Author's Notes: This chapter is something new for me; the entire chapter is written from Flack's point of view. Kind of nice getting into someone else's head for a little while. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: CBS, Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, and Ann Donahue own all rights to the characters and premise of the show. I am making no money off this story and it is for entertainment purposes only. However, this particular story is my creation and should not be used without my express written permission.

Begin Anew
Chapter 7

"What the hell was that?" Don Flack slowly picked himself up off the ground where he'd landed when Mac pushed him to the ground. As he brushed dirt from his suit, he stared at the patrol car that was engulfed in flames. He couldn't suppress the shudder that raced down his spine at the sudden sense of deju vu that came over him as he remembered the last explosion he'd been in with Mac. At least this time he was able to walk away from this one.

Mac Taylor rose beside him and quickly radioed for backup from the fire department before turning to Don. The sedan was long gone, not having waited around to see the results of their attack. "Molotov cocktail. Damnit. I want these guys."

Breaking his gaze from the burning vehicle, Don looked at the head of the crime lab, his hands on his hips. "Yeah, that part I got, maybe the only part of all this that I do get. What I don't get is the why or the who. I mean, seriously, two attacks in as many days by the same people at the same location? I guess that kind of rules out that yesterday was just a random attack. Obviously these people have painted a pretty big target on our backs."

Mac shook his head. "I don't know but I'm not going to rest until I find out. I'm going to take that dummy back to the lab and I'm going to process it all the way down the submicroscopic level. If there is even a partial print or a hint of DNA on it, I'm going to find it."

Flack didn't doubt the veracity of his words. If there was anything to be found, he was sure Mac would find it. He'd seen Taylor's people find case breaking clues when there shouldn't have been any chance of finding them. Hell, Lindsay Messer had even managed to use her wedding ring and Dora the Explorer band-aids to clue the lab in to the identity of the bank robbers who were holding her and four others hostage. He still couldn't tear his gaze away from the burning vehicle even as the patrol officers joined them, also in shock by what just happened.

A fire engine was pulling up behind the burning car and fire fighters clad in their protective turnouts were piling out of the truck, grabbing hoses off the truck and setting about to put out the fire. Flack was almost certain more members of the crime lab, though he wasn't sure who was on call with Mac tonight, would be showing up to process the car as soon as the fire department deemed it safe to do so.

"Who's on with you tonight?" He knew Lindsay and Danny were both off; his best friend had been talking all week about being glad when Saturday came because he would finally be able to spend quality time with Lindsay and Lucy.

"Hawkes just came on but I don't want him here. I don't want any of my people responding to calls at this location until we have the people responsible. I'm not about to risk their lives if I can help it. I'll process this scene myself."

Flack tore his eyes away as the fire fighters quickly got the fire under control to stare at Mac. He wasn't surprised to hear the protective tone in his friend's voice; Mac treated all of his people as if they were family. But did he really expect to do all this work himself? "Mac, you don't think…"

"I'm not taking chances. I doubt they'll come back tonight but there's no way to be sure. I wouldn't have expected them to make a second attempt here but they did. I don't think you should take chances either. Your shift is suppose to be over, right? I want you out of here."

Flack sighed; surely Mac was over reacting and didn't really expect him to leave. "Mac…"

"Damnit, Flack, both these cases have only two things in common - location and you as the detective on scene. I don't know if you were the target or NYPD in general but until I know for sure I don't want to risk your safety. I can't order you away but I'm pretty sure your captain would agree with me that until we know for sure if you are the target, you shouldn't be here."

The older man was right; he was the only officer that had been at both crime scenes. Sure it could be a coincidence but coincidences weren't something they dealt in - only facts. Still, he wasn't one to back down from a challenge and the idea of leaving all of this for someone else irked him to no end. It was on the tip of his tongue to challenge Mac, even though he knew what Mac was asking of him made sense. He bit back his retort however when he caught the look in Mac's eyes. The expression hit him like a ton of bricks, a look that stated without reservation that the head of the crime lab had seen too many friends suffering recently and couldn't take any more. Flack hung his head, ready to swallow his pride for the sake of his friend. "Okay, I'm gone but keep me in the loop if you find something."

