Ok, I'm back with the rest of the chapters. Still keeping Danny very much in the story, as he has been throughout. What would Don do without his best friend?

AD part 10

Don walked into the lab and found Danny staring at a shirt on the table. They'd both been so busy that he hadn't seen his buddy in a few days, so he'd made a point to touch base with him today.

"Hey man, where you been?" Danny asked.

"Workin', same as you. How you doin'?" Don replied.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. You look different."

"Whaddaya mean, different?" Don said with a frown. Can he tell?

Danny looked at him like he was studying some of his evidence. It was a bit unnerving.

"What?" Don demanded. Danny kept staring at him. Suddenly his eyebrows went up and a grin spread across his face. He leaned closer to Don and said in a voice that couldn't be heard two feet away, "You got laid."

Shit, he can tell! "How the fuck can you tell that by lookin' at me?" Don whispered fiercely.

"You forget how well I know you my friend," Danny said. "There's just somethin', relaxed, about you."

Don had to smile. "Well congratulations, pal, you figured it out."

"I'm guessin' it was worth the wait?" Danny asked with a smile.

"You have no idea. And that's all I'm gonna say about it."

"Fine, don't kiss and tell. It'd probably hurt too much to hear it anyway. But I'm happy for ya."

"Hey you had your chance with that Suicide Girl."

"Oh sure, end up cuffed to a bed somewhere with my own handcuffs."

"Oh shit, I didn't think of that. So when's our next pizza night?" Don asked.

"You mean you still got time for me?" Danny replied with a raised eyebrow.

"The hell kinda question is that?"

Danny shrugged. "Well, I thought maybe you'd be busy with your lady."

"You asshole. So when?"

"You tell me. Seriously, you're the one with a social schedule."

"How 'bout tomorrow night?" Don really wanted to spend some time with Danny. He needed to be in that safe harbor for an evening.

Danny nodded. "I'll get the movies, you get the pizza."

"That'll work. I'll see ya later then." Don turned to leave.

"Yeah, later. Oh, wait, yours or mine?"

"Ah, yours. Ok?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll see ya then." Danny went back to scrutinizing the shirt on the table.

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Ray's pizza was one of the finer pleasures of life. Washing it down with a beer in the company of your best friend was even better. They'd just started watching X-Men III, the Last Stand. The mutants were at it again. Danny had chosen that and The Blair Witch Project.

"I'm not watchin' that Blair Witch movie," Don said around a mouthful of pizza. "No way."

"Why not? I heard it was funny." Danny said.

"FUNNY! It scared the shit out of me when I saw it. At first I thought it was a true story."

"You can't be serious. Supposedly you never even see what's after them."

"That is why it's so scary, Danny. It's all suspense and what's just beyond the camera. It'll fuckin' freak you out, trust me."

"So I guess if we watch it then you'll have to sleep over so I can hold your hand all night?"

"Smart ass. You watch it and then we'll see who needs hand-holdin'".

"Sounds like a challenge to me."

"Yeah, well I'm gonna love watchin' you get the heebie-jeebies."

"Well it figures you don't want to watch it. I seem to remember the time you had to go into that old monastery, and Aiden and Stella were givin' you a hard time about being scared to go in 'cause there were strange noises comin' from inside..."

"Ah, you kiss my ass, Messer." Don was enjoying the familiar banter; he'd missed it lately. It wasn't just because of Angie; they'd both been busy and working on different cases. Danny'd been running around town with Angell and Hawkes, while Don had been working with Stella, Mac and Lindsay. Their paths just hadn't crossed until yesterday when Don had made a point to go track Danny down in the lab.

"You want any more pizza?" Danny asked him.

"Nah, I've had enough for now." Danny got up to take the leftovers to the kitchen. "I'll take another beer though, as long as your goin' to the fridge."

Danny came back with a beer for Don and one for himself. "Isn't this the one where that one gal gets all-powerful, turns all red and starts obliteratin' everything?" Danny asked.

"Yep. So siddown and shuddup or you won't know what's goin' on."

"Fuck you." Danny said with a smile.

Don was stretched out across half the sofa, his feet hanging just off the edge. He'd taken his shoes off as soon as he'd walked in the door. Danny sat down at the other end, got ahold of both of Don's ankles and pulled his legs up onto his lap. Don raised an eyebrow. What the hell is he doing?

Danny looked at him and shrugged. "When you got here you said your calves were sore." Danny started massaging the muscles, his strong fingers digging in and working out the soreness.

Don shook his head with a slight frown. "You know you are a hard one to figure out sometimes. You don't like to be hugged, but you'll let me sleep in the same bed with you. And now here you are massagin' my legs? What would you do if I tried to do that to you?"

