Chapter 12: Tangled

Somehow, Gus managed to survive the worst couple of months her first New York winter, though people kept telling her it was a warm winter, something that worried her. Things were a bit easier at work with people knowing she was related to Mac and they actually appeared to think she was doing a good job on her own merits.

She kept up weekly coffee non-dates with Sheldon and sometimes Sid and they talked nerd together. Her friendships with Lindsay and Stella grew closer, though she was closer with Lindsay. Danny started calling them the 'Wonder Twins'. Gus still wasn't sure what was going on between her friend and Danny, flirtation abound for sure, but Gus didn't want to bring it up knowing that it may mean unwanted questions directed at her. She found she was able to trust Lindsay, something she had never really been able to do with a female since her aunt died. Lindsay seemed to have some skeletons in her own closest and they were both able to hint at them and support each other without having to go through a big reveal. Gus also managed to become very adept at avoiding a certain blue-eyed detective.

Had she not been up to her eyeballs in profiling on cold cases, she would have known enough to beware the Ides of March.

On that morning, Gus got a knock on her door from a grave looking Danny. "Hey, can I come in?"

"Sure," she said furrowing her forehead at him.

"This can stay in here right?" Danny said with a very grave look on his face.

"Of course." Gus gestured him in.

He closed the door and sat down, heading hanging. She looked at him, but he remained silent. "I just got relieved of my post."

"What?" Gus looked at him in disbelief, "fired?"

"Not fired, yet."

"What's going on Danny?"

He launched into the story of how he, or more specifically his brother had gotten mixed up in some pretty heavy stuff about 14 years ago with a gang, and somehow his DNA ended up near a long buried body.

"I swear to God, Gus I didn't do anything!" He ran through an impassioned story, telling about his family who seemed to live mostly outside the law and resented him being the law. "And so now here I am without a gun or a badge and I am sitting a desk."

"It won't be forever, Danny, besides for the longest time I resembled that remark," Gus teased trying to lighten her friend's mood.

He smirked, "yeah, well, I don't look as good as you at a desk."

"Seriously though, hon, Mac will figure out what is going on, you'll be back in the field."

"I know, it is just tough, I try to be a good guy and a good cop and my family keeps messing me up. You know most people didn't want me here. It's why I am in the lab and not on the other side. Flack has known me for a long time, he stuck up for me a lot. He's a good guy. So's your uncle, he handpicked me. Gave me a chance when no one else would."

"He's good at that." A silence fell between the both of them, Gus broke first, "You know Danny, you don't have to let your family define you. You are the only one you have to answer to."

"Easy to say," he grumbled, looking utterly devastated.

"I know, but if you ever need an ear."

"I can't afford you BB," he half grinned, thought it was hallow.

"Friendship's free, Danny."

"Thank-" he was cut-off by Flack bursting in the room. Gus was about to lay into him for potentially breaking confidentiality by his bursting in, but one look at his face made her heart stop.

"We gotta go Dan-o, something is...it's your brother."

"Louie?" Danny popped up from the sofa.

"Yeah someone got him bad, he's real beat up, come on, I'll drive ya to St. Mike's."

He started out the door when Danny turned to her, "Can you come? She nodded, already gathering her belongings. Flack briefly stopped to look curiously at both of them before continuing out to the waiting car.

Flack hadn't understated things, it was horrific, the person lying in the ICU bed didn't look real. "Oh God, Louie!" Danny cried. Flack and Gus stayed out in the hallway. Gus flagged down a nurse to try to get information, but got nowhere. Somehow Flack was able to coerce her.

He came back shaking his head. "It's not looking good."

"Yeah, I know. I worked with DV vics in New Orleans, spent a lot of time in Charity. A beating like that, well..." she stopped, leaning against a wall, "poor Danny."

"Yeah, he's had some tough times because of his family," Flack leaned against the wall, running his fingers through his hair.

"Seems like it," Gus remarked stoically.

"He's gonna need some help with this one," Flack said shoulders slumped.

"As I told him, my friendship is free," Gus shrugged.

"Good, he trusts you," Flack stared down at her with a penetrating look that made her heart speed up.

They looked back in toward the ICU room, Danny leaning over Louie, crying "You wanna go get a coffee?" Flack asked her.

