This is actually for Kaint, who asked for the missing scene from my previous fic, 'Forgive Me'- how Danny found out. Hope you like it.
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Breaking and Entering
Danny closed the vent silently behind him and smiled. He had started at the outer fence and had managed to get across the open grounds and into the actual ARC building without anyone noticing. It was almost midnight, but there were still military personnel around, as well as a number of staff. The rest of the team had probably gone home by now- he'd waved goodbye as Sarah left earlier- heading home to relax after what had been a long day. However, having nothing but an empty apartment and a ready-made microwave meal to go home to, he had stuck around for a while. He actually found this fun; it never got old, finding new ways to get into this place without tripping the security system. Of course, he always shared his findings with Becker's team, suggesting ways they could improve security around the base.
The vent had let him into one of the service ducts, a two foot square passage that he barely crawl through. He had to drag his backpack behind him as he moved or he wouldn't fit. Swearing as his head came into contact with a previously unnoticed bracket on the wall, he relented and pulled the pen light out of his pocket. It was a risk using it- the light might be noticed where he might not have been had he stayed in darkness- but he really didn't want to injure himself.
At the end of the passage, about five minutes' crawl later, it opened up via another vent into one of the emergency escape hatches. Since part of the facility was subterranean, shafts had been placed around the exterior with ladders that led up to ground level. Should there be a fire or disaster, and the lifts stopped working, the workers would have easier escape routes than the single flight of stairs.
Danny smiled, knowing that the escape shafts would be security monitored. He would have to avoid them if he wanted to make it to the detector room unseen. Climbing across the shaft, using the top rung of the ladder as a stepping stone, he carefully detached the vent opposite and hoisted himself up into the passage.
Great, he thought dryly, another passage built for midgets. He noticed that there was another opening a few feet away and he turned off. From his reckoning, this direction would take him toward the centre of the ARC. He had been hoping that this space would be more amenable to a bloke who was six feet tall but no such luck, he thought as he dropped to his stomach. He commando-crawled along until he came to a grille set into the floor. Well, it would have been the ceiling had he actually been in the corridor below.
A black-uniformed soldier walked by, talking to one of the lab-techs, and he froze. They passed by him, however, not looking up, and he let out the breath he had been holding. Damn, he was good, if he did say so himself.
Looking through the grille he realised where he was and set off again; the end of this passage should bring him out over Abby's botanics lab. From there, it would be a little more difficult. He would be out in the open again, unable to use the ventilation shafts as the ceiling in the detector room was too high.
A few minutes of crawling later, he found a low drop and then he was faced with another grille in the wall in front of him. Damn. He'd taken a wrong turn somewhere; this was Connor's office. He could see that weird metal tube thing that the kid had been obsessing over for the past few weeks, balanced in the frame he had built. Oh well, it might add a couple of seconds to his time, having to go from here rather than from the botanics lab, but he'd had enough of ventilation shafts. He wanted to be able to stretch his legs.
Danny was just unscrewing the last fitting, to remove the grille, when the door opened. He stopped, knowing that if he moved, the metal duct would echo and he would be found. Fingers hooked in the metal grille to stop it from moving and making a noise, he stayed still and waited.
Becker came into the office, hand out and clutching someone else's, pulling them along behind him. He was smiling.
Interesting, Danny thought. It had to be Sarah; he'd seen the way she looked at the Special Forces Captain.
Wrong. His jaw hit the ground as Connor came in, still holding onto Becker's hand. He was laughing as he glanced back out into the corridor. He closed the door behind them a second before Becker gave a tug on Connor's hand, bringing him flush against his body.
Bloody hell. Well, he certainly hadn't seen that one coming.
Connor's arms went around Becker's neck as he kissed him, Becker's hands slipping under the back of Connor's t-shirt. The young man backed Becker to the desk, practically climbing up his body.
"Pushy," Becker chastised, smiling. "Have you locked the door?"
