A/N: Welcome! I'll make this a/n quick and just say sit back, relax and enjoy. :)
Full Summary: It's been a long 9 months since that fateful day. Sometimes it's just about moving on with the ones you love. [Spoilers for Season 5 finale]
Rating: T for language
Pairings: D/L, Flack/OC (later chapters), other possibilities
Disclaimer: I only own Brye Burgess and Erin Hamshira. All others belong to CBS.
The last time Don Flack had seen his father like this was when Sam was born.
Don couldn't sleep. He had rolled out of bed after hours of staring at the ceiling and headed downstairs to the kitchen for a glass of water in hopes that it would help him sleep. When he got to the kitchen and poked his head in, he saw that he wasn't the only person having sleeping troubles.
Don's father, Donald Flack Sr. was sitting at the small table in the middle of the kitchen, a bottle of beer in front of him and a look of exhaustion etched on his face. Don licked his lips and silently slipped into the kitchen; his father to deep in his own thoughts to hear his son wandering the kitchen. At least that's what Don thought.
"You couldn't sleep, either?"
Don jumped at the sound of his father's voice. He carefully placed the glass filled with water on the counter and nodded his head.
"Yeah."
Silence hung between the two before Flack Sr. patted the chair next to him and said, "Sit down."
Don grabbed his glass and set it on the table before quietly sitting down in the chair.
"You want to talk about it?" Flack Sr. asked and Don shrugged his shoulders.
"There's nothing to talk about. I'm just having some problems sleeping, that's all." Don said and his father nodded before taking his bottle of beer and holding it up to his lips for a sip. He licked his lips and slowly set the bottle down and rubbed his temples.
"You alright?" Don asked and Flack Sr. looked at his son.
Flack Sr. shook his head, "Just a rough day, that's all."
Again, silence had settled between the two before Don spoke up again, "You want to talk about it?"
Flack. Sr quickly shook his head, "It's just a case that's really getting to me, that's all." He said and Don nodded. When it came to Flack Sr.'s work, Don knew to leave the subject when it got personal; but this time, Flack Sr. just didn't leave it.
"A 17 year old and a 22 year old." He said quietly with the shake of his head and another sip of his beer, "I guess you'll see it tomorrow on the front page of the Daily News, so what's the harm in telling you now."
Flack Sr. set down the beer and leaned back in his chair as Don's attention perked up.
"Two siblings decided to go for a walk in Manhattan tonight. Just something simple." Flack Sr. shook his head and continued, "Both were walking down 32nd when the shots rang out. The brother died in his sister's arms."
Don didn't speak for a moment before he said, "Who were they?"
Flack Sr. sighed, "The brother was 22 and his name was Matthew. The girl was 17…" Flack Sr. voice faded as he shook his head.
Don knew the effect something like this could have on his father, "She really stuck with you."
Flack Sr. nodded, "I know you want to go to the Academy, but I warn you. You become a homicide detective; it's these type of things that just don't leave you quickly. That girl. Her face; the fear and shock that was on that face. I could only think of you and your sister."
Flack Sr. shook his head and drained the rest of his beer, "We should both be getting to bed. You have to get to school tomorrow."
"Will she be alright?" Don asked.
Flack Sr. shrugged, "We'll see, we'll see."
Almost 11 years later, Don was able to see what happened to that girl.
Don Flack and Brye Burgess met a week after the murder of Brye's older brother, Matthew Burgess. Both had met in school; neither had known they had been in the same grade for the past few years. Don Flack was captain of the basketball team and popular while Brye was the definition of the outcast. Her father had gotten a job in New York City when she was 14 and when she moved up from the West Coast, she was never able to fit in with anyone.
Now, Don and Brye sat across each other in the break room at the NYC Crime Lab, both comparing notes on a case they were working. Don had followed in the footsteps of his father and was one of the top detectives in the NYPD while Brye took the job as a Lab Tech and along with Adam, managed to get into plenty of trouble, but solve the case at the end of the day.
"I'm still convinced that the boyfriend did it." Don said as he sat back in the chair.
Brye shook her head, "No, Don, look at the evidence. Nothing here says that he was at the crime scene. He has no M/O and you saw what he pulled out of his pocket during interrogation, a wedding ring. I'm positive that a boyfriend does not drop a few grand on an engagement ring and then turn around and kill his girlfriend."
Don sighed, "He has a weak alibi, and no one can prove he was at that bar."
"So you're going to go after him because he has a weak alibi?"
"I'm going old school."
Brye frowned and slammed the folder shut, "You're impossible."
"I'm just saying that the fingerprints you took from him are going to come back and be a positive match to the prints we found on the murder weapon. When it does, what will you have to say in his defense?" Don asked.
Brye frowned and slipped out of the stool she was sitting on and grabbed the file, "I'm going to check on Danny and those fingerprints and I'm going to prove you wrong." She said as she turned on her heel and left the break room.
