Disclaimer: I don't own any of these wonderful characters except for Angie and the mystery girl, so please don't sue me. You won't get much...
On the mornings that their paths crossed, which was an often occurrence, Detectives Don Flack and Mac Taylor grabbed a cup of coffee at Stinger's around the corner from Flack's apartment, and it was usually the same thing as every morning. One tall black with two sugars a piece as they discussed the case at hand, the latest one being pretty open and shut. A man had happened upon his wife in bed with her personal trainer before shooting them both in the head with a hunting rifle. Danny was still trying to determine where the gun had even come from; there was no record of purchase or even its existence but with a believable confession, Flack had told him not to worry about it. All of them were conveniently forgetting that Mr. Riche was not a hunter, nor anyone else in his family for that matter.
There was a pause in their conversation as Flack leaned between a gap of people to get their coffee and winking at the cashier in the process. "Angie my angel, how you doin'?" he asked over the dull roar of the crowd like he did most every morning.
"Always better when you're in my coffee shop, Detective," she grinned without looking up from the register, too busy banging out his order so he and Mac could get on their way.
Angie Morrison was a tough bird having worked as a defense attorney for the better part of thirty years before deciding to try her hand at a little business. Stinger's Café was her baby nowadays, and she'd told Flack once that she was glad those "assholes" hadn't made her partner otherwise she wouldn't be having the time of her life serving the finest looking detectives in New York. It was a reference to all the boys at the crime lab that dropped by for her coffee with a recommendation from Flack and she enjoyed her friendly flirtations with each of them, harmless though they were. Angie was almost sixty and disinterested in a boy toy; she just liked grilling them once and awhile, and she often commented why she hadn't done this years ago. It was a hell of a lot better than defending those "grungy bastards" from murder.
Today, though, she didn't have time for friendly conversation, shooing Flack and his appendage away from her counter with a frenzied grunt, telling them both to come back later when the morning rush was gone and they agreed, knowing full well the day would probably be too busy. Murders to solve, criminals to put away, and all that boring mess.
Outside it was misting, as it usually did that time of year so close to the drastic change to what felt like below freezing temperatures, and Flack cinched up his coat, throwing a glance down the street to his left as a cabbie laid on his horn a little longer than necessary.
"Jaywalkers," Mac muttered, a tinge of frustration in his voice and Flack laughed, looking back at him. "You'd think they'd learn living in New York to not cross the street without a crosswalk. That's why we get so many hit and runs."
"Half the time I don't think drivers realize they've hit something," Flack half-joked as he once again looked to where the stopped taxi was, now curious as to why it hadn't moved along to its next fare and something inside of him groaned. Work was starting early this morning, and here he'd hoped to do a little desk work first, not have to see a dead body at the butt-crack of dawn. An argument had broken out between the hack and the woman he had apparently just avoided, the woman waving her arms animatedly while he was screaming obscenities at her and pointing rather fervently at the hood of his cab.
With a sigh, Flack started for the two, irritated that a crowd had already started to form behind the woman in curiosity, probably wondering who would throw the first punch or, morbidly, who would kill the other. Public disputes always brought spectators and Flack always found his face somewhat briefly on the news as someone snapped a picture on their cell phone of the event. Photos always did make him look fat.
"Alright, what's goin' on here?" Mac demanded, flashing a badge, as did Flack, and the latter stepped between the argument, holding out a hand toward the cabbie to prevent him from trying anything too stupid.
"Oh perfect timing," the woman said, relief in her voice and she took a step toward Flack feeling a little more bold with authorities around. "This wacko just started screaming at me because I stepped in front of him." -she shot a finger in his direction which only incited his anger and he lunged at her, meeting Flack full force.
"Woah! Hey wait a minute!" he cried, bracing himself for the impact and preventing the cabbie from tackling him to the ground. "What is the big deal? Get angry and move on, don't go assaulting someone."
"Look, either the two of you go about your business or someone here has to press charges and all we have to go on is your statements," Mac explained, looking with a cocked eyebrow from the woman to the driver, his expression grave and each one glanced away. "So?"
