WARNING THIS IS RATED M FOR THE ENDING
Leaving on a jet plane?
"Girl you've never known no one like me
Up there in your high society
They might tell you I'm no good
Girl they need to understand
Just who I am
I may be a real bad boy
But baby I'm a real good man
I may drink too much and play too loud
Hang out with a rough and rowdy crowd
That don't mean I don't respect
My Mama or my Uncle Sam
Yes sir, yes ma'am
I may be a real bad boy
But baby I'm a real good man"
-A Real Good Man, Tim McGraw
Thanks to my music maven Mauveine for supplying me with the good tunes time and time again. I have added her to the payroll.
A.N./ I am just doing this for fun. Writing helps me unwind and I enjoy doing it. I am not out to publish anything. So don't be hatin'. You know who you are. We are just trying to have fun.
Flack was well known all over the department for his biting, sarcastic humor. It was mostly directed at perps or uncooperative witnesses and the occasional uniform or lab tech that just rubbed him the one way. Like when Kendall had called him handsome three days ago when he came to see Sam in the trace lab. Sam had gone on a break, leaving him alone with the crime lab's resident skank, and Kendall had seized the opportunity and called him handsome and offered up her number and a chance at good time. He'd shot her down right quick and tossed the number in the garbage in front of her and called her Barbie but with less brains.
He also had no tolerance for stupid questions or the equally as stupid people that delivered them. The morning following his run in with Clint, he stood in the cold, misty rain with the collar of his trench coat up to keep the biting wind off the back of his neck, taking statements from witnesses speaking in horribly broken English in a back alley in Chinatown. A badly mutilated body lay in the middle of the narrow, garbage strewn alley several yards behind him. Being watched over by a young uniform was about to face the full force of Flack nastiness by asking a simple question.
"Need any help, sir?" the fresh faced kid innocently enough asked.
"Excuse me?" Flack asked in return, those blue eyes dark and angry as he glanced over his shoulder at the rookie officer.
"Just there's quite a few people to talk to." the uniform explained, rocking back and forth on his heels nervously, those blue eyes telling him that the detective was not having a very good morning. "Just figured maybe you could, you know, get me to talk to people. Help you out."
"What's your name?" Flack asked, looking back down at the notes he was taking in his log book.
"My name, sir?"
"Yeah. You're name. Last name. Officer..."
"Reynolds. Evan Reynolds."
"Well Officer Reynolds, first off, don't call me sir. Second, I've been on the job for the last ten years and I've been a detective for almost eight. I know how to do my damn job. If I needed help, I'd ask. So do me a favor and babysit our friend there and keep quiet."
"Ignore him." Carmen said to the red face, trembling uniform as she and Speed headed down the alley with their kits, dressed in full rain gear. "He's always mean and grumpy when he hasn't had his coffee."
"What's wrong with the big bad homicide detective this morning?" Speed asked. "Didn't get laid?"
"Not in the mood, Speedle. So just hurry along and do your science geek shit."
"Whoa." Carmen frowned. "Where'd that come from?"
"I don't know." Flack said. "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my soon to be father in law was a total prick last night and he informed me that in not so many words that I'm not good enough for his daughter and he'll never accept me as her husband and wants nothing more than to take my wife and unborn child and take care of them himself."
"Ignore that asshole." Speed told him. "He's just an overbearing, overprotective father."
"It gets better." Flack said with a rueful laugh. "I get up this morning and said wife informs me that she's taking off."
Carmen felt her stomach churn. "She's dumping you?" she asked in horror.
"No. Taking off as in going to Arizona. For two weeks. Maybe more."
"What!" Carmen freaked. "What the fuck is she thinking?"
"She thinks it's the best thing to do." Flack said with a tone that was all to clear he didn't share the same thought. "You know, to calm things down with her father."
"And you obviously don't agree." Speed observed.
"She's almost four months pregnant. We're just getting out of that crucial first trimester. She's suppose to avoid stress. And now she's going to be thousands of miles away where I couldn't get to her quickly if something happened? It's fucking bullshit."
"Hey, I am totally on your side here," Speed told him. "I'd be pissed as hell, too. Maybe there's a chance she won't go. Mac has the final say in whether he can spare her. And she'd have to get permission from her doctor to fly."