"I'd let ya. I might start to back off at first. But then I'd remember that I trust you more than anyone else in the world. And then I'd relax into it, I guess."

"You're like a fuckin' rubix cube. Like a puzzle that I'm always tryin' to put together."

"Yeah, that's why you love me, 'cause I'm so fascinating." Danny continued to work on Don's legs.

"Right. Ow, careful, you're pinchin' me."

"Ah, take it like a man, you wuss."

They watched the rest of X-Men and managed to pay attention to it and get most of the story. When it was over, Danny pushed Don's legs off his lap and got up to switch the DVD to the dreaded Blair Witch movie.

"Let the challenge begin." Danny said. He'd switched on the surround sound when they'd put the first movie in, and it was a must for this film since there were so many weird creepy sounds going on all around the three unlucky college students. Don, having seen the movie once, albeit a few years ago, knew what to expect, but it still gave him the creeps to watch it again. All the strange noises and voices made his hair stand on end. But Danny had never seen it, and Don was enjoying seeing him freak out as he watched it.

"Oh shit! What the fuck happened to the guy?" He couldna just disappeared."

And later on..." What is that? Is that Josh's shirt? Fuck! Is that blood in it? Was that bones or somethin'?"

"Shut up and watch it, Danny." Don wished he wasn't watching it but it was worth it to see Danny's reactions.

The ending scene left Danny staring at the screen with his mouth open and a look of horror on his face.

"Ok you win, that was some scary shit." he said.

Don just laughed. "So who's gonna hold who's hand tonight?"

"I swear to God Don, you try to scare me tonight and I will throw you out the fuckin' window."

"Ooh, threatenin' a police officer. That's a serious offense. I can just go home if you want."

"Bullshit, you're not leavin' me here alone. Like you wanna go home in the dark to your empty apartment. You're just as big a chicken as I am."

"Excuse me, but who picked out the movie in the first place?" Don looked at Danny with a smug smile.

Danny grabbed the remote. "Let's watch Letterman. I need to shake off that creepy shit."

Don couldn't help but laugh.

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"So without goin' into intimate details, you'd say that gettin' horizontal with Angie was a good thing?"

"Oh God, Danny, it was awesome. She's... shit, I can't... oh fuck it, you're my best friend. It was the best sex I've ever had. But it wasn't just sex. It was lovemaking, and it was unbelievable."

"Whoa. Well that's sayin' alot, don't you think?"

"Yeah, but it was. We just fit together perfectly, or as close as you can get anyway." Don looked over at Danny, who was lying on his side facing him.Their eyes met briefly and then Danny looked away.

"What?" Don asked.

Danny shrugged. "I'm envious, that's all. But I am happy for ya. Really."

Don knew that Danny didn't begrudge him this. It was just that he wished he could be in the same position. Don couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't make his friend feel worse. It wasn't just the sex. Danny hadn't had a relationship that went beyond casual dating in a long time, and Don knew that he was longing for it. He'd had a thing for Lindsay for awhile, and for a brief moment Danny had thought they'd get together. But things happened in the order that they were meant to. This was Don's time. Danny's hadn't come yet.

"You know it's not all fun and games." Don said. "This whole thing scares me."

"Whaddaya mean?" Danny asked, a slight frown creasing his brow.

"She's an ex-con, Danny. I can't get away from that, you know?"

"Does it really matter? I mean, she's turnin' her life around, isn't she?"

Don sighed. "That's just it, Dan. Is she? I'm worried that I'm blinded by my feelings for her, that I'm not gonna see things clearly."

"Well I don't know about that, Don. You're a great judge of character."

Don shook his head. "Not if I'm thinkin' with my dick."

"Don. More like thinkin' with your heart. And I still can't imagine you could ever be that far off."

"Oh, jesus, I hope you're right, Danny, because I'm not sure I trust my own judgement at this point."

"Well if you'd let me meet her, I could give you my objective opinion, not that it's worth much."

"Your opinion wouldn't be objective, Danny, because you'd be lookin' out for me."

Danny smiled. "You got that right. But it might be more objective than yours."

"Yeah, maybe. I guess it is about time I got you two together."

"Ya think? I'm surprised you've waited this long."

"Well when has there been time, Dan?"

"Ah, you got a point there. Let's see if we can arrange it for next week, ok?"

"Yeah. I promise."

"Good. Now can we get some sleep?"

"Oh, so you're not too creeped out to sleep?" Don asked teasingly.

"Do NOT start with me Flack."

Don chuckled. "Goodnight Danny." He turned over and settled in.

"Night Don."