"Sure," she replied, trying to seem nonchalant and slow her racing heart.

Leaving the Messer brothers to a bit of privacy, they headed to a waiting room with vending machines. Awkwardness immediately descended upon them.

"So did you get her number?" Gus tried to joke.

"Huh?" Flack looked lost.

"The nurse who you charmed the medical information from," Gus said, gesturing.

"Yeah, I did. So what?"

"Figures," Gus sighed.

"Maybe she's got a doctor she can set you up with," he smirked at her. Gus started to retort when Mac and Lindsay walked in, looking at the pair questioningly. Both Gus and Flack shook their heads. Mac sighed, taking off toward ICU while directing Lindsay, "Monroe, you process his clothes back at the lab ASAP."

Gus and Flack shuffled off to do some paperwork and returned to the hospital later that night. Flack started flirting with the same nurse while Gus wandered off toward ICU. She stopped short in the hallway, seeing Danny sobbing in Mac's arms. Seeing the stereotypical tough New Yorker so broken tore at her heart.

She bustled back up to Flack, "I don't think Danny should be alone tonight," she clipped, stepping between Flack and the pretty nurse.

"Excuse me," the nurse said with attitude, Gus glared at her until she scurried back to her station.

"What's up your messing with my mojo!"

"Keep your mojo in your pants for a minute. Danny's, well I don't think he's taking this so well." Flack gave her a look like she was an idiot. "I just think he maybe could use an escape tonight," she continued.

"I don't think getting smashed is gonna help him through this, sunshine."
"I know, I wasn't suggesting that," Gus worrying about her Big Easy reputation.
"Well I don't think he wants to play puppets with you and talk about his feelings either," Flack retorted.

"I wasn't suggesting either of those options thank you, I have a few other tricks thank you very much," she spun on her heel back towards ICU. Mac was on the phone with the lab, but hung up when he saw the two of them.

He turned to Flack, "I don't want this going any further. I don't want the Tanglewood boys coming after him or Danny going after them. I am holding you both responsible. Keep an eye on him tonight."

"Sure, Mac," Gus replied, catching Danny's arm as he tried to pass by. "I'm taking you home, Messer." "Wha-" he said dazedly.

She half dragged him down the hall, "You can't stay here all night," she said as she pulled him past Flack, catching Flack's shirt on the way, "You too, blue eyes."

Out on the street Danny shook his head, "what are we doing?"

"I'm going to cook you both dinner, and we are all going to try to chill."

"Where at?" Flack asked hesitantly.

"My place," she said walking to Flack's sedan.

"Nuh uh, I've seen your place, it's a disaster zone!" Flack replied.

"Can you even cook BB, or something besides alligators?" Danny joked.

"Yes I can," she said turning to Danny and then back to Flack, "And very funny. It isn't any more, I am going to have a housewarming soon. I've had your guy working on it overtime since you gave me his number. Thanks for that by the way, Bobby is amazing with his hands." They both gawked at her. She flushed realizing her double entandre. "Shut up not like that he's a great contractor that's all,"she gushed.

"So Bobby huh, he didn't say anything", Flack stuck his tongue into his cheek.

"There is zip happening with me in that department, not that it is fodder for either of you. I can't compete in the New York dating world anyway. And you talk to your contractor about his dating life, Flack, what's up with that?"

"When he's my cousin, yeah, I do."

"Oh, I didn't know," Gus replied, blushing.

"Well try not to scar him too bad, sunshine, he's only 19," Flack said with a dimpled grin. She huffed herself into the car, slamming the door. Flack pointed down through the window smirking, her jacket sticking out the door. She waited for him to open the back door to fix it and flopped back in her seat with a sigh.

At her place, she struggled with the key in the door. Both guys looked around nervously, Gus had to admit that while her apartment had undergone and amazing transformation in 8 weeks thanks to Bobby's work and her insomnia. The rest of the building, however, showed some signs of wear. "Piece of crap," she exclaimed, slamming her shoulder against the door and falling into the entry way as it flung open.

"After you," Danny said trying to not laugh. She gathered up herself and her dropped belongings, dropping her keys on the table by the door. She went through turning on lights, trying to ignore the stares from Don and Danny. She knew she had lucked out on finding her place, mostly because she was willing to look past its mostly gutted state.

