Title: Till We Meet Again

Disclaimer: Slash, language, violence, character death, sexual content, angst.

POV: Martin

Chapter One: Arms of Sanity

The day had been like any other. That morning I had awakened, climbed out of bed, and dragged myself to the shower. As usual it was the steaming hot water that finally brought me out of the fog of sleep. For years, as I grew up, I told myself that I wasn't a morning person. To be truthful, I'm not. I don't like climbing out of bed at the crack of dawn, though seeing the sun rise isn't entirely bad. Yet, with this knowledge, this hatred for getting up early, I still took a job that required me to be up at any time of the day. Whenever my cellphone rang I was to report to work; whether it was before dawn or the middle of the damn night. My boss was not a person you just ignored.

That morning I had not been awakened by my phone ringing. No, it was my alarm clock with its shrill whistle that got me up. Work was do to start in over an hour. That gave me enough time to shower, throw on fresh clothes, grab a quick meal, and catch a ride to work. Usually I just took the subway to work. But things had been progressing over the last few weeks. Now I rode to work with Danny. Why he would own a car in this fucked-up city never made any sense to me. It's just another thing to keep tabs on; and there's already plenty to keep tabs on in this city.

As I've stated, the morning was normal. Danny picked me up like clockwork. No one at the office really questioned are showing up together. Though I had overheard Sam talking to Jack about it. According to Jack the fact that I carpooled to work with Danny was a matter of convenience, even though we lived on opposite sides of the city. It took me an hour to figure out what Jack saw as convenient. If a call came in before we made it to the office Jack could just phone one of us up and off we'd go. Jack was against letting one of his agent's run-off by themselves. He always sent us out in pairs. Safety in numbers.

When we walked into the office that day it was clear that there wasn't a workable case in progress. Our co-workers sat at their desks going over paperwork from past cases. Danny and I part ways at the elevator. He had told me on the ride over that he wanted to discuss something with Jack. I'd gone to my desk to start on my own pile of paperwork. I don't believe anyone likes doing paperwork. Being out in the field searching for people is why people take the job. When you find that missing person there's always a rush of joy and accomplishment. Of course, every once in a while you find the person too late to save them. In cases like that you can at least tell the family what happened and they'll have closure. Than there are those cases that never get solved. It's amazing how many people a year go missing never to be heard from again. No bodies are ever found. Leaves you to wonder where they all go.

The first call had come in at around noon. I had been standing near the elevator when Danny joined me. He went on to tell me about a call that had just come in for a missing father of three. Jack wanted the two of us to check it out; so much for lunch. We rode down in silence. But I know that Danny's mind is racing from the way he's looking at me. Work was still hours away from ending and already Danny wanted to spend his time doing other things. Things with me. I remember the night when it all began. He kissed me one late night at work. We had been in this very same elevator. Why he did it, I don't think I'll ever know. How he knew that I would respond was also beyond me. But I'm glad that he did take the opportunity to kiss me.

After all the drama of my relationship with Samantha I admitted to myself that I was afraid of love. After the elevator kiss between Danny and I we'd begun to spend more and more time together. We never did much beyond the realm of kissing. Okay, we made out on my couch or his, depending on which apartment we were at. Danny hated me when we first met. It took him a long time to get passed the rich-kid idea that he had of me. Sure, my father was a prominent man in the FBI. Rumors had it that he had gotten me the job in Missing Persons without a problem. Why couldn't anyone believe that I worked hard to get where I was? Sure, my dad's money paid for a high education and got me into some of the best schools. If I had slacked off all that money would have gone to waste. I worked hard to get good grades. I've been trying for ages to step outside my father's shadow. In a way, I guess I had. However, something told me that if my father knew about my little secret he wouldn't be all that happy with me.

Danny eventually got over his hate for me and we came to be friends. Not best friends but at least he stopped picking on me all the time. Now he just did it every other day or so. Then that fateful day hit the team. To this day I can't forget the sound of the bullets as the backdoors of that van flew open to reveal the gun handling monsters inside. Danny had suffered a concussion and minor bumps and bruises. I was the one who got shot and nearly died out there on that damp pavement in the middle of the night. Through overheard conversations between Jack and Sam I'd pieced together the events that conspired after I was rushed to the hospital. It amazed me, and confused me at the same time, just how much Danny cared for me. He not only disobeyed the orders of a respected doctor but also those of Jack. He nearly put himself in danger to catch the person responsible for laying me out on the pavement in a pool of my own blood.

All of this passed through my mind on that elevator ride. Danny brushed his knuckles against mine before the doors opened. As usual, we made polite conversation on the way to interview suspects and collect more information on our missing person. It's hard to keep your private life and business life separate when you're dating a co-worker. I followed after Danny like a lost puppy dog. Danny liked being in charge, in every single roll. He found it somewhat hard to work with Jack because of this. You can't be in charge of your boss. On the drive to our interview we made polite conversation. For some reason, when we were on the job we acted like nothing had changed. Even when we were alone. There was no fear that anyone would overhear us but why even take the chance? Sam had been mad that I kept our relationship a secret. Of course, Jack knew and Danny found out. She still wasn't happy though. Maybe that's why things didn't work out. Who really knows anymore? With Danny it was okay having a secret relationship. Not because we worried about the reactions of our friends; because we worried about losing our jobs.

