A/N: I hope my Stack readers will have faith in me that this will turn out right. We all know I have a really hard time with Detective Angell, but I didn't want to demonize her in this fic. And I've finally given into her being called "Jess," since there's a debate about her name. Also, this is slightly AU in the sense that, in this fic, neither Flack nor Angell have any close (immediate) family.

"All alone, Detective?"

Flack looked up and tried to smile, thought he wasn't sure how successful he was.

"Hey Jess."

Seeing something flash in his eyes, Angell reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked.

Don shrugged. "I've been better. Wanna get drunk with me?"

Jess gave him a sad smile. "Best offer I've had all day."

She took a seat next to him, immediately ordering a whiskey. When she saw Flack raising his eyebrows in surprise, she shrugged.

"My prom date senior year was a drinker. Taught me how to hold my liquor."

While the bartender was still there, Flack ordered a refill on his scotch. He usually didn't drink anything harder than a beer, but his only goal for the night was to get hammered.

"So what are we drinking to?" Jess asked as she held up her glass.

Don thought about that for a second. "To knowing you shoulda let go a long time ago but ya still can't?"

Angell clinked her glass against his. "Amen," she muttered.

They both drained their glasses, and Flack gestured to the bartender for another round. Angell took a drink as soon as her glass was refilled, and then leaned back in her chair and sighed.

"He's never gonna leave her, is he?"

Don looked over at his friend, sympathy welling up inside of him. He knew exactly how she felt, and it killed him to watch the light in her eyes die. But as much as he didn't want to see her in pain, he couldn't lie to her.

"No. He loves her, Jess. He's gonna ask her to marry him."

She shrugged. "I guess it serves me right. Never really had a chance to begin with."

"I'm sorry."

She shrugged again, finishing her drink before ordering another. "So what about you? Why the depressive drink-fest?"

He stared hard at the surface of the bar. Angell was his friend - he trusted her with his life and he knew that she would never repeat his secrets. But this would be the first time he'd said it out loud, and he knew that somehow that would make it all the more real. Making his decision, he took a deep breath.

"I hear Mac and Stella are seein' each other now."

There it was. Angell reached out and squeezed his arm, her heart going out to him.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I always thought it might be her."

Flack shrugged, sniffing as he tried to fight back the tears he felt gathering behind his eyes. "Doesn't really matter now."

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They drank late into the night. Neither seemed to care that they had work in the morning, or that they were both well past the point of buzzed or even tipsy. Eventually, though, the noise of the bar started to get to them, and they dropped their money on the counter and headed outside.

Angell was surprised at how unsteady her legs felt. Glancing over at Flack, she was struck by the pain and loneliness in his face. She couldn't let him go home alone to wallow - she couldn't let herself.

"Walk me home?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah."

It wasn't a long walk. They slowly mounted the stairs in front of her building, not sure of what to say or do. Angell watched as Don stuffed his hands into his pockets, his eyes downcast. She knew that his hurt matched her own, and she thought that there had to be some way that they could help each other.

Flack shrugged nervously. "Well, I guess -"

She didn't even know what she was doing until she had pressed her lips against his. He froze, caught off-guard, but Jess persisted, kissing him slowly.

"Angell," he murmured when they finally pulled back.

She kissed him again, more firmly this time. "Why should we have to be alone?" she asked.

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Don didn't remember much. There were hands and lips, and clothes hastily discarded. They had barely made it to the bed, but once they had finished, sleep had come quickly.

As morning sunlight filtered into the room, he watched Angell. Her bare back rose and fell with each breath. Flack found himself torn between thankfulness that he had ended up with a friend, and sadness at the way they had just used each other.

"Don't."

He started slightly at the sound of her voice. Angell's eyes opened and she stared at him intently, her expression thoughtful.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Don't over-think this," she explained, holding his gaze. "We're not what the other wants, Don."

"It's that simple, huh?"

Jess shrugged. "Do you have feelings for me?"

"No," he answered firmly. "But...I don't wanna lose my friend either."

She smiled then, looking more relaxed than she had in weeks. "You won't. This happened, Flack. But it won't happen again. We just both needed a little comfort." She tilted her head toward the bathroom. "Now go take a shower. I'll make us some breakfast."