Formerly two studios, the neighbors had fallen in love with each other and decided to convert it into one place instead of moving. Gus had learned all of this from the son, who had been working on the place before receiving a job transfer. His mother had died from cancer, after which is father had been one of the many owners in the building to do the Florida shuffle.

Gus had fallen in love with the place as soon as she set eyes on it. A small room with bay window overlooked the street and the small private park beyond, Gus hope to make this her home office one day. The living and dining space was mostly open, separated only by arches and short built in book cases. The bedroom, kitchen and bathroom were small as could be, but with tall ceilings, she didn't care.

She gestured to the the living room, "make yourselves at home, anyone want a beer?"

"Yes," she heard both men reply.

She wandered towards the kitchen when she heard Danny say, hey Gus, you know your couch is missing a back right? I don't want to be blamed for wrecking the joint." She went back handed each of them an Abita and rolled her eyes as Danny almost fell off the back of the lounger. "Dumb ass, it is a fainting sofa, not a couch."

"A fainting what?" he questioned, looking uncomfortable, trying to not fall off the back, "nice digs either way."

"It's only in here for now, I have a sectional on order." She pointed to the closed pocket doors to the office, "it is going to go in there, which one day will be an office, I hope. The kitchen is still being worked on too. The bedroom, is minuscule and there is not much of a chance to help it, thank god I don't sleep much." Both men snickered again. "Shut it, and watch those beers, boys, I don't know if y'all can handle bayou beer."

Danny and Flack perched on either end of the small sofa, as far apart as they could get, as Flack longingly at a club chair in the corner. "I won't think you are gay Flack, you can relax and move closer to Danny." He just took a long pull of his beer.

"Speaking of which, we aren't going to watch chick flicks and do our hair or anything right, Gus?" Danny asked.

"Nope," she slid open the coffee table and gestured inside to the electronics within, thought we'd drink beer, play video games and eat dinner, if that's alright with y'all."

"Whoa, GranTurismo 3, Black, and Title Fight 2004...you hiding something from us in those skirts, Broussard?"

"Yeah, the ability to kick both your asses, which I will do after I start dinner," she said, handing them remotes and controllers.

"You got blood lust for someone so posh," Danny exclaimed after she threw his boxing character against the ropes and proceeded to beat the hell out of him.

"Posh, huh?" she replied with a grin.

"As the kids say," he shrugged.

"How do you get posh?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"You have grown up furniture, not to mention these damn girly blue walls," Danny shot back.

"Robin's egg, it was supposed to be more Tiffany's though, I don't know what happened," Gus said, scratching her head.

"You are just proving my point you know that right, BB?".

"You know what you are, Gus?" Flack finally spoke up from his beer and jambalaya.

"Praying you don't drop that on my upholstery?" she teased.

He ignored her. "You are an enigma."

"You're using those triple word score words again Flack, it worries me," Danny teased.

Flack ignored him and then said "why do you have white couches anyway Gus, I've seen you spill more food than my 5 year old cousins."

"It's ecru, and scotch guarded. I wanted leather, but I had to make a choice between a good stove or leather furniture".

"Good choice," Danny said stuffing his face. "I mean, Bam!" he said doing a very bad Emeril. They all groaned. They passed a good night, though they all knew Danny had deep things weighing on his mind.

Thankfully, Lindsay discovered in her processing that Louie was wearing a wire. This evidence helped to heal some of the wounds between the brothers, but Gus knew that some wounds were too deep to ever really heal, and she was betting that everyone on the team had these kinds of wounds. She knew she did.

Chapter 13: Wounds

Unfortunately, one of the wounds Gus thought she could see deepening was one in Stella. She had a lot of concerns about Stella's relationship with her boyfriend, Frankie. He seemed to show all the characteristics of an abuser, something Gus was quite familiar with both professionally and personally. But Stella insisted everything was fine, so she gave her friend space, even though she often worried that they didn't know the whole story. Gus was more than pleased to find out that Stella called it quits with him. Though she was confused at her annoyance over Flack's equal happiness over this turn of events.

While riding out one day, Flack turned to her at a red light, "heard Stella got rid of the jerk."