"Done and done." Flack said irritably. "She had phone calls in to both before I even got up. Mac said he understood and to go ahead. Her doctor let her go 'cause it's a short flight and her BP is under control with meds. So I am screwed."
"When does she leave?" Carmen asked, mentally taking notes to kick Sam's ass when she got back to the lab.
"Tonight." Flack replied. "Flight leaves at quarter after nine."
"What?" Carmen nearly shrieked. "Tonight? I'm tellin' ya right now, when I get back to that lab, I will tan her ass."
"You know what I'm worried about?" Flack asked them. "I'm worried she's gonna get there and Sarge will put some bullshit in her head and she won't come back. You know what he told her? That's there's lots of nice guys there who won't mind taking care of her and the baby."
"Don't put up with that shit, Flack." Speed said forcibly. "You know what you gotta do? Get some time off and get your ass to Arizona."
"Thought of that. Only I have to testify in court next week."
"So go afterwards." Speed said. "Show that sonofabitch you're the perfect man for his daughter. And you know she'll come back. Why wouldn't she?"
Flack shrugged his broad shoulders.
"She loves you, Don." Carmen re-assured him. "You're going to be her husband. You're the father of her baby. Of course she's coming back. What I don't get is what she's thinking even going there."
"I understand in a way." Flack said. "She wants to smooth things out. She feels if she goes there, it'll calm her father down. I get that. I'm just worried about her and the baby. I don't want something happening to them and I'm all the way in New York."
"Maybe I can go with her." Carmen suggested. "Gives her an ally. Would you feel better if I went with her?"
"You don't have to do that, Carmen." Flack told her somberly.
"I want to. I can talk to Mac. See if he'll let me go. I know he can bring in CSIs from Jersey if he gets too swamped. Would you feel better? Knowing I was there with her?"
"Honestly? Yeah. I would."
She smiled. "Say no more. As soon as we finish up here and we get back, I'll find Mac."
Flack nodded in appreciation. "Thanks, Carmen."
"I'm worried, too." she said. "And Sam would do the same for me."
"She would." Flack agreed. "Almost scary how close you two are."
"The gruesome twosome." Speed quipped.
Carmen swatted him upside the head.
Flack cracked a smile. "Speaking of gruesome." he said, switching into detective mode. "I've got a good one for you guys. Evisceration at its gory best."
Carmen grimaced. "You always catch the pretty ones, Flack."
"They seem to follow me around. What you guys say we get to work?"
Speed nodded. "I'd say that's a good idea." he said.
Carmen was a woman on a mission two hours later when she breezed into the trace lab. A load of samples to be tested in her hands. Her hair still damp from working outside in the rain but feeling warm and toasty in a fresh pair of dry clothes. Kendall was across the room, by the window over looking midtown, her I-pod blaring music into her ears and her head bobbing along to a tune unheard by anyone else in the room. Carmen wondered if the princess knew how ridiculous she looked. And if Samantha knew about her ill fated attempt at picking Flack up three days ago. Carmen doubted both. Kendall was too high and mighty on herself to ever think she was anything less than perfect, and if Sam had known about the attempted pick-up, Kendall would be one of Sid's many customers in the morgue.
But Kendall wasn't Carmen's concern. Not today anyway. No, today her beef lay solely with the only other person working in that room. Hunched over a microscope, clad in a white lab coat and completely oblivious to Carmen stalking across the room as her attention was intently focused on that sample in front of her and her own I-pod blaring music into her ears. First thing Carmen did when she reached that work station was slam her samples down on the top of the desk. Second was to yank the earphones out of them pretty little ears.
"Oww!" Sam complained, her head snapping up to face the culprit and rubbing her now tender ears. "What the hell Carmen!?"
"You better be glad you're pregnant, because otherwise I'd be bitch slapping some sense into you, Sammie girl." she fumed, tossing the earphones at her.
"Someones in a good mood this morning." Sam quipped and put one earphone back in.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Carmen asked.
"Working trace."
"That's not what I mean. I mean deciding to go to Arizona without even talking to me about it."
