Notes:

Hi folks! Here's the fifth part all done for you! Nothing to warn you about here, unless a bit of fluff isn't your thing!

Disclaimer:

Flick back 4 chapters...you'll get the idea!

Where do we go from here?

Chapter Five- Meeting Michael

Dave brushed the magazines under the sofa. It wasn't the most ideal of storage places, but Luka was due any minute and Dave wanted his apartment to be nice and clean for his co-worker. After a good few squirts of cheap room freshener, Dave finally got rid of the lingering smell of his rather bad cooking. Dave re-arranged the cushions on the somewhat shabby black sofa, not that it really made any difference as each cushion was a different colour from the last. Dave rested his hands on his hips and surveyed the apartment in front of him. It wasn't a particularly large place by any means, it was just enough for himself and Michael. He only hoped that Luka would find it inviting enough. "Daddy"? A tiny voice asked. Dave turned around to see his son stood in the doorway of his bedroom, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Dave immediately forgot about cleaning and picked up his young son. "What's wrong Mikey? Did you have another bad dream"? Dave asked, concerned.

"No Daddy..I just can't sleep" The little boy replied quietly. Dave couldn't help but smile as Michael started sucking his thumb. It was plainly obvious that the kid was exhausted but since Dave had mentioned he would be having company, Michael was trying to stay awake to see who it was. "Well how about I make you some nice hot chocolate"? Dave offered.

"Yeah"! Michael agreed excitedly. Dave smiled again and carried his son towards the small kitchen. The doorbell rung and Michael squirmed in Dave's arms, eventually Dave had to relinquish his grip on the child, who ran off to get the door.

Luka stood outside the door, waiting for someone to answer. For some reason he felt strangely nervous. He'd never been to Dave's place before, so it was a totally new experience for the mild-mannered Croatian. He was about to ring the bell when a little boy of about four answered. "Hello there" Luka greeted, in a friendly voice. The older man's eyes however, showed a small twinge of hurt in them. This little boy reminded him so much of Marco, his own son who had tragically died back in Croatia. Upon taking another look at the boy, it was like looking at a scaled down version of Dave. The child had Dave's brown hair and his beautiful, dark eyes. As the little boy smiled up at Luka, Luka noted that he also possessed Dave's cheeky smile. There was no denying that this boy was indeed Dave's son. "Hey Luka" another voice greeted. Luka blinked, surely that mature-sounding voice had not come from that little boy. Luka looked back and saw Dave stood at the door, the little boy was now clinging to Dave's leg, with a shy look on his face. "Come in" Dave invited, opening the door wider to allow Luka access.

"Who are you"? The young boy asked as Luka took a seat on the sofa. He couldn't help but notice that none of the cushions matched the colour of the sofa or each other. "C'mon Mikey, it's time to go to bed, I've made you your drink now" Dave said, almost pleadingly. "I'm too excited Daddy"! Michael replied, jumping up and down. Any previous tiredness the child had was now gone. Dave sighed a bit. "Luka this is my son, Michael"

"Hi I'm Michael and I'm four but I'm nearly five soon. My Daddy's a doctor and he's really good at making hot chocolate! He puts the marshmallows in and it tastes really good! Maybe he'll make you some"! Michael babbled, sitting next to Luka.

"Sorry about this, he's a little...pumped. He likes having company dontcha Mikey"? Dave asked the child with a smile.

"How do you know Daddy"? Michael said. looking up at Luka.

"Your Daddy and I work together" Luka explained. "I'm a doctor too"

"Wow! Cool"! Michael explained. "Do you think my daddy is good-looking? He says he's a.a.ladies man"

"Michael"! Dave scolded, giving his son a withering look. Why was it that kids always had a knack of saying the wrong things? "It's ok" Luka laughed. "Yes Michael, I think your daddy is good-looking, he's very nice"

"Maybe Daddy thinks you're hot" Michael suggested. Luka smiled again, yep, there definitely was no denying this was Dave's son.

"Michael"! Dave scolded again, feeling his cheeks turn pink.

