So, thanks to everyone who reviewed, I'm glad my cliffhanger was so effective :). Anyway, I am sick as a fricken' dog right now so I'm sorry the update took so long. Please read and review. Disclaimer and warnings are the same as always, little stronger language.

"You know what? You should mind your own business."

"You're my friend Danny, makes it my business."

Danny and Flack- All in the Family

"So, if you're gonna shoot somebody…" Danny said.

Flack held his breath as he felt Lindsay's grip on his shirt tighten. Danny, if you survive this, I'm gonna kill you, Flack thought. He saw Rikki's aim start to drop.

"I want him back," she sobbed weakly. Flack let his held breath escape.

"I know, I know," said Danny with a shaken voice, dropping his hands and moving toward Rikki. He began pushing her gun down even farther.

Flack managed to pass Lindsay off to Mac. "Stay here, ok?" Mac gave him a nod and he motioned the same order to the squad. He began to walk toward the pair to assist Danny.

Danny began pulling Rikki into a hug when Flack saw her push him back. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!" she screamed before a shot rang out. Flack tried to draw his weapon, but was unable to do so before she got another shot off. He knew that Danny would never forgive him if he killed her, so, with deadly accuracy, he shot her right hand causing her to scream and drop her gun.

Danny hit the ground with a hard thud. "Danny!" screamed Lindsay as she moved to run to him, but Mac held her back.

"Stop!" he yelled, but it had no effect on his hysterical colleague. "Too many people in there will only cause problems. Let Flack handle it."

"Danny! Mac, let me go! Please!" She continued to scream and struggled to free herself from his Marine grip as Angell ran past them to arrest Rikki.

"Messer!" yelled Flack as he holstered his weapon and ran to his friend's side. "Danny. Dan hang in there, buddy." He saw the blood coming from the wound in his belly and tried to apply some pressure to it. The moment he did, Danny coughed and blood leaked from his mouth and down his cheeks.

"Somebody get an ambulance here, now!" Flack yelled to the police standing on the sidelines.

"They're on their way!" one of them yelled back.

"Don," gasped Danny, "I'm sorry...for everything."

Flack was taken aback. "Don't talk like that, Messer!" he yelled, both out of fear of his friend's words and anger that he might be giving up. "Don't you quit on me, got it?!"

Danny coughed again, causing even more blood to flow from his mouth. He weakly lifted his hand. "Don, forgive me and…take care of Lindsay, ok?" he coughed.

Don grabbed his best friend's offered hand and held it tight as tears began to form in his eyes. "Done and done, but only until you get better. Then, you can take care of her yourself."

Suddenly, Danny started to shake and convulse. "Danny!" he let go of Danny's hand and held his head instead so it wouldn't hit the hard cement. "Where is that damn ambulance?!"

"Five minute ETA!"

"Shit! Danny, don't do this to me. Don't you fucking do this!"

Mac stood there watching the heartbreaking scene. He didn't want to give up, but he had seen this same scenario many times in Beirut and the outcome was always the same. "Mac, please let me go!" screamed Lindsay, struggling as hard as she could, though it wasn't very hard due to her failing strength. Mac could no longer hold it back and the tears formed in his eyes. He knew if he had a son, this would be what it felt like to lose him.

Suddenly, Danny's back arched in pain as a gurgled yell came from the man. Each person at the scene noticed his eyes stop on them for a split second. Mac noticed Danny's eyes linger on him a little longer than everyone else and saw the look in his eyes change from that of pain to that of fear.

He coughed again sending more liquid down his face, glistening black in the light from the setting sun. "Danny, don't quit on me!" yelled Don as he took off his suit jacket and used it to apply pressure to Danny's shoulder wound. Danny started to squirm and Flack realized that Danny's chest wasn't moving like he was breathing; that his lungs had stopped working.

And, just as suddenly as the convulsions had started, Danny's body went limp as his eyes began to close. "DANNY!" yelled Flack.

"NO!" screamed Lindsay as she fell to her knees, sobbing hysterically. Mac shook his head, unable to move as he stared in disbelief.

"No, Danny, wake up! Danny, look at me!" yelled Flack, shaking Danny's limp body.

Angell ran over and checked Danny's pulse. Flack watched her waiting for an answer he didn't want to hear. She looked at him, and with sadness in her eyes, she shook her head. Anger flared through Flack and he looked at Danny's face. "I won't let you give up," he whispered.

He took off his tie and tied his suit jacket to Danny's shoulder wound to keep the pressure. Flack then tilted Danny's head back, and disregarding the blood, breathed into Danny and began compressions. His arms shook and he had a hard time applying enough force, but nonetheless, he continued.