Sam smirked. "Never realized I needed your permission to do things."
"You're like a sister to me, Samantha. I'm worried about you and the baby. You know that. And I can't understand why you'd decide to put yourself and your baby at risk by flying."
"The baby is not a risk." Sam assured her. "I talked to the doctor and she said it was okay for me to go."
"Did you forget we're suppose to be moving into the new place at the end of the month? Have you even packed?"
"What's there to pack? I came to New York with a hockey bag, two suitcases and a carry on. It's all clothes and shoes and personal stuff. I don't own anything like furniture. And just in case I'm not back by then, I talked to Adam and Danny and Hawkes and they said they'd help Tim and Don move all your things. Even Mac offered."
Carmen's hands were on her slender hips, eyes blazing. "You just thought of everything didn't you." she said dryly.
"Pretty much."
"Except for the fact you leaving is going to break Flack's heart."
"I'll be back in two weeks, three at the most. He's a big boy. He survived this long without me."
"That is not the point. All the drama that poor man has been through with you and this baby and you don't think he won't be worried sick the entire time you're gone Goddammit, Samantha! How can someone so smart be such a dumb ass? You know this isn't a good idea. Do you enjoy emotionally torturing him?"
"No."
"Did he do something you feel the need to punish him for?"
"Of course not."
"Then why the hell are you tormenting him like this? He's madly and desperately in love with you and his child and you're taking off is nothing short of torture for the poor guy. And he's got this crazy idea in his head that you'll change your mind about him and not come back."
"I told him this morning that that would never happen. I love him. With all that I am and all that I have. And I'm not doing this to hurt him. I'm doing this to help him. To help us."
"You have got a seriously fucked up thought process." Carmen declared.
"If I go willingly, it calms my father down. And when he's calm, I can talk to him better and convince him that Don and I are happy and that he's perfect for me and that he treats me good and will be a great husband and an amazing father."
"You're suppose to avoid stress." Carmen reminded her. "Not tackle it head on."
"There'll be no stress." Sam assured her.
"Yeah, right. What happens if you get cramps and bleeding again? How is Flack suppose to get all the way to Arizona in time to help you through that?"
"They have excellent hospitals there, Carmen. And my mom will be with me." Sam gathered up her tray of samples, enclosed in tiny glass tubes, and carried them over to the GC/MS machine for processing.
Carmen followed her. "That isn't the point, Samantha. The point is Don shouldn't have to worry himself sick because you made some rash decision."
"Carmen, I love you. You know I do. But this is for the best. Okay? I have to do this."
"Fine. You have to do this so bad? Then I'm coming with you."
Sam laughed. "What? You can't do that?'
"Oh yes, I can. Flack can't be there 'cause he has to testify in court next week. Well I don't and I'm the next best thing to him being there."
Sam opened up the lid on the GC/MS machine and carefully placed her samples in a vial at a time and the closed and locked the lid. She pressed a few buttons and hit start to begin the lengthy processing. "Don't be crazy, Carmen." she said and headed back to her work station.
Carmen followed her once more. "What's wrong? Don't want me there?"
"It's not that." Sam said.
"Only reason why you wouldn't want me there is if you're hiding something."
"What?" Sam shook her head and began preparing some more samples. "No. I'm not hiding anything."
"Got a guy you're planning on meeting when you get there?"
Sam frowned. "I can not believe you'd say that!"
"So why can't I tag along? I'll be support for you. An ally. What's the issue? Why can't I come?"
"I never said you couldn't." Sam said.
"Good. 'Cause I've got the money for the ticket and I'll even give your folks some cash for letting me stay there." Satisfied she'd lay down the law, Carmen headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" Sam called after her.
"To talk to Mac. Get some vacation time." Carmen returned. "I've always wanted to see the desert."
"No."
Carmen, seated on a chair in front of Mac's desk, arched an eyebrow. "No?" she inquired, puzzled.
"No." Mac repeated. "As in no I can't let you go to Arizona."
"I'm not asking you to part the red sea here, Mac. I've got zero absences since I started her and I'm third behind Stella and Sam for solved cases."
"You're work record isn't in question, Carmen." Mac told her, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "Nor is