Thanks to all who read and review! Thank you for giving this a try!

Again, thank you HGRHFan35 for your patience! And beta'ing skills! You're too wonderful!

Enjoy!

…

If Not for You

Part 2

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They spent the rest of the evening talking, catching up on their lives. The places they had been, especially on Emily's part and the people they met.

After the tenth yawn, Emily's droopy eyes finally closed. Flack smiled as he watched his best friend fell asleep.

Then he picked her up and took her to his bedroom and laid her on his bed. After he covered her up with a comforter, he kissed her on her cheek and whispered a thank-you and left the room.

Grabbing a spare pillow and blankets he stored in the coat closet, he settled himself down on the couch and surprisingly, fell asleep. The crying and talking about it out loud, did help settled his troubled soul.

For the first time in many months, he stopped having horrible dreams of Jessica.

I love you, Jess. Thanks for sending Emily down here, it helped lots.

…

It was after 8am when Emily finally woke up. At first she sat up straight on the bed and almost panicked when she saw the time; she seldom slept late. After 8am was late for her, even on a Sunday!

Then looking around her, she tried to remember where she was.

Ah! She spotted the photo of her and Flack, taken when they were very young. She smiled as she recalled where she was now; at Flack's.

Then stopped smiling when she also remembered what happened last evening; the talking, the crying, more talking and she might have fell asleep.

Pushing the covers away, she left the bedroom and looking around the living room, saw that he was not there. Stepping into the kitchen, she saw the note on the 'fridge; he had gone out for a jog and would be back with breakfast.

Emily grinned and decided that she might have time to take a shower; after all, it had been yesterday morning that she last showered.

Returning to the bedroom, she saw that he had brought her bag in. Picking up the bag, she rummaged inside and took out a set of clothing and went to the bathroom.

Toweling her hair dry, another towel wrapped around her body, she thought she heard banging but chalked it up to neighbors up and about. As she was about to remove the towel, she heard a banging again, it was Flack's door! Who would be knocking at such early hours?

Then she thought that it might be Flack, locking himself out. Then again…he would have a back-up key…

Not taking any chances, she grabbed her Glock and made her way to the door slowly.

Just as she was going to call out, she heard the scrapping of a key being inserted into the keyhole.

Moving silently behind the door, she held her gun near her and waited.

The door slowly opened and a man's voice called out, "Flack? You home?"

He entered into the room and as he closed the door, Emily slammed the door next to her and pointed the gun at him.

"FBI, don't move!" She said.

The man held both hands up; one was carrying a brown sack. "Look, I'm…"

"Shut up." Emily said fiercely.

The man closed his mouth and began to appraise her, from her face to her feet.

She realized, face blazing red, that she was only dressed in the towel. She could see where he was glancing at.

"Keep your eyes on my face, pervert!"

The man's eyebrows rose up as he smiled wryly. Obviously been called a pervert didn't faze him.

Emily checked him out, he appeared to be well dressed, casual suit, shirt, and no tie but still, he didn't look like a burglar.

As though he could read her thoughts, he said, "Look, as you can see, I'm not a burglar. I'm a friend of Flack's…"

Suddenly, he dropped the sack and lunged for her gun. Caught by surprise, she reacted, as trained by the bureau, and quickly spun around him; her gun still in her hand.

The man saw her move and quickly took a step back, effectively tripped her and down she went, her gun knocked out from her, it clattered away from them. He straddled over her, intent on pinning her hands when she kneed him and grabbing his arms, pushed him away from her. Wincing in pain, he was not prepared by her assault and found himself on his back, she was straddling over him. And her gun back in her hands, pointing at him.

"That was a foolish move, friend of Flack's." Emily said as she tried to control her anger and breaths.

"Ah! I see you two are getting to know each other! And Em, put the gun away or you'll mess my floor up." Flack grinned at the sight of them as he walked into his apartment.

Emily looked up at him, "You know this pervert?"

Flack began to laugh, "Oh, Mac is known for everything but not a pervert. But then, your boobs are spilling out, and I don't blame him for ogling."

