Disclaimer: I own nothin'

A/N: So I needed to write, and You look good is on hold till new eps arrive so we're gonna go back in time to season two, it's a Danny/Aiden friendship; with a Danny/Lindsay prospect.

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Danny Messer was walking down the well-lit hallways of the New York crime lab. He had wrapped up his case, and was heading back to his office when he saw Stella comforting Mac, not a rare sight, after 9/11 it became a quiet frequent sight. Nevertheless, this, this was different. Danny shrugged it off and continued walking to his office.

The crime lab had just moved to the New Midtown location. He was heading to the bull pen: the office all CSI's shared. He could see Aiden Burn, his partner, was in there. She was a beautiful Latin girl with waves of soft brown hair, brown eyes, and luscious lips. She was beautiful, but way out of his league, as she had told him weeks before. She was currently dating a beat cop by the name of Omar Lilly. They had met at a crime scene about a month back and hit it off, poor Danny had to keep redirecting her attention back to the case.

Danny stopped dead in his tracks, though, when he saw Aiden packing up her desk. That cannot be right. Encouraging his strength, he pushed through the heavy glass door. She was certainly clearing her desk of all personal belongings.

"Aiden, what's going on? We're moving into this place not out." Danny asked/joked as he claimed the seat across from her now nearly empty desk

"I no longer work for the New York Crime Lab, Messer." She stated without emotion. Her eyes gave her away though; she was upset. Noticing that he had his eyes still trained on her, she cut him off before he could act further. "Look Danny, I don't want to talk about it here, I'll talk to you in a few days." She grabbed her box and hauled out of the office and out of the lab before he could get another word in. He sat there flabbergasted. He had the urge to jump up, and head right into Mac's office and demand to know what was going on, but his instincts told him to stay put. To get the paper work done, then when he had a reason to see Mac i.e. dropping off the finished paper work he would get his answers.

Danny had flown off the handle bars a few too many times in the last 3 years. He had been up for promotion and he blew it. He was not going to do that again. It was killing him inside not being on Mac Taylor's good side. He looked up to Mac as a mentor, almost as a father figure. Because god knows, his own father was not the best role model growing up. He tried to make right but it was too late by the time the deed was done. Danny had actually made both of his parents proud staying out of big trouble growing up. He stayed away from the gangs, played baseball, but when he was injured (again not going with his instincts) he turned to science and law enforcement. He was on the right side of the law and his mother was forever grateful for that, no matter how much she complained that his job was too dangerous for her boy, her bambino. He finished his paper work on the blind girl case. He had been working for about 20 minutes when Stella came in wondering how his end of the paper work was coming.

'Just (pause) finished.' Was his reply as hit the print button with some force resulting in the audible clap of the keyboard.

"So, Aiden's gone already." Stella noted as she took in the empty desk sitting in front of the door.

"Yea she took off quick, guess she wanted to avoid questioning. You have any idea 'bout what happened?" He knew Stella, she knew everything, she was the mother goose, the storyteller, not a gossip, and she told the news with class. If she ever fell through as a CSI, she could be a news anchor, no problem.

"Intent to plant evidence." Stella looked into Danny's eyes. She knew they were close. "The sample hair from the first rape case had a broken seal; she's the only one on the case. Mac had to let her go. 'Integrity of the lab.'" She finished with a solemn face. Aiden was a good girl, but the job got to her and she burnt out.

"Shit, why would she do that?" He asked to no one in particular and shaking his head.

"The case got to her, she couldn't let it go."

"Yea I could see that. I just, guess I'm gonna miss her."

"Yea me too, back to being the only woman here."

"Aw, ya know ya love it." He winked at her.

"Yea Danny, keep thinking that. Alright I gotta go, see you tomorrow; we'll be pulling a few more doubles until Mac can replace her."