Mac nodded, already turning away to begin processing the scene. With a heavy heart, Flack climbed into his own vehicle and cautiously pulled around the other emergency vehicles. As he cautiously merged back in with traffic, he noticed that his hands were shaking. He realized the adrenaline had worn off and his body was responding to the reminder that he'd just survived another explosion. Perhaps before going home, he should stop by Sullivan's for a couple of beers to help settle his nerves. But the idea of drinking alone didn't appeal to him. It reminded him too much of how he had dealt with his grief over Jess's death. Those months directly after had been the hardest on him. Danny would have been there to help support him but the shooting had left him with his own demons to battle. Lindsay had tried to pick up the slack but she'd had her plate full with work, a new baby, and an injured husband. His heart slammed against his chest. Lindsay. If Mac was right and Don was the ultimate target; that meant it was his fault that Lindsay had been shot at the day before. The young couple was just getting their life back together after the robbery; it wasn't right that he might have almost jeopardized that because someone had taken a notion to try to kill him. How would Danny have ever forgiven him if he'd lost the love of his life because of him?

He should go home he knew but he couldn't bring himself to go there. Instead he drove around for a little while trying to run through a list of anyone who could possibly want to target him. He was coming up empty and getting more frustrated when he realized he was close to Danny and Lindsay's apartment. Feeling a need for an absolution to the guilt that had built inside him as he'd thought about the danger he might have put Lindsay in, he paralleled parked in front of their building and headed upstairs. If nothing else, a quick visit with Lucy was bound to lift his spirits. He knocked on the apartment door and grinned in spite of himself when he heard Lucy's excited voice on the other side. He wasn't completely sure but it sounded like she asked "whose it?" so he answered with quick "Uncle Flack." There was no mistaking the squeal of delight on the other side and after a moment the door opened and he barely had time to prepare himself for the little girl launching herself into his arms from the chair she'd climbed into to answer the door. She buried her head in his shoulder but then pulled back, wrinkling her nose.

"Unc'a Flat, you stink."

Lindsay, who was standing nearby after unlocking the front door so that her daughter could answer the door, turned red with embarrassment at Lucy's blunt statement. "Lucy Ann Messer, we do not tell people they stink." She took the little girl from Flack and gave him a hug, getting a good whiff of what Lucy was talking about. "Flack, were you at a fire?"

She led him inside to the couch, setting Lucy on the floor so the little girl could play. Danny emerged from the kitchen carrying a couple of beers once he heard that Flack was at the door. He handed one to Flack who started to explain.

"We got another call to the same location as yesterday. Only our body was a Rescue Randy manikin instead of a human. We were just about to evacuate the area when the sedan from yesterday paid us another visit and threw a Molotov cocktail into one of the patrol cars. Fortunately no one was hurt but I didn't realize I was as smoky as I was." He took a long drink from the beer as Reese's came scrambling over to check out the visitor. Don reached out to scratch the lab behind the ears but after a second, the dog whined and scurried backward. Flack rolled his eyes. "I hate to ask but do you think I could take a quick shower? It must be bad if I'm scaring puppies and little girls."

Danny smiled. "Sure go ahead. I'll even let you borrow a pair of sweats and a t-shirt."

Don appreciated the gesture but knew that Danny's sweat pants would be several inches too short for him. Lindsay reached out and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "I can probably wash that smell out of your clothes before you leave. Have you eaten supper yet? Danny's mom sent us home with plenty of left over ravioli if you're interested?"

Don almost began to salivate at the thought of Anna Messer's home cooking. "Even if I had eaten, which I haven't since a quick hotdog around 11 this morning, I wouldn't be able to turn down her ravioli. Thanks, you guys are the best."