Emily looked down at herself and saw that the towel was very low and most of her breasts were exposed.

Grunting in anger, she moved away from Mac and quickly adjusted the towel.

"So, this is the famous Mac Taylor, huh? Not much of a gentleman."

Mac got up as well and looked at Flack as he pointed at her, "New girlfriend already? I'm glad for you."

Flack busted out laughing.

Emily glared at Mac, "No, I'm not his girlfriend. I'm his best friend. I've known this dirt bag since we were kids."

Mac studied her, this time only her face. Bare of make-up, she still looked very attractive, something about her eyes. Just how much of a best friend were they? They seemed very comfortable with each other.

"Mac! That's too funny! But no, this is Emily. She's the one I've told you about."

Mac's eyes widened slightly, "Ah! Ambassador Prentiss' daughter, the one in the FBI. Um, sorry for the mistaken identity."

Emily shook her head, "It's okay. Sorry about pulling the gun on you."

"That's all right. I did knock but I thought Flack was unconscious or something."

Flack grinned, "Aw Mac! You cared! After you toss me out of the PD and sent my ass home. Hey, is that sprinkled donut in that bag?"

Mac chuckled, "Yeah, I hope it's still good. I had to drop it suddenly…"

"Speaking of that, why did you try to get my gun?" She asked.

"I thought I'd try and honestly, I don't know why. Again, I'm sorry about that! You're not hurt, are you?" he pointed at her head, remembering she fell down hard.

"Emily's got a hard head. Remember when you banged your head on that wall when your bike went out of control?" Flack grinned as he finished the donut in three bites.

Emily showed him her middle finger, "If you hadn't gotten in my way, and not had to avoid crashing into you, I wouldn't be hugging that damn wall. It's your fault."

"No its not. Your memory must be rusty. I recalled that you thought you saw a bee coming at ya and veered off to avoid it!"

"No it's not!" she began but Mac held his hand out.

"Um, I had better get going and leave you two to your 'memories'. I have a stack of files to sign off." He turned to Emily and said, "It's nice to meet you finally, Flack always talks about you a lot." Then to Flack, "I'll see you next week. Take care, my friend." And he left.

Closing the door after Mac had left, Flack turned to her, "What the hell happened? I thought you and Mac were about to get down on it!"

"Please, Don. He's not my type."

"Oh? And what's your type?" He laughed as he opened the sack Mac left him, there was another donut. He offered the snack but Emily shook her head, and with a shrug, he polished that in two seconds flat. He then looked up at her when she didn't speak.

"I don't have any type. I just know that he's not the type I'd go for."

"Ah!" He wagged his finger at her, "I know who your type is! A certain dark and brooding person who, so far, has not given you the time or day."

Emily blushed, "You don't know anything, Don." Then changing the subject she said, "I thought you're bringing some breakfast home?"

"Easy Ethel! I changed my mind. I thought I'd take you out for breakfast. So, go get dressed and we'll get chow."

Emily grinned, "I like that! I'm hungry. After that confrontation with your friend, I'm even hungrier!"

"Since when are you not hungry? It's a good thing you have good metabolism or you'd be fat as a whale!"

Emily punched him hard on his arm, causing him to wince as he rubbed it. "Ow! Damn it, Emily! That really hurt!"

She shrugged her bare shoulders, "Shouldn't call a lady a whale! Didn't your mamma ever teach you that?"

"My mamma would probably laugh her head off!" He was still wincing.

"As if! I know your mamma, and she will be pissed at you for your manners."

"Okay, okay. Just go get change, will ya? And hurry up, I'm starving as well; those two donuts can't even be considered an appetizer. I need more sustenance."

She shook her head as she made her way to the bedroom, "And you call me a cow! Beanpole!"

…

After breakfast, Emily insisted they get back to his apartment and cleaned the 'pig-sty' Flack had called home.

Looking embarrassed, he acquiesced. Truth be told, he usually kept his apartment clean but his depression got the better of him. Emily was right; it was time to straighten up his apartment and himself. He knew he was acting like a jerk, the way he had treated his fellow LEOs, as well as the ones at the crime lab.

