It was close to midnight when a furious Danny Messer knocked on the door of the apartment of one Detective Don Flack Junior. When his pounding yielded no results he swore. This was not what he needed. The last 4 hours had been hell and he was not in the mood to play games.
"Don", he yelled "Listen to me and listen carefully. You have ten seconds before I take out my gun and blow your lock away… Ya hear me"
He was wondering if he would have to make good on his threat when a breathless Don Flack, hair wet from the shower pulled the door open, an annoyed expression on his face.
"What the hell Danno…"
He never got to finish his sentence. Having reached and gone beyond his melting point about an hour ago Danny simply punched the stunned detective in the face, let himself in and kicked the door close.
"How dare you?" he questioned, the anger clearly visible in his eyes. "Do you know what I have been doing for the last 4 hours", he asked the stunned man, still on the floor after having been knocked down from the blow to his jaw.
Not expecting an answer and since his question was rhetorical anyway he continued, "Of course you don't, do you Donnie, huh do you? I've been looking for your sorry ass"
Don slowly stood up, all appearances of a trapped animal clear on his face.
"Danny I can explain", he said softly.
"Explain what Don. What do you think YOU CAN EXPLAIN", his voice had been steadily rising and finished at a crescendo.
"I wasn't trying to… It was all a mistake… I mean… You have to… I'd never ever make a move on…" Don stuttered.
Once again he never got to finish his sentence.
"Do you think I don't know that? Do you think I'd ever believe that you'd try to take Montana away from me?"
"What….?"
The homicide cop just stood there stunned. He swore his ear wasn't working properly. He opened and closed his mouth gaping like a fish out of water which caused the older CSI to chuckle.
Calmer than he had been about five minutes ago when he had sworn to himself that he was going to murder his best friend on the force Danny walked over and stood in front of him.
Don took a step back warily not sure if he was going to be punched in the face again. But wait he thought if Danny hadn't been mad at him because he thought he was trying to steal Lindsay then why the hell…
"You wanna know why the hell I was goinna kick your ass Flack?" Danny went on as though reading his mind, "Cos you thought that I'd believe some stupid water cooler rumour over the word of someone I consider family. I mean come on Don, why would you ever think I would listen to office gossip. God, you are my best friend and Linds…" he trailed off unable to define their relationship at the moment before picking up again, "I know neither of you would ever do anything behind my back".
A stupefied Flack tried to explain his actions to his friend even as he told himself that what was making his vision blurry was the water dripping from his wet hair and not tears. There was no way his throat was not working properly because he had been touched by the unconditional trust of the man standing in front of him.
"Dan I…"
Once again he never got to finish his sentence. The only difference was that this time he had no idea what to say. What do you say to a guy you'd been hiding from for the last 4 hours because you thought he was most likely to kill you (mind you without leaving any evidence as Danny had been trained by the two best CSI's probably in existence in Stella and Mac) because you believed he thought you were having an affair with his ex-girlfriend who you knew he still loved.
"Cat got your tongue Flack?" came the cheeky question.
"God this is messed up", Flack mumbled to himself before gathering the courage to look up at the other detective.
"Dan I'm sorry ok", he told him tiredly, running a hand over his face. "It's just I… I know you love her Messer and I… I just thought you know you'd have gotten jealous and I… God gimme a break here Dan", he finished as he watched the older man laugh at his fumbling explanation.
A minute later though Danny Messer turned serious and looked his friend in the eye, "Flack I trust you. No wait lemme finish… I trust you more than I trust anyone in my life, even Mac or Linds. I know for a fact that you would never ever betray me in any way. In fact, you're probably the only guy who I can turn to when I'm in trouble and who I know would do anything to keep me safe." He paused for a minute his own throat clogging up a bit before he continued. "What hurt most was that you didn't trust me enough. No Don, don't try to say anything man. Just next time, and I seriously hope there is never a next time, you just promise me you'll come to me and not run. I mean, I never pegged you for a coward", he finished with a smirk.
"I'm no coward Messer", was the response from the younger man.
"Oh yeah what do you call hiding from me instead of facing me like a man?"
"Did you come here to make my life miserable", Don asked him even as he moved towards the kitchen to pull out two beers.
"Seriously. I came here to kill you and hide all the evidence", came the answer even as he shook his head to decline the offer of a drink. "I gotta go man. I gotta call Linds and let her know you're still alive. If she doesn't hear from me soon she's probably likely to knock on your door with either Mac or Hawkes in tow".
Even as he moved towards the door Flack stopped him with a hand to his shoulder.
"Danno, I really am sorry man…" The younger man's eyes shone with regret.
Danny smiled at him letting him know he was forgiven.
"Are we good?" came the uncertain question.
"We're good Flack, we're good".