Life had knocked them both around enough for neither to sweat the small stuff. It didn't really bother him that she never put the cutting board back in the right place after she cooked. She didn't make a big deal about the wet towels on the furniture after his shower. They were in love, they were happy and they were wise enough to know that was a gift and they cherished it. That's not to say they never fought. But you could count the fights on one hand.
The first, was about working together. She wanted to come clean to Mac that they lived together. Mac knew they were close, maybe even that they had been dating, but not that they were as serious as they were. Flack wanted to keep it as it was. It was none of Mac's business after all. They were professional, and from his perspective it didn't effect their work. Each couldn't convince the other to their point of view. So in the end she mollified him. Made him think they would have to just table the issue for now and come back to it another time as they were getting no where. The next day she went to Mac and without explaining why asked for fewer day shifts, more swing and night. She just figured if they had to work together and live together, it would be easier than working the same shifts and trying to hide their relationship from Mac.
Being on different schedules it was harder to find time to spend together. They usually tried to sleep while the other was working and no matter what the hour when they were both off they tried to do things together. She loved to experience how the city never slept. He loved to show her things and even learned a few things about the city himself in sharing it with her.
She could usually come home in time to make him coffee and wake him before his shift. On a really good day she even had enough time to crawl into bed with him for a while before he had to get ready. Some days they shared shower in that time, sometimes she just sat on the bed hugging her knees, telling about her shift watching as he got ready for his. Occasionally her shift ran long and they didn't have that time. On one such day she had called to say they had a suspect in for questioning and she would be late. He was at the station before she even had left. It had been a while since they worked a case together and he missed observing her quietly disarming nature with suspects, so he looked from the other side of the glass. He immediately didn't like the look of this. This suspect was more than twice Lindsay's size and she was on his side of the table. Detective Thacker, who in Flack's mind should have been the one leaning on the suspect was standing on the other side of the room letting Lindsey drive the questioning. The guy looked strung out on something, or maybe just crazy. Flack was trying to figure out how he could fix this, not at all being involved in the investigation, he just had a bad feeling. Then boom. Lindsay pushed the wrong button and they guy flew out of his chair, grabbing her by both arms, slamming the side of her face against the wall. By the time Thacker and the uniform had made it across the room the scumbag had even had time to lick Lindsey's cheek. Flack was in the room an instant later although Lindsey just looked at him sternly to go, and he did. He had seen her only briefly again before she went home. He could see the goose-egg forming on her temple. She assured him she was OK and went home alone refusing his assertions that she should be checked out.
After his shift ended when he arrived home he found her asleep on the couch, wearing sweat pants and his unwashed tee shirt. Just where the tee shirt sleeves ended he could see the bruising from where the perp had grabbed her and the left side of her face was black and blue. He tried to wake her, but she didn't stir.
"Lindsay." He said softly stroking her hair away from her face. No response.
He kissed her forehead. "Lindsay. Babe." No response. Then he noticed she had moved the bathroom waste basket next to the couch. She must have either been throwing up or afraid she was going to. Concusion.
Now he grabbed her by the shoulders. "Lindsay!" He said loudly, the sense of urgency and dread rising in his chest. "Lindsay, look at me!"
She groaned. Her hand went to her head. "Don, what?" Her eyes still weren't open.
By now his blood was pumping, the fear of losing her had been so real so overpowering. "Lindsay look at me." He said sternly.
She opened her eyes and looked at him but he could tell she wasn't herself. She was in pain, and disappointed with herself that the perp had gotten the better of her. And if she really thought about it, she was a little scared.
"You have a concussion. I told you to go to the hospital." He was almost yelling.
"What are they going to do? They don't treat a concussion."
"Well, for one thing they tell you not to go to sleep." He said sharply releasing her shoulders.
"Sorry. It was a long shift. I was trying to wait for you to come home."
"Lindsay, what the hell were you doing today?"
"What?"
"Why the hell wasn't Thacker being the heavy? Why were you even that close to that maggot?" She could tell by the foul language that he was stewing on this all day. The concussion part just pushed him over the edge.
She sat up on the couch. He was sitting on the coffee table across from her. This was what she was afraid of if they worked the same shifts. He would be second guessing her police work for her safety. He was protective and it was sweet, but it wasn't professional. If they weren't dating, he would know that in this case, with this perp, with what they knew, she was handling it the right way to get the information. It just happened to have gone wrong. It happens sometimes. She tried to look into his eyes and figure out how to calm him down. She reached a hand over to touch his face.
"Don, I…" He swatted her hand away and stood up.
"Lindsay. You're smarter than that. You left yourself wide open to this guy. He could have killed you."
"Don, Thacker and a uniform were in the room. He couldn't have killed me."
"You see, that's what I mean," now he was yelling. "Yes he could have, you should know that. You're smarter than this. You're not invincible. You can't rely on Thacker and the uniform, you know that. You have to look out for yourself too. Jesus Lindsay, come on."
She could see that he was in no mood to be reasoned with, so she laid back down on the couch. Her head was splitting, and the yelling wasn't helping, so she just put her feet back up and closed her eyes. He didn't let that interrupt his tirade. He was pacing back and forth in front of her. She figured if she let him rant enough he would either run out of steam, or remember what was really getting him upset.
"Goddamnit Lindsay. If you are going to be this stupid, maybe you shouldn't be doing field work at all. Stay in the lab where you can keep yourself out of trouble." He was still standing hands on his hips looming over her. She opened her eyes and could tell that now he expected a response.
"Don, you gotta calm down. I can't talk to you like this. You won't listen to me."
"Calm down?" She just closed her eyes again. "Lindsay that scumbag put his hands on you! I keep seeing it over and over in my head. His sick dirty hands on your body. He hurt you! You have a concussion. Not only were you dumb enough to get yourself in a position to get a concussion you were and are too damned stubborn to go to the hospital."
He threw his hands up and they came slapping back down at his sides. "And Thacker! What the hell was he thinking? I'm serious Lindsey. Why don't you just take a lab job. If you're going to take chances like this, you're gonna end up dead." He paused, and looked at her. Bruised, small, beautiful, lying with her eyes closed, in his tee shirt that he knew she wore because his smell was on it. He sighed, and knelt next to her. She opened her eyes and looked into his which were now rimmed with tears. "Lindsey I can't lose you. I love you so much. I can't stand that you are hurt, " He leaned in and kissed her. She kissed him back and stroked his face.
"I love you too. I'm sorry."
"Lindsay I'm serious about the lab job."
She smiled. "I know you are. I will take a lab job." His eyebrows lifted, had he really won? "As soon as you take a desk job." She grinned.
"Funny."
"I thought so." She just closed her eyes and smiled pleased with herself. "Now will you please be a good boyfriend and start taking care of me. I could use some Tylenol and I wouldn't say no to a ginger ale."
He brushed the hair away from her face, and kissed her non-bruised cheek. "Yes dear."