Title: Their Love, Her Murder

Disclaimer: Slash. Violence. Angst. Language. Character death.

POV: Danny

Chapter Twelve: Goodbye

The lab has been quiet most of the morning. I saw Mac once, braced myself for the hell that was due to me, only to have him walk right by me. Almost as though I am invisible. Which is worse; being invisible or being yelled at all the time? I sigh. My side hurts. It's been bothering me all morning. So I pop a pain pill.

At least my head isn't bothering me. That's a good sign. It has to be. Maybe the pain is finally gone. For good. Flack hasn't called at all today. I don't understand why. I'm happy, though. I have no idea what to say to him. Just the thought of calling him makes my mouth go dry. We went places yesterday. Places way beyond friendship. There's no going back. Not now. Does he realize that? Is that why he hasn't called? I sit. It's an attempt to alleviate the pain that's still in my side. Damn pills don't work fast enough.

My phone rings. Is it Flack? With a shaky hand I pull my phone from my pocket. I smile when I see the number.

"Well, good morning, Aiden. What a surprise to hear from you," I say.

When she speaks I can hear the smile in voice. "Danny-boy, how about we do lunch today? I want to tell you all about my new job. Plus, I haven't seen you in so long."

Mac enters the room. Time for the morning chew-out. I hold up a finger to let him know that I'll just be a minute. "Lunch sounds like a great idea, Aiden. There are a few things I want to tell you too."

"Cool. I'll meet you at our favorite burger joint. About twelve, twelve-thirty-ish?"

"Sure. I can swing that. Listen, I hate to cut this short but Mac needs to talk to me."

"Alright." She sounds so disappointed. "Bye, Danny. See you soon."

"Goodbye, Aiden."

Mac waits politely until I return the phone to my pocket. He doesn't seem mad about anything. In fact, he seems a little worried. What did I do now to cause him worry? I try to think back to yesterday. Yes, I left work early. But Lindsay was going to cover for me. Then I remember. The evidence. I broke that glass tube. That must be what his problem is. I swallow nervously.

"So, Mac, what can I do for you?"

"Are you okay? You didn't have to come in today," he states.

"I'm feeling fine. Just a bit of pain in my side but that's going away. Why do you ask?"

He leans back against the table. "When I went looking for you yesterday Lindsay told me that you went home because your head was bothering you. I hope you're not overworking yourself."

The hospital in all its stark whiteness is a secret. What do you think he would say if he knew you were there? Better yet, imagine his face if he knew about you and Flack. Just a towel…

I shake my head. "Feeling fine. In fact, I nearly feel like my old self again." He smiles softly but the worry doesn't leave his eyes. What now? "Anything else I can do for you, Mac?"

"Just the oddness of life. Here you are, getting better. This means that you shouldn't be making anymore mistakes. Yesterday, I find out that Lindsay broke a glass tube thus ruining evidence." He shakes his head. "I wonder sometimes.." He doesn't finish.

Lindsay covered for me. She took the wrap for the glass. Why? Why would she do that? For me? I've never been nice to her. I feel so guilty. She's been trying to be friends and I've been giving her the cold shoulder. All because she isn't Aiden.

Life goes on…

I will have to think of a way to thank her. She did so much for me yesterday. I'm sure Mac would have sent me home on a leave of absence had he known about the evidence. Too many mistakes. I need to stop it.

Mac gets up to leave. "Since you're feeling better, how about a little field work today? If a new case comes in, I'll send you. We'll see just how well you're feeling. Think you are up for the challenge?"

I smile. "Sure. I won't let you down. I promise." Mac leaves.

He runs into Stella right outside the door and they take off together. I still think they just need to hook-up. I smile as I get back to the evidence in front of me. I want to be in the field so bad. I can't stand to look at anymore test results. I'm getting tired of all the semen stains from the case Mac is working on. All I get from Hawkes and Stella are little bits of foreign substance. After so many days of processing evidence and nothing else, things begin to run together. Everything looks the same. It's a pain. I don't understand how the lab technicians stand it.