"You mean the tortured artiste?"

"Yeah."

"Yep, last week. He keeps calling her though."

"Creep. I would love to have a chat with him, man to man."

Conflict flowed through Gus. On one hand she was happy to see Flack protective of Stella, after all she knew the two of them had been friends for years. But on the other, well the other hand was a complicated one that she just couldn't bring herself to deal with. "Good to know you got her back."

"What about you, you got any jerks I need to take care of?"

Gus smiled, "nah, plenty in my past, but I've got a no jerk rule now. Means I mostly have a no man rule though."

"You ain't switching sides now that you are a cop and all, are you sunshine, a badge and gun can do funny things?"

"I like boys, Flack, don't worry." Just then the radio squawked to life "Officer down. Repeat officer down at 2344 Lexington." Flack flipped on the lights and wheeled the car around. "Stella!" they both gasped.

The scene was horrific, Frankie was dead inside Stella's apartment, the normally pristine place ravaged. Stella looked like she had been through a hurricane and kept asking where Frankie was. "You two follow her to the hospital," Mac said to Flack and Gus. "As soon as she is up for it, question her, Gus, but Flack you need to be there too, it needs to be an official investigation, not confidential." They nodded. "She tested positive for GSR."

In Stella's hospital room, Stella revealed that the sculpture Frankie had made her, which he called Aresanob was actually Bonasera spelled backwards. It also turned out to be Frankie's personal website. He had secretly recorded the two of them having sex, a horrific betrayal to sat the least. Stella abruptly ended the relationship, refusing to return his calls or e-mails which was when Frankie started stalking her. Last night she came home from shopping to find that him in her apartment fixing a candlelight dinner. She had never given him a key and had no idea how he got in.

"Stella, I didn't know it was that bad!"

"I couldn't tell you. Either of you. Anyone. I thought I could handle it."

Flack started to say something, but Gus stopped him, with a discrete arm squeeze. He looked at her, eyes narrowed, she stared back. He may be a detective, but he wasn't purely acting like one, and being big protector wasn't going to help Stella right now. "Stella, what do you remember about last night?"

Slowly, Stella went through the details she could remember. She told of him being there and about Frankie throwing her down on the bed, tying her wrists behind her, telling her how he poured his heart and soul into making that sculpture, how much he loved her! Stella said she tried to talk sense into him and then tried to get him calm, telling him she loved him to. But he didn't buy it and knocked her unconscious. When she came to he said he was going to show her another kind of art form - the perfect crime scene.

"That's all, that's all I remember," she said before she broke down. Flack looked ready to kill as a nurse and female lab tech came in to process her.

Flack moved toward the hallway, Gus moved out with him. She looked at him. "I think you should go back to the lab and see what Mac found."

He started to protest, but she placed a hand in the center of his chest, "I know Stella means a lot to you, Don, but now you are too personally invested. I am not going to question her, I am just going to be here for her processing as a friend. You come back and we'll continue."

"Fine," he said, both his eyes and voice pure steel.

When Flack got back, the tech had gone. Stella had just kept saying "I can't remember" and "I am so sorry" to Gus. "Shhhh, shhhh, it's OK Stel."

Flack found Gus curled up on Stella's bed holding Stella protectively, as though comforting a child, rocking her, "You are safe now Stella, you're safe." Flack ran through a quick spectrum of emotions, anger at Gus for shooing him away, jealousy over not being able to comfort his friend, inadequacy at knowing Gus was doing a better job at it than he could, concern over why Gus looked like she knew what Stella was going though, rage at what Frankie had done, fear for what was going to happen with Stella.

He cleared his throat, "uh, Mac found a razor blade in your bathroom, Stel. Your blood and prints were on it." Stella froze and stiffened. Gus climbed off the bed, standing by it.

"Oh God!" She went through the rest of her memories, being trapped in the tub, bound, cutting free, trying to knock Frankie out with the bathroom door, running, fight throughout the apartment, struggle, finding her gun, shooting, how he just kept coming...Stella broke down sobbing. Flack moved forward to comfort his friend.

Gus felt the far too familiar but very unwelcome feeling of the ground rushing out from under her, a buzzing and rushing noise climbing up through her body. She barely rushed out of the room in time to make it to the bathroom before she threw up, slammed her head on the toilet as the world went black.