Don shook his head and followed Brye to Trace where Danny and now, Brye, were sitting at a computer. Brye had a triumphant look on her face and Don knew that meant one thing, she was right.
He poked it head into Trace and asked, "So, what's the final verdict?"
Danny waved him in as Brye smiled and turned to say, "I was right. AFIS coughed up another name that does not belong to the boyfriend."
"It belongs to a Rocco Price. Convicted of public indecency, assaulting an officer and a couple of unpaid parking tickets." Danny said and he smiled, "I guess Burgess was right again, Flack."
Don shrugged, "What can I do. Messer, shotgun?" he asked and Danny nodded.
"I'll meet you at the car." He said and Don left Trace as Brye sat back in her chair, her hands behind her head as she smiled.
"Do you know how good it feels to put one in his face?" Brye asked and Danny shot Brye a side look and gave a small smile.
"Yeah, but I like it so much better when I one up him with girls." Danny said and Brye snickered.
"1. You're sounding like Adam and 2. You're married." Brye said and Danny shrugged.
"I was talking about the ole' days, okay?" Danny said as he stood up and Brye nodded.
"Alright, alright. Tell me how it goes with our friend, Price. I'm going to see if Adam needs any help with the evidence that Mac just brought in." Brye said and Danny nodded.
"Will do."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
2 months later
Erin Hamshira sat at the far end of the bar, a bottle of beer sitting in front of her. She sat back on the stool, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched the activity around her. A golf match and a baseball game were playing on two, small screens that were sitting right next to one another and several people sat at the bar, or small tables scattered around the area. When the front door of the bar opened and closed, Erin didn't move an inch until she heard someone sitting next to her. She looked up and rolled her eyes at Brye who was sitting next to her, stealing sips of her beer.
"That's my beer."
Brye smiled and shrugged, "So?" she asked as she took another sip of the beer.
Erin watched her friend for a moment before saying, "You're in a good mood."
Brye leaned back and set the beer in front of Erin, "Yeah, sorry about last night. I was…" she paused and frowned before continuing, "Stressed."
"Anything I could help you with?" Erin asked, but Brye waved her off.
"No, I'm good. How's that job search going for you? You haven't given me an update in… what, a month?" Brye asked.
"I think I found something." Erin said with a huge smile and Brye turned in her chair.
"Alright, you going to tell me what it is or am I going to play the guessing game until the bartender gets back here?" Brye said.
Erin smirked and crossed her arms over her chest, "I guess you're going to have to guess until your boyfriend gets back."
Brye frowned, "Mark's working and he left the bar open, again?" she asked and gently smacked the palm of her hand to her forehead, "What am I going to do with that man?" she quietly asked herself and Erin sat beside her, laughing.
10 minutes later, a young man slipped into the bar and behind the bar counter, grabbing a beer and placed it in front of one of the customers who said, "Again? Why you always runnin' off when I need another beer?"
The man smirked and shrugged, "It's so I can make sure you're still alive."
The customer took the bottle of beer and chuckled as he raised the bottle to his lips, "Your girlfriend is sitting over there." He said as he nodded his head over to the other end of the bar. The younger man looked down the bar and smiled and shuffled over to the end where he pulled out two bottles of beer and placed them on the counter of bar.
"Anything else ladies?" he asked with a smirk and Erin rolled her eyes.
"Mark, stop it with the flirting. You and Brye have been serious since we got out of college." Erin said with a sigh.
Mark raised an eyebrow, "Maybe I found someone else." he said staring Erin down before making a face and leaning back, "No. I'm joking."
"You better be joking." Brye mumbled and Mark leaned across the bar to kiss her on the cheek.
Erin smiled and took a sip of her beer when she heard Brye's phone go off. With a sigh, Brye grabbed for the phone and sighed, "Got a 419 in the Bronx. They want me to met Mac there." She said as she slipped off the bar stool and placed her phone into her pocket.
"How come they have you working the 419's?" Mark asked.
"Lindsay's still on Maternity leave and Danny has 2 more weeks of Paternity leave still left. Adam and I are helping to pick up the slack." Brye said as she grabbed her jacket and slipped it on.
Seconds later, Erin's phone rang and she grabbed it to see that she was working, too.
"Don't leave without me." She said as she too stood up and grabbed her jacket.
Brye frowned, "What do you mean by that, Er?"
Erin placed her phone into her pocket then said, "I'm the new ME."
Brye grinned and gave a small squeal before giving her friend a hug, "I'm so happy for you!" she said with a smile before hugging Erin again.
Mark shook his head as the two women left the bar.
"Hey! Another beer sometime soon would be fantastic!"
Mark looked down the bar, spotted an overexcited customer, and sighed,
"Shove it asshole or you won't be getting anything."