jlmayer, Lea, kirbyschoice, c-c, and Newbie: I am glad you all are enjoying this Danny centered collection so far. Here is another one!

Fernanda Fierro: I will keep your suggestions in mind. If I can do something with them I will attempt to do so.

Hostage

Danny sat in his SUV, just down the block from where Nicky went into a bodega to pick up some 'girl' stuff. Erin asked him if he could pick Nicky from her friend's house since she was running late. Nicky argued she could get home by herself but Erin vetoed that. She was paranoid because the recent assaults on young women on public transit. To be honest, Danny was glad she won that argument. The attacks had him on edge as well.

Looking at his dashboard clock, Danny frowned. Nicky had been in there almost fifteen minutes, far too long to just grab the stuff and leave like she promised. Glancing at the bodega, he saw a tense young man approach the door. He flipped the sign to closed before skittering away. Something was wrong in there.

Picking up his phone he called his partner.

"Hey, Reagan, what's up?" Jackie answered the phone. "Don't tell me you're picking up another case already. We just clocked off an hour ago."

"I don't know," Danny answered her gravely. "Listen, my niece went into a corner bodega about fifteen minutes ago, and I just saw a guy flip the sign without locking the door. He looked spooked."

"What about Nicky?" concern filled Jackie's voice.

"She hasn't come out that I've seen," he told her. "I'm gonna go check it out. Can you get some backup here, just in case? I have a bad feeling about this."

"I'm on it," Jackie replied. "Be careful, Danny."

"I'll do my best," he assured her before hanging up and silencing his phone.

Climbing out of his Jeep he headed towards the store. Glancing in the windows he saw nothing but an empty counter where a clerk should have been. Pretending to be too preoccupied to notice the closed sign, he opened the door and entered. Scanning the shelves, he made his way through the store, pretending to shop. Everything was quiet.

Too quiet.

His nerves buzzed with tension the closer he got to the back. Empty aisles and scattered products hinted at either panic or a struggle. Finally he heard something. The door to the back swung open and a man backed out with a familiar female figure in his grasp, a gun aimed at her head.

"You stay there!" The gunman ordered to someone out of sight, before turning around and spotting Danny. "The store is closed! Get lost before you get hurt!"

Danny set down his pseudo-shopping and spread his arms to show he was no threat. Apprehension filled him even though he was far from unfamiliar with this sort of thing. Then again, none of those experiences involved family.

"Easy there, no one's getting hurt, okay?" Danny spoke calmly, trying to relax both the gunman and his niece. He could see she was terrified. Her eyes begged him to save her.

"Do what I say and I might not kill you!" the gunman threatened, his nervous ticks increasing the longer they stood there.

"No one is going to get killed today," Danny told him calmly. "Now how about we keep it that way, okay?"

"What are you, a cop or something?" the gunman asked, starting to fidget, his eyes darting around the store rapidly.

"Yeah, I am," Danny replied as he spotted an NYPD squad car pulling up. "Look, as long as no one is hurt you can still get outta this." He needed to keep the man's focus on him.

"No!" He shouted, tightening his grip on Nicky. "You don't understand! I just wanted a little money to start over! That's all! I can't go back to prison!" The thief was almost to the point of hyperventilating.

"Okay, okay, just take it easy," soothed Danny. "We can figure this out, you just gotta work with me, okay?" He shifted a little to the right, refocusing the gunman on him.

The ex-con seemed to calm before he spotted the cops outside and panicked again.

"No! No! Not more cops! Damn it!" The gunman swore and backed away, looping his arm around Nicky's neck, dragging her with him. She let out a tiny shriek of fear before silencing herself again. Her eyes bored into Danny and he willed himself to remain calm for her.

As the two officers entered they drew their guns and aimed them at the still nameless suspect.

"Drop the gun and let the girl go!" One of the officers shouted.

"Get outta here or the girl dies!" the gunman threatened, shifting anxiously with his finger twitching on the trigger.

Catching Nicky's eyes, Danny took a slow, deep breath. She mimicked him and started to look a little calmer.

Danny shifted his coat to reveal his badge and waved the officers back. He was having more luck negotiating on his own, and this guy was only getting more worked up the longer they remained. The two officers reluctantly backed out, reporting in as they retreated to their car.

"They're gone, but I can tell you that, right now, they are on their radios calling for backup," Danny informed the man slowly. "You need to end this before it gets out of hand."

