Chapter 77: Running Into You

She had barely been home, having just showered and dried her hair after her latest booty call with Flack when her phone rang, her Loo calling her early on a Saturday she was supposed to have off. Gus immediately knew something was going on. "Loo, what's up?" she answered, her voice on edge.

"Broussard, I didn't wake you?" Daddino seemed surprised.

"Nope," she answered, already dressing as she waited for him to come out with it.

"You aren't drunk are you?" he asked, worrying about her answer.

Gus contemplated her state for a moment, "no, sir."

"I need you out in the field. Shooting downtown."

"I thought I was on cold cases," she protested.

"You were, but that was before your Uncle decided to go all cowboy with that Messer kid and we got ourselves a dead Jane Doe."

"What? Gus tried to process what he was telling her.

"Haven't even gotten to the best part yet, seems like your boy Flack has decided he is done with being on leave as soon as he heard who was involved and is already on scene. I suggest you get your ass down there ASAP."

Gus did as she was instructed, arriving at the high-rise as quickly as possible, running into both Mac and Flack in the lobby. "What the hell?" was her greeting to both of them.

Mac stared at her for a long beat, not sure how to reply. "Just get back to me on the guard and the security cameras, Flack. Good morning, Augusta."

"Is it, Uncle Mac?" Gus called to his back as he walked away.

Flack leaned against the desk in the lobby of the building, raising his eyebrows at her. "Why are you here?" she asked in response, her brow furrowed in annoyance and confusion.

"Nice of you to show up, sunshine," Flack shot back, sarcasm full in his voice.

"Pardon me, for thinking about crazy things like sleep on my day off after-" she cut off, realizing the security guard taking in their exchange. "Never mind, what the hell is going on with Mac and Danny and why were they here?"

Flack filled her in on the phone call Danny had received on the tip line from the Jane Doe, a lead on the bar shooting from the month before. "Seems her brother, Jake, was involved, but that is about all we know about her. Security guard by the name of Albert Pelton is also missing. Not a hell of a lot to go on until the geek squad gets finished up there," he gestured above his head.

"Missing persons looped in on Pelton?" Gus asked, trying to stay professional, despite the fact that she was thinking Flack shouldn't be back at work and lost in thought on how he looked naked on his couch just a few hours before.

Flack nodded, "yeah, they are checking in with his wife now." He cut a look over at the guard at the bank of monitors, leading the other man to scurry away. "I can't keep doing what I've been doing. Like I told Mac, I'm better at work."

"I see," Gus replied icily, assuming Flack was telling her that their sleeping together over the past few weeks had been a mistake. Of course it had been, but Gus wasn't ready to hear him admit to it.

They stared at each other a long moment before Gus broke away. "I'm going to go upstairs and see how things are going." She turned on heel without giving him a chance to respond.

She arrived upstairs in time to catch Adam being lightly teased by Lindsay to process the scene. "What's up with Ross?" she asked as he danced away.

Lindsay shrugged, "I don't know, must have had his Wheaties, he's been on cloud nine lately was beginning to think maybe you two took me up-"

"Do not even finish that train of thought, Lindsay Monroe Messer!" Gus shot back, more anger in her voice than she would have liked.

"Ahem," Danny cleared his throat from his wheelchair.

"Hey Messer, anyone take your statement yet?" Gus asked, trying to gather herself.

Danny made a face, "some incompetent uniform, might want to take it again, not that there is much to go on."

Gus took his statement again, checked in briefly with Stella, looked around for either Mac or Flack before giving up and heading back to the precinct.

There wasn't much to do until Sid got around to performing the autopsy on Jane Doe and the team got finished processing the scene, so Gus found herself back in the pit, trying to not glare daggers at Flack. She instead attempted to bury herself in cold cases with little success.

Flack's return to work caused a slight uproar in the pit, leading Gus to wish for a place to hide. She decided instead to stick it out in the pit, trying to ignore what was going on around her.

"Must be glad he's back, huh, Slugger, so you don't have to stay saddled with an old man like me," Parker remarked when he came in.

"You aren't old Parker, and I was doing just fine."