The two men disappeared into the bedroom where Danny pulled out a change of clothes for Flack to wear once out of the shower and told him where to find the towels and wash clothes. Don disappeared into the bathroom and turned the shower on until the temperature was hot enough without being scalding. He undressed quickly and stepped under the spray, allowing the hot water to do more than just wash away the lingering smoke from the fire. He lathered up the wash cloth and ran the soapy material over his chest, trying not to look at the scar that was a constant reminder of the last explosion he'd been in. He knew Mac must have been remembering that explosion just as he had been and figured that it had been weighing on his mind when he'd all but ordered Flack to leave the scene. Aiden's death, Flack's near death in the explosion, Jess's death, Danny's injury in the shooting, Shane Casey's threat to the whole Messer family, and Lindsay's kidnapping and rape. No wonder Mac had looked so haunted. This job had cost or nearly cost him too much as it was.

He showered quickly and then stepped out of the shower to towel off. He could hear the excited chatter of his pseudo-niece in the living room and Danny's distinctive Staten Island accent as he joked with his daughter. As Flack dressed, he stared at the cracked mirror. He knew the story of how Danny had busted his fist against it in anger once he realized that he'd hurt Lindsay after a nightmare. Danny had confessed it to him a couple of months ago when the two had gone out for beers after work. Even though Lindsay had held no blame for her husband over what had happened, Danny had admitted that he still felt like a heel every time he thought about the bruises he'd left on her arms.

Flack gripped the edge of the counter as his own guilt came back to a head. Would Danny hate him when he found out he might be the reason why Lindsay had been shot at yesterday at the crime scene? Could he blame him if he did? Lindsay wasn't just the wife of his best friend; she was just as close a friend as Danny was. She'd been through so much during her captivity and in the weeks that followed. Hell, she'd been sidelined at work for months after the attack because the effect the sounds of gunfire had on her. Then, maybe thanks to some grudge someone might be holding against him, she'd had to face the sound that had so terrified her on her first solo case back to work.

Uncharacteristic tears filled his eyes and he attributed them to the lingering shock of the earlier attack. Here he was in his best friends' apartment, using their shower, about to eat their food and how was he repaying their continued kindness? By possibly luring some revenged-seeking psychopath into their lives. What kind of friend did that make him?

There was a quick knock on the door. "Flack, no hurry but I've got your ravioli ready."

Lindsay's sweet voice only compounded his guilt. He rubbed his eyes furiously hoping to hide the trace of tears before he opened the bathroom door. He could feel Lindsay's gaze cutting into him as he emerged from the bathroom. Without a word, she took him by the hand and led him out to the living room and directed him to a seat on the couch before sitting beside him. As her arm came around his shoulder, he broke down, unable to take her generous spirit in the face of his overwhelming guilt. It didn't even hit him that Danny, Lucy, and the puppy all seemed to have disappeared as he buried his head in Lindsay's shoulder until he could finally get his emotions under control. After what seemed like hours but was probably only five minutes, he lifted his head to meet Lindsay's concerned gaze.

"I'm sorry." He apologized and he wasn't sure exactly what he was apologizing for. Was it for breaking down or for whatever role he might have played in yesterday's shooting? But Lindsay just smiled at him understandingly.

"Please, that's nothing compared to some of my melt down's in the past few months. As many times as I've used your shoulder as a sponge, it's about time I got to return the favor. Are you okay? Tonight had to have been rough."

Flack wiped at his eyes but then took the tissues that she offered him and dried his eyes before blowing his nose. He shrugged. "It wasn't so much the explosion itself; although I would be lying if I said it didn't shake me up some. It's everything else that went with it that really set me off though." He sighed, somehow it felt better to admit Mac's fear while Danny wasn't around. "There were two common factors to tonight's attack and yesterday's."

Lindsay nodded. "Location obviously. What's the other?"