"No! I have hostages! You cops have to do what I want or they die!" He rebutted, trembling. As his arm tightened around Nicki's throat, Danny cringed. She started to raise her arms before lowering them again, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.

"No one is dying!" Danny snapped at him before forcing his tone to a calmer level. "Look, you and I both know that civilian hostages aren't worth as much as one cop hostage." The gunman seemed to be considering this. "How about you let them go. Let them go and I'll be your hostage."

Sirens screamed in the distance as more officers arrived on the scene. Red and blue lights danced across the ceiling and walls. Once again Danny shifted his stance, bringing the hostage takers attention back to him.

"There's only so much they'll do for a civilian hostage, but a cop? You've got a lot more power holding me than all of them combined." Danny negotiated, keeping his eyes on the perpetrator. If he looked at Nicki now he would betray them both.

The gunman seemed to be thinking as he watched the police outside set up a perimeter. Even though he was distracted, Danny wasn't about to risk Nicki's life by rushing the man. Finally the guy took his gun from Nicki's head and pointed it to Danny.

"Alright cop, you get to take their place. Don't do anything stupid!" he told Danny, shoving Nicki towards the front of the store. "You leave. Now." Opening the door behind him, he motioned to whomever was inside. "You too! Leave!"

Danny held still as the gunman grabbed him, pointing the gun to his head. The young man from before and an older woman quickly fled from the room, heading for the front door with Nicki in tow. She spared him one last glance before she was pulled out the door. The guy then started to search Danny's waist, first removing his gun, his phone, and then his handcuffs.

"Give me your hands, cop," he demanded and Danny realized what was coming. He cuffed Danny's hands behind him, then pushed him towards the vacant office. "Inside. I'm not giving those other cops a chance to take a cheap shot at me."

Danny tried to relax and be as compliant as possible to avoid getting pushed around. For the most part it worked, until the last shove put him on the floor in the corner.

"Take it easy," Danny murmured, trying to get comfortable. "What's your name?"

"You don't need to know! Now just stay there and keep quiet," the suspect growled, pointing his gun at Danny. Satisfied by the silence, he started to pace, clearly trying to think things through. For the time being, Danny let him have some peace.

Some time later the phone in the office started to ring. The man let it ring for a while before finally giving in and picking it up.

"What?" he snapped, glaring at the wall in front of him. "All you need to know is I got a cop in here." Another pause and then, "no, I get what I want, then I'll think about letting him go." A longer pause, "a car for starters, and no tracers or any of that shit! And I don't wanna be followed, got that? You follow me, he's dead." The guy shot a long look at Danny before saying "fine!"

He set the phone down and stalked over. Grabbing Danny's arm, he hauled the detective to his feet.

"They wanna hear that you're fine," he growled. "JUST that you're fine. Nothing tricky."

"Okay, just take it easy," Danny placated him as he walked the few steps to the desk. Standing still, he allowed the receiver to be pressed against his ear. "I'm on," Danny said, wondering which negotiator he would get on the other end.

"Danny, it's Jack. How you doing in there?" asked the familiar voice of Jack Condo, a negotiator he worked with many times before.

"I'm not hurt," Danny told him, then the phone was ripped away. He knew Jack would read between the lines and know that he wasn't fine, but he also wasn't in grave danger.

"There, you heard him say he's fine," the thief said angrily. He pushed Danny back towards the wall, which he stumbled into with a thump and soft grunt. Danny knew they heard it as the perpetrator shouted into the phone, "that's none of your concern, now get me what I want!" He slammed the phone down before pushing Danny back to the floor. "Damn negotiator reminds me of my fool of a lawyer. All talk, no results."

"They'll get you that car," reassured Danny. "You've got a cop in here. They know that."

"I'll believe it when I see it," the man said scathingly.

"It will happen," Danny told him.

"Whatever, I just wanna get out of here," he murmured. "Can't go back."

Time seemed to drag on as they waited, the gunman for his getaway car, and Danny for the call that would likely lead this criminal into a trap. Even if they did find him a car, there was no way they were letting him get into it and drive away with a cop as a hostage. This guy was so panicked he couldn't see that.

The clock showed half an hour passed before the phone rang.

"You got my stuff?" His kidnapper asked.

Whatever Jack said to him caused the man to blanch.

"So what? You know my name? Big deal! I told you what I want, now get it! No more of these 'just checking in' calls. I don't wanna hear it."

He paused for a minute as Jack spoke.