I want to go out in the field. That means there needs to be a crime. It's New York. We're not short on crimes. I'm not hoping for a severe crime. Just a crime. Maybe a robbery. Mugging. Anything. Just as long as it gets me out of the lab. In the meantime, I continue to process evidence. Lindsay is nowhere in sight and I wonder what happened to her. Did Mac send her home?

Another hour passes. Lunch is drawing closer. I can't wait to see Aiden. I've already made up my mind. I'm going to tell her about Flack. She's the only one I can trust. She might be a bit put-off but that's okay. At least I no longer work with her. I won't have to worry about her telling everyone else. It'll be our little secret. Maybe I can convince Flack to have a little dinner party type thing. Just for the three of us.

A knock at the door almost makes me drop the test results that I'm holding. I look up to see Lindsay standing there.

I smile. A genuine Danny smile. "Hi."

"Mac sent me to get you," she says. A little bit of her pep is gone. Is that my fault? "He gave me this address for you." She waves a small piece of paper in her hands. "It's your first job back out in the field."

"Really? What is it?" I ask as I set down the sheet of test results.

"A murder." She hands me the paper. "You go on. I get lab duty now. Amazingly Mac isn't too mad at me."

I hang my lab coat on the hook, remembering to retrieve my cell phone from the pocket. "Thank you, Lindsay," I say.

"It was worth the smile," she smiles.

I leave the lab promising to myself that I'll be nicer to Lindsay. Maybe I'll do lunch with her tomorrow. We could get to know each other better. It might not be as bad as I originally thought. She seems like a nice person. Why was I being rude to her to begin with?

Lunch with Aiden….remember?

I smack my head with palm of my hand. That's right, I made plans with Aiden. I'll just have to call her and cancel. Or postpone. Hey, genius idea, we can do dinner. If that doesn't work for her, I can invite her to do lunch with Lindsay and I tomorrow.

Hold up, Danny-boy. You don't even know if you're doing lunch with Lindsay tomorrow. And what makes you think Aiden is going to want to do lunch with the person who replaced her? Stupid! Think for once, would you?

As I climb into the SUV I look at the address. It's familiar but I can't place why. As I near the building a feeling of dread begins to etch its way into the back of my mind. I know this building. Why do I know this building? Then it hits me. I've been here. My heart begins to beat faster as panic sets in. No, please, no.

I grab my kit and make a beeline for the building. For the apartment that I know is upstairs. I slow myapproach as the officers come into view. I recognize a few of them. None of them look happy. One by one they slowly gather in the hallway. Leaving me to enter the apartment. The silence is deafening. None of the officers are inside. However, I hear one of them making a call to Mac. Yes, call him, he should be here. Not me. I don't want to be here.

The pain in my head begins to make itself known. I place the silver kit on the ground, near the front door. Slowly, I walk the floors of the familiar apartment. Barely breathing. This isn't fair. Please, don't do this. Not to me. Please. I turn the corner.

My eyes take in the white wall streaked with red. Blood. A message is scrawled in the blood. I feel the tears as they begin to fall. I haven't even read the message and already I know. I know what happened. I know it all. I try my best to concentrate on the words through the throbbing in my head.

"'Thank you for letting me get away the other day. This is a little token of my appreciation. Hope you like it, Danny,'" I read. My voice barely a whisper. No. I feel myself beginning to shake.

This isn't fair. If only….

I turn my head away. My eyes closed. I don't want to see it. I need to get out of here. I run from the apartment. Pass all the cops in the hallway. All ofthem are sad and do their best to leave me alone. I remember taking the stairs two-at-a-time. Almost tripping more than once. Who cares?

Outside I fall to my knees. The bile rising in my throat. I manage to hold back the sickness. Out of the corner of my eye I see another CSI SUV pull up. Mac climbs out, followed by Stella and Hawkes. Mac crouches beside me and places a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Danny," he says softly. "I shouldn't have sent you here. It took me too long to register the address. I'll have an officer drive you home."

I slowly get to my feet with the help of an officer. I recognize him as the rookie from the robbery case. The one who's wife recently had a baby. Life ends. Life begins. No one really cares. I close my eyes on the car ride home. I want to shut out the world forever. The ache inside leaves me feeling hollow.

At least I said goodbye, Aiden. At least I got to say goodbye.