Disclaimer: I am not Anthony Zuiker, Ann Donahue or Carol Mendelsohn. All the characters of CSI: NY are not mine…I'm just borrowing them for a little bit. I promise that I will put them back, exactly the way I found them when I'm done….Oh, Cory Reid is mine and I will take credit for anything she does. :)

A/N: I finally had a long discussion with my muse and convinced her to lighten up for a bit!! So…Here's some much needed fluff after the angst of the last couple of chapters!! Please, Please, Please review and let me know what you think!

Chapter 13.

Welcome Home

It had been six weeks since the failed attempt to raid Mi Casa. As Cory had predicted, the investigation had gone backwards. Not only was there no evidence of any illegal activity going on in the restaurant, but the judge that issued the warrant was now extremely upset and refusing to sign any more warrants, even one with substantial evidence backing up the request.

Cory still seethed in frustration, working out almost every day to relieve the stress. Over the previous six weeks she and Lindsay had grown a lot closer and Cory was beginning to see Lindsay as her best friend.

As it so happened the previous Friday, when they were having drinks with Stella, Lindsay mentioned the fact that Flack was going to be coming home the following week. Lindsay had mentioned that she was so happy that they could official begin to "date", as if they hadn't been doing that already since she frequently went to the hospital for dinner and a movie. She decided that they needed to have a welcome home celebration for Flack.

It was decided that Danny, Hawkes and Mac would pick Flack up from the hospital while Stella, Lindsay and Cory got his apartment ready.

The three women decided to plan ahead and the night before he was released they went to his apartment to clean and air it out. When Cory got to the apartment, she waited outside for Lindsay and Stella. The two showed up within moments of Cory's arrival.

Cory thought for a moment. "How are we going to get in?"

Lindsay held up a set of keys. "I borrowed these from Danny. He's supposed to come and pack a bag for Don later tonight."

Both Stella and Cory giggled at that. Stella was still laughing when she said, "Do you mean that Flack didn't want you to pack one for you?"

Lindsay blushed at the thought. "Um…not quite ready for that yet!" She turned and unlocked the door.

When Cory walked in she wrinkled her nose at the musty smell of the apartment. She carried in a box that the other women kept looking at in confusion. Finally Lindsay couldn't stand the suspense any longer and asked, "What is in the box?"

Cory looked around quickly and saw Stella looking at her expectantly. "Um…cleaning supplies and whatnot." She tried to evade the question.

Stella was persistent. "What do you mean whatnot?"

Cory gave in. "Plants. I have some plants, too." She pulled the plants out of the box. One was easily recognizable as an Aloe Vera, but both women looked at the other plant in confusion. Seeing the looks on there faces, Cory said, "It's an Euphorbia trigona. An African Milk Tree Cactus. It's a succulent so it can stand the haphazard care that Flack is likely to give it. Same thing goes for the aloe. They are the perfect plants for a bachelor."

Both of the other women were stunned. "Plants?" Lindsay asked incredulously. "Why?"

Cory rolled her eyes. "It will bring a bit of life to the apartment. I know that he will still have to go to physical therapy for a couple of weeks before he gets back to work, so I wanted to give him something to do. Besides, the aloe will also help to minimize and reduce the scars he'll have after the surgery. That's why I brought a huge pot of it."

"Ok." Lindsay just looked at Stella, a little confused.

"Look," Cory said. "We need to start cleaning. I'll tell you right now, I don't do bathrooms. I'll take the kitchen if you want."

The women split up the cleaning chores. Lindsay took the bathroom, Stella the living room and Cory the kitchen. Soon the musty smell of pent up air was replaced by the scent of cleaners.

In the bathroom, Lindsay was scrubbing the tub, which looked like it had not been properly cleaned in a couple of months. She checked out Flack's shampoo and such to make sure there was plenty.

In the living room, Stella was throwing away old papers and straightening the clutter up. She looked around and decided that the carpets need to be vacuumed as well.

In the kitchen, Cory had the huge task of cleaning out the fridge. There was not much food in there, but what was there was past its prime. She noticed that Flack had plenty of beer and started a mental grocery list.

Once the three women were done with their cleaning, they took a break. "Ya, know," Cory said. "I looked in Flack's pantry and he has no food. We should go shopping for him. I have to get stuff for tomorrow anyway; you know food, stuff to make a cake, etcetera."

"That's a good idea," Stella said. Lindsay also nodded her agreement. The three women started the grocery list.

While she was writing the list down, Cory added a few things for herself. "Guys, how 'bout we make some meals for Flack, so he'll just have to heat things up."

Lindsay and Stella thought about that. Stella nodded her head. "I think that's a good idea. We don't have a lot of time though."

"I agree. We don't have a whole lot of time. How can we make enough meals?" Lindsay said.

"Here's my idea. What if we just cook some entrées? I know that I cooked lasagna for tomorrow. We can cook like 5 different entrées and them just a few sides to go with them."

Stella looked at Cory. "Ya, know. That's not a bad idea. But the only problem is…" She trailed off as she started laughing. The other women looked at her, motioning for her to continue. "Okay. I'm better now. The only problem is that Flack will likely expect this from us all the time."

