Title: Siúil A Rún

Disclaimer: Medium Slash. Explicit Violence. Angst. Language.

POV: Danny

Chapter Ten: Stuck On You

"What are you doing here, Danny?" A voice from behind asks.

I turn slowly to gaze upon the source of the voice. "Aiden?" I whisper in disbelief.

She stands there, looking down upon me. Her hair hangs loosely around her shoulders, questions shine in her eyes like diamonds in the sky. She looks like she stepped out of the lab for a minute to catch some fresh air.

"I asked you a question, Danny-boy," she smiles. Her smile is full of sadness.

"I came to see you, Aiden. I…I wanted to see you again," I choke out. "How…"

She laughs as she kneels down beside me. Her eyes study me the same way she studies a crime scene. "Danny, why are you here?"

"I told you…"

She shakes her head, the smile leaving her face. "Don't come here, Danny."

I frown. "What…I miss you. This doesn't make sense to me."

"You can't come here." She stands and turns to leave. "I don't want to see you here again, Danny. You're needed somewhere else."

I watch as she walks away. Her message makes no sense to me. Why doesn't she want to see me anymore? We're best friends. We always spend time together. Even though I feel like running after her I don't move. What is the point? When Aiden makes up her mind it's hard to change it back. Instead I just close my eyes to hide the pain. To bid the pain to leave me. My own friend wants me to leave her alone. She doesn't want me around. How can she leave me?

A hand grasps my shoulder and gently shakes me. "Daniel," someone called my name. The shaking gets a bit rougher. "Daniel, open your eyes."

I mumble something incoherently. Probably telling the person to leave me. To let me stew in my own misery. The hand doesn't move from my shoulder and the shaking gets more insistent. After a few more ignored shakes the hand starts patting my cheek. The voice jumps from worried to angered and back again. Another shake. Another cheek pat. I bite my lip to keep from screaming. Why can't they just leave me alone? Mumbled voices hold a conversation that doesn't reach my ears. Footsteps are followed by someone throwing water on my face.

I cough as I inhale some of the water and it finds its way into my lungs. My eyes open to a New York night sky, the stars nearly invisible behind the glare of city lights. A hand firmly grasps mine and pulls me into a sitting position. The same person smacks me on the back to calm my coughing. It's a gesture that I've never understood.

"Breath, Daniel," one person says. I would assume it to be the person trying to help me.

"You're doing it all wrong, Mac. You need to raise his arms up." I recognize the voice as that belonging to Hawkes. "It allows more air to reach his lungs."

I shake off their hands as they try to raise my arms above my head. The coughing is already gone. Instead of saying something to them I pluck my glasses from my face to rid them of the water droplets. When I'm done I take a look around. I'm still in the cemetery. Hours have passed since the time that I arrived. Mac is crouched beside me; a look of worry mixed with confusion covers his face. Hawkes walks around to my side. There are nothing but questions in his eyes. Something about me, I'm sure.

"You shouldn't sleep in cemeteries, Danny," Mac remarks. If I'm not mistaken he's slightly amused. He stands, pulling me to my feet at the same time.

"I'm sorry, Mac. I…" What? Should I tell my boss how I cried like a baby? I out right threw a fit like a little kid whose mother won't buy them a toy. I can't show my weakness to him. "Why are you here?"

"I've come to find you. Thought you would be interested in knowing that Sonny Sassone confessed to everything," Mac says.

I stop in my tracks as the words sink in. "Impossible. I've known Sonny for longer than I wish, he would never confess to anything. And if he did, it wouldn't be to a cop."

"There is still a lot for you to learn, Danny. Most guys talk when they're on their death beds," Mac states matter-of-factly.

Death bed? Sonny Sassone is dying? I grew up with Sonny. He wanted me to join the Tanglewood Boys. Instead I decided to hang out on the good side of the tracks. He never really forgave me for that choice. Over the years we lived in the same city with some sort of peace treaty. What could I have possible done to piss him off? How can I drive someone to hate me this much? Sonny is dying and I feel only the slightest bit upset about it. He tried to ruin my life. Karma is a bitch.

"Danny, something on your mind?" Mac asks.

We've stopped walking. Hawkes goes on ahead. From the look on Mac's face I guess that he wants to talk to me privately. I sure as hell hope that he doesn't accuse me again. That's really the last thing that I need.

"Is something on my mind? I'm just thinking how weird life is." The frown on his face prompts me to explain. "I've known Sonny all my life and his dying doesn't bother me that much. Does that make me cold? Aiden became my best friend when we started working together. And…"

"You're not a cold person, Danny," Mac says placing his hand on my shoulder. "I know how close you were to Aiden, and I know that I haven't been the best friend over the last few weeks. Sonny caused you a lot of problems in your life. Always there to watch you, waiting for you to make a mistake."

"I never made a mistake," I speak up. "At least not one that would benefit Sonny."

"Unfortunately, you did," he states.

I look at him, studying him in the darkness. There is a storm of worry brewing in his eyes. "I don't understand."

"That breaking and entering that ended in murder, it was committed by Sonny's younger brother. Everything that has happened since has been his version of retaliation."

I bite my bottom lip. Did Sonny bring up everything? Mac says that he confessed but was it a detailed confession? With a slightly trembling hand I take off my glasses to rub my eyes. Mac can't know about that night. He's asked me about it a few times but I never tell him. I lie, telling him that I don't remember. I remember every damn detail like it was only yesterday. Nothing will remove that night from my mind. It's etched in stone. When I replace my glasses I notice that Mac has been watching my every move. I can tell from the way he walks after Hawkes that he knows something is on my mind but that I don't want to talk about it.

And I don't. It's going to come up at some point. Flack is going to want to know too. I can't hide it from him forever. I love him. As I follow after my boss I contemplate visiting Flack in the hospital. Not to burden him with my troubles but to let him know that I love him. And I don't care who knows.