The hack shoved away from a still off-balance Flack and brusquely straightened his jacket, pursing his lips as though he wanted to say something else but thought better of it. Flack straightened his own jacket and turned to face Mac but instead meeting the woman head on, a somewhat shy smile on her face as she bit at her lower lip.
"You guys are lifesavers," she cooed quietly, looking from Flack to Mac then back to the blue-eyed detective, her gaze lingering on him but oblivious to his uncomfortable shift of his weight from one foot to the other. "I was afraid he'd jump me any minute."
"Just...watch where you're going next time," Mac offered, glancing at Flack over the woman's shoulder and smiling, catching the glint in his eye. All week long they dealt with liars and con artists and anyone quick to dismiss their help but it was rare they encountered a truly gracious victim, so to speak, and Flack was flustered, unused to the attention she was giving him.
"Hey listen," she started as the two began to walk away, her hand falling lightly on Flack's arm and making him suddenly take notice of her. Bright green eyes, bouncy strawberry blond hair that was slowly deflating with the rain. "In case he comes around again, can I have a card? I take the same route every morning to work, as I'm sure he does and I just don't want any trouble from him."
Discreetly, Mac nudged his friend's side and nodded toward her, the action seeming as though it were waking Flack up for the morning and he fumbled around for his wallet, wondering who on God's green earth thought up the idea to put a wallet in your back pocket. It was an awkward location to begin with, but when you were flustered and wondering what you had to be flustered about, it became downright cruel.
Finally managing to flip her a card, he told her he would probably be pushing papers but if he wasn't there, just leave a message; it would forward to his cell phone, and as soon as he explained it he wondered why. It wasn't like the woman needed a play by play of how the message machine worked, and as he walked away he shoved his shaking hands into the pockets of his warm overcoat with the realization that he was coursing with nervous energy. It had been a long time since he'd felt that way about anything and a tiny little void inside of him seemed to fill slightly at the knowledge. Flack almost hoped that she would call him, and as the two of them stopped at a crosswalk with a few other morning commuters, Mac grinned at the hint of a smile on Flack's lips.
"You should've gotten her number. Told her something like you needed to check up on her so you'd feel better about not filing a police report." -Flack looked at him curiously. "But then again, I've had a little more practice at this job than you."
With that they shared a laugh and started for work, each praying their laughter was a good omen for the day, neither of them wanting to fish the construction worker out of the bay four hours later, no one having seen anything and making everyone's job that much harder to do. It was raining a little more heavily as Danny Messer arrived at the scene, his neat silver kit dangling from his untouched hand while the other was resting protected in his jacket pocket. It had been a few weeks since all the cartilage was torn in his left hand with a few broken metacarpal bones and while it was healing quite nicely, the CSI in Danny was a perfectionist and any unnecessary exposure was unacceptable.
"Yo Flack," he greeted, eyes a little bleary from having them hovering over a microscope most of the morning. "I hear we got ourselves a floater."
"You always spoil my surprises for you," he said with feigned disappointment and turning to walk with Danny back toward the bloated body now lying on the grass. No matter how many times he saw one, Flack never got used to the murky black and grey color that the skin turned and he found himself staring at his notebook, reciting the usual information he gathered. Today was a little different, at least, the worker being a John Doe and would probably stay that way for awhile. The fish had gotten to him before the cops had, eating away most of his eyes and about half of his face and if he were to venture a guess they'd probably nibbled away his fingerprints as well. Witnesses around the area said there had been some major construction going on in the nearby half-finished building that was to be a realty company, each saying that so many workers came in and out of the frame it would be hard to identify anyone in particular.
"Beautiful," Danny noted, peering over the rim of his glasses at the lumpy mass and scrunching up his nose. The smell hadn't diminished much during its fermentation in the water and it was ripe, sticking to Danny's nostrils and he knew he'd be smelling those gases all day long. "Any good news for me, Don?"
Flack smiled and started away from the body, no longer able to tolerate the smell and thankful he didn't have to stick around to process evidence. "Ah, then I wouldn't be doin' my job, Messer. Have fun, uh?"
Danny waved absently and glanced at his watch, groaning internally. Just beautiful.