating: FRAO.
Warning: Language, talk of child abuse, sexual abuse, rape, angst, hurt/comfort.
Beta: SRS/Silvia *hugs* You rock girl.
Challenge: 100_Tales.
Prompt: 66# Past.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, if I did they would have much more fun.
Author's note: Got this bunny after watching Recycling, no spoilers just the first few lines after that it's totally different from the show. Aiden didn't die and Lindsay is with the lab but this is not for Lindsay lovers sorry guys.
Summary: Danny tells what happened to him.

***

"Thank you for stopping by."

Danny bent over the table, "if you're still here in five minutes, I
think your parol officer is gonna thank me for stopping by."

The man nodded his head. Danny turned around and left the restaurant.
Stella watched him closely; she knew that paedophile cases like this
got to him. When he stepped out into the sunlight, she noticed that he
flinched for a minute; she also saw the slight limp when he walked up
to her and Lindsay, "You're okay?"

"Do you mind driving back?" He asked her.

"No, of course not. Lindsay, get in the back seat will you?"

"Why do I have to…"

"Just do it okay?" Stella opened the passenger door and waited till
Danny was seated before moving over to the driver's side. After she
was seated, she looked at Danny who had already closed his eyes. She
patted his leg lightly, "Sleep. I'll wake you up when we get to the
lab."

They never noticed the suspect watching them.

"Oh, my sweet boy," he said out loud. He'd recognise those eyes
anywhere; a shame that his sweet boy didn't remember him. His blue
eyed boy had been so sweet and young the day he came to him, so
innocent. It had taken him a while to make him submit; he'd been a
stubborn little boy, and as he'd witnessed today, that hadn't changed
much.

This was going to be so much fun, watching him trying to catch him.
Oh he had done it, -he had raped and killed that young boy. And he was
glad that his blond, blue-eyed, sweet boy was on the case so he could
watch him closely.

He had survived the attack so many years ago. If only his sweet boy
could remember his time with him. He shrugged his shoulders. If his
sweet boy didn't remember, he would help him remember the fun they'd
had together.

They arrived at the lab, and Stella placed her hand on Danny's arm,
squeezing lightly. "Danny, where here." Danny stirred and slowly
opened his eyes, filled with pain. "Sit tight," She said, exiting the
vehicle, walking around to the passenger seat and opened the door. She
helped Danny out of the car, "Can you walk?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I'm okay." He slowly made his way up the stairs with
Stella right beside him. Mac, who was in the hallway, turned around
when they walked in. He immediately saw that something was wrong with
the young blond.

He walked over to them, a concerned look in his eyes, "Danny?"

Danny looked up and tried to smile but failed miserably, "I'll be okay."

The marine raised his eyebrow, "Mmhmm, right," He took Danny by his
arm and led him towards the elevator.

"What's wrong with him?" Lindsay asked.

Stella looked at her, "It's a long story," she sighed and walked over
to the elevator. She wasn't in the mood to deal with Lindsay right
now; she just wanted to make sure Danny was okay.

***

Don helped Danny into their apartment, "I'm not an invalid," the young
man said, pushing away from him.

"I know," Don sighed.

"Then stop treating me like one," Danny walked over to the couch and
sat down. He closed his eyes, letting his head fall back.

"Still having a headache?" Don sat beside him.

"Naah, it's better."

"Stella told me you're where limping. You're knee is bothering you?"

"Stella talks too much." Sighing, Danny confessed. "I bumped my knee
on a table in trace this morning,"

"And you didn't tell me?" Don stood up, hovering over Danny as he glared.

"That's just the reason I didn't tell you cause I knew you would react
like that," the young man retorted meeting his glare.

"I'm worried about you, shoot me."

"Okay. Where is my gun," Danny sat up, looking around.

"You're a funny guy, Messer," Don said but smiled. If Danny was making
jokes then he was feeling better. But it was far from over; he knew
that this case got to Danny, hence the headache.

"Don't worry so much, I'm okay," Danny smiled at him.

Don sighed, "Okay, why don't you get out of those pants and-"

"You wanna continue where we left off this morning?" Danny said with a
wicked smile.

Don bent over and kissed his lover hard and bruising, "I'll get an ice
pack for your knee," He finished the sentence when he broke off the
kiss.