"Fine, yes, that is exactly what I would call it," Parker shot back.

Gus didn't reply, shutting him out and going back to her files.

On edge enough later she was almost tempted to head up to Special Vics, Flack cornered her in the tiny homicide break room.

"What gives, Gus?" he said, pinning her between him and the counter where she had poured horribly viscous coffee.

"I don't know what you mean, Don, now if you will excuse me," she attempted to duck around him.

He didn't yield, a formidable barrier between her and the pit. He stared down at her, his eyes pinning her as much as his frame was. "I just don't think you should be back at work."

Flack leaned down toward her, "I seem to remember you telling me last night that I needed to get off the bar stool and back into the land of the living. That was in between you saying something about things being a mistake and moaning my name, sunshine, so here I am."

He looked down at her with a heated look that was ruined by his acerbic tone.

"This isn't you, now move." She shoved him back with more force than necessary, which he wasn't expecting.

Gus took his wavering to her advantage and stormed back into the pit, waiting for her anger to subside. It did, quickly enough, replaced by her cloak of numbness that had protected her over the past month.

Parker studied her, watching as she went from fuming to emptiness, his eyes going over to Flack's desk, noticing the other man angrily flipping through case files. He shook his head, knowing enough to let sleeping dogs lie.

Around ten, Gus still toiling away at her desk despite it being her night off and nothing new on the case except for Sid having completed the autopsy finding a piece of glass embedded in the woman that oddly seemed to link her to the bar shooting, Flack came over to Gus' desk, towering over her in silence until she looked up.

"What?" she snapped.

Flack gave a half sigh, "there's been another shooting, outside a nightclub in across town. We should check it out, think it's related."

Gus nodded, not saying anything because she didn't even know where to start, before following him out to the car in silence.

The drive across town was quick, but felt much longer since neither Flack nor Gus were willing to break the stoney silence between them.

They excited into the chaos in front of the nightclub where Gus' resolve almost broke when she didn't hear Flack give some snarky commentary on the red velvet rope scene. Her anger and confusion came rushing back when she saw him flirting with several scantily clad women who had witnessed the shooting.

Mac and Stella showed up at the scene quickly enough, Gus starting to fill them in when she noticed the pair looking over her shoulder.

She followed their gaze, her eyes lighting on Flack getting what appeared to be a phone number from a horsey looking bleach blond.

She turned back, ignoring the looks on their faces. "Anyway, that's what I've got, but we'll see what Casanova was able to get out of my pretty pony over there."

Stella and Mac exchanged a look as Gus strode away to talk with a uniform. "You have any clue what that was about?" Stella asked.

"No, and knowing Gus, I don't want to, at least not yet," Mac replied, cutting off as Flack approached.

Gus decided to catch a ride back to the precinct with a uniform instead of waiting on Flack, the crime scene not having resulted in any homicides, even if it did result in the ominous message from the shooters seeming to extort the city into paying if they ever wanted to enjoy nightlife again.

She was making a dent in her paperwork when Flack came storming back in.

"You just disappear on me? Not cool, Gus," he snapped coming back by her desk.

"I caught a ride with a boot, you seemed busy and I thought I would get some paperwork done so I could maybe actually get some sleep, seeing as I didn't get much last night," she shot back, standing up and staring him down.

"You didn't seem to mind then, sunshine," he fumed, inches away from her.

Gus started to protest, but the look he was giving her sent flames of lust rolling at her. "I, I just-" she stammered.

"You want a ride home?" he asked, huskily. She nodded, readily following him out the door.

Chapter 78: Hurricane Party

Another night of bad choices and too much whiskey ended with both their phones buzzing early Sunday morning.

They barely acknowledged each other as they hastily got ready and headed back to the precinct so Flack could change into clean clothes before heading to the body found three blocks from the scene from the day before.

"Looks like we found our missing security guard," Flack said as they stood over the bloodied body in the alley.

Gus nodded soberly, taking in the wound on the man's leg and the amount of blood everywhere. "I'll loop in Missing Persons, have them notify the wife."

Flack barely heard her, studying the body with grave scrutiny. He was in full cop mode. Gus made her phone call, keeping one eye on Flack the entire time. He was circling the body like a vulture. "Flack, what do you have?"