He had a lot of making up to do!

"Hey Em," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Need to stop at a store."

Emily arched her brow as an indication of query.

"Trash bags, cleaning things, paper towels and I think a bucket and mop as well." He explained.

"Seriously? You don't have any cleaning supplies at your place?"

"I'm not sure, Mrs. Tennison quit."

"Mrs. T? The one that did wonders to your apartment every week?"

He nodded.

"I was wondering where she was. And why?"

"I yelled at her." He muttered.

"Yelled at her?"

Flack nodded, his face a shade of red, "I told her to get the fuck out of my place and that I no longer care if it's clean or not anymore. I think I frightened her and that was when she told me she quit and left the apartment."

"It's a wonder she didn't hit you! You are going to grovel, aren't you?"

Flack nodded.

"Flowers, chocolates and a raise should be a good start." Emily suggested as she grinned gleefully.

"A raise? I gave her one a week before she quit!"

"Don't go cheap, Don. If she's as good as you told me, another raise would get you in her good graces and she'll be back."

"Why don't you help me on it?" He asked her.

Emily stared at him, "Me? Oh no. You made that mess; you're going to fix that yourself. I'm helping you clean your shit, so consider that I'm helping you."

Flack grinned, "Okay, okay. You're right. I'll talk to her after I get the place cleaned…with your gracious help."

Emily nodded, "That sounds much better. Although I'd use 'grovel' not 'talk' when applying to Mrs. T."

"Em! Please!" He was shaking his head, "Spare me, will ya?"

"As soon as you straighten your shit and put your game back on, I'll leave you alone."

Flack stopped smiling and stiffened; he recalled a conversation he and Jessica had about his game face. Happy times.

"Don? You okay?" Emily saw the change on his face and knew he was remembering something about Jessica Angell.

He didn't answer.

"Donny, it will keep hurting and you'll keep remembering her when some conversation, sound or smell stirs your memories of her but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Just that you're fortunate to know her."

Flack looked at his friend, "Since when did you grow up?"

Emily laughed quietly, "Since I had to be the responsible and sensible one between the two of us. Remember the time I saved your sorry ass when that old lady from two houses down thought you were messing with her garden?"

Flack remembered the incident and began laughing; Flack was 9 and Emily 8, they were walking to school one morning when they saw a dog had dug a big hole at their neighbor's garden, and her prized Daffodils were destroyed. After they had chased the dog away, they decided to try to bury the hole and replanted some of the flowers that still looked good but Mrs. Stonewell came out and thought they were destroying it and grabbed a shovel and confronted them. Flack was whacked in the back of his head as the old lady was yelling. Emily managed to grab the shovel from her and explained to the old lady that they didn't do it and that it was another neighbor's dog that had done it. Mrs. Stonewell knew of the culprit as she had chased that dog out of her garden a few times and felt bad for hitting Flack.

"Oh yeah. I remember that, and she made us that big chocolate cake! I got sick eating half of it."

Emily laughed, "That's because you're so greedy!"

"Yeah, that was a good memory. Thanks."

Emily smiled, "Not a problem. You just needed a few wake up calls, that's all."

"I'll take that than, instead of the ass-whooping you threatened me with last night!"

"Oh, don't think you're getting out of that as well. You'll get it."

Flack groaned, "I just don't understand you at all!"

"Good, it'll keep you on your toes. Come on; let's get the stuff and start cleaning! I'll treat you to a good sit-down dinner if we get it done by dinnertime."

Flack perked up, "You treating me? Hot damn! You're on. You know our favorite restaurant, Giana? I haven't been there in a long while."

Emily rolled her eyes, "Fine, Giana it is. I like their meatball and spaghetti."

Flack laughed, "Oh yeah! Those meatballs are so damn huge, bigger than the size of a baseball! You used to manage to eat all six of them. Giana was very proud of you for that! Not many people could do it!"

Emily laughed, "Giana thought I was going to puke after eating so many!"

The two laughed more as they stopped at the store for supplies before heading back to the apartment for a major clean up.

…End of Part 2…