"See ya Stel, oh and say hi to your artist friend for me." Danny winked. He knew the look that Frankie was giving Stella all too well. It was a look he had mastered in high school and college, the 'I want you, please be my girlfriend look.' Danny finished his paper work and dropped it off in Mac's office before heading home. He wanted to question Mac about Aiden but knew that was not what was needed, especially since Mac was already looking tired, a tired he had not seen since September 2002. More than likely, already, looking up potential prospects to replace Aiden. Aiden, he wanted to see her to make sure she was okay, but he knew her all too well, spending 2 years with a person does that to you. She was like a sister, a very pushy, and controlling, put you in your place sister. No one could cut him down, or make him really think about his next sentence as she could. Instead, Danny clamored home. Not much else to do.

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Danny arrived at his 3rd floor apartment, grabbed a beer, and plopped down on his sofa turning on the news. He wanted so badly to go see Aiden, but that wasn't what she needed. They would end up fighting, and then it would be a quiet spell he couldn't undo the same way as the rest of them. He'd call her tomorrow. Just How? How could she be so stupid?

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Mac Taylor was sitting back at his desk. He had to fire her, there was no way he could keep her, if news got out she tampered with evidence, well it's just not good, and yea the lab wouldn't be reevaluated for another 3 years, but that was too close a call to ignore.

He now had to figure out whom to replace her with. Sure Sheldon came up from the morgue to join the team as a CSI, but even with him, they felt shorthanded sometimes. He had called down to get resumes sent up and now he sat with a stack of 30 in front of him. He went through them one by one, but no one seemed to fit the bill. The resumes were nothing extraordinary. And his team, well they just wouldn't fit. At around 1 in the morning Mac needed a break, he couldn't look through anymore half assed attempts for a job at the NY Crime Lab. Lab techs were easy to find, CSI's not so much, and all the good ones were snapped up right away and with it being the middle of the year, nothing.

Mac sauntered into the break room and was surprised to see Stella there. She had gotten off hours ago, yet her she sat, sipping coffee.

"Stel, I thought you went home hours ago?"

"I did, I was on call tonight, DB in an alley on Bleaker Street, Danny's somewhere around here too, and he was logging evidence. Still looking through resumes?"

"Yea, have yet to find even one hopeful prospect." He sighed.

"Well, that's because the best prospect was Aiden." Danny said as he walked in a grabbed a coffee for himself. "Granted she burned out."

"Yea Dan I know, she was a great match, and the job just got the better of her."

"I don't know how, she's always been on top of her game." Danny replied.

"I blame the case she worked when Officer Blue was shot. She's been going downhill since then. That threat really got to her, and now with Pratt. She couldn't handle it." Mac thought back

"Threat what threat?" Danny asked, this was all new information to him. And here he thought he and Aiden talked through most the shit that got to them with this job.

"Yea I noticed that, she got overly involved in the Pratt case. It was killing her not being able to pin him. She didn't want to have to tell the girl that the guy was going to get away with it again." Stella chimed in.

"Yea well, he is for now. It's just another folder on my desk." Mac sighed.

"Alright enough reminiscing. I'd like to have tonight off, so, Danny fingerprints. I'll start with the shoes and I'll meet you in the morgue in an hour." Stella instructed tossing out her coffee cup.

"Yea, I'm on it greasy, oily finger prints await." Danny said clapping his hands together. Yea he'd be calling Aiden as soon as he had time. He needed to get to the bottom of this. She was his friend, and yet, he knew nothing about anything relating to this. All he knew was that she made sure he went to his eval, she was out of his league, and oh yea she had been a bit on edge lately. Now she was gone, she had been fired, and he didn't know a damn thing about what could have possibly made her act so stupidly. He didn't see the signs of burn out. The lab wouldn't be the same. Aiden was a great part of the chemistry the team had, and now it just seemed dead. She was missing, and well it was just wrong. If Mac honestly thought he could replace Aiden he was dead wrong.

A/N2: Just the begining, i know how it starts and how it ends, the inbetween, who knows. Not much of a start but give it time. =) thanks for reading.