"What Daddy? I didn't say damn" Michael replied innocently. Dave slapped his hand to his forehead as Luka laughed. "Would you like a drink Luka"? Dave offered.

"Yes please" Luka answered happily. He was starting to enjoy himself.

"Coffee alright"? Dave asked.

"That's fine" Dave nodded and set about making the coffee in the small kitchen area of the apartment. "It's a nice place you have here" Luka complimented, having a look around. "Very clean"

"You should've seen it half an hour ago"! Dave joked.

A couple of minutes later, Dave returned to the sofa with two mugs of steaming coffee, again, neither mug matched each other, but Dave had selected the least chipped of his mug collection. "Um Dave." Luka whispered, pointing down at his own lap. Dave looked to see Michael curled up on the sofa, fast asleep with his head resting on Luka's lap. "Oh sorry" Dave whispered an apology as he picked Michael up gently.

"Don't worry about it" Dave carried Michael into his bedroom and placed him gently on the bed. Michael stirred a little as Dave pulled the covers over him, but luckily, remained asleep. "Love you lots" Dave whispered as he kissed his sleeping son's forehead. Taking one look back at his son, Dave carefully closed the door.

"He's a good kid" Luka commented as Dave sat down next to him.

"Yeah, I love him to bits" Dave admitted. Luka smiled and couldn't help but notice how Dave's features seemed to soften so much when he talked about his love for his son. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to his mother"? Luka asked.

"She left" Dave said simply. Luka nodded, it was obvious that Dave didn't really want to expand on the reason why Michael's mother had left and Luka decided it wasn't really his place to question further. "You really care for Michael don't you"?

"Of course, he's the best thing that ever happened to me. People don't expect me to be like this though, just think if the rest of the staff knew about this, their faces would be a picture" Dave replied.

"I think it's just because of the attitude you put across" Luka said honestly.

"Yeah, I know" Dave admitted.

"Why don't you do anything to change their minds about you? Surely you don't like them seeing you that way.you know, as an irresponsible type of guy" Luka asked.

"They've already made up their own minds about me and it's not really up to me to change them, they can keep their own snap judgements"

"It's a shame you don't let them see this side of you, it's a really great side to see"

"I'm happy enough with having the love of Michael and having my job, I don't need the approval of the others to feel good about myself" Dave replied, sipping his cup of coffee. He couldn't look his co-worker in the eyes, since Luka seemed to be quite perceptive, he would probably be able to tell that Dave was lying. Sure, he was more than happy with Michael and his job, but sometimes he just wished he had someone who understood him, a kindred spirit. "Well you definitely deserve all the happiness you can get" Luka said, breaking Dave's train of thought.

"I'm not the only one, you deserve it too" Dave answered, remembering the little insight he'd had into Luka's past that time on the roof of County.

"I've managed to find my happiness here in Chicago" Luka said, knowing this wasn't strictly true. Dave nodded in reply and Luka noticed that he seemed to look rather sad. "What's wrong"?

"Do you ever feel...lonely"? Dave asked quietly, gripped the mug tightly.

"Sometimes but since Abby has been staying with me I haven't been feeling it as much"

"It must be nice to have someone like that, who's there for you and knows you" Dave muttered sadly.

"You should know"

"What"?

"Well, you have me. I mean, I know we haven't always been the best of friends, but the more I'm getting to know you, the more I like you. We're friends Dave" Luka replied.

"Really? You mean that"? Dave asked, his eyes lighting up with an almost childish innocence and excitement. "Of course I do"

"Thanks" Dave smiled, today wasn't so bad after all. Sure he'd had a bit of a run in with Weaver, but it was nothing he couldn't handle, and now, now, finally, he had someone he could call friend.