Gus didn't think they had noticed her running out, until after she got back where Stella was sleeping and Mac was in the hospital room. He studied her as she re-entered. He didn't say anything, but gestured to Flack so Gus wouldn't see and then gestured them out to the hallway. Gus was vibrating like a current when Flack grasped her shoulder. She jumped.

He whispered in her ear, "you're bleeding, sunshine", leading her into the hallway.

"Crap," she said, feeling the stickiness about her eyebrow.

"What happened?"

"I'm fine."

"I didn't ask if you were fine, which you aren't by the way."

"I'm fine, I just blacked out for a second, secondary traumatization or something."

"Or something, wait here," he ordered.

He walked over to the nurses station and came back with some pretty blond fluff. "Like ohmigod, you are both cops, I didn't know there were that many girl cops, did you get that chasing someone, did it happen in here, did I miss it, usually that stuff like only happens in the E/R," she said a mile a minute, smiling up at Flack the whole time. He dimpled down at the nurse, and Gus felt her stomach curdle.

"Bleeding here," Gus snarled at the nurse.

"Oh like right, let me just like get some iodine, it might, um, sting, and maybe I should have a doctor like look at it, because I'm not so good with the stitches"... she trailed off and went to the supply closet.

"Flack, if Malibu Nurse Barbie lays a hand on me, I'm gonna bite it off."

"Okay then," he said, following after the nurse. He came back with alcohol prep pad and a butterfly closure. He gently cleaned the wound, Gus tried to not wince. "Hold still," he said, cupping her face.

"Sorry," she gulped as his touch sent electricity throughout her body.

"Secondary traumatization, huh, that like PTSD?" he asked carefully putting the butterfly closure over the wound.

"Have you been watching Dr. Phil, Flack?" "Nope."

"Good, I hate him. And yeah, it sorta is. I, um, did a lot of work with DV victims, I told you that, but sometimes, I just, it's just..." she wrinkled her nose, trying to figure out how to explain her reaction without telling him anything at all.

"Let me guess."

"Hmm?"

"Complicated?"

"I say that a lot, huh?"

"I think it is your favorite word other than 'ouch' or 'dammit," he replied with a wink.

"Well it is complicated. I've seen a lot of shit in a lot of different places Flack and I get overwhelmed sometimes and I haven't eaten today and I didn't sleep much last night and why am I explaining myself to you?" she babbled.

"Don't know," he said shaking his head with a hint of that damn dimple. "How about we get some food in you, because I am going to need you conscious on this report for IAB."

"Nah, I'm good," Gus wanted to say yes, but she didn't trust herself with Flack now, didn't know what would come out of her mouth. She tried to ignore the flashes of what had happened to her when she walked in, slipping in her mother's blood, or that time at the compound or Gage's fist connecting with her lip or what happened when the flood waters rose...

She could feel it all bubbling to the surface. Desperate for escape she finally came out with, "stay here with Stella, Don, I'm sure she could use her friends. I'll go get started on the report."

She ignored Flack as he called after her, "you're her friend too, Gus."

Chapter 14: Easter Bonnets

Thankfully, March went out like a lamb and things were fine up until Easter. Gus was sleeping through the night, which was a miracle for her, her apartment was almost complete and she was debating throwing a party for the team. Her friendship with Danny had deepened since Louie had been assaulted and she was managing to spend time with him, and thus Flack, without making a royal idiot out of herself.

One Friday night at Sully's Flack leaned over her, because God forbid the boys actually sit next to each other. "Hey, Dan-o, Ma wants to know if you want your own dozen deviled eggs for Easter and if you are bringing anyone?" Danny just cocked his head to Gus. "Oh yeah, Gus you can come to if you want, if you don't have plans with your UNCLE and all," Flack teased.

"I thought you didn't bring home strays, Don," Gus quipped.

Danny snorted his beer, "maybe not to his family, but I've seen some of his girlfriends!"

"I don't really have plans for Easter," Gus replied quietly.

"Yeah, Mac doesn't really seem like the Peter Cottontail type does he?" Danny retorted.