As Don headed for the kitchen, Danny took his pants off, sat back down
on the sofa and removed his knee brace. He cursed when he saw how
swollen his knee was. Don was not going to be happy about this.

When the younger man walked back in, Danny lowered his head and
waited. He didn't wait long, "What the fuck? Danny, why didn't you say
anything to Mac or Stella or at least have Hawkes take a look at it?"
Even though Don laid the ice pack gently on Danny's knee, the young
blond still hissed as the cold ice hit his knee.

"It's not something I'm not used to," Danny retorted.

"Oh, so you're walking around with a throbbing knee because you're
used to it. You just had a fuckin' operation," Don said a little
angry.

"Uhm.. about six months ago," Danny smirked.

"You're so fuckin' stubborn."

"Yeah, and you still love me," Danny gave him his trademark grin.

They were quiet for a few moments, Don hovering over his lover, "Sit
down, will you? I'm getting cramps in my neck looking at you," Danny
grabbed Don's arm and pulled him down on the couch next to him.

"You're okay?" Don asked.

"Yeah, I'm fi-," Danny started when Don held up his hand.

"Don't tell me you're fine, cause you aren't."

"That guy creped me out," Danny confessed a shudder running down his
spine. "Every time we get a case like that, I'm thinking it could be
him, you know?"

Don nodded his head, "You think it's him?" he moved closer to Danny,
looking for any sign of discomfort.

Danny shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, it's strange but there
was something in his eyes.. like he recognised me."

Don sighed, he didn't know the full extent about what had happened to
Danny when he was just a kid, and he had never pushed him about
telling him. Mac was the only one who knew, he was the one who found
him back then. Danny had suffered from amnesia and couldn't identify
the man who abused him or knew the details about what had exactly
happened to him. "Let's talk about this in the morning. For now, let's
get you into bed, okay?"

Danny nodded, gave the ice pack back to Don and stood, "Need a shower
first," he mumbled and headed for the bathroom.

Looking at him, Don realized that Danny needed to get the stench of
this man off his body.

~.~

Don looked at his lover's sleeping form and sighed. He couldn't sleep.
Eyes roaming over Danny's exposed back, Don felt his anger flaring up
when he saw the scars. He had seem them a million times, but every
time he saw them, he wanted to wrap his hands around the neck of the
man who inflicted those scars on his lover's body and squeeze the life
out of him.

He heard Danny mumble in his sleep and ducked his head, he was having
another nightmare. He gently started to rub Danny's back, whispering
soothing words into his ear," Shh, you're safe, he can't get you
here." The young blond started to toss and turn, sobs escaping his
lips. Don sighed, gently shaking Danny's shoulder, "Come on, Danny,
wake up for me. You're okay, you're safe."

Danny bolted upright, wide eyes searching the dark room, "Fuck."

"It's okay," Don assured him.

"No, it's not okay!" Yelling, Danny got out of bed. "I won't let him win again!"

"Then don't. You're stronger then he is. Danny, you survived, you got out."

"Yeah, but he still haunts me in my dreams."

Don walked over to him, taking the other man in his arms, "Oh babe, I
know." He wished he could do more for Danny. "Let's go back to bed and
try to sleep, okay? I'll keep him away from you."

Danny looked at him, "Promise?"

Don led him over to the bed and laid down, pulling Danny with him.
Pulling him into his arms, Don moved his hand up and down his back, "I
promise," he said, kissing his forehead.

Danny sighed and got comfortable, knowing that Don would protect him
against the demon that haunted his dreams.

***

Danny woke up feeling cold, he knew Don was gone and growled his
disappointment for losing his favourite blanket. He sighed and sat up,
wincing when his knee acted up; he knew it would be bruised and stiff
from hitting it against the table.

A knock on the front door startled him out of his thoughts. He threw
back the covers, cursing when he saw his knee. "Fuck." Yep, just as he
thought.

He moved to the edge of the bed and stood up slowly, trying not to put
weight on his bad knee. "Damn, I left the brace in the living room,"
he sighed, taking the cane that was propped next to the bed. He leaned
on it heavily, and slowly made his way to the front door.

"Who's there?"

"Danny, it's me." Lindsay's voice came through the closed door.

"Great," he mumbled, moving back to the bedroom to put a shirt on. He
slowly made his way to the living room, and sat down on the couch
putting his brace on. He growled when she knocked on the door again.

"You okay in there?"

