Title: Citadel
Summary: All she ever wanted was to give him a safe place to lay his head. Flack/Aiden.
Disclaimer: The names of all characters contained herein are the property of Anthony Zuiker, Jerry Bruckheimer Television, CBS and Alliance Atlantis. No infringements of these copyrights are intended, and are used here without permission.
A/N: This fic was written for the amazing weisy on LJ. I'm actually kind of thrilled with this fic, and at discovering this pairing. What have I been missing?
Rating: T

Citadel

"Holdin' on to something
That's keepin' me from jumpin'
So afraid to go in alone."
-Anna Nalick

i.

When Aiden got home from her shift there was a message waiting on her answering machine. She noticed the red light blinking and ignored it. It could wait, she decided, until she had relaxed a little. The case the team had just worked had been a tough one. A little boy had been abducted from his karate class and they found him a block away, his throat slit and evident signs of a sexual assault. Before they could arrest the son of a bitch who did it, he killed himself. There was no justice in that. After a case like this, Aiden needed to take a scalding hot shower just to feel the slightest bit clean again.

After her shower she tried to make dinner for herself, but found she wasn't really hungry. Instead she started to drink the last beer she had but got distracted when she noticed the blinking red light. She pressed the button and listened to the message. Five minutes later the beer was sitting on the counter and Aiden was heading down to Brooklyn.

"Hey, Aid. I know it's late, but this case…Fuck, it hurts. It's not fair. It never is. I'd, well, I'd really appreciate it if you could come over. I just need you, you know? I lo—Well, I just need you here, I'm breakin'. Please, Aiden."

ii.

He kept all the lights on. It was a habit from childhood, something that carried over from listening to his father talk to his mother about the monsters he chased. That caused nightmares cause a kid of only ten years old shouldn't be thinking on murders and blood and weeping mothers. But now Flack was twenty-seven and he still kept the lights on, because he chased his own monsters. Gavin told him to give him a call if he needed to talk, he said it would be hard being in Homicide, but Flack knew he'd never call him.

When he heard a key turn in the lock and someone enter his apartment, he didn't need to look to see who it was. He knew it was Aiden.

iii.

All she ever wanted was to give him a safe place to lay his head. Aiden knew that Flack had nightmares all the time; he called her when he was afraid to go to sleep sometimes. Those were the nights when he was so vulnerable that Aiden would promise to stay awake so that he could fall asleep with her on the phone, knowing that he was safe. It hurt her to see someone like Don fall to pieces like this.

She walked through his messy apartment—who has time to clean when you're falling apart?—and saw him sitting motionless on the couch. Aiden laid a hand softly on his shoulder, and caressed his skin through the fabric of his shirt with her thumb.

"Don? I'm here, okay?"

iv.

Flack reached up and covered her hand with his own, and when Aiden came around the back of the couch to sit next to him, he didn't object. He merely turned to her, shrugging defeatedly and while he wanted to say something—he did, he really did—he just didn't have the time because Aiden pulled him close and whispered in his ear.

"It's going to be okay. I promise. Ya hear me, Don? I'll always be here and it will be okay soon…"

Flack didn't know when he started crying but he was, he was sobbing into Aiden's green shirt and she rocked him until the tears stopped and his breath turned into ragged gasps. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

v.

Aiden brushed away Flack's tears as he lifted his head from her shoulder. He still remained close to her, though, and she understood that. He needed the contact, needed to know that she was there to chase away the dark. She kissed his forehead and leaned backwards against the couch, pulling Flack with her.

Forgive us our sins and lead us not into temptation.

She felt his breath warm against her neck, felt his lips press warm against the hollow of her throat. Flack's hands tightened around her waist, truly making sure that she wouldn't go anywhere, not that she'd want to be anywhere else.

vi.

She kissed his lower lip, down his jawline; her hands were busy untucking his shirt from the hem of his pants and Flack thought he was the luckiest man alive, to have an angel like this with him. As he held Aiden close, Flack realized that she was the only thing holding him together these days. He wished he knew what to say to her, how to thank her.

"Aiden?"

"Mmhm?"

"I love you."

But honestly, how do you thank somebody from keeping you from falling apart?

finis.