Chapter Twenty-Nine: Too Good Is True

The ride to the hospital seemed to take forever in Flack's mind. He remained in the backseat with Danny the entire way, holding him, afraid that if he let him go he would lose him much the way he had Chandler. A strange thought to have, perhaps, but one that made perfect sense to him. He resisted the urge to yell at Stella, to order her to drive faster. She did the best she could to get them to the emergency room in a timely manner, it wasn't her fault they happened to live in New York City and the traffic was always a bitch. Somehow, though, they made and he stood by like an idiot when Danny was transferred to a gurney and raced through the hospital. He stood there outside in the ambulance area, unmoving. Deep down he wanted Danny to magically turn out to be Chandler, to have it be the man he loved racing toward much needed help.

Was he ever going to be able to get over the grief?

That thought stayed with him for the next few hours as he paced the waiting room, alternating between shoving his hands in his pockets and crossing them over his chest. This whole waiting thing was just not for him. Mac got checked out, treated for his many bumps and bruises and cuts. Stella fawned over him, trying all the while to remain calm and cool, collected like her typical self. Unbeknown to them Flack watched them, observed them. Their relationship had not been too much of a surprise once it came to light. In fact, if he remembered correctly Hawks and Aidan had started making bets about how long before they fell in love. It had never been a question of if, just a matter of when. They were destined to be together, at least as far as their friends were concerned. They were always there for each other, ready to do whatever the other needed, ready to watch their back, to call them on the bad turns.

He found he longed for the same relationship.

One he thought he found with Chandler.

Funny how things worked out in the long run. Life never exactly went as he planned. Never. He should have been used to it by now, should have found a way to deal with the little disappointments. But since when did losing a loved one classify as a little let down? He was thinking of spending a life with Chandler. He had it all planned out in his mind. Suddenly, as he made yet another pass around the waiting room, he thought of something Aidan once said to him a long time ago while they worked a case together, just the two of them. She had uttered the words 'things happen for a reason'. Flack stopped dead in his tracks. Had Chandler not passed away he never would have gone looking for revenge, never would have met Danny. Of course, to be honest, if Chandler was still around he would have no need for Danny, would never have given him so much as a second glance.

And yet, as he gazed toward the Personal Only doors he felt this was right, this was the way his life was supposed to go. Danny got caught up in something beyond his control, sucked into a world where he did not belong. Danny needed help in getting out and in a way, that is what he had become. He was going to help Danny get free of Sonny Sassone if it was the last thing he did. It was the least he could do, after all, Danny had just put his own life on the line to help them get dirt on the wannabe mobster.

"Hey," he suddenly spoke, turning to face Mac, "what happened to Sonny? How did you guys...?"

Mac explained what happened, putting a hand to the side of his head at one point as he winced in pain. Stella tried to get him to take one of his pain pills; which he flatly refused. Flack tried to think of why Danny would let Mac go and go do...what? It was noble of him to sacrifice his life for Mac, but Flack couldn't shake the feeling there was a tad bit more to it. Something none of them had quite yet figured out. He wanted desperately to talk with Danny, to ask him what happened while he was in there without Mac, get all the details.

"Guys," Stella's voice was soft, yet urgent. They turned to look at her, then followed her gaze to the wall mounted television in the corner. The news was playing a story about a warehouse fire. It took Flack a few seconds to recognize the location. The exact warehouse he left Mac and Danny, the one in which they both almost died because of a foolish plan. In silence they watched as the warehouse burned, one of the nearby buildings catching as well. For once Flack was happy Chandler was gone so he didn't have to be called out to save any of Sonny's men.

He turned to gauge the reaction of Mac and Stella, only to find Mac on his cell phone. "Hawkes, yeah, I need you to do something for me," Mac was saying. Flack turned his attention back to the television, feeling as though he might have to throw-up.

Eventually the news stopped running the story about the fire at the warehouse. A large portion of the building was lost. Flack did not care. The sun had fallen completely by this point and time was starting to race toward a new day. Yet he still remained in the waiting room wondering what the hell was taking the doctors so long to come and tell him about Danny. He was slouched in one of the ancient, rather uncomfortable chairs, when he spotted Hawkes walking in his direction. His eyes strayed to Mac who had been flipping lazily through a newspaper discarded by someone else earlier in the day. Stella was sleeping, her head on his shoulder. Flack tried to get them to leave multiple times, both refused. Even Mac could not get Stella to go home, she wanted to be there for them. For him.

As Hawkes entered the room Mac looked up, neatly folding the paper and placing it on a nearby table. Stella stirred, opening her eyes, then blinking a few times as she adjusted to the light in the room.

"Sorry, Mac," Hawkes spoke. Flack noticed the black smudges on Hawkes skin. The sort of smudges he used to see a lot on Chandler's things after a fire. It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out where he had been. "Four bodies were found in the fire."

Flack sat up, his heart beating a little faster. Four bodies...

"Three of them died of smoke inhalation," explained Hawkes. "Looks like the flames chased them in one direction and they got stuck. The last one died from a bullet wound to the head, an injury I believe was sustained earlier in the day."

"And?"

Flack waited with baited breath to hear the words he so desperately needed.

"None of the victims match the description of Sonny Sassone," Hawkes finally said. "I'm sorry, Mac. He wasn't there when the warehouse caught fire."