"We really don't like hang out anymore than you guys do, you know, it was Claire I was close with." That stopped the joking. Gus wasn't really sure why she had turned distant, other than the thought of meeting Flack's family made her nervous as hell.

"You should come, BB, they would love you. You can tell them all about your pet alligator and living in the swamp, they would believe you too". Flack reached around and smacked Danny upside the head. "Ow! No really, it's a good time. You gotta tell his mother you went to Mass though, otherwise she'll make you go."

"I usually go to Easter Vigil." Both boys stopped and stared, as if she started speaking Latin.

"On purpose?" Flack asked, she nodded.

"You go to the longest Mass in the world on purpose?" Danny followed up.

"Well, the nuns..." she started they cut her off

"The nuns?"

"Yeah, mean old women, dress in black and white, have rulers," she continued, "we would always have to do the long masses at school if we were there over break and sometimes Claire and Mac were busy." She shrugged, "sometimes it was the only thing happening. At least until the nuns fell asleep and we all went out and got drunk in the Quarter." They stared at her as if she was an alien. "I went to Catholic boarding school," she said, thinking that was explanation enough.

"Please don't tell me you still have the uniform?" Danny croaked at her. Flack gave him death rays.

She rolled her eyes, "boys!"

"On second thought, don't come, my mother would love you, as long as you left out the getting drunk in the Quarter part."

"In that case, I just might come." It popped out before she could stop herself.

"Oh, this outta be good," Danny quipped.

Clad in a tweed sheath and pearls, her hair pulled back in a french twist and holding homemade carrot cake cupcakes, Gus found herself nervously ringing the bell to Flack's mother's house up in Yonkers.

She wasn't sure what to expect. All she knew was Flack's parents had been through an extremely bitter divorce and his mother had long since remarried. Flack saw her as little as possible. She also knew that Flack had an older brother who had gone to live with his mom in Yonkers while Don and his younger sister, Sam, stayed with their father in Queens. She had pieced some of the story together through Flack's sarcastic comments here and there and with a little fill in from rumors and supposition. Gus had never bothered to press Flack on the issue, Lord knew she wasn't talking much about her home life.

Danny answered the door with a smirk. "Hey, you didn't get lost! Happy Easter, Broussard. Everyone else is busy, and I have been made the butler. Nice threads," he remarked with a smirk.

"One more word outta you and you ain't getting a cupcake!" she shot back, stepping over the threshold.

"Hey, Donnie boy," he yelled, "she brought cupcakes!" He helped her out of her coat, "that may just have to be your new nickname. Cupcake."

"Danny, leave the poor girl alone!" An older woman with auburn hair and sparkling blue eyes chided as she came up to them. "You must be Augusta, the psychologist from New Orleans. I'm Donnie's mother, Colleen Shaughnessy. You poor dear, how are things down there, we just stopped hearing about it on the news..." the woman swooped down on her, picking up the container Gus was carrying and leading her toward the kitchen. Gus looked over her shoulder at Danny shooting him a 'help me' look, but he just shrugged.

Flack walked up to Danny, "where'd she go?"

"Your mother stole her, but you should see her; she looks like a girl and she baked cupcakes!"

Flack took off toward the kitchen "Ma, Ma, don't bug her about New Orleans, just go watch CNN!" he admonished.

Ensconced in the kitchen, Gus sat helping Flack's mother wash vegetables. Flack's sister-in-law was attempting to feed a baby, "and here comes the peas, good boy, Brodie," while also shaking a little girl off her leg, "Keira go play outside with your brother and cousins, there is candy out there, CAN-DY." She got the little girl to run off and muttered, "I swear to god, if Neil wants another one, I'm going to make him have it!"

"How many children do you have?" Gus asked politely.

"Three, Riley's 5, Keira's 3, and this little man is 8 months," Bridget said, jiggling the baby in her lap.

Flack's sister, Sam, slumped grumpily at the table. "This sucks," she said morosely. "I don't know why the boys don't have to help, they just get to hang out with their friends. Except you," she said to Gus, "how'd you get roped into coming?"

Gus froze, unsure what to say. She had figured out that Sam and Colleen's relationship was strenuous at best, Sam feeling like her mother had abandoned her and Don when they were children, though she also had garnered that Sam didn't have the best relationship with her father, either.