"I know I'm not a lab geek, but this looks like a blood trail to me," he pointed at the droplets of blood around the body. They both followed the trail up the alley, it leading back toward the high-rise. Gus nodded, agreeing with Flack's supposition.

"I wonder if old Albert here had enough fight in him to follow our killer here," Gus said as they walked back to the body.

"Think she's the one to tell us that," Flack said, pointing at Stella who was coming up the alley, her kit in hand.

She scrutinized both detectives as walked up, both looking worn, Gus' expression more hollow than she had ever seen and Flack uncharacteristically unkempt. She had attempted to talk to Mac more about the pair's exchange in front of the nightclub, but Mac was far too obsessed with finding the shooters than commenting on either Don's or Gus' demeanor.

"Find our security guard, huh? Seems like a bad place for a body dump, three blocks away."

Flack looped her in on his findings while Gus hung back, letting Stella take in the scene. The older woman did, with tenacity Gus would have found frightening if she could feel anything at the moment.

Stella immediately jumped on the blood trail and Albert's wound, her supposition being that the blood trail belonged to the shooter, who had probably been shot in the arm by one of Mac's shots in the building.

"I don't get the missing sleeve, though," Flack said, pointing at the body.

Stella and Gus both looked down, their eyes meeting. "No blood trail leaves here..." Stella started in. "Shooter used the sleeve to bandage a wound," both women concluded at the same time. "This isn't a stain," Stella said, pointing at the blood on Albert's shirt, "it's spatter."

"It's blood from our shooter," Flack said, half questioning though he seemed to already know the answer.

Stella nodded, her curls bouncing. "I think Albert wounded our suspect, we need to get this back to the lab."

Gus finished up at the scene, telling Flack and Stella she would catch up with them later. There wasn't much more to do once again until the lab caught up, she was mostly just trying to avoid spending time with Flack.

They needed to talk, rationally and soberly with all their clothes on, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen anytime soon. Gus was still consumed with survivor's guilt and crushed with jealousy over a dead woman who seemed to have a magnetic hold on Flack, she had a feeling it was much more than just that though.

"Don, what is going on with you," she mumbled before heading back to the precinct.

Gus headed immediately up to the lab, refusing to get cornered in the pit by her fellow detectives or Flack, even though she knew the body probably hadn't even made it to Sid's table yet, let alone anyone have anything back on the shirt.

The lab was a flurry of activity for a Sunday, everyone on hand to try to track down the people responsible for the wounding of a cop and holding a big part of the city's income hostage. Feeling out of sorts and not wanting to interrupt, Gus headed towards Mac's office, hoping to hide in there for a bit.

She was not shocked in the least to see Mac's collection of murder boards had grown to encompass every surface of his office. She was staring at them, wondering how obsessed her Uncle had become when he came in.

"Gus," he said, watching his niece deep in thought. She looked worn, as broken as she had the day he picked her up from the base after the Guard flew her in after the hurricane.

She turned to him, "hey, Mac, nice, uh work you got going here," she gestured 360 degrees around the room. Mac gave her a half-smile but didn't say anything, giving her the chance to open up.

When she didn't he finally started to move some boxes around, "want to sit, talk?" he suggested.

Gus shook her head, "nope, all good, just was checking on the case, waiting to hear back about the blood on the security guard's shirt."

"Hawkes is down getting it from Sid now, will probably be awhile. You want some coffee?"

Gus couldn't help but give her uncle a small smile, she had to give him his tenacity even if he couldn't normally expression concern. Of course she wasn't one to throw stones seeing as she was coping with everything by getting drunk, having angry sex and shutting down.

"Sure," she replied, willing to concede slightly.

They walked, Mac choosing tea over coffee, smirking at the face she made. "It's tea, not poison, you should try it sometime Gussie."

Gus shook her head, pouring cream into her coffee. "How are things on the lab end?" she asked, taking a sip.

"You know about the glass Sid found in Jane Doe?" Mac asked. Gus nodded. "Crime scene clean up tech found new evidence in the elevator, swath of blood from the shooter."