He was so concentrated on his friend he almost didn't notice Mac move to Danny's other side. He placed his hand on Don's shoulder. "Don, stop," he said calmly and quietly.

"No, Mac," he responded between breaths. "I'm not like you. I can't just feel he has no pulse and just assume he is gone. Not this time. You can't make me stand down; I'm gonna save this one."

"Don," said Mac, as if Flack hadn't said anything, "your arms are tired. Stop."

The fatigue in his arms was finally too much and they collapsed mid-compression. "I just don't want...I can't lose him, Mac. He's my best friend."

Flack watched as Mac took off his suit jacket and knelt down next to Danny. "I know. I don't want to lose him either."

With those words, Mac resumed compressions in Flack's place as Flack continued to breath into his friend. The pair noticed Lindsay being helped over by Angell to Danny's side. She sat down by his head, stroking his hair. "Come on, Danny, wake up," she cooed. "I need you here."

The sirens were finally heard as the ambulance stopped in front of the alley and the paramedics ran down the alley. The CSI's were pushed away from Danny as the paramedics wrapped his wounds and brought out a gurney. The group stood watching them work.

"I've got a pulse!" yelled one of the EMT's and everyone's hearts lifted a little. "Let's get him out of here!"

Danny was lifted onto the gurney. His white shirt had been cut open and Flack's jacket was tossed to the side. A manual CPR mask was on his mouth. Gauze was tapped to his wounds and his glasses here removed. "Can one of us ride with him?" yelled Flack.

"Yeah, but only one."

Flack looked over at Lindsay. "Go," he said, "he needs you there."

Lindsay nodded and ran after the love of her life, jumping into the back of the ambulance. She spotted his hand, dried blood on it from Flack's hand, laying limply over the side of the gurney. Lindsay gently grabbed it and held it lose to her chest. He's so cold, she thought. The paramedics rushed around Danny as the ambulance screamed down the streets, hooking him up to a heart monitor. Lindsay was relieved by the slow, but steady beeping emitted by the machine.

"You're safe now, Danny," she whispered, but unfortunately she spoke too soon. All of a sudden, a long, high screeching came from the heart monitor and Lindsay saw the erratic lines on its screen.

"He's gone into defib," said one of the paramedics as he pulled out the paddles.

"Ma'am," said a woman kindly, "I need you to let go of his hand for a while."

Lindsay did what she was told and reluctantly let go of his hand, watching it fall limply back to its hanging space. She clutched her hands to her chest as her heart began to race. "Set to 300," yelled an EMT. The high pitch of charging paddles rang through the air like a bell toll at a funeral before they were placed on the man's bare chest. "Clear!" someone yelled before pushing the button, sending electricity through Danny's body, causing his body to arc. No change occurred on the heart monitor, making Lindsay's heart beat even faster. "Charge to 360!"

The eerie ringing was heard again before another 'clear' was called and Danny's body was sent arcing off the table. Once again no change was seen and tears began to form in Lindsay's eyes.

"Alright, 400!" he yelled and once more, Danny was shocked, sending his body arching so high Lindsay thought it could fly away.

Nonetheless, the tension melted as the calming sounds of steady beeping began to resonate from the heart monitor once more. I can't lose him, she thought as she wiped away the tears from her cheeks, but they were soon replaced by fresh ones.

"Here," came the same kind female voice that had spoken to Lindsay before, "this might help."

Lindsay looked through tear-filled eyes to see the woman offering her Danny's hand. She took it and held it close once more. "You know, you being here will really help him," said the EMT as she sat next to Lindsay. "I truly believe that God watches over us and protects good people. This man protected a man partially responsible for the death of a child he knew, and by the looks of it, many people love this man very much. He will fight through this. I feel it in my gut." Then, she gave Lindsay a tight hug.

"How did you know about Ollie?" asked Lindsay. The woman merely shook her radio. Duh, though Lindsay. "You have really made me feel better. Thank you, Miss…"

"Abby," she said, "Abby O'Callehan."

"Thank you, Abby."

"Not a problem."

The ambulance stopped, and Abby and the other paramedics pushed open the door, pulling out the gurney. Lindsay held onto Danny's hand until she was stopped by a nurse in front of the OR doors. "I'm sorry, miss, but you can't go back there."

Lindsay considered whipping out her badge, but decided not to. She would only be in the way. So, she went and sat in a chair and began to wait; to wait for Flack and the others, to wait for the world to stop spinning too fast, and wait for the jury to return with the verdict on Danny's life.

Please make the sick writer feel better by sending her reviews. It's the best medicine :)