Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot.

A/N: To my knowledge, even though there's been Flack/Angell flirting going on lately, I'm still under the impression that Flack has a girlfriend; Devon, from earlier in the season, so yeah, I used her in this fic. Also, I began writing pre-strike, so there are references to things that happened in the early season 4 eps.

Chapter Two

"I hate winter." With that statement, Danny hunched deeper into the collar of his coat while pulling Lindsay closer to his side. With her hair cropped short, he was so tempted to bury his cold nose in the warmth of the bare skin of the back of her neck.

Rubbing her hands together, Lindsay's brown eyes flitted from one store window to the other as they walked to her apartment from a small Vietnamese restaurant where they had eaten a late dinner. "It's only November." A tasteful gray hat and scarf set sat on display in one of the stores and Lindsay pondered whether it would be a nice gift for Hawkes for Christmas.

"And we've got mountains of snow." He looked at what his girlfriend was eying and wondered if she was planning on getting it for him. Right now, it would be much appreciated. "Why can't we have nicer weather?" he said, more like whined, plaintively as they walked in the cold night air.

Lindsay let out a fake gasp. "What's this? Something about New York that Danny Messer doesn't like? I thought this place could do no wrong." Her mock wide-eyed look in the reflection of a passing glass window had Danny shoving his cold nose to the back of her neck in retaliation. He was rewarded with a tiny flinch and a small yelp that had him smirking.

"This is New York, Montana.. All things important happen in New York." He ignored her tiny snort. "I'm just saying that I wouldn't be opposed to it having tropical weather all year round, that's all."

"And all the bikini-clad girls that come with that tropical weather too, right?"

"Nah, I like country girls. Feisty bikini-clad country girls." His arm tightened around her waist.

She laughed lightly at his remark and looked at him. "Liar," she murmured, a soft smile playing on her lips.

Danny stilled at the picture she made against the glowing Christmas lights hanging in the store window. With the light bouncing off the natural highlights in her hair and her face smiling up at him, it was a moment that could make someone catch their breath. His eyes gazed tenderly at her and unmindful of anyone else walking past them, Danny dipped his head to brush his lips gently against hers. It was a kiss, not pent up with raging passion, but full of soft, quiet adoration. He adored her. Arms snaking around her waist, feeling the contours of her body through her jacket, Danny pressed her closer. Surrounded by her scent and her tiny moan being the only sound reaching his ears, he could feel her hands gripping the front of his jacket and he ached to get closer. The cold he was feeling earlier vanished in the heady feeling of his lips on hers.

Protesting slightly as Lindsay broke away slightly, one of Danny's hands buried itself in her hair, twisting a strand around a finger, reveling in its silky texture while the other arm retained a firm and muscled grip on her waist, keeping her close in his embrace.

Lindsay laughed again as she spotted the slight fog on Danny's glasses and cupped his face with her hands; his goatee scratching lightly against her palms while her heart skipped at the look in his eyes. Something was different at that moment. His blue eyes were softer when he glanced at her. She leaned forward to graze his lips with her own, pulling back as Danny made to follow her and stopping him by putting one finger against his mouth, outlining his lips gently. "Danny, we're standing in the middle of the sidewalk," she murmured.

"I think there's an alley up ahead somewhere that we could go," Danny muttered, capturing her hand with the one that had been playing with her hair. Without taking his eyes off her, he raised her palm, planting a moist open-mouthed kiss in the center of her palm and then spoiled the romantic moment by wriggling his eyebrows playfully as a follow-up to his remark.

Lindsay's eyes filled with amusement. "An alley, Messer? Now there's an offer I just might be able to refuse." She pulled out of his arms and took his hand, resuming their walk.

Danny squeezed her hand and acted offended. "Not even to be with me?"

"I can think of nicer places to be with you, warmer too." She tossed a smile full of promise over her shoulder, leaving Danny to mutter under his breath, "Country girl."

Don Flack let out a complacent grin as Devon clung to his side, hugging his entire arm close against her body. He didn't really care about the gossip of high-society she was currently spouting off about, but knew enough about women, and how not to offend them, to nod his head and make tiny murmurs of agreement now and then. It wasn't that he didn't care about Devon; it was more of him recognizing that his world and her world were not necessarily the same. It didn't mean that he cared less about her.

Devon continued talking and beaming smiles as Flack nodded to the doorman holding the door open to Devon's expensive apartment. It was only when the two entered the elevator alone that Flack fully tuned his attention onto his girlfriend when she coyly walked two of her fingers up his suit-clad chest. "I've missed you lately, you know."

He looked down at her. "Did you now?" At her nod, the grin on his face grew.

"It's not that I don't eventually want a Wii, but I'm just saying that I wouldn't bribe or kill someone for it; I can be patient," Adam Ross mentioned on the phone while his eyes were glued to the screen where he was preparing to face off against the main boss for that level. Ratchet and Clank was pure awesomeness.

The feminine answer back irked him into saying, "I'm talking about being patient when it comes to electronics, Kendall. But I can't be patient about this 'baby fat' issue. It's not my fault that I wasn't born with chiseled features!" A bout of laughter had him adding, "It's not! Come on, you know how damaging that was to my self-esteem. It left me wounded."

Adam risked a glance off his screen and toward his door as he heard a knock. "Oh, wait a moment, Kendall, there's someone at the door." Adam set the phone and his controller down before hopping off his couch. Making his way to the door, he opened it and grinned. "Hey Mrs. Williams."

Helen Williams returned the younger man's smile, clutching a bag of groceries in her hand. "Hi Adam. I hate to ask this of you, but I was wondering if perhaps you could watch Penny tomorrow night?" She adjusted her hold on the groceries. "It's just that Gary and I are going to a function for his boss and my mother's already got plans and Gary's brother is out of town - "

Adam held up a hand to forestall any further ramblings. "Say no more, Mrs. Williams. I can baby-sit Penny, no problem. I'll bring my game system and we can play video games, the ones with no violence of course," he hastily added, remembering Penny's young age.

She smiled at his hasty reassurances. He was such a nice young man. "That's fine. Ah, the function begins at seven, so can you be at our apartment by 6:30? Is that alright?" At his nod, Helen Williams gave a relieved sigh. "Thank you Adam, really. Gary and I appreciate this. And maybe you can cheer Penny up; she's been withdrawn lately. I have no idea why, but we're hoping it's just a stage." A shadow crossed the woman's face before she gave another smile. "Well, I should start dinner. Spaghetti and meatballs, Penny's favorite. Thanks again, Adam." With a wave, the woman headed for the stairs and Adam closed his door.

Scooping up the phone, Adam un-paused his game and began bashing his enemies. They stood no chance. "So, yeah, you have to help me come up with something Kendall." He scowled. "It doesn't help that you're laughing at me either." Adam's tongue poked out as the main boss revealed himself. He was big for a pixel, true, but the bigger they are, the harder they fall and Adam was determined to make it onto the next level. "I don't think going to the gym is going to help. When would I have time? I, you, and practically everyone else sleeps at the lab. Mac's probably invisibly chained to it. Besides, I don't understand half of what those machines do or what body part they're supposed to work." He sighed. The boss was steadily losing health as Adam's own character dodged and ducked, weaving around and striking from the back. Oh yeah, this guy was toast.

"I happen to think baby fat is cute," Kendall remarked before abruptly hanging up.

Adam's character died a second later.