"Found new evidence?" Gus cocked her head to the side, "as in Adam missed evidence?" she didn't sound like she believed it.

Mac shook his head, explaining that the temperature differential was what found it. "Waiting to see if there is a hit in CODIS now."

"That would be a nice damn break," she sighed.

Mac paused for a minute. "What is Don doing back?" he asked finally.

Gus looked at him over her cup, raising her eyebrows. "Your guess is a good as mine." She seemed to be contemplating how much to reveal. "At least at work we can keep our eyes on him."

"Does he need eyes on him?" Mac's gaze was penetrating enough to cause Gus to become entranced with the design on her cup. "I'll take that as a yes. What about you?"

"I've been through worse, I come from a place where we throw Hurricane Parties when the world is ending around us. Don't worry about me, Mac, just find your shooters," she strode out, Mac following close behind, not willing to give up on this conversation yet.

He stopped short as he passed by one of the labs, a pretty brunette tech on the phone who looked a lot like their Jane Doe. His eyes took in her lab coat and badge, something clicking in his mind.

"Jane Doe was already in the building that night," he said, taking off in the opposite direction toward Danny and Lindsay. Gus stared after him bewildered, but happy he wasn't pressing her for more information.

Gus walked around a bit longer, realizing everyone was busy at work and she should probably do the same. She headed back to the pit, intent on filling out paperwork and ignoring everyone else.

It was working until her phone rang, Hawkes reporting in on Adam's hit in CODIS on the shooter's blood and his belief that the shooter had left the scene with the knife still embedded in him.

She walked over to Flack's desk, waiting for him to get off his phone call. "There was a hit in CODIS, shooter's name is David Wilson, Sheldon thinks he was wounded badly by Albert, so it looks like we get to start making hospital calls," she said as soon as he hung up.

Flack nodded, already pulling out the directory. "Mac identified our Jane Doe, she's Risa Calaveras, Danny's running her brother Jake now."

They both dove into calling hospitals, striking out until Gus got in touch with Trinity General Hospital. She waved Flack over while speaking to the charge nurse.

"He came in as a John Doe dumped in front with a knife sticking out of him?" she nodded, her expression going from excitement to somber as she scratched on her notepad, turning it so Flack could see.

'Died in surgery', Flack read as he listened in to Gus asking for security footage.

"I'll send uniforms to get it as well as to drop by Jake Calaveras' place, Danny sent me his address." Gus nodded, "I'll loop Stella and Mac in."

Both sets of uniforms were back quickly enough reporting Jake in the wind and handing Gus a DVD of footage. She headed to surveillance, Flack on her heels. The last thing she wanted was to be trapped in a small room with him in the dark.

"I got this, why don't you try to run down Jake?" she suggested, trying to ignore the hurt in his eyes that quickly turned to anger.

"Fine, whatever," he said, storming off.

Gus quickly determined she was going to need the lab's help on the grainy footage, finally able to snag Sheldon to help her clean it up. "There, right there, we got his plate," Gus said, pointing at the car driving away.

A few key strokes later and Gus was able to run the plate through DMV. "Tyson Menlo," Sheldon said, reading over her shoulder as she pulled up the record.

"I'll get a warrant and get Flack, you tell Mac," Gus said, already on the phone as she headed back downstairs.

"You get something?" Flack asked as soon as she stepped back into the pit, his anger having dissipated.

Gus nodded, "yeah, getting a warrant now, found the third shooter, he lives over on Battery, we're going to need back up."

Flack sprung into action, readying up whoever was around and setting up the tactical plan. Gus waited for the warrant to come across the system, pacing in front of her desk.

"We'll get it on the way, come on," Flack said, throwing a vest at her before moving towards the car.

They convened in front of the Menlo's building, Gus having pulled up the warrant to show the super to let them in the building, though the man didn't even glance at it, yielding easily to the detectives with hands on their weapons and faces set in grim determination.

Gus slipped on her vest, tightening the velcro as much as she could, her mind going instantly back to the day in the diner with Doyle's much lighter formfitting vest fitting her like a glove.