"Fine. And don't call me Nathaniel!"

Nathaniel slammed down the phone and Danny smothered a smirk. Whether or not it was planned, they had given him something to work with as well.

"They just want to make sure you're not left hanging, Nate," he murmured casually.

Nathaniel jumped and whirled towards him, half raising his gun.

"I don't care," he hollered hoarsely, free hand raking through his hair. "I just want out, just wanna be gone. You just stay shut up and we'll be fine."

Tipping his head slightly in agreement, Danny tried to smother his disappointment. Sure, he wasn't as good as Jack, but he usually could manage some negotiations.

Nathaniel lowered the gun and began to pace, mumbling to himself. Danny could only pick up snatches of his one-sided conversation, and none of what he heard was of any help.

Finally, after an agonizingly long wait, the phone rang again.

"I hope you got my car," were the first words Nathaniel uttered when he picked up.

"Yea? No tracking, no following, remember? I even think I'm being followed and the cop dies, got it?"

He paced as he listened. To Danny, it felt like minutes before he started to shout again.

"I'll drop him off where I feel like it, when I feel like it! If he's lucky I'll give him some change for a payphone, but I'm the one calling the shots here!"

Jack must have interrupted because Nathaniel quieted for a moment before he spoke again.

"We are coming out and I don't want to see any guns pointed at us, got it? Good."

Once more he slammed down the phone. Nathaniel then dragged Danny to his feet, his fingers sure to leave bruises where he gripped.

"Come on, cop, we're going for a drive." Nathaniel shifted his hold on Danny's arm to use him as a shield and then pressed the gun to his temple. "Walk."

Danny made no fuss as they walked to the door, pausing just long enough for it to be opened before they proceeded out into the store. The gunman eyed the cops outside as they made their way towards the glass storefront.

A slight movement in the corner of his eye clued Danny into what was happening a moment before the flash bang grenade went off. Through the ringing in his ears he could faintly hear shouting as someone grabbed him to drag him away from Nathaniel. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision as he felt another pair of hands help pull him nearly off his feet. He didn't fight as he knew they meant to get him outside and away from any potential gunfire.

Soon enough he was able to see blurry shapes as he was pushed behind a small grouping of squad cars. One of the ESU guys who had dragged him out started to unlock the handcuffs as Jackie hurried over.

"Reagan, you okay?" she questioned as she studied him for any signs of injury.

"Yea, I'm fine." Danny reassured her, rubbing his sore wrists as they were freed. "I can almost see again, though my ears are still ringing."

"I'll take that over the alternative any day," Jackie retorted.

"Me too, partner," agreed Danny. "Thanks for sending the troops. How's Nicki?"

"Scared, worried, and pretty upset," she informed him. "Your brother took her to your father's office to give her statement."

"Good," Danny breathed, relieved that she was safe and secure. He could almost imagine the looks on those officer's faces as they found out who she was. No one liked having to answer directly to the top brass.

"Let's get you over to the EMT's so you can get checked out," Jackie said, giving him a hand up. "The paperwork's gonna be a bitch."

"You got that right," grumbled Danny as he followed his partner to the waiting ambulance.

After getting a clean bill of health, they went to retrieve his property from the officers who collected it. Then, together they headed back to the station house to start on the dreaded paperwork.

Upon entering the precinct he was greeted with a shout of, "Uncle Danny!" and a big hug from Nicki.

"Hey Nicki, you okay?" Danny questioned as he studied her face for a moment. It was obvious that she had been crying.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Danny," Nicki whispered, her gaze locked on her feet. "I should have done something, I should have..."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Danny interrupted her. "You did what you were supposed to do and got out safe."

"But because of me you got taken hostage," tears welled up in her eyes even as she argued her point.

"It's not your fault," Danny reassured her. "I might have done it for anyone, but I will always do it for family. I want you safe." He squeezed her tightly again. "I don't ever want to hear you blame yourself again, got it?"

"Yeah, I got it Uncle Danny," Nicki affirmed with a watery smile. "Mom and Grandpa are in your bosses office."

"Well, lets not keep them waiting."

He looped an arm around her shoulders and headed for Gormley's office. Before they made it there, Nicki stopped.

"Uncle Danny," Nicki started, pausing before she continued. "Thanks. I was so scared, but you were so calm. It really helped. I just…thanks doesn't seem like enough."

With another hug he replied, "I'm just glad you're safe. That's all I need, kiddo."