the assumption that fighting fire means rushing in with a stream of water.

"Danny! Hi, sweetie!" Emily sang loudly, obliviously. She was totally unmindful of the clenched jaw, the fisted left hand and the generally ominous feeling lingering in the room.

Danny looked up at her and answered in a low, barely audible mutter. "Oh...hi Em. Didja need somethin'?" He hadn't even Don, who was hovering silently at the door.

The next thing Don knew the leggy blonde had wrapped her arms around the CSI and looked like she was holding on for dear life. Danny looked stiff but awkwardly hugged her back. He doesn't like being touched without warning, stupid.

"Do I need a reason to come see you?" she cooed, much to Don and Danny's obvious distaste. "I just thought you'd like a nice lunch, y'know?" Emily handed Danny a plastic bag Don hadn't noticed she had been carrying the entire time. So much for bein' a detective and noticing every lil' detail.

"Thanks, Em." Danny paused uncertainly, "So I'll see ya later?"

"What's wrong with you, sweetie?" she asked, the Long Island accented coo coming back at full force.

"S'nothin'. Been having a rough day is all." Danny seemed to be uncomfortable even thinking about whatever was bothering him. Don could sense her next move a mile away. But if she knows what's good for her, she'll juss leave. Don knew that was almost impossible. There was something alluring about Danny,akin to a flame; they dance and lick and dare you to touch, but as soon as your hand is close enough, they burn.

"Aww, let's talk about it then. You can't keep it all inside." Wrong move, Einstein. Jeez, the woman doesn't know the last thing about Danny. He'll talk when he feels like... If Don had been getting a code red earlier, he was now getting a code get-the-fuck-outta-here.

Sometimes, it just makes it worse.

"...Em, just fogeddabout it." Danny was barely whispering and Don could feel the anger radiating as Danny started folding into himself, away from the probing blonde. "We can talk later," the CSI added hastily, trying not to sound rude.

"No, Danny, we need to talk. You can't just hold it 'till later." She invited herself closer to him, positioning an arm around his hunched shoulders. "What's the big problem, huh? I'm your girlfriend, you can at least tell me tha-"

"EMILY!" Danny growled, a fierce look on his face to match. "I don't wanna talk about it, aright?"

Don actually felt a little sorry for the blonde as her eyes started watering and her cheeks flushed pink. She shoulda known. The guy needs space right now and she's trying to get him to talk about it. Bad move. It hit Don that he was taking some kind of sadistic pleasure in watching the fight. It wasn't that he was a particualrly evil person, but she had it coming. He was jealous and the moment she's announced she was Danny's girlfiend he'd been struck with a passionate dislike for her. The fact that now she was face to face with the emotional side of Danny, and was clearly not handling it well, made him happy. It reassured him that their couple wouldn't last, and that just maybe, he'd have a chance.

"You're being such an asshole! All I'm trying to do is help you and you're... you're screaming at me!" Tears started flowing and her pitch increased to a near shriek. "Just talk to me about it!" The girl's too stubborn. But she's got guts. Not a lot of people push Messer this far. Guts or bad judgement?

"CHRIST, EMILY!" Danny got up from the stool and kicked it violently. "I don't wanna fuckin' TALK about it! Thanks for the lunch and all but gimme some fuckin' space an LEAVE!" He yelled slamming his palm against a glass wall and nearly shattering it in the process.

Not only had Danny managed to turn the heads of anyone in the neighbouring labs with his exhibition, but also forced the blonde to run out of the lab screaming in an almost ultra-sonic pitch. Don had followed her, more out of pity than the merciless pleasure of seeing her broken by her incapacity to understand Danny. She had played with fire and gotten burned. And when a fire burns, it is unforgiving, indifferent.

A fire can't burn forever.

About an hour later, Don approached a relatively calmer Danny, smoking on the balcony of a little bar they often frequented. "My day's been so fucked up." Danny offered before Don had the chance to ask if he had really started smoking again. "I need to smoke to... It juss makes me feel better y'know."

Yeah, I know. Don had recently noticed that on mornings when he hadn't seen Danny he was more volatile and irritable. Even though he could still keep his calm in most situations he wasn't completely alright until he made sure Danny was.

"So...she's gone, then, huh?" Danny took a long drag and looked at the mediocre view.

"Well, Messer, I think she took yer screamin' as a cue to get outta here," Don couldn't help but chuckle. He figured that by 'gone' Danny had meant the relationship between him and Emily was over. Thank God...

"S'not funny, Don. Mac's gonna have my ass for this t'morrow... I told her I didn't wanna talk."

"She was just tryna help, Dan." Don was starting to feel guilty for having watched the fight with a sick satisfaction. He sincerely hoped Emily was okay, se had cried the whole elevator ride and ran out of the building. He actually preferred her conversation to her broken-hearted sobs, though the sobs were quieter.

"It's Danny. And I didn't need her help...look where that got me!" A bitter expression formed on his face as he gestured, cigarette in hand. "My day was already fucked up coz I managed to lose evidence that Stella needed on a case. Mac tore me apart for that one and told me I needed to pay more attention and blah blah blah. The guy thinks he's so righteous. It's like he's never messed up..."

Eventually, it consumes itself.

Don sat down on the sofa where Danny had relocated himself and listened silently to Danny's rant. He listened while Danny talked about Mac's perfection, Hawkes' know-all-ness, the world's general injustice and whatever else the CSI found wrong at the moment. He listened patiently like a pro, without interrupting. He let the fire die down into ash and acrid smoke. And when Danny had finished, three hours on, Don simply got up and walked to the parking lot with the shorter man.

Don's mind was concentrating on Danny's face, currently beautifully illuminated by the moon. Damn, he ain't got an idea of what he does to me. I wonder if he'd...

"M'sorry , Don." came an apologetic yet almost indiscernible mumble, bringing Don back to the issue at hand.

"For what?"

"...Y'know..." Danny looked up at Don. "For making you listen to me ranting and whining and for wasting your time. An-" Don's tongue invaded his mouth and deftly stopped the talking. The kiss was a little longer and sweeter than Don had intended or expected, but he loved every second of it. He was waiting for Danny's reaction, he was waiting for the CSI to either lean in to the kiss, or away. Sure, he'd taken risky measures by full-on kissing the guy, but this guaranteed a yes or no.And, as all pros knew, taking risks was part of the job.

"So," Danny breathed, looking alarmed, "I take that as an accepted apology?" His tone was hopeful, subtly alerting Don that he was definitely interested, and a small smirk was forming on the edge of his lips. "I mean, technically when you..."

"Shut up, Messer." Don said, before leaning in and hungrily kissing Danny again. Except this time, Danny kissed back.

Fin.

-original passage by Jodi Picoult- It's the biggest mistake rookies make: the assumption that fighting a fire means rushing in with a stream of water. Sometimes, it makes it worse. A fire can't burn forever. Eventually, it consumes itself.

A/N- at some point i may write an alternative ending because it wasn't originally going to end like this. Please R&R, thanks. also, for those who read the 1st part already, i made some minor revisions.