She caught Flack glancing her way, a heavy look passing between them saying things they hadn't bothered to speak out loud.

"Let's all be on our toes and smart in there," she said as the superintendent ushered them in and directed them to the third floor.

They busted into the apartment, with plenty of backup, both of them being more cautious than normal when it came to work, even if they were on a collision course personally.

Jake Calaveres was there, a gun pointed squarely at his buddy's head, obviously he had figured out who had killed his sister.

Flack immediately tried to talk him down even as Gus' was disengaging the safety on her weapon. She paused, letting him take the lead and hoping it wouldn't go sideways.

"She wouldn't want you to get into any more trouble, Jake, she wouldn't want you to do something stupid!" Flack yelled.

At that moment, Gus knew without a doubt that Flack had killed Cade. She turned to give him a look as Jake pulled the trigger on the gun he held.

She whipped her head back, pulling her handcuffs out as Jake went down on his knees, his hands up in surrender. Gus cuffed him, barking his rights at him, giving Flack a piercing look before the light once again faded from her eyes as she hauled Jake down to a waiting patrol car.

Chapter 79: Take it out on me

Mac was waiting in booking and immediately took over questioning Jake Calaveres.

Flack left without so much as a word or backward glance at her. Gus wondered if there would be any more late night calls or texts, or if he knew that she knew what he had done.

Gus slumped at her desk finishing up her paperwork while Mac finished up with Jake. Despite exhaustion setting in, Gus wasn't ready to go home yet. The silence in her apartment too much to bear, the weight of the nightmares more than she could handle.

Since she was worrying about Lindsay and Danny, she decided to head up to the lab before heading out herself. Gus wasn't able to find either of them, but was happy to see Stella helping Mac box up the files he was obsessing over in his office since the night of the bar shooting.

Both of their backs turned so they didn't see her standing there, lost in thought. She heaved a sigh, the loneliness and guilt crushing down on her once more. She turned, seeing Adam looking both at her and over her shoulder into Mac's office.

"Hey," Gus said, her voice more timid than she would have liked.

"Hey yourself, stranger," Adam said, making note that she had withdrawn from interacting with most of the team over the past month.

"How are you doing, Adam?" Gus asked, her expression sincere but empty.

"Let's see, got shot at a month ago, my friend is now in a wheelchair and I am having to pick up his slack, some crime scene clean up chick is trying to steal my job, one of my best friends won't return my phone calls since I told her I wanted to sleep with her and..." Adam trailed off, almost busting out about Stella's earlier rejection, but stopped himself just in time.

Gus forced laughter, scratching at her head, "yeah, about that..." she looked at him searchingly. "I'm an asshole," she shrugged finally.

Adam hated the wounded look in her eyes. "You wanna come over, I rented some movies and I actually cleaned and bought groceries." He didn't add that he had done it in the hopes that he could get Stella to come back to his place to duplicate their previous night together.

"Look at you being a real live adult, Adam." Gus paused, she craved the companionship, she just wasn't sure she deserved it They hadn't hung out since their awkward encounters or Angell's funeral.

The only person she had any contact with outside of work was Flack, and that clearly wasn't healthy. She suppressed a shiver. No, she wasn't going there now, right now Adam was offering her a lifeline and she had to take it.

"I would really, really like that Adam, more than you probably know." She gave him a small smile, "what I can bring?"

They settled in on the couch, deep into the movies, bellies full of food.

Things had been going fine, except Gus had seemed a little jumpy all night until one scene put her over the edge. She jumped, and then cowered on the couch, looking a little like a wounded animal.

Adam turned off the movie, realizing how much Gus was still suffering after the shootings. "That was so stupid, Adam, of course she freaked out, why couldn't you have rented romcoms instead," he mumbled under his breath.

It only took a couple of minutes for Gus to ground herself again, working on focusing on her breathing and being aware of where she was. "Sorry about that," she said, resting her hands on her knees and breathing shakily.

Adam rubbed her back, "It's okay."

"Glad you didn't rent romcoms, Adam, we both hate them," she said with a smile. Gus picked up the remote, pressing play.

"You sure?" Adam asked, his eyes full of concern.

