A/N: See the first chapter for the disclaimer. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and please review! :)

Chapter Four

"I'm here," Jamie announced as he walked into his childhood home with pizza.

"Back here," Frank replied from the dining room.

Jamie nodded, walking further into the house. Erin and Linda were rearranging things on the table while Danny hung around in the kitchen with the boys.

"I thought you would've forgotten, first day and all," Henry joked as he made his way into the dining room.

"I never forget pizza," Jamie replied with a smirk.

Henry chuckled.

"Who'd they put you with?" Danny asked as he came in, with Sean and Jack trailing behind him.

"Don Flack," Jamie replied as he set down the pizza on the table.

"Met him once. Good detective, but a pain in the ass."

"Huh. Kinda reminds me of you."

Danny swatted as Jamie ducked.

"Got quite a few years in," Frank commented as the group settled around the table.

"So I've heard," Jamie replied. "Met a couple of the crime scene guys, and the M.E. they work with the most."

"Which one is that?" Danny asked.

"Dr. Hammerback."

Danny chuckled. "Don't get him going on one of his stories."

Jamie shrugged. "Might be interesting to hear."

"Yeah, that's one word for it."

Jamie smirked.

After Grace was said, Danny asked Jamie, "you meet Detective Danny Messer yet?"

"Yeah," Jamie replied. "He's a good guy."

Danny shrugged. "Not what I've heard. Then again, that was before he got married and had kids."

"Kids change everything," Erin chimed in, looking down the table.

"How's Nicki doing in college?" Jamie asked, changing the subject.

"Good…"

Flack planned to spend his night in front of the TV, doing nothing more than eating chicken and watching the hockey game. He had hoped Messer would've been able to hang out, but Lucy had a game tonight. Flack could have gone- most everyone else from the lab had been planning on doing just that. But for whatever reason, he decided not to.

His plans for doing nothing got interrupted by a text.

You still up?

Flack smiled slightly at the thought of spending time with Lovato, his former partner in homicide. Yeah, I'm here, he replied. His apartment door opened a moment later, and he smiled. "Miss me already?" he asked as he stood and made his way over to greet her.

"Kind of," she replied, giving him a hug and a kiss. "No one makes coffee like you do."

He laughed softly. "What's going on? How was your day?"

"Same as always, only slightly different. It's weird being part of the decision making as opposed to following orders. How was yours?"

"New partner started today," he told her as they sat down on the couch.

"Oh yeah? Who'd they give you?"

"Jamie Reagan, beat guy from within the house."

"Didn't I meet him somewhere along the way?"

Flack shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. I don't think I've ever really talked to him all that much."

"The difference between beat cops and detectives."

"He was probably just another uniform on the scene to me. Didn't even know he was there."

She shrugged. "12th's a big precinct. And you've always spent more time in the lab with Messer than you do in the squad room with the beat cops."

"True."

She rubbed Flack's shoulder gently. "So, how is he?"

Flack shrugged again. "First day with a gold shield, and he's already better at guessing COD than some experienced detectives."

"Not all work homicide," Lovato reminded him.

"Yeah," he replied. "But Jamie's gonna be a helluva detective once he gets his confidence in him."

She scoffed slightly. "Oh, great, just what we need. Two cocky Detective Reagans running around."

Flack laughed. "Somehow, I don't think we really need to worry about Jamie going down that path. He's too nice of a kid."

Lovato tilted her head. "You never know. Kid's been written up for insubordination, suspended, been investigated by IA a few times…"

"Danny's been investigated more," Flack said.

"Yeah, but Danny's had a longer career," she replied. "Proportionally, I think Jamie might have gotten in more trouble."

Flack shrugged. "True."

"So, besides the new detective, what else is going on with you? We haven't seen each other as much lately."

"Not since you transferred out," he replied.

"It's been crazy," she told him. "And, I just… every day together…"

"I know," he told her as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I know you've been there before. And no matter what, it's not easy. But while Danny and Lindsay make it work…"

"Jamie, it's okay. Besides, I don't think the Captain was too happy with the idea. Especially not since…"

Lovato nodded, leaning into Flack's touch. "Did you finally surrender the desk?" she asked.

Flack nodded. "Reagan has it now."

"Good. That desk should be your partner's. You shouldn't have to shout across the squad room at them."

"I know. And I'm sorry that I never even let you have it. But…"

"You don't have to explain. I told you that."

Flack nodded again, saying nothing.

"I get it," she continued. "I always have."

"I know," he said softly. "And I love you for that."

"I love you too." She kissed him again, and he pulled her closer. "So, what was tonight's grand idea? Because after this week, I'd like something quiet."

"Hockey."

"I'm down for that." She rested her head against Flack's chest gently. "Wait, didn't Lucy have a game tonight?"

"She does," he said.

"And you're here because…?" she said.

Flack shook his head, which answered Lovato's question more than words would have.

So, instead, she nodded.

Jamie sat in the living room after dinner with Frank, drinking a beer. Danny and Linda had left with the boys, and Erin was still in the dining room with Henry. Frank looked at his youngest as the hockey game went on in the background.

"What's on your mind, son?" Frank asked.

"Huh?" Jamie replied, looking over at his father.

"Everything alright?"

"Just thinking."

"About the job?"

"About my partner. Trying to figure out why the desk has been empty."

Frank nodded quietly.

"Same precinct, you'd think I'd have met Detective Flack before this, and that I'd know what was going on."

"You two wouldn't know each other if you didn't cross paths," Frank reminded him.

Jamie shrugged. "I could've seen him before and never knew it."

"That's possible."

"But why would he keep the desk empty?"

Frank looked at Jamie.

"I know," Jamie said. "I'm a detective now. I can figure it out."

"Or you could just ask him," Frank said.

Jamie snorted lightly. "Last resort. Mostly because either he's gonna clam up, or he'll lie."

"He may surprise you."

Jamie shrugged. "He's hard to get a read on."

"He's a great detective," Frank said. "He's tough, but fair. He can teach you a lot on the job."

Jamie nodded.

"But, Detective Flack also has his downsides," Frank continued. "You'll learn those, too. But I think you two will get along just fine."

"How well do you know him?"

Frank tilted his head to the side and back. "I know enough about him to know you two will be fine."

Jamie nodded again, taking a drink from his beer.

Lovato had fallen asleep partway through the game, leaving Flack holding her silently. Moments like this… he had so many nights of thinking this would never happen again. But yet, here he was, holding her in his arms.

Letting her drool on his shoulder.

He thought about waking her up, but decided against it. Sometimes, a wet shoulder was the price to pay for intimacy.