"Now dear, we are happy to invite everyone to our table, and I rather like not having men in my kitchen to mess things up!"

"Well, I should at least get a drink!" Sam shot back.

"Samantha Kathleen, you will get wine with dinner. You can wait until next year to drink, when it is legal. Half dozen officers in my house, and you want me giving you liquor!"

"Like they didn't all drink from the time they were 12," Sam pouted.

Not knowing how to react, Gus mostly just observed trying to make sense of it all. She knew both Flack's father and step-father were retired NYPD, making her wonder what the back story was there. It also appeared as though plenty of other members of the sprawling blended family bled blue. She couldn't quite figure out who was from whose family, but she was beginning to think they couldn't either.

So far she had gathered that Frank Shaughnessy had no children of his own and that Neil had lived with Frank and Colleen since the Flack's divorced when Don was ten. Neil was married to Bridget and lived in Yonkers with their three children, while Don and Sam still lived in the city, as they had since they were children. While trying to figure out this blended family tree, Gus got confused when also having to contend with a whole passel of cousins and aunts and uncles and pets all living in a few mile radius. Eventually she just gave up and rolled with the plans for the day.

After grace, the whole clan dug into a fabulous spread and chattering continued. They all asked her the polite questions about New Orleans when the previously quiet Frank spoke up "It's a disgrace what happened down there. No excuse, our government treating its own citizens like animals. No, even worse than animals. Imagine if they had done that here!" His eyes flashing like coal. "Glad you're here, down there is not any place for a pretty girl like yourself. You boys take care of her," he said, gesturing with his fork at Flack and Danny.

They both burst out laughing "Oh, Gus can take care of herself, Frank," Flack replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, she had a pet alligator you know," Danny said.

"Dear Lord tiny baby creole Jesus," Gus whimpered.

On the way out, Flack walked her and Danny to the door, Danny insisted upon seeing her home. "Sorry about my family," Flack said to her, waving Danny on.

"Nah, it's cool, a little confusing to keep track of who is who, I didn't have anything like that growing up. Would make an interesting paper," she said, blathering on awkwardly. He glowered momentarily. "I'm just kidding, Don, it was fine!"

He studied her for a minute, "your cupcakes were really good, even if some of them were pink."

"It is Easter, pink is OK." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "thanks again, see you tomorrow."

She ran off the porch and down the step after Danny. "Messer, slow the hell down, I'm in heels you know!"

It took about 5 seconds after them leaving before his mother and sister pounced. "She was very lovely, Donnie," his mother started.

"Ma, don't!"

"Don't what? I'm just saying she was nice, that's all, good to see you bring around nice people from work, that's all."

"Go put your feet up, Ma, we'll do the dishes," Flack said, desperate to do anything to avoid his mother getting in his business.

"Thanks a lot bro," Sam said following him to the kitchen, where Bridget was already busy cleaning. "Is she dating Danny?" his sister-in-law asked stacking dishes, "because I think they would make a cute couple."

"No, they are not." He gave Bridget a look, which she didn't catch, but Sam did.

"You like her don't you?" Sam quipped.

"No, I don't. We are just friends, co-workers, something you would know nothing about given you can't seem to keep a job."

"You like a girl and she doesn't like you back, mark this day in history," Sam pressed on as Bridget smirked at them both.

"Shuddap" he said flicking soap suds at her.

"Real mature," she retorted.

"Whatever, I remember when you slept with a night light. Wasn't that last year, Sammy?"

"Hardy har, Donnie."

"Interesting family," Gus said to Danny on the train back.

"Yeah, they are a group all right. Great people though, never said a thing about me coming to family functions, even though I know they know some things about my family. Flack Sr. and Grandma Irene are the same way, never treated me any different."

"Yeah, they are good people, it wasn't nearly as terrifying as I thought!"

"Terrifying?" Danny asked, looking at her curiously.

"Danny, I was petrified, I don't do big family things."

"Heh, you keep hanging around Flack you better start to, he's got it on two sides."

"I guess I better." The words slipped out with ease, she clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Whadyousay?"

"Nothing," she mumbled, staring out the window of the train.

Danny gave Gus sidelong glance. Flack was right, she was an enigma.