Gus nodded, "Flood me, I have to get over it." She did, however, move closer to Adam.

They were talking later about demented genius of Tarantino and comparing him to old line film makers when Gus looked up at him from where she was lying, propped against the arm of the couch. "There's something different about you," she said, scrutinizing him.

"I think you could say that about all of us," he replied, though he did flush slightly.

Gus just kept looking at him, trying to pinpoint it. If anything, he seemed more grounded and self-assured, where Gus' confidence had deflated like a day old balloon.

Finally Adam couldn't take her stare any more. "I slept with Stella."

Gus pulled herself up to sitting and gaped at him momentarily before replying with, "I slept with Doyle. It was his vest, that's why I'm not dead. So much for an easy one night stand."

She left off the part about her recent dalliances with Flack, not ready to admit she was so weak.

"We're both a mess, huh?"

"Hot mess," Gus agreed, thinking if only Adam knew exactly how much of a mess she was. She continued to stare at him, "are you going to keep sleeping with Stella?"

Adam shook his head violently, "nope, one time only deal, not going to happen again."

There was something in the way he protested that caught Gus' attention. "That was what she said, but you don't agree. That's why your place is clean for like the first time ever!"

"I hate when you do that," Adam grimaced.

"Do what?" Gus asked, innocently.

"Read me like an open book."

Gus smile at him, reaching over to ruffle his hair, "at least I didn't say you were an easy read."

They settled back in watching bad late night television, occasionally chatting until sleep overtook Gus' frame.

Adam let her sleep, not wanting to disturb her and enjoying having his friend back, even if he had a feeling it was only temporary. He was happy he had told her about Stella, even if she did know what his innermost feelings were. She hadn't judged him, it wasn't in her nature, she was loyal to a fault.

Gus, of course, was right. Adam had wanted more with Stella, easily projecting his crush on Gus toward the gorgeous Greek, but Stell had made it clear today that wasn't going to happen. And now he had to worry about stinking perky Haylen Becall going after his job. What kind of name was Haylen Becall anyway? He almost woke Gus to talk it through with her, but a glance at the late hour convinced him otherwise.

That didn't stop her phone to start buzzing from its place on the coffee table. Adam picked it up, seeing Flack's number displayed on the screen and wondering what the other detective wanted considering their case had been closed. He debated answering it as Gus stirred beside him, looking up with sleep filled eyes.

"Is that my phone?" she murmured, pulling herself up.

Adam nodded, handing over her phone, "it's Flack," he said. Adam watched as Gus' face changed into a mask of what it had been as she took the phone answering curtly.

"Yeah, really? Now? Are you, never mind, fine, I'll be right there," she hung up, pulling on her shoes.

"You alright?" Adam asked, concern in his eyes.

Gus gave a half-nod, "I'm fine, but I gotta go...deal with this," she said finally, "thanks for dinner and putting up with me, I'll cook for you soon, promise." She gave him a quick hug and pack on the cheek before she disappeared into the late hour.

Gus strode up to where Flack was waiting outside another dive bar, angry at him for calling her but more angry at herself for actually coming.

"What was it this time, Don, forget your wallet in the pit? Forgot where you lived? Gracie's become too high-class for you?" She was fuming, but knew if she didn't go home with him, someone else certainly would and who knew what kind of trouble Flack would end up in.

"If I knew you were going to be a bitch, I would have gone home with that hot little redheaded who offered," Flack said, leaning against the building and stubbing out a cigarette.

"Those things will kill you, didn't you badger me until I quit?" Gus asked, her expression softening slightly at the pain in his eyes.

Flack gave a heavy sigh, wondering why he had called Gus, other than he couldn't sleep without her tucked beside him and the few hours he stole with her in the early morning hours was the only time he wasn't haunted by images of Jess.

"Gotta go somehow," he smirked down at her.

"Your place or mine," she sighed, her resolve crumbling.

Gus had waited months to get him back, this certainly wasn't how she wanted it, but she wasn't able to turn him down. Don Flack was firmly etched on her heart and soul and that connection wouldn't break even if it was hurting them both. She was more than willing to let him take it out on her.