Both Cory and Lindsay laughed at that. Cory, still giggling, replied, "I'll give him a free pass for a week, then the kitchen in closed! But seriously, is he allergic to anything? Doesn't like anything?"

Lindsay shrugged her shoulders. "All I know is that he is sick of hospital food. Every time I go up there to eat dinner with him he complains…" Lindsay rolled her eyes as she trailed off.

"What about you, Stella? You've known him longer than we have."

Stella thought for a moment. "He's not allergic to anything, but he's a true meat and potatoes man."

"I can work with that," Cory said. With that she finished the grocery listed and said that she was going to the store.

Lindsay grabbed her jacket. "I'll go with you. I need to get some stuff and some decorations for tomorrow."

Stella agreed with them. All three women left the apartment and went grocery shopping.

--

The women had agreed to meet at Flack's apartment at ten am. They knew that getting there early, Flack was being released at 3 pm, would give them time to decorate and get the food ready.

When Cory got there, both Stella and Lindsay were already in the apartment. Cory was carrying a box again, this time filled with food. They had dropped off Flack's groceries last night before going home.

Lindsay looked at Cory when she started unpacking her food. "What did you make?"

"Let's see. I have chicken fried steak, fried chicken, stir-fry, and mashed potatoes. What did y'all bring?"

Stella answered first. "I have Pastitsio, Kota Psiti and Lemonato. For sides I have a Greek salad and green beans. Whadda ya got Linds?"

Lindsay looked at the two other women in awe. "Wow. I feel like such a non-cook. I have fried pork chops, a roast and some prepared hamburger patties."

The three women looked at each other and grinned. "Maybe we went a little overboard?" Cory drawled sheepishly. "What the hell. He's been in the hospital for six weeks!"

The last thing that Cory unpacked from her box was the lasagna. She put that in the fridge, making a mental reminder to put it in the oven about 3, so she would have an hour to heat it up before the guys got there.

With all the food put away, the women started to decorate, hanging balloons and streamers. The last thing that they put up was a big banner that read, "Welcome Home, Don!"

They cleaned up the mess that they had made and then Cory realized that it was already 2:30. "Wow. They'll be home in an hour. Are you excited, Linds?"

"Yeah, I am. It'll be so good to be able to spend some time alone with him. I mean…I've thought about. I'm so totally attracted to him. Oh! And did I tell you? He said that he's wanted to ask me out for months but he was afraid that I liked Danny? Messer? Please!"

Both Stella and Cory grinned at her excitement. Stella had a twinkle in her eye when she said, "I knew you guys would make a cute couple! I'm just glad that you finally realized it! I won the bet."

"Bet. What bet?"

"We had a pool on when you guys would finally break down. I won 200."

Lindsay hung her head. "I'm so embarrassed!!" That set the women giggling again.

--

Mac, Danny and Hawkes walked into the hospital a little before three. Mac looked at the two other men. "Remember. As far as Flack knows, Stella and Lindsay are processing the scene."

"Yes, Mac." Both men rolled their eyes at the unneeded warning. They got to Flacks room, Danny with the bag he had packed for him.

As they walked in to Flack's room, Flack called out, "'Bout time you guys got here! I want to blow this joint!"

The guys grinned at that, understanding how bad he wanted to out of the hospital.

Danny played along. "Here. Here. Here's your clothes. Go get changed!" Flack laughed a bit at how Danny was acting. Flack got up slowly, trying to be careful of his still healing wound.

When he was done the nurse was in the room with the wheelchair. Flack almost whined when he saw it. "Do I have to?"

The nurse smiled at that. "Yes, Detective. It's hospital policy."

Flack sat in the wheelchair, grumbling. He'd already signed all the paperwork to leave and he just wanted to go. The nurse wheeled him to the doors where Mac's SUV was waiting.

The nurse stopped the wheelchair and put the brakes on. "Here ya are. And can I say I hope to never see you here again?"

At first Flack was a little offended and then her meaning sank in. He smiled. "I hope that I never have to see you here again as well."

The guys got into the vehicle, Flack and Mac in the front and Danny and Hawkes in the back and Mac started the drive to Flack's apartment.

When they were about a block from Flack's apartment, Danny took out his cell phone and quickly text messaged Lindsay to let the girls know that they were almost there.

When they were they, the guys got out of the car. Danny was carrying Flack's bag and they made their way up the stairs. Around the third floor, Flack lived on the fourth floor; Danny sniffed and said, "Someone's cooking Italian. It smells good. Just like home."

When they got to Flack's door, Danny took out the key and opened the door. He gestured for Flack to go in first.

"SURPRISE!"

Flack jumped a little at the girl's shouts and the smiled in happiness. He saw Stella, Lindsay and Cory standing under the welcome home banner. Wow. Lindsay looks amazing.

The three women rushed to hug Flack. Lindsay let her hug linger for a bit and she whispered in his ear, "Glad to have you home." They she gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

Flack regained his composer. "I thought you guys had to work!"

Stella laughed. "Work and miss you coming home from the hospital? Never! Come on sit down and let the party begin." She ushered the other guys to sit down.