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses, I'm coming." He contemplated about
letting her just stand in the hallway. She'd leave eventually, he
sighed.

Standing up carefully, he made his way to the door, and opened it.
"What do you want?" he tried to sound polite.

"I was worried about you," she said.

"I'm fine, Montana, don't worry."

She let her gaze roam over his body, spotting the cane and knee brace.
"Danny, what happened?" He had to admit she really sounded concerned.

"Nothing, like I said I'm fine. I'll see you at work okay." Concerned
or not, he still didn't like her. She was still flirting with him even
after he'd made it clear that he wasn't interested in her. Hell, he'd
practically told her he was gay; everyone knew about him and Don
except for Lindsay.

"Danny, you need to put ice on it, do you have to take any
medication?" She was almost pushing her way into the apartment.

"Linds, listen I'm fine, okay?" He sighed. Why couldn't she just leave?

"That doesn't look fine," she pointed at his knee. "It's swollen and bruised."

"Oh, really, didn't noticed," he answered sarcastically.

"Is everything okay?" someone asked.

"Hey, Rikki," Danny greeted the woman. "Yeah, everything is fine. How's Ruben?"

"Excited to go to the game this weekend with you guys." She smiled.

Danny grinned. "Yeah, I'll bet he is. Lindsay, I'll see you at work
later, okay?"

Lindsay looked at him and nodded. "Okay, see you later." She turned
around and walked back to the elevator.

"She works with you?" Rikki asked as soon as Lindsay had stepped onto
the elevator.

"Yeah, and she doesn't know about Don and me." He sighed. "I think
it's about time we told her."

"You better do, because she has a crush on you," Rikki said.

~.~

Danny exited the elevator, and was greeted by Hawkes. He sighed. Don
must have told him about the knee. "Good afternoon, Danny, how do you
feel?"

"Better doc, thanks for asking."

"Next time you come to me, okay?" Hawkes sounded concerned.

"Yeah, I promise." Danny smirked.

"Oh, and Lindsay knows." Hawkes warned him.

"What? Who told her?" Danny became a little angry.

"Mac did. She wouldn't stop asking questions, and she is involved in
this case."

The young blond sighed. "Yeah, she is, and I guess she has a right to
know why I was acting so strange yesterday after we'd interviewed that
creep." A shudder ran down his spine.

Hawkes laid a hand on his shoulder. "You're really okay?" he asked concerned.

"Yeah, I am, it's just you know…"

"I know, don't worry we catch the bastard, Danny. We will."

They walked towards Mac's office. "Oh great," Danny commented as he
watched Lindsay walking up to them.

"Danny, you're okay?"

"Yeah, why shouldn't I be?"

"Well, Mac told me what happened to you when you…" she was stopped by
Danny when he held up his hand.

"Yeah, why don't you announce it to the entire lab, Lindsay," he growled.

She had the courtesy to blush and looked down. "I'm sorry."

"Guys." They turned around and saw Mac and Stella walking up to them.
"We've got another one," Mac said in a deadly voice. "I want you all
on it."

Stella laid a hand on Danny's shoulder. "You're up for it?"

He sighed. "Yeah no worries."

"Okay people let's go." Mac walked towards the elevator, a grim
expression on his face.

~.~

When they arrived at the crime scene, they where greeted by Don. "Hi
guys." He looked at Danny with a sad smile. "Okay, young male,
Caucasian, eleven years old." He took a deep breath. "Mom called
missing persons last night when he didn't return from school. They
found him and called us."

"Same MO?" Danny asked but already knew the answer.

"Yeah, throat cut, laid down in the fetal position."

"Okay, people, I want this place swept from top to bottom, go over
everything twice, three times if you have to. Don't leave any rock
unturned. I want this bastard." Mac ordered. He turned to Stella. "We
take the body."

Stella nodded as they both walked over to the house followed by Flack.
"He's in the living room," he explained and moved down the hallway.
They entered the living room, and a sob escaped Stella's lips.

"You're okay?" Mac laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah give me a minute."

"Take your time, I'll start processing him," Mac said in a gentle
voice, this was hard on everyone.

They were at it for about a half hour when Lindsay walked in. "I found
something."

She held up an evidence bag with what seemed to be an envelope with a
name on it. "It's addressed to Danny," she explained.

