It had been a tough case.

Finally closing for the day, Jo Danville was relieved. Everything had turned out in the best possible way, under the circumstances. The D.A. would not press charges on Jay Carver, and the Chief would get to be with his niece on her wedding day.

As she was walking towards the elevator she spotted Hawkes, who was filling a bag with some medical supplies. She waited for him inside the elevator.

"I didn't know that you were still working in Central Park…"

Sheldon looked at his bag, shaking his head. "This? Oh, no. I just got off the phone with Lindsay. She said that she had finally managed to drag Danny to a doctor to check on him, but that Flack had gone straight home, saying that he was fine and not to worry…" He sighed.

Jo chuckled. "I take it his opinion is not to be trusted when it comes to his own health?"

Hawkes winced. "Lately he has been sharing a bit more, but Danny was pretty roughed up, and he said that Flack had gotten the worst of it. I just want to drop by and make sure it's nothing serious."

"If he's as stubborn as you say he is, what makes you think he'll let you come in and check him over?"

"I'm stopping by Danny's first to borrow his spare key… Hopefully he won't kick me out if I manage to get in…" He shrugged.

"Do you need company?" Asked Jo.

Hawkes looked surprised. "Hmm, if you tag along, then it'll be harder for him to kick us both out. Would you mind?"

Jo smiled. "Not at all! Ellie is staying over at a friend's house tonight, and Tyler will survive by himself for a couple of hours."

Hawkes smiled. "Great, let's go".

An hour later found them standing outside Flack's Apartment. As Hawkes was finding the right key, Jo looked dubious. "Shouldn't we knock first?"

Hawkes opened the door quietly. "I tried calling him from Danny's but he wasn't answering his home line. So, if he's home, I don't think he would open the door even if we knocked…"

They entered Flack's apartment quietly. The living room was dark, the only sound coming from the TV, playing some sports show.

The glow of the TV lit up the figure lying on the couch, snoring softly.

Hawkes approached Flack quietly, noticing the bruises and the pained expression on his face. Reaching out to shake his shoulder softly, he called his name. "Flack? Can you wake up for a little while?"

Flack sat up startled, regretting the sudden movement as his bruised ribs protested painfully. "What the f…! Hmph… Doc? What'cha doing here?" He settled back on the couch, holding his ribs and closing his eyes.

Hawkes helped him to lie back down. Taking some supplies out of his bag he looked Flack over. "We just came by to make sure you were alright..."

Don groaned again, opening one eye. "Well, I was fine until you showed up and woke me up…"

Hawkes smiled sympathetically. "Can I turn on the light to see for myself?"

Flack sighed resignedly. "You won't leave me be until I agree, so we might as well get this over with…"

At Hawkes' nod, Jo turned on the light, which made Don squeeze his eyes shut and moan again. When he finally opened his eyes, he noticed her for the first time.

"Jo?" He turned to Hawkes. "You brought backup? It's not a fair fight…"

Hawkes helped him to sit up on the couch, settling his head to get a look view on the bruising on his face. "I think you did enough fighting for the day". He takes out a flashlight. "I'll just give you a quick checkup an then we'll leave you in peace, ok?"

While Hawkes was blinding him with the flashlight, Don shrugged. "Yeah, whatever you say, Doc". He was beyond caring at this point.

After checking that Don's eyes were reacting correctly to the light, Hawkes turned to Jo. "Would you get him a glass of water? It seems that he doesn't have a serious head injury, so we can get some painkillers into him before I start checking his ribs…"

Don hadn't moved his hand from around his ribs, but still shook his head, looking at the medicine bottle on Hawkes' hand. "I can't take those painkillers, Doc. I'm on shift tomorrow, let's just get this over with…" He started to gingerly lift his shirt, revealing his bruised chest.

Hawkes sighed, carefully inspecting Flack's ribs. After some poking and probing he was relieved to confirm that at least nothing was sticking in or out of his patient's ribs, which was a good sign. When Jo returned with the water, Hawkes took a couple of pills, offering them to Don. "Mac talked to your Lieutenant, and he said to tell you not to show your face at the precinct until it's no longer black and blue."

Don looked from the meds to Hawkes' face, trying to make him see reason. "I have a ton of paperwork to do Doc…"

Jo offered the glass of water, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sure the NYPD can survive without you doing their paperwork for a couple of days."

Knowing that it was a losing battle, Don gave in and accepted the pills, downing them with some water. "It's not fair, you two ganging up on me."

"Next time you get headbutted and thrown around a living room by a deranged giant, we promise to leave you in peace". Said Hawkes, while he and Jo helped Don to sit up in order to wrap some bandages around his ribs.

Blinking sleepily, Don noticed a strange expression on Jo's face. Looking down at his chest he agreed that all the black and blue wasn't exactly the best look for a human chest, but it was not something that would shock an experienced former FBI agent. Then, it hit him. Looking up at Jo he asked her, pointing at the thin line that crossed his left side. "Didn't they tell you about the bomb?"

Now Jo looked really confused, and Hawkes looked between amused and surprised, but they had an increasingly sleepy detective in their hands, so, wrapping the last of the bandages around his chest, it was time to put him to bed. "I'm sure you'll have a chance to tell her all about it some other time, Flack, but now it's time to get you to tuck you in".

They help Flack up, starting toward his bedroom "It's a great story, isn't it Doc?"

Hawkes smiles, "Sure it is, Don…"

"Too bad I don't remember much of it…" He turns to Jo. "You should ask Mac about it, he did all the work anyway…"

Jo chuckled at the detective's behavior, wondering about the story behind it all.

They finally manage to get Flack into bed without much difficulty. As they settle him comfortably he looks at Hawkes. "Thanks Doc…" He blinks sleepily, and with a last sigh, he's asleep.

Jo can't help the motherly gesture of sweeping a few strands of hair off Don's forehead, getting an unexpected reaction from the sleeping man; "Jess, don't go, Love you…" whispers Don, settling into the pillow and finally going still.

She turned to Hawkes, but other than the sad expression on the doctor's face, he didn't give anything away. "He should sleep until the morning. We can leave him and I'll stop over to check on him tomorrow."

Jo looked unconvinced. "Are you sure?"

Hawkes smiled reassuringly. "You would not believe the stuff he has bounced back from… He'll be fine, and he'll wake up feeling much better in the morning". He said softly.

They left him sleeping and went their separate ways.

Finally heading home, Jo couldn't help but be surprised by how little she knew about the detective she worked with almost every day. She hoped that she'll get a chance to know him a little bit better.

AN: Thank you for reading! When I saw Don and Danny getting thrown around by that brute I couldn0t help but feel that they must have been more injured than they showed on the episode. And I always like to have people caring for Flack, so this came up...

In my mind any interaction between Flack and Jo is purely friendship, in case anyone was wondering.

I hope you liked it, and please review!