So it's been awhile since I've posted anything, but this is a piece I've been working on since September and finally have it at a point where it's ready for posting. So here it is - I hope you enjoy it.

Special thanks to Boleyn and Elainhe for the beta, and to Audrina for the gamma.

Side thanks to Bluenose, Cazzie, Kennedy, and Mandy for the constant encouragement (and harassment).

Tempered Glass

Prologue

Emma Mezzolo walked into her apartment, throwing her keys and purse down on the coffee table. She sunk onto her couch and started flipping aimlessly through the channels. It had been another long day – good thing it was Friday, though. Sometimes being a teacher really weighed down on her, though she loved what she did – her fifth grade class was adorable, but some days, it just got to be a lot. Especially on the days where the kids would decide to be complete peaches and act out. Of course, as soon as one of them got going, they all got going… then it was just chaos. Naturally, today was one of those days.

She signed heavily as she clicked off her television. Nothing good was ever showing on Friday nights, save for old reruns of cop shows and really terrible made-for-TV movies. Looked like it would be another boring Friday night alone. I really need to get out more, she thought to herself as she made her way to the kitchen.

A knock on her door interrupted her trip. Visitors on a Friday? She stopped and turned towards her front door. Strike that, visitors in general? she thought, glancing through the peep hole. She could make out a man wearing a blue ball cap. Ugh. I hate solicitors. Always asking for money, like I have any. Might as well be friendly anyway. She plastered her best fake smile on her face, and opened the door.

And everything went black.

Danny glanced at his clock, the sunlight burning his eyes. 8:04. Just that little bit of movement caused his head to pound. Damn you, Flack, he thought to himself. Flack had had a rough week – caught his girlfriend cheating on him, completely blindsided him. In Flack's words, "it was like running head-on into a brick wall, and then being crushed by a speeding Mack truck." So naturally, Flack looked to Danny to help him drink his sorrows away, and on a Sunday night, no less. His only saving grace was that he didn't need to be into work for a few more hours.

The shrill ring of Danny's cell phone went off. "Fuck!" Danny yelled, clapping both hands to his head. That noise was not what he needed to hear! Squinting to read the name on the display, he cringed more. Mac.

"Messer," he grumbled into his phone. Damn having to be there for your friends.

"Hey Danny, sorry to do this to you, but I need you to start a bit early today. There was a body found, messy crime scene. Hawkes and Stella are out on another call. I've already called Lindsay, she's going to meet you there."

"Yeah, kay," grumbled Danny, forcing himself out of bed. He scribbled the location down, then made his way to the kitchen and downed two Advil.

His head pounded as he made his way to the shower. The sooner these drugs kick in the better, he thought, turning on the water. The truth was, a tiny part of him wasn't even a little bit sorry for Flack, and he hated himself for thinking that. Flack had been pining after this girl for ages, and finally, she agreed to go out with him. Flack could not have been more over the moon about it, either. For weeks he was practically walking on air.

And of course, all this happened right around the time Lindsay shot Danny down.

So while part of Danny was happy that Flack had finally gotten what he was after, another part of him hated it. That same part was thrilled when Flack told Danny how he caught her cheating on him. Fuck, Danny hated himself for thinking that way.

Just because he couldn't have the girl he wanted, meant that no one else could? How was that right?

He turned off the water with more force than was necessary. He and Flack had gotten completely shit-faced… They drank away the pain of girls who had taken their hearts, thrown them in a blender, and hit frappé. At least the alcohol had provided them both with a temporary escape from that pain.

Danny quickly got dressed, gathered his kit, and strode out to his car, the headache finally subsiding.

And to top it off, he'd be working with Lindsay.

Damn women.

Lindsay stared aimlessly as the lights of the tunnel whipped by. Her morning commute no longer required any capacity for thinking – she could do it completely on auto-pilot. Such is the result of living in New York for over a year, doing a job where working seven days a week wasn't uncommon. She hated Monday mornings, though. Commuters were always grumpiest on Mondays. Not that they were ever particularly nice to begin with.

As much as Lindsay loved New York and loved her job, part of her was really beginning to miss the comfort she had back home. At home, she had friends, had family – 'loneliness' didn't exist in that world. Yes, she had become friends with her coworkers… but it really just wasn't the same. At times she still felt like the new girl; the others had all been working together for ages. She sighed heavily. Sort of a catch-22 situation, she supposed.

Then there was Danny, the one person who could have helped her escape from loneliness, and what did she do? She flipped out. She got scared and retreated to a dark corner of her own little screwed-up world, shut him down, and shut him out. As lonely as she was, she didn't want to plague him with her own issues, her own twisted reasons for leaving the place where she used to be so happy. She wasn't ready to go there, not yet.

As the subway creaked to a halt at her stop, she forced Danny out of her mind. Flack was meeting her at the lab to give her a lift to their crime scene.

No sooner had she reached the front doors of the lab when a honk behind her caught her attention. In the car was Flack, waving her over.

And he did not look good.

Lindsay climbed into the car, biding a casual 'hey' to Flack.

"Danny's on his way to the scene," he said, leaning back in his seat as he fought through the morning traffic. "Based on the 911 call that came in, it's a pretty gruesome situation."

"Lovely," replied Lindsay sarcastically. Great start to a Monday morning. "You look like shit, by the way," she teased.

Flack didn't say anything. Instead, he reached over and turned up the volume on the radio.

They drove the rest of the way in silence.

Damn men.