Mac stood, walked over to her and took the bag. He inspected the
envelope and saw Danny's name written on it. "Get Danny," he told Don.

Don nodded and left, came back a few minutes later with Danny. "What's
up?" the young man asked.

"This letter is addressed to you," Mac explained, handing him the bag.

Danny turned it around in his hands and took the envelope out. Opening
it, he took out the letter and started reading. Suddenly, Danny went
pale as a sheet. Giving the letter back to Mac, he bolted it out of
the room.

"Danny?" Don went after him.

"What does it say?" Stella asked.

Mac started to read. 'My sweet, sweet boy….'

***

Mac started to read,"My sweet, sweet boy, I'm so pleased you're on this case. Do you remember me? I hope so because I've never forgotten you." Mac took a deep breath, trying to get his emotions under control.

"I know it's been a long time," he continued, "but I remember our time together like it was yesterday. Do you remember how I would touch your soft skin, how I would run my fingers through your unruly, blond hair?"

"Oh, my God." Stella put a hand in front of her mouth.

"It's him, isn't it?" Hawkes questioned.

Mac nodded and continued to read; they all had a right to know what the letter said. "You feared me at first, I could see it in your bright, blue eyes, but later there was only love."

Don walked back in and heard the last sentence. "When we catch him, I want five minutes alone with him," he growled.

Mac looked at him with sad eyes. "Where's Danny?"

"He needed some fresh air," Don muttered.

Mac reluctantly continued reading, "I'm sorry I had to hurt you but you know I did it for your own good. You needed to learn discipline, obedience and you where a stubborn little boy. But I still remember how much you loved me, all the soft touches, our hot, passionate sex. You were a quick learner, and I was a good teacher."

"This is really sick," Lindsay gasped, slightly nauseous.

Mac sighed and continued, "I know we loved each other once, my sweet, sweet boy, and we can have that again. Do you miss me, Danny? Do you miss my touch, my love, my discipline? You've grown into a fine, young man, and I can't wait for us to be together again.

I'm so glad you're on this case, Danny. Maybe when you remember what a wonderful time we had together, you'll come back to me."

Mac looked up and saw Danny standing in the doorway, "You're okay?"

"He's doing this?" Danny pointed at the crime scene.

Don walked towards him. "Danny, why don't I take you back to the lab."

"NO! I won't let him rule my life, not again!"

"Danny." Mac sighed, this wasn't going to be easy but it needed to be done. "I want you off this case."

"What? Why, because it's him?"

Don turned to face Mac. "If you do that, he win."

"This is too personal, Don. This creep wants him back," Mac explained.

"Let him try it!" Danny growled.

Before Mac could answer his cell went off. He glanced at the caller ID but didn't recognised the number. "Taylor."

'Detective Taylor, how are you?' a soft, raspy voice replied.

"Who is this?" Mac frowned, not recognizing the voice.

'Do you like my work, Detective Taylor?' the man asked in a flat voice. 'You take my Danny off the case and you will regret it.'

Mac looked at Don for a moment, and made a sign that he needed pen and paper. Don handed it to him, and Mac wrote something down. When he held it up for the young man to read, it said, 'we're being watched.'

Danny, who had read it too, looked at him with wide eyes. "He's here?" he mouthed.

Don anger started to rise and he stormed out of the house. "He's watching us!" he yelled.

'Well, it seems that your detective friend can not control his emotions like you can, Detective Taylor.'

"You're afraid to show yourself?" Mac asked calmly, walking towards the windows, looking outside for any sign of the man.

'No, I'm not but I think it's much wiser for me to stay hidden at this moment, don't you think so?'

"You know I always wondered how you could stay out of the clutches of the police. You must be pretty smart." Mac continued to search the premises while talking to him.

'Well, thank you, detective." He paused. "You won't find me, you know.'

"Like I said, you're smart really smart." Mac tried to stroke his ego.

'You know, this whole psychological act you're trying to pull won't work on me.' He sounded amused.

"I'm not trying anything, just having a nice conversation with you," Mac said in a steady voice.

'Well I don't want to spoil the fun but I'll have to go. Again, take Danny off the case and you will regret it." The man threatened, before continuing on a light note. "You know, you haven't changed much, Detective Taylor. I was sorry to hear about your wife. She was such a lovely woman.'

Mac grabbed the phone so hard that his knuckles went white; even he had a hard time controlling his emotions. "Why hang up so soon, we were just getting started."