"Me. We can't be sure but it's possible that I might be the target. Mac all but ordered me to leave; I guess for my safety as well as everyone else's. After all yesterday I almost got you, Jenkins and Saunders killed and others could have died tonight."

"Stop it." Lindsay's tone brooked no argument. "Even if you are the target, you can't blame yourself for the shooting or the bombing. If Mac ordered you away from the scene it was for your safety and your safety alone. We all know the risks this job has and we accept them every time we respond to a call. If some psychopath gets some sort of bent idea of revenge in their mind and attack us, it's on them, not their target. Besides, there's no way of knowing if they were really targeting you or all of us in general. Until we know more about them, we can't know that. Mac's right in not wanting you to take unnecessary risks but it's too dangerous to just assume you are the target and the rest of us relax."

Don nodded, the wisdom of her words washing over her like a band-aid on his wounded psyche. Coming here had been the right thing for him to do. He looked around, it just hitting him that they were alone together. "Where're Danny and Lucy?"

Lindsay smiled as if she realized he was going to be okay. "Reese's needed a walk before bedtime and Lucy loves going with them. It actually helps settle her down before we put her down for the night. You ready for that ravioli?"

His stomach growled by way of an answer and he laughed. "Yeah, I guess I am."

She gave his knee a reassuring squeeze. "Take your beer to the table then. Your plate is already on the table; it should still be warm. I'm going to go get your clothes and get them in the wash. Make yourself at home if you need anything else and I'll be right out."

As she went to stand, Don pulled her back down, enveloping her in a brotherly hug. "Thanks for being here when I needed it."

She blushed slightly. "That's what friends are for." She kissed his cheek before getting up to take care of his clothes.

Don watched her leave and then picked his beer up to go to the kitchen. As he started to devour the ravioli, he could hear Lindsay bustling about putting his clothes in the washing machine. The front door opened and Danny stepped in, holding tightly to Reese's leash with one hand and holding a sleeping Lucy in his other arm. Danny indicated that he'd be out after putting the two-year-old to bed and disappeared down the hall. Don watched as the puppy settled in her own bed watching him almost absently as her tail wagged softly.

A few minutes later, Danny joined him at the table, his own beer in his hand. Don looked at him. "Does your mom know what a great cook she is?"

Danny laughed. "I try to make sure she knows often enough that she cooks for us quite often but I think she'd know she's awesome in the kitchen even if I didn't." He finished off his beer and stood, ready to get a second. He nodded toward Flack's bottle that was almost empty. "Want another one?"

Don nodded. After his breakdown and talking with Lindsay, he didn't feel the urge to go out and get stinking drunk like he had when he first left the crime scene but a second beer wouldn't hurt. By the time Danny returned to the table with the beers, Lindsay had emerged from the laundry room and joined them. Don couldn't help but laugh at the wounded look Danny gave Lindsay when she reached out and stole the beer he'd gotten for himself away from him. With a defeated sigh, Danny returned to the fridge once more and then came back to the table. "There's a game on tonight. You want to stay and watch it?"

Don nodded. It struck him that his friends had realized that he didn't really want or need to be alone tonight and he was grateful they were taking him under their wings. "Sounds good."

"You're off tomorrow like we are, aren't you?" Danny added.

Don nodded. "Suppose to be but I'm thinking I might go in just to look at old case files. There's got to be a reason why the attacks have happened at that location. Maybe something in the files will give us a clue as to who is responsible. I can't sit on the sidelines even or especially if I'm the target." He picked up his empty plate and carried it to the sink before picking up his beer and following the married couple to the living room.

Danny turned on the game and the three put aside the two attacks as they simply enjoyed the company and the game. During the course of watching the game, Danny and Lindsay filled him in on the possibility of the house they were going to look at the next day. Don was glad that things seemed to be looking up for the couple. He only hoped that this newest threat wouldn't put their happiness at risk.