Chapter 4: Heart of Glass
Once I had a love and it was divine
Soon found out I was losing my mind
It seemed like the real thing but I was so blind
Much o' mistrust
Love's gone behind
"You cooked? You cleaned?" Don Flack shook his head at his friend's shamefaced glare. Danny sighed – he really didn't want this getting around the lab. How come Flack always picked on the weirdest details when Danny tried to talk to him?
"Had to do something. She was out for hours. No big." The Staten Island accent came through thick and strong, as it always did when Danny was upset. "Let it go, 'kay?"
Flack opened his mouth to push a little harder, but then he looked at Danny again. The gleam of humour that always warmed Danny's eyes was gone, as was the sardonic smirk. Danny looked beaten up, Flack realized, as if everything which had happened since the assault on his brother had finally caught up with him. Although Flack had never before admitted that the time for a joke may have passed, he was admitting it now. Hiding his concern, he grinned at Danny and said, "To be continued!" and went to find Stella. She would know what was going on if anyone did, or she would find out.
"Can't tell you, Flack," Stella pushed her dark hair out of her eyes impatiently. "Whoa," she said when he opened his mouth to argue, "Not won't – can't. No one is talking – not Linds, not Danny. It's like a morgue in here." Then she laughed and looked around the morgue pointedly. "Even more than usual, that is!"
"He won't talk to me either – just says it's all good and he's busy. Won't go for a drink, won't go on a date, won't go out after work – whatever it is, it ain't all right."
"Lindsay, too. Not that she was ever a partier, but even when I tried to get her to go listen to Mac last Wednesday, she asked for a raincheck. What is going on?"
Mac was standing behind her, and made her jump when he put his hand on her shoulder. "No fights, no faints, and no practical jokes? I'm kind of liking the new lab." He sighed and shrugged at her annoyed look. "Listen, Stella, that sort of thing doesn't belong at work. I like Danny and Lindsay; if they get together, I'll be happy for them. It's just that the soap opera in between gets in the way. I haven't been able to send them out on a case together for a week, 'cuz they don't talk to each other. I need my team at least functional, even if most of them are crazy."
Stella considered her mentor, boss, and sometimes friend. It was true he didn't like complications at work – look how uncomfortable he was with Peyton in the lab or in the field, for example. Still, would a little compassion (not to mention romance) hurt him? She nodded judiciously, then said, "If it were up to me, I'd send them out on the next call. Look, Mac," responding to his doubtful look, "You know they won't mess up a case over this – thing between them. They're too professional for that. They managed to pull together nearly all the evidence we needed for the Ice Princess murder even though Lindsay was obviously ill. But putting them together may at least get things moving. Things are blocked up tighter than an impacted bowel around here; I'd hate to be around when it explodes!"
Both men reacted with distaste to her graphic turn of speech, Flack gagging ostentatiously, but they nodded nonetheless. The old MAD joke, "It a little TOO quiet out here," was starting to feel true - the storm was hovering.
"Okay," Mac said, with a bit of a sigh. "Next call, I'll send out Danny and Lindsay."