Quick Note – It would seem he first time this was posted, no emails or postings were made to Social Media. So we’re trying this again. If you get a duplicate … this is the one that has a link that will work.
A few things:
- Since this is a Sylum story you will see some of the new Sylum storylines that are throughout the series, not just Mac/Danny
- This will not be like the first version … at this moment the only element that is the same – Danny is Turned w/out Consent by Sonny
- Characters you may be expecting probably won’t be in it.
- Characters you weren’t expecting will likely be in it.
- *evil cackle*
Danny was done.
Just done.
He had no more fucks to give.
And was just done.
He quit, actually quit his job and walked away from the one thing he was actually good at. Part of him felt like a coward, running away from his problems, but there was only so much he could take before he snapped.
Sonny ‘fucking’ Sassone was still ruining his life, and until one of them was dead would likely continue to do so. It was moments like this, Danny hated his family name, legacy, and the price that came with it.
Born a Messer wasn’t all that glamorous.
There were expectations, and not the ‘you should become a doctor or a lawyer’ but more along the lines of ‘working to better enhance the criminal organization’. The Messer name had been part of New York since there was a New York.
From the family rumor mills, one doesn’t talk about great-great grandpa who got taken out by the Short Tales. The research Danny had done, great-great grandpa was an idiot to even get into business with the Short Tales, let alone cross them.
Danny trudged up the stairs to his fourth floor studio apartment, that he barely could afford on his CSI Level One salary. But it was his place, paid for by honest money, no one cared about the Messer name or influence. He tossed his keys into the standard bowl by the front door, slipped off his shoes, leaving them by the cabinet, said bowl was set on. He reached for his gun, only to slump his shoulders when he realized his gun and badge were on Mac’s desk.
“You really fucked your life up.” He muttered as he made his way into the kitchen, to dig out the bottle of scotch Don had given him last Christmas. Maybe he could contact Timothy Speedle down in Miami, the two had hit it off while their bosses worked to solve the case. Plus he heard Vegas had a position open, though getting a spot in the 2nd highest lab outside Quantico would be difficult without proper reference letters.
Well maybe he could have a complete career change, something out of New York. He should’ve left the city, years ago, but he loved it here and hadn’t wanted to leave his home.
He downed his second glass of the scotch, when his phone rang. He doubted it was Mac calling to beg him to return, that he had made a drastic mistake.
Wow, he was a morose drunk.
When he saw Don’s number, couldn’t help the small smile. The cop had always stayed by his side, no matter the rumors or truths. He declined the call, turned it off and set it on the counter, grabbing the bottle and the glass, as he made his way to the living room.
Setting the liquor on some goodwill coffee table book, he bought just to have a coffee table book. Danny pulled off his glasses, tossing them onto the table, before slumping down into the overstuffed couch, head resting on the back.
He tried to bite back the tears, but they were coming no matter how hard he fought them. His career, life all went to shit because of his fucking inability to say no to his father or to Sonny.
Sixteen and stupid.
Wanting to be the big man, impress his father, get Sonny to like him, so he joined the Tanglewood Boys. Realized to late, that it wasn’t the life he wanted. It took him two years, to get the strength, money, and plans to get out from under Sonny and his father.
One of his teachers worked with him to get scholarship not just from baseball, but also through his scholastic work. Just after he graduated, he confronted Sonny told him he wanted out and paid the price in his own blood.
Grudgingly Sonny put his out date on the tattoo.
But made sure Danny’s life was ruined by breaking his arm, and ending his baseball career.
Lucky for him, he had a back up plan. If there was one thing he learned from living as a Messer, have an out, a back up out, and a desperate attempt to get out even if it meant blowing a damn building to do it.
He got his degree, joined the police academy despite his name, and fought his way through the gauntlet of righteous cops who felt he wasn’t worthy, to work under Mac Taylor. It was an honor, privilege to be a CSI on his team, until it wasn’t.
Mac was not easy to work with, he had a set of ethics, Danny admired, yet knew he would never live up to. He thought they had started to understand each other, and then he panicked in a fire fight.
Fuck.
Not like he was a damn Marine who was trained how to fight in combat.
Simulations were one thing, an actual gunfight was a whole different thing. They don’t train you for the loudness, the chaos, or the fact time slows down and speeds up all at the same time. Plus he was a CSI not a cop, he wasn’t supposed to be in a firefight, he was supposed to investigate the damn thing afterwards.
But just when he thought they were starting to get past that moment – fucking Sonny Sassone and his Tanglewood Boys came into the picture. He had no doubt in his mind as he worked the case that Sonny, the wannabe gangster, would toss him under the bus.
Danny stood there in the interrogation viewing room and watched his career go down the sewer.
Later, Mac yelled at him for not disclosing his past with Sonny. Stating that the department looked bad, in the light of the revelations. In a rare moment, he looked Mac in the face and told him to fuck himself, and the high horse he rode in on.
‘My last name is Messer!’ Danny snapped at his boss. ‘Of course I come with fucking baggage! You were warned about me from the moment I applied for this job. You told me then, I wasn’t my family name. And I’m not. I’m a fucking disappointment to the Messer Family, which I’m very proud of.’
‘You should’ve told me.’
‘Really?’ He gave him an un-humorous smirk. ‘Hey Mac, the guy we’re looking for is a wannabe thug, and unfortunately when I was a young stupid kid I thought he was the coolest thing ever.’
‘Are you Tanglewood?’
‘No. Yes. I was. I got out, have the out date and everything. I’m not different than anyone else in this building who had done stupid shit when they were stupid shits. I didn’t compromise this case…’
‘Yes you did, by not telling me, his lawyers are going to use the fact you are Tanglewood…’
‘If I was, I would’ve gotten him off, not put him in jail!’ Danny argued back. ‘I’m not Tanglewood. I’ve been out for years.’
‘Then they’ll state you were setting him up.’
‘So no matter what I do. My past, my name is going to always be a problem.’ He closed his eyes for a moment, and made the decision he knew he would’ve had to make at some point. ‘I quit.’ Danny yanked his gun from the holster and set it on Mac’s desk, along with his ID. ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t be the person you thought I was.’
The fact Mac didn’t call after him, was his answer.
The knock on the door startled his alcohol hazed brain. He squinted at it, then at the clock, it was half past ten. When the knocking turned to banging, he slipped on his glasses and made his way over to tell the offending person to go away.
“Don you didn’t have to come over … ” He opened the door to the smiling face of Sonny Sassone.