What happens to season 6 when it includes Angell and Flack doesn't mourn her death or drink? ... it becomes Flangellized!

Not only am I'm leaving in the part about Flack not shooting Marcia Vasquez, but I'm going to expand on it, because I think CBS did a terrible job with that whole thing.

Changes for this chapter; Obviously since Flack is not mourning Angell's death he will not be drinking alone in a bar at the end. Oh, and Haylen is not in this one either, because I don't like her.

My characters for this chapter;
Paul & Carrie Abrams, Nick Abrams Officer Foster

Chapter 2, Dead Reckoning

She was wearing them again, those wine colored pumps he enjoyed seeing her in. As if she wasn't beautiful enough, they made her legs look a mine long and he knew he was the envy of many men in the room. "What are you doing?" She said with an uncharacteristic giggle, breaking him from his thoughts.

He smiled as he leaned her back, putting only the slightest distance between them so he could see her face. "Sorry." He said sheepishly, realizing he hadn't succeeded in being 'casual' about smelling her neck. "I was just noticing your perfume."

She took in the shimmer of his blue eyes in the dim lighting of the restaurant's dance floor and smiled back at him. "I take it, you approve."

"Mhmm." He mumbled, their foreheads now pressed to together.

"It's called 'Night Angel'." She informed him.

"Appropriately named." He said, pulling her close again as they resumed swaying to the slow music.

An hour later their meal was finished and they were back out on the dance floor again. "Don." She said, getting his attention. "Is that Mac?"

Flack looked across the room to where she was indicating. "Yeah. I think it is." Mac was walking around the far edge of the dance floor, apparently heading for his table and hadn't noticed them. "Do you care if he sees us?" He asked, since they were still keeping their relationship quiet.

Angell was obviously pondering the question, not sure if she wanted her relationship with Flack out in the open yet, but getting very tired of feeling like they were always hiding. "I don't really know, Don. What do you think?"

"I think I want to keep dancing with you,... and if someone we know happens to see us,..." He answered with a shrug, leaving his words unfinished for her interpretation. He was also getting tired of hiding their relationship, but wanted to respect her wishes. Of course, they were talking about Mac in this case, who was probably here on a date as well. They both knew Mac was a private person and would respect their privacy in return and keep quiet anyway.

Instead of commenting on Flack's response, Angell just laid her head back on his shoulder and they resumed their slow movements.

Several songs later, they had decided it was time to head out, as they both had shift in the morning. Flack reluctantly released Angell so they could head back to their table to retrieve their coats. From their new vantage point they could see Mac again, seated across a small the table from someone. "I can't see who he's with." Flack stated. They could see bare legs and high heels, obviously a woman.

Angell put her hand on Flack's arm and causing him to turn back to her. "If he's seen us, we expect him to respect our privacy, so let's do the same for him." She said with a smile. Flack nodded in agreement and they turned to leave.

"Do you think he saw us, Mac?" Mac's dinner date asked, a bit concerned.

"I don't know. He can't have a very good view of us, since we can't hardly see him." He answered.

"True." She said, "Not with the dance floor between us like this."

"I only noticed him when he stood because he's so tall. I can't even see who he's with from here." Mac answered, then turned back to her, "And it doesn't matter. If he's seen us, then he's seen us. Nothing we can do about it. Besides, Flack's a man of integrity and I doubt he'd violate our privacy."

"True, again." She said with a slight smile, her features no longer showing any anxiety.

"Speaking of dance floors," Mac said as he stood and offer his hand before escorting her to the dance floor. He loved watching her curls sway as they moved to the music.

They had been called to the scene early in the morning. Angell, Messer, Monroe, and Bonasara arrived first. It was cold outside, very cold, so the broken windows of the house didn't improve conditions for them being inside.

The scene had been secured, so it was time to start processing. A fight had clearly started in the house, the master bedroom to be more precise. The bedding was a mess and all but drug off the mattress, a pool of blood on the hardwood floor, cast-off and spatter dotted multiple pale green walls, a trail down the stairs and out the back door. The body of Carrie Abrams was in the dumpster in the alley behind the house. They all felt sorry for the neighbor who'd found her while taking out his trash.

"I'll take the dumpster. It needs to be processed before Sid can take away the body and confirm C.O.D." Lindsay said.

"I'll take the upstairs." Stella said, picking up her kit.