'And it was a very nice talk, but I really have to run. Say hello to my sweet, blue-eyed boy for me. Tell him how much I love him, and that he will be mine again… one day,' he said in a deep voice.

Hearing the other line drop, Mac shut his phone off stiffly. Taking a deep breath, he tried to get his emotions under control.

"Are you okay?" Stella asked him.

"That is one sick bastard," Mac said, disgusted.

Don walked up to him with a few officers. "No luck so far."

"I don't think you'll find him," Danny softly said. "He's just too smart."

Mac nodded at Don, and the young man moved towards his very distressed lover. "Let's go back to the lab."

"No, I don't…" Mac stopped him, holding up his hand.

"You can stay on, but there are some new rules. You are never go to a scene alone, someone will pick you up every morning and drive you back home." Not that Mac thought it would be any problem as he looked at Don. The younger detective would make sure nothing happened to Danny.

Danny nodded. "Okay," he sighed, feeling tired all of sudden.

Don laid a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, let's go."

Lindsay watched Danny for a moment. "How long was he with that creep?"

"Four years," Mac answered. They had told her what'd happened but she didn't know all the details. "I found him," Mac stated, looking at his CSI walk away.

***

Sitting in the break room, Danny stared at the wall in front of him; he was so still, as if he wasn't even breathing. His insides were in knots and he felt sick to his stomach.

"Danny you're okay?" Stella walked in and sat next to him. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and hugged him tight. Her little brother was hurting but she was there for him.

They stayed like that for a few minutes when Danny took a deep breath. "You know this is my fault."

"Don't say that. This isn't you're fault. He's the one doing this not you." Stella was adamant.

"Yeah, but if I had been able to identify him back then, he would be in jail right now instead of making more victims."

"Oh, Danny." Stella hugged him again, tears in her eyes. "You survived and that's all that matters."

Danny sighed, burying his head in his hands. "This is so frustrating."

Mac, Don and Sheldon walked into the break room. "How are you holding up?" Mac asked the young blond.

"I've had better days." Danny sighed.

Stella stood and motioned for Don to sit next to him.

When the young detective wrapped his arm around his shoulders, Danny looked up in surprise. "Mac send Lindsay home." He took his hand and squeezed it lightly. When Danny looked at the others, he saw that the others had blocked the view from anyone who would happen to pass by.

He smiled. "Thank you."

Smiling, Mac nodded at Sheldon, who closed the door. "Danny, I want your permission to tell Sheldon exactly what happened back then."

Danny looked at the man who had raised him as his own son, pain evident in his eyes. "I'm not… I don't…I…"

Stella crouched in front of Danny, taking his hand. "You trust us right?"

The young man nodded.

"You trust Sheldon?" she asked.

Danny nodded again.

"He could ask questions and you answer them, okay?" she said softly.

Danny was silent for a few minutes. Mac considered telling Danny to let it rest for now, when Danny's voice filled the room. "My dad sold me to that creep."

Hawkes was taken back by that statement. "What? Why?" It wasn't more then a horrified whisper.

"His parents needed the money to pay for their addiction," Mac continued.

"Drugs?" Hawkes asked, sitting down.

"Drugs, booze." Danny shrugged his shoulders.

"How old where you?"

"When I was sold? Eight," Danny stated in a flat voice.

Hawkes stopped breathing for a moment. "Where are your parents now?"

"I have no idea. They could be dead for all I care." Danny answered, angry and defiant.

The former ME turned to face Mac. "And you found him?"

Mac nodded. "Yeah, I was on leave. I was still in the service back then."

Hawkes nodded. "Danny, do you trust me enough to tell me what happened?"

Danny first looked at Mac and then at Don, who grabbed his hand and nodded. "We're all here for you."

Stella sat down on the other side of Danny and laid a comforting hand on his leg.

The young man took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "The first few days… he didn't do anything to me so I thought it wouldn't be so.. bad. He was actually nice to me." Danny laughed harshly. "But then it started. First light touches, telling me that everything was going to be okay. I was so stupid.. I believed him." Danny closed his eyes in shame.

Hawkes tried to stay calm. Based on Danny's previous comments, it was safe to say that the young blond hadn't gotten a lot of love from his own parents. It would have been easy for young Danny to mistake those touches for parentally love.