Connor nodded and grabbed the hem of Becker's t-shirt, stripping it off over his head and tossing it onto the desk. He ran his hands down the soldier's chest before following with a trail of kisses.
Danny knew that he should leave, or let them know he was here. Something. Anything. But he didn't. He was transfixed with a fascination that he would never have imagined before this.
Becker hauled Connor back up again, nimble fingers quickly divesting Connor of t-shirt and jeans before opening his own belt.
Oh, bollocks, he had to get out of here, right now. It didn't take a genius to see where this was heading; this was personal, private, between Connor and Becker. He began to shuffle back as quietly as he could as Becker leaned over the desk, resting on his hands.
Well, his intention was to leave but you know what they say about the best laid plans? As soon as he let go of the grille, the final fixing chose that particular moment to come loose, sending the metal grille crashing to the ground.
Connor let out a startled yelp and scrambled to pick up his clothes as Becker grabbed his trousers, yanking them up as he turned on Danny.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing in here, Quinn?" he demanded.
Crap! Even after watching the man about to get fucked over a desk, and now standing before him, unarmed and shirtless, Danny had to admit that the look on Becker's face scared him. He'd seen just about everything possible during his time with the police, faced down armed suspects and tackled maniacs; at this moment, he would have taken any of them over a pissed-off Becker.
He had no choice now that they knew he was here and so he shuffled forward until he could slide out of the shaft. Being forced to shimmy out on his stomach, he couldn't get his balance before he hit the floor in a heap. He got to his feet and picked up his backpack.
The tension in the room was so thick he could almost see it as no one spoke for a long time.
"Wow, this is awkward," he said, to try and dispel the atmosphere more than anything else. "I'm sorry, honestly, I never meant to be here or see anything," he began. "I'm really sorry."
Connor edged up behind Becker, now fully dressed, his face scarlet. "What do you mean by 'see anything'? Oh God, how much did you see?"
With Becker still glaring daggers at him, Danny couldn't bring himself to lie.
"I was just about to get out of the vent when you came into the office," he admitted.
Connor's eyes widened; he looked mortified. "And you were watching us all that time? If that thing hadn't fallen off the wall, would you have just stayed there while we…?"
"No!" Danny insisted. "I was leaving when I realised what was about to happen but when I let go, the grille fell. I wouldn't have."
The three of them stared at each other in silence for a moment or two before Becker finally asked,
"So what are you going to do?"
Danny frowned, not understanding.
"Are you going to tell Lester?" Becker asked. "Or the others?"
Danny shook his head. "It's not my business to say anything to anyone."
"And what about you?" Connor asked. "Is this going to make things weird with us working together?"
"If you're asking if I have a problem with two of my co-workers being gay, then the answer is no, I don't have a problem with it," Danny replied. "Shocked that it's you two, yes, completely embarrassed about all of this, definitely, but it won't affect our working relationship. And, I hope," he added, "that it won't affect our friendship."
Connor nodded, still looking as though he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him right there and then. Danny had to admire the fact that his gaze stayed steady, though; he met Danny's eyes as he answered.
"Thanks," he said in a quiet voice. Becker echoed the sentiment.
Danny went and unlocked the door to let himself out, turning back as Becker told him,
"No more breaking in. I mean it; this has to stop."
He saw the ill-concealed exasperation on the soldier's face, combined with a little amusement, and uttered a sigh of relief. It felt as though they had reached an understanding, that this wouldn't destroy everything that he had built in the short time he had been working here. He had become good friends with the pair of them since Lester had hired him and he was glad to know that they still had that.
"What if I just stay clear of this place?" he countered, teasing. He paused when he saw the underlying worry in Becker's expression and reflected tenfold on Connor's face and his expression turned serious once more. "It's OK. I told you that I wouldn't say a word, and I won't," he assured them as he left.
As the door closed behind him, he leaned back on it, still a little shell-shocked. A laugh escaped from his lips before he could stop it; he really hadn't seen that one coming at all.
End.