"I've got the downstairs." Danny said unnecessarily, since he was in a wheelchair and it just seemed obvious.

"I'll start interviewing the neighbor. Flack will be here soon, then we'll begin canvasing." Angell stated, and everyone went their appointed way.

Lindsay set up a ladder to get the vantage point she needed to take photos inside the dumpster. Mrs. Abrams was crudely wrapped in the master bathroom's shower curtain that barely concealed her lingerie covered body. When Lindsay finished with the wide shots she zoomed in for some close ups of the hands, but jumped back when something suddenly moved. 'Yuck, I hate rats.' she thought to herself, seeing something move again. She got down from her ladder and put down her camera, then looked around for a stick, preferably a very large one. She figured if she hit the outside of the dumpster the rats would scurry out and run away in search of safety. 'There's a nice big one' she told herself and reached behind a recycle bin to retrieve it. Then she heard a noise and turned around. The ladder had been knocked over by a man who was attempting to climb out of the dumpster. But more pressing at the moment was her being almost face to face with another man who grabbed at her. Lindsay tried ducking from his reach, but it didn't work, and in only seconds he had her pinned against the fence with a hand over her mouth. She reached for her gun, but he grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her. The second man was quickly approaching, but was suddenly tackled from the side as Flack's shoulder collided with his rib cage, knocking him to the ground. Flack quickly jumped to his feet and reached for his weapon.

"NYPD! Freeze!" Flack ordered, pointing his gun at him.

"Not so fast." The other perp said, holding an already bloody knife on Lindsay. "Put the gun down, cop." He ordered Flack.

"Not gonna happen." Flack stated, keeping his gun aimed at the perp on the ground in front of him.

The man with the knife suddenly grabbed a handfull of Lindsay's hair and jerked her head back, moving the knife closer to her throat. "I said,... put the gun down, cop."

"He already told you,... not gonna happen." Angell reiterated, causing both men to turn and look, not only at her, but also at Stella and Danny, who all had their guns pointed at them.

Angell and Stella stood at the bottom of the steps and kept their guns directed at the perp who held the knife to Lindsay. Flack still had the other perp covered. Danny, of course, stayed at the open door at the top of the steps, gun also at the ready and totally pissed off that his wife was in danger.

When Lindsay saw the man wisely begin to yield, she quickly grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind him, causing the knife to fall to the ground. She had him on the ground with her knee firmly planted between his shoulder blades in only a second, then reached for her cuffs.

Lindsay stayed just inside the back door of the house with Danny while Flack and Angell handed the perps off to uniforms for transport to the station for booking. "This crime scene was supposed to have been secured." Lindsay stated with an obvious frustrated tone to her voice as Flack and Angell returned with Mac in tow.

"Who secured this scene?" Danny asked as he rubbed Lindsay's back and obviously not in the best of moods.

Flack and Angell knew their frustration was not directed at them and didn't take it personally. "There were several officers here earlier. It was Foster who declared it secure." Angell stated.

"But we all know that the officers couldn't have searched the dumpster. Unless they suspect something, that would have been contaminating evidence." Flack said, reminding them of something they already knew.

Danny and Lindsay both nodded. They knew it was true. It was no ones fault, they knew that, there was just this natural tendency to want to someone though.

"He's right." Mac stated, wanting everyone to re-focus on the scene that had only begun being processed. "With those guys hiding underneath the dead body like that, it's doubtful any of us would have suspected their presence until they made themselves known."

"Lindsay, would you like me to finish processing outside?" Stella offered.

"No thanks, Ste-" Lindsay began to answer.

"Actually," Angell interrupted, "it looks like you need to get processed before you do any processing, anywhere." She said, looking closely at Lindsay's hair.

"Hold still, Linds." Stella said, looking closely at her. "You've got blood in your hair." She stated, grabbing a swab from her kit.

Lindsay tried not to cringe at the thought of the victim's blood having gotten in her hair.

"And on your coat." Danny indicated. Sure enough, there was blood on the collar where the perp's gloved hand had grabbed her. Stella handed Danny a large evidence bag, which he held open as Lindsay removed her coat.

Lindsay shivered as she put her coat in the bag. "Damn it." She heard Danny say, causing her to look at him in concern.

"What's wrong, Danny?" She asked her husband, but he was looking away, obviously angry at the situation.