Danny walked in and got a good look at Cory who was wearing jeans and an oversize Cowboy's jersey. He did a double take. Wow. She's wearing jeans. I've never seen her in anything like this before. That was when he realized that the smell of the Italian food was coming from this apartment. He sniffed the air appreciatively. "Okay. What smells so good?"

Cory looked over at Danny at that. "Oh. That's just the lasagna I made for Flack. It's in the over heating up. Lindsay told me how much he was complaining about hospital food, so we decided to cook for him." She turned to Flack. "You have enough prepared food for about a week or a week and a half. It's in your fridge."

Stella spoke up to. "Yeah. We went shopping for you."

Cory started giggling at that. "Yeah. I almost had a heart attack when I looked in your fridge. I thought something was going to attack me!"

Flack looked at the women, stunned. "You guys cooked for me?"

Lindsay shrugged it off. "Think of it as a welcome home present." She couldn't resist needling Cory. "And Cory brought you some plants."

Flack raised his eyebrows. "Plants? I have a black thumb."

Cory laughed. "Don't worry, Flack. I brought you cacti. They thrive on sporadic care." She pointed to the two plants in the room. "I brought you an aloe vera plant, it's good for minimizing scars, and I also brought an African milk tree cactus. As long as you water them occasionally, they'll live."

Cory was interrupted by the kitchen timer. "I hope y'all are hungry. The lasagna is ready." She walked into the kitchen, grabbed some potholders and put the lasagna on the counter. She let it cool while she heated up the garlic bread and put the salad together.

"Okay. For everyone, except Flack, this is serve yourself." Cory made up a plate for Flack and took it into the living room. "Here you go."

Everyone else lined up, dishing out the food. When everyone else had a plate, Cory made one for herself.

The living room grew silent and everyone settled in. Danny widened his eyes in shock when he took the first bite. "Gawd, Feebie…This is really good!! It's better than my Mama's lasagna and she's Italian!! Where did you get the recipe?"

Cory blushed at the compliment that was quickly echoed throughout the group. "It's my own recipe. Thank you."

Lindsay looked at Cory. "Girl. You have got to give me this recipe!"

"Me, too!" Stella exclaimed.

Cory smiled. "I can give it to you, but then I'd have to kill you." The women laughed at that. "But seriously, I don't measure anything. I just do it. I can give you the basic recipe, minus my secret ingredients of course."

Lindsay pouted, playfully. "But then it wouldn't be the same!"

The group grew quiet again as everyone continued eating. When everyone had eaten their fill, there was still almost half of a lasagna left. Cory turned to Flack and said, "You can freeze the leftovers and it will keep for a couple of weeks."

Flack nodded. He felt so at ease, surrounded by the love of his friends. He was happy to be out of the hospital. "Guys, I just want to say thank you. This was great and…" Flack trailed off when Mac, Stella and Hawkes' cell phones rang.

"Taylor. Yeah. We'll be right there." Mac hung up his cell phone. "Sorry Flack, even though we got the day off, we were still on call. We gotta go in."

Flack said his good-byes to the three and looked at Lindsay, Cory and Danny. "So. I really don't want to be alone yet. How 'bout a movie?"

Danny nodded. "Sounds good to me." He looked at Cory out of the corner of his eye. Please let her stay. I just want to try to break down the wall she keeps putting up.

Lindsay and Cory looked at each other. "Ok." Both moved over to the shelves where Flack kept his DVD's. Cory looked back over her shoulder and said, "By the way, Messer. I cooked. You can clean."

Danny protested this, but was outnumbered three to one. Sighing, he picked up the plates and started to clean the kitchen.

Cory and Lindsay were looking over Flack's DVD's. "So, Linds. What do you want? Comedy? Horror? Action? I notice Flack doesn't have any 'chick flicks.'"

Lindsay thought for a moment. "Definitely horror. That way I get an excuse to cuddle with Flack."

Cory just rolled her eyes. As she refocused on the DVD's she noticed a film. "Oh my God! He has the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre on DVD! We HAVE to watch this, Linds! This is like the best horror movie ever!"

Lindsay looked at her. "I've never seen it."

Cory looked up in disbelief. "You have never seen it? That's it. This is what we are watching." Cory walked over to Flack and handed him the movie. "This is what we decided to watch."

Flack looked impressed at the title. "Really?"

"Yeah. Lindsay's never seen it before."

Flack got up off the couch and made his way to the kitchen in disbelief. "Messer. You'll never believe what the girls picked as the movie."

Danny looked up at Flack. "Let me guess. It has either Tom Cruise or Vin Diesel in it."

Flack shook his head. "Nope. They picked The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

"No way. Two chicks want to watch that movie? At least you'll get to hold Montana. I'll make some popcorn and be right in."

Danny motioned for Flack to leave so he could finish cleaning the kitchen.

The Little Corinthian-glad you delurked ! i'm glad you like cory...i'm the worst at getting emotionally involved with fictional characters!

axellia-he so does need to learn from mac! (maybe my muse will let a them meet!)...some fun is definately coming up for them (starting with this chapter and the next!)...i'll probably update fairly quickly since i'm about 5 chapters ahead right now!

chili-peppers-- diolch!