The interviewing of the wife of our missing person hadn't given us many leads. Vivian called in the middle of the questioning to tell us that she and Sam had been working over the missing man's co-workers. One of them pegged the missing man as serious gambler who got into trouble with a loan shark. Of course, his wife denied he gambled. Do we really know all the secrets of the ones we love? I wondered if I would ever feel so strongly about Danny as to tell him everything there is to know about me.

Life amazed me at times. Danny and I bid farewell to the woman with what little information we had. Danny mentioned something about lunch to me as we drove back to the office. On the way a call came in about an armed robbery in the workings. They ran the description of the perp over the police radio. Just our luck that it matched the missing man we happened to be looking for. I didn't even have to say anything, we both made the conscious decision to drive to the bank. Looked like the co-worker was right. Mr. Missing had money issues, most likely caused by extreme gambling.

We pulled up on the scene and took the local cops completely by surprise. Sam and Vivian hadn't been far behind. It's always nice when turf disputes don't come up and local officers are willing to work with us. I can't even begin to count how many times a case has been compromised by turf disputes. In the end the Feds win, we have jurisdiction just about everywhere for just about every case. Especially with bank robberies, serial killers; and those lovely criminals that commit crimes in multiple states, crimes of all kinds.

The case was too quickly resolved, not that that was a bad thing. His wife and children were happy to have him back even though they were now aware of his gambling problem. Sadly, since he decided that robbing a bank answered all his problems he would be in jail for a while. That is, if they convicted him. It's amazing how many innocent people got locked up and how many guilty parties got to go scot-free. When you start thinking about it, it really dwells on your mind and makes you feel like shit.

The last few hours of work were spent filling out more paperwork. If I could ever find a job free of paperwork I would be amazed. Every once in a while I'd catch Danny glancing in my direction. How no one else in the office noticed was beyond me. Every minute that went by brought us closer to quitting time. Closer to the ride home in the close quarters of Danny's car. Being confined with him would stir the emotions inside of me, emotions that confused me. The more I worried about it the faster time went, and of course, the faster time went the more I worried. Before I knew it quitting time was upon us. Sam proclaimed that she was staying late to finish the never-ending paperwork. Vivian left us all with good nights. She'd be off to take care of her son and see her husband. I took a peek toward Jack's office; he'd be working late, as usual. Since his wife left him and took their two daughters Jack had been spending more and more time at the office. Poor fellow.

Just as I had expected the ride home with Danny ended up a quiet one. The atmosphere in that car was thick with sexual energy and the heat of the day. Or was it the heat of our bodies being so close? I had expected Danny to go straight home after dropping me off. He didn't. He parked his car and followed me up to my apartment. Maybe he would just stay for dinner and some conversation. My mind was racing. Did I even have food to feed us? When had I last gone to the grocery store?

I stepped through the door into my quiet apartment. Not a richly furnished place. I refused help from my father and mother. If I used their money I would never make it anywhere in my life. I heard the door close behind me and the lock click into place. Danny placed a hand on my shoulder and turned me to face him.

At first the kiss was nothing more than the light brushing of lips. But with each growing second Danny intensified the kiss. His hunger had grown greatly over the day. All thoughts of eating dinner and talking washed from my mind. Instead we would have another night of making out. Danny's hands easily removed my suit jacket. I felt them as they untucked my shirt and touched the skin underneath. His hands felt hot on my bare skin. This wasn't normal. I didn't mind having Danny's hand on my bare skin. It's when he removed them that I began to mind. Never before have I wanted to be touched so badly. This desire was new to me. Sam had never made me feel this way. Danny made haste unbuttoning my shirt and threw it on the floor beside my jacket. Now this didn't seem fair to me. I stood bare-chested while Danny was still completely clothed.

"Danny," I barely managed to breathe his name. He kept me from saying more by giving me another hot kiss full of his burning desire. A few minutes went by before our lips parted. "Dan-", this time I was cut-off by a moan.

Danny was busy sucking on the spot where my neck and collarbone met. It would leave a mark but not where everyone could see it. The idea of Danny leaving his mark on me turned me on even more. My knees nearly buckled when I felt Danny run his tongue along my neck. His hands found my belt and began tugging at it to remove it.

I put a hand on his wrist. "Danny," I whispered.

"No, I don't want to stop, Martin. I've been holding back all day, please." His voice was full of hungry pleading.

"I'm not going to tell you to stop," I comforted. "It just doesn't seem fair that I'm standing here half naked and you still have all your clothes on."

He showed me a devilish grin I'd never seen before. "Feeling a little jealous?" With strong arms he embraced me. I felt his lips touch my ear ever so slightly. "You show me yours and I'll show you mine," he whispered.