"You, uh... you have a blood trail across your neck." Stella answered for him. The perp's hand had left three distinct trails across Lindsay's neck from when he let go of her collar to grab her hair. "Let me just get a photo and a swab, then you can wipe it off."

A few minutes later Lindsay was finished being processed and a bit warmer via the sweatshirt Flack kept in a gym bag in the trunk of his car.

"So, Lindsay, would you like me to finish processing outside?" Stella offered, again.

Lindsay shook her head, "Thanks, Stella, but no. I'm not going to let this get to me." She said, declining her offer again before heading back out into the alley.

After the scene was finished, Danny headed to his physical therapy session while everyone else went back to the lab and precinct.

"Excuse me, but, you did what?" Flack asked in disbelief at the woman stood before his desk.

"You heard me, Detective. I killed my husband last night, and I'm here to turn myself in." Mrs. Carter stated in a calm and matter-of-fact tone.

"Turn around, Mrs. Carter." Flack instructed as he took out his cuffs.

"I'll take care of the suspects." Angell informed Flack, referring to the two men who had been in the dumpster. A.K.A. Carrie Abrams' husband Paul and his brother Nick, who were now the prime suspects in her murder since Sid had already been able to confirm that the knife Paul had threatened Lindsay with was a match to Mrs. Abrams' wounds.

Flack nodded and hauled the very calm Mrs. Carter off to booking.

Before Angell reached the interrogation room her phone rang, it was Stella with information on the case. The suspects would just have to wait a little longer as Angell took a detour to the crime lab first.

Stella stood at the lay-out table, holding up the negligee Mrs. Abrams had worn when she was killed. First she turned it one way, then another, then still another. She looked up to see Angell standing in the doorway, hands on her hips and with the same perplexed expression she herself wore.

Angell put her hands down as she stepped forward, entering the room, "So,... if a woman can't figure out how to get one of those things on, how on earth is a man supposed to figure out how to get it off?" She said with a slight shake of her head.

Even if the negligee hadn't been full of holes and tares from knife stabs, it was still a bit confusing which way it went on. "I was just wondering the same thing." Stella stated before putting the garment back down on the table. She would return to it in a moment, right now she had some information for the other Detective.

"I've got some results on the knife. The blood is a DNA match to Mrs. Abrams and there's a second DNA match to Nick Abrams." Stella informed her, handing her the print out.

"So the brother-in-law cut himself in the process of stabbing her to death?" Angell more stated than asked. She watched Stella nod. "I was about to interrogate both of the brothers. Care to join me?"

Danny caught up to Flack as he was headed into an interrogation room to interview Mrs. Carter. "Flack!" He called out.

Flack's hand released the door handle, "I've got a confession to hear, Danny. What's up?"

"I uh, just wanted to thank you for this morning." Messer said. "If anything had happened to Lindsay, I-"

Flack held up his hand to stop his friend, "We all have each others backs, Danny. You know that."

Danny nodded sheepishly, "It's just that,..." Danny paused, needing a moment to not loose his composure, "I wanted to be her hero today, Don... and I couldn't. I know that sounds stupid-"

"It's not stupid, Danny. She's your wife. You love her and you don't want to see her hurt. Every husband wants to be the hero." Flack said to his friend, remembering the look on his face when the hand print was discovered on Lindsay's neck.

Danny looked down, shaking his head, trying to come up with the right words, "I felt so helpless out there, still stuck in this wheelchair like this. And if you hadn't shown up when you did-"

"But I did, and she's okay. Besides, you're going to be out of that thing soon, Danny. How did your physical therapy session go?" Flack asked.

Danny cringed inwardly, hoping his friend wouldn't notice his hesitation. He still had such mixed emotions over what Hawkes had said to him. "It's going good, man. It's going good." He lied.

"Well," Flack began, noticing that Danny wasn't comfortable with the direction the conversation was going, "I want you to know that you can count on me to look after Lindsay any time it's necessary."

"And you know you can count on me to do the same for Angell." Danny stated.

"And the women are never going to know this conversation took place." Flack stated as he stuck his and out.

"That's right." Messer immediately agreed, shaking hands with Flack. Both men knew if their ladies ever learned they had a pact to watch over them if it ever became necessary they'd both be up a creek.

THE NEXT DAY...

"I can't believe it! This is the second time today I've have to defend myself for not killing someone!" Flack stated in an agitated tone as he paced.