Danny swallowed hard and continued. "Then it started to get more… sexual. Undressing me.. moving his hands up and down my chest. He bathed me.. uhh.. that was when he touched my… well, you know.. for the first time. That's also when I first started resisting him." Danny looked away from Sheldon. "The first time I bit him, he beat me up. He tied me to the bed face-down, he hit me on my behind. I couldn't sit for a whole week. He told me that it was for my own good," Danny said softly, as if repeating that phrase was more than he could bear.

"I knew something wasn't right, I knew that it was bad. That you weren't suppose to touched a kid that way."

"So you started fighting back?" Hawkes asked, having a hard time keeping the horror from his voice. The ME couldn't imagine an eight year old boy fighting off a grown man. But if his survival instincts had been strong enough, then maybe it had been possible.

Danny nodded. "Yeah, it started when he had me on the bed one day, naked." A shudder ran down Danny's spine. "He was on top of me, touching and kissing me."

"He…he took…my and…started to…rub it," Danny choked out. He took a shuddering breath. "I started to kick and scream, knowing what he was doing was wrong."

Hawkes was silent, knowing that if he said anything, Danny wouldn't continue. "He hit me on the head and I lost consciousness. When I came to, I felt something wet on the inside of my thighs and I was hurting like hell down there. I looked down and saw…there was blood."

"He raped you?" Hawkes swallowed hard, trying not to throw up.

"No…he said…he loved me. He even…he apologised…he said he was sorry for being so rough." Danny looked down. "He did it every day. He'd tie me up on the bed and.. take me." Danny whispered. "He said it was because he loved me.. more then my own parents ever would."

Danny rolled his neck, trying to ease the tension there. "I tried to run away a couple of times. The first few times, he'd punish me by taking a small whip to my back."

Hawkes nodded, he had seen the scars. "But you kept trying?" He knew how stubborn Danny could be. No matter how dire the situation, Danny would have tried anything to get away from that creep.

Danny nodded. "Yeah, I kept trying, but he'd catch me every time." The blond paused, looking over Hawkes' shoulder; Danny avoided everyone's gaze. "So one day, he came to my room and said that he had no choice but to make sure I wouldn't run again."

Hawkes saw Danny absentmindedly rubbing his left knee, and he realised just how severe the punishment had been.

"He tied me to the bed, took a baseball bat and crushed my knee. It's safe to say that he didn't take me to a hospital but he made sure I stayed alive. He set my knee as best as he could, and took care of me himself. He kept telling me over and over how sorry he was but that it was for my own good. That no one would ever love me like he did."

"And you believed him?" Hawkes took a deep breath, trying to control his emotions. But when he looked around he noticed that there wasn't a dry eye in the room, even Mac was silently crying.

Danny hung his head. "Yeah, I did. I started to believe that he really loved me, so I let him touch me, let him… take me."

Hawkes looked at Mac and nodded; Stockholm syndrome, very common in long-term hostages. And to make matters worse, Danny'd had no where else to go, so he would've felt even more attached to that creep. No wonder he'd been with him for four years. "How did you finally escape?"

"I didn't, he was going to kill me, and that's when Mac found me." Danny looked at Mac with watery eyes.

Clearing his throat, Mac spoke. "I was on leave for a week and some of us went into the city one evening. It was around midnight and I was ready to go back to the hotel, but the others wanted to stay, so I left alone. I passed an alley and heard a strange noise. I thought someone was being mugged or something."

"So being a Marine you had to go and check it out?" Hawkes smiled wryly.

"Yeah, good thing I did. I saw this man bent over something, and he had a knife in his hand. When I came closer, I realised that he was leaning over a kid. I yelled, and the guy started running. I wanted to go after him, but I knew I had to get Danny to a hospital."

"You took him in and raised him?" Hawkes asked.

Danny sighed. "Yeah, he did." He paused, still looking up at Mac. "I'm not sure where I would've ended up if he hadn't." He slouched back into the couch, Danny closed his eyes, very tired all of the sudden.

Mac looked at him. "Don, why don't you take him home?"

Don stood and helped Danny get to his feet. Hawkes approached them and laid a hand on Danny's shoulder. "Thank you for trusting me."

Danny looked at him and gave him a tired smile. "I trust you.".

Hawkes smiled, knowing how hard it was for Danny to trust anyone.

THE END.

***