Title: Till We Meet Again

Author Note: Important notice on profile.

Disclaimer: Slash, language, violence, character death, sexual content, angst.

POV: Martin

Chapter Four: Calm before the Storm

Work couldn't end fast enough for me today. Being thrown into a case involving the O'Leary boys was enough to send anyone into hysterics. I could see why Jack didn't want to send the girls; the brothers have a terrible reputation for rape and sex-trafficking. But to send my along? It would have been easy for him to find someone else to send with Danny; not that I wanted Danny going either. I knew that I would spend the night fretting over the case. If we didn't find the missing brother I had a feeling our gooses were cooked. And what if we found him dead? How do you break the news to a crime boss that his only family relation is gone to a higher place? Though I suspect he'll got to Hell.

I tapped my fingers on the window of the passenger side of the car for the umpteenth time. I should be home by now, enjoying a much needed shower and time with a good book or sporting event. Danny was holding me up. When we'd gotten around to leaving for the night he told me that there were words to be said to Jack. I just prayed that he didn't lose his job over this. He'd become so protective of me since that first kiss. Or maybe it was the shooting. The love I felt for him was like nothing in the world. This feeling definitely didn't occur while I was with Sam. That convinced me that our break-up had been in the best interest.

Finally the elevator doors opened and Danny walked briskly across the nearly empty parking garage. My heart fluttered and just about stopped when I saw the look on his face. It looked like he had just seen someone kill his puppy, right in front of him. He opened the door and the click of it closing shattered the little world of silence that had crept into the car. He pushed the key into the ignition, starting up the engine, and put his seatbelt on; all without muttering so much as a "hi".

"So," I said merely to keep the silence from gaining a hold on us again.

"I didn't get the results I was expecting to get," he replied in a vague way.

"What were you expecting?" I asked simply.

"For him to remove you from this case, that's what." He pulled into the traffic of a late New York night.

"Oh?" It was all I could thing to say. My feelings about the case had actually gotten confusing. Part of me wanted to work the daunting task, to prove to myself and others that I was okay after my brush with death. The other part of me wanted to run away with my tale tucked between my legs.

"Jack won't remove you from the case, in fact, he can't, even if he wanted to," Danny explained. "Seems your father ordered this case be given to you, who you worked it with was up to Jack. Your father has a twisted mind, Martin."

"You have no idea," I mumbled staring at the traffic walking along the dark sidewalks. "Looks like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. There's no way in hell I'm going to my father about this, he'd probably remove me from my position, or even my job."

"I hadn't thought of that, we can't have you getting fired now. Driving to work would be mighty lonely and no fun at all. Unless of course you want to stay home and play housewife," he flashed a big grin my direction. I scowled in return.

How was I supposed to be taken seriously around the office when my father kept tugging at my puppet-strings? Every time I felt that I had finally achieved respect from fellow agents my father went and did something like this to screw it up. Some nights I would question why I followed in his footsteps. There was probably a me in an alternate universe who found happiness in every day because he had chosen a different career. Something his father couldn't control. I sighed, letting my gaze lose focus on the many neon signs of the New York night. A terrible injustice, all those signs, they kept the beauty of the midnight stars away. As we drove along the nightlife began to thrive and people who didn't dare come out in the day started stalking the clubs and bars. Made me happy I was headed home. Danny reached over while we were stopped at a red light and placed his hand on my thigh.

The direct contact brought me back from my own little world. I actually focused on the buildings around me and realized that something was off.

"Where are we going?" I asked looking at Danny.

"To my place," he replied.

"Oh, why?"

He frowned. "Don't sound so excited about it, sheesh. I thought it would be nice to grab some extra clothes to take to your place. That way, when I spend the night it won't look like I did. Is that okay with you?"

"Uh, sure, good thinking, maybe I should take some clothes over to your place. Of course, on a different day," I said, chewing my bottom lip.

The light turned green and Danny continued down the street. "Something bothering you, Martin?"

I rested my head against the seat, sighing with anxiety. "What if they find out, Danny? What if every single person in that office finds out that we're sleeping together? What then?"

He pulled up to the curb outside his apartment building. He shut the car off and relaxed into his seat, looking at me in the semi-darkness. "Are you really worried about this? I mean, if you are, we could…"

I didn't quite pick-up on what he was saying. My mind was clouded and I admit that I wasn't listening too well. "I'm just worried what they'll say, how they'll treat us. Will we end-up getting fired or transferred or….? These are things that sit in the back of my mind each and every day only to come parading out when I'm trying to drift off to sleep. I wasn't going to say anything to you but….I can't keep silent about it anymore."

He placed and hand under my chin and forced me to look at him. "Martin, do you want to break-up with me?"

My eyes opened wide in surprise. I shook my head. "No, not in the least. I just can't help worrying that the world will fall apart with the simple fact that I love you."

Danny flashed a reassuring smile forcing all the fear to leave his face. "Let's see, I think Sam would be a tad upset. But since she broke-up with you, she can't get too mad. She had her chance. Vivian would probably be supportive, just seems like the kind of person she is, don't you think? Not to sure about Elena, she's a little harder to read. Jack, well, he'd have the toughest job of all."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked confused.

"If he fired you or wanted one of us transferred he'd have to give your dad a pretty damn good reason and I don't think he would oust you to your own father," Danny explained.

I let the conversation drop, to ease my troubled mind. I followed Danny up to his apartment and read over the spines of his books well he picked clothes to keep at my place. Having his clothes at my place made my heart flutter in funny sort of way. It would be like having him around even on those nights that he wasn't, it would be bliss. He came out of his room with a gray and blue duffle bag in one hand. Before leaving the apartment he kissed me on the cheek. The affect made me feel like a child, not a lover. We took the drive back to my apartment in silence. The night had begun to grow old and all I wanted to do was fall into bed. My mind was tired and my body ached from the tension of having to visit the O'Learys.

Back at my place I lead the way to the door. A few people in the halls gave us weird glances; some just gave us smiles and went about their business. No one in the building knew what I did for a living; it was something I felt should be kept quiet. If they knew I worked for the government one of two things would happen. One, they'd bitch and complain about how shitty the entire system was; or two, they'd ask me to help them out with parking tickets or something. No thank you. Let them think I work some boring office job in a large company. It was better that way. And for all they knew I was now letting a friend sleep on my couch while times were hard. Too bad I knew we looked too close. Danny couldn't pass for a man down on his luck. No doubt I would be the center of the apartment gossip mill. People had nothing better to do with their time I guess.

Once behind the closed door Danny dropped his duffle bag on the floor and turned to me. "There's something I've been wanting to do since we left work."

He leaned over and kissed me on the lips. I felt the heat race through my body. I tingled from head to toe. He wrapped his arms around my waist in a loving way. My body relaxed into the familiar embrace of my lover. I wanted to feel his hands on my bare skin, his lips on mine. I wanted to smell like him, be a part of him into eternity. I let my fingers massage the back of his neck. The passion upped a few notches and the next thing I knew we were removing each others clothes. All my worries were swept away by the force of Danny's love. I no longer cared about the others and what they would think, I was in love. And I never wanted the feeling to end.