"Easy there, buddy." Danny said, trying to calm his friend down. "All I asked is 'what happened?'."

"Lindsay was standing behind her." Flack stated, arms folded across his chest and looking Messer right in the eyes. He saw the look of surprise come to his friend's face. "Yeah, we'd chased Marcia Vasquez into the diner, and yes, she was waving a knife at me, but there was no reason to shoot her, Danny. There were still several customers in the booths trying to get out of the way,... and Lindsay. Lindsay was behind her, too. What if I'd missed, Danny. I could have hit Lindsay."

"I never thought our little pact would have to be enacted so soon, but," Danny paused and stuck out his hand, "thanks for watching out for her."

THAT EVENING...

Angell paused after opening the door, as Flack stood there talking on his cell phone. "Yeah, Sam. I know. Don't worry about it." He said, entering her apartment with a apologetic look. She took the sack of Chinese take-out from him and put it on the table to unpack, then listened to his side of the conversation for several more minutes before he managed to end the call.

"Sounds like we were right about that 'holiday sister' idea being convenient." Angell said, handing him chopsticks.

"Well, ironically," Flack began while he used the chopsticks to pick up a piece of Mar Far Chicken, "It's the holidays she was calling about." He said before stuffing his mouth.

"Already?" Angell asked in surprise, picking up a fork. She wouldn't embarrass herself even attempting chopsticks again. Well, not since her most recent attempt landed a noodle in Flack's hair.

"Remember what I told you about my parents hoping I'd bring you for Thanksgiving?" He asked, then watched her just nod, as she was now eating noodles. "Well, apparently they're taking the long route by asking Sam to poke around and see if she can get any information about our plans." He explained.

"Already?" Angell repeated with an arched brow. It wasn't that she didn't like to plan things in advance, she just really wasn't thinking about Thanksgiving yet.

"Yes. Already." He answered, picking up another piece of chicken. "I put her off as best as I could, but we're going to have to make a decision soon, either way."

"The CSI's are smart scientists. Maybe they can figure out a way to clone us." Angell said with a laugh. "Because I can already tell you, my dad is also going to be hoping I'll be bringing you to Thanksgiving dinner." She informed him.

Flack rolled his eyes, "Okay, let's talk about that later. How did you case turn out?" He asked before reaching for the noodles.

"Twisted. Husband & wife wanted to spice things up a bit in the bedroom. Wife thought that meant new lingerie. Husband thought that meant a threesome." She stated, then watched him grimace. "With his brother." She added, then watched him nearly gag.

"So, how did your case turn out?" She asked a moment later.

"Also twisted. After seven years of marriage, man decides one wife isn't enough, adds a second wife, gets away with it for another year. First wife finds out there's another woman, stabs him seventeen times, then turns herself in and confesses to everything." He explains. "Apparently she didn't like the idea of a threesome either."

"Tell me about Marcia Vasquez." Angell eventually requested.

Flack sighed heavily, looking away and obviously not wanting to have to explain himself for a third time, but he would. "There were customers in the booths behind her that could have been hurt if I'd taken a shot. Lindsay was behind her and could have gotten hurt if I'd taken a shot. Hell, Jess, I didn't even need to take a shot. She wasn't close enough to me that it had become necessary and I was still tryin' to talk her down, and I'm not about to shoot anyone if I haven't seriously tried to talk 'em down first."

Angell very calmly set her food down on the coffee table, then took his food and chopsticks and put them down as well. "We love each other." She stated, taking both his now empty hands in hers.

"Yeah. We do." He said in response, these words sounding familiar.

"That means we trust each other and we don't lie to each other." She reminded him, repeating his own words back to him, and he remembered them from their previous conversation. "And,... a partial truth is still a lie." She added gently.

He tilted his head back and took in a deep breath, then slowly let it out to relax. "She looked like you." He stated, now looking down into her warm brown eyes. "Yes, there were customers still in the diner, yes Lindsay was in my line of shot, no I didn't need to shoot her, but... in all honesty, I'm not sure I could have pulled the trigger anyway because... she looked like you, Jess." Angell reached up and cupped his face. She slid herself closer to him and he buried his fingers into the hair around her neck. "And if I had put a bullet in her, Jess,... she would have been lying on the floor of a diner, bleeding out, just like y-"

"Shhhh." She shushed him at noticing his blue eyes filling with tears. "I'm right here, Don." She said against his lips, "Right here with you."