~*~

Abby whistled to herself as she collected a set of scrubs from the storage room. Her shift seemed to be going pretty swiftly and she hadn't had too much trouble. Her face was still slightly achy from the assault, but she was dealing with it. The major thing that was playing on her mind was what had happened in the lounge with Carter. He'd almost kissed her and what had she done? She'd backed away. Abby silently cursed her own stupidity. There had been some attraction between her and Carter for a while now, and she'd blown the perfect opportunity to get the guy she wanted. Abby could only hope that Carter wouldn't lose interest...it was just that damn chain of events in the lounge had been so unexpected. Abby knew her feelings for Carter, but since he'd recently been seen with Rena, she wasn't sure just how much Carter had reciprocated those feelings. Not until that moment in the lounge, however, she'd been so shocked and surprised, she didn't have time to fully take in what was actually happening, so she broke away. The door opened, causing Abby to jump slightly. She turned around and saw Carter, the very guy she'd just been thinking about, stood in the closet with her covered in vomit. Abby smirked a bit. "Been treating drunks again"? She asked with a giggle. Carter pulled off his scrub top exposing a toned torso, however, Abby didn't have time to savour this sight as a blur of green came flying towards her face, Carter had thrown that gross scrub top at her! "Carter"! She squealed. Carter laughed and she punched him playfully on the arm. "That was so not funny"! She mock scolded. Carter simply pushed her back. Abby grinned and pushed him back, a little harder than she intended, Carter reeled back and fell into the shelves, knocking off a few sets of scrubs as he did so. "Oops" Abby laughed.

"Oops! Is that all you can say Miss Lockhart? Oops"! Carter replied with mock anger. "We better get these picked up before Weaver sees the mess you made"

"I made"? Abby challenged. Never the less, she bent down next to Carter and helped him pick up the disturbed scrubs. She looked up at Carter, who looked back with a somewhat intense stare. "How funny would it be if Dave walked in now? We could make a fortune"! She joked.

"I don't need a fortune" Carter replied with a playful smile. Abby smiled back at Carter, but it wasn't a goofy smile.it was one of her genuine smiles. The type she only used for flirting. With no warning whatsoever, Carter leaned in and began to kiss Abby. She felt shivers all down her spine as she kissed back, this was unbelievable, the kiss was everything she imagined it to be and Carter was so good..until Carter pulled away. "Are we doing the right thing"? He asked seriously. Abby pulled him back.

"Carter, just shut up and kiss me"

~*~

Dave threw down his fork, the Indian take-away he and Luka had shared had to be one of the best meals he'd had for ages, not just for the quality of the food, but for the company too. Dave wondered why he'd been so nervous asking Luka round, they'd been having such a great time. "I'm starting to get used to these American take-aways" Luka commented, licking his lips, wanting to savour every last bit of the spicy sauce.

"Do you miss Croatia"? Dave asked, a serious look on his face. Luka nodded a little. "Croatia is a beautiful country.but to be honest, I prefer Chicago" Luka admitted.

"Why? It wasn't where you were brought up or anything"

"I know, there's just less painful memories for me here in America" Luka replied, a slight sad tone to his voice. He looked straight ahead, trying not to think too much about his departed family. He glanced at Dave who was also staring ahead, looking guilty for having asked the question that appear to upset his co-worker. "And barbeque" Luka added.

"Huh"? Dave turned and looked at the Croatian attending.

"Well you just can't find good ribs in Croatia" Luka joked. Dave smiled. Luka caught sight of the clock that stood on top of Dave's television, with all the fun he'd had, he hadn't realised how late it had gotten. "I'm really sorry Dave, but I better be on my way, I'm on early tomorrow"

"That's alright" Dave led Luka to the door and saw him out, before leaving, Luka turned to Dave. "Thanks for a good night" He said with a smile.

"No problem, it was great"

"It would be great to do it again sometime, maybe at my place" Luka suggested. He was liking the idea of out-of-work socialisation with Dave more and more. "I'd love to" Dave replied happily, watching his co-worker leave. Dave smiled as he thought of the growing relationship between him and the Croatian attending. It was the greatest feeling in the world to know you had a friend, someone who cared for you, someone who accepted you for whoever you are. As Dave checked on Michael and took himself to bed, he knew that having a friend, someone who knew about his past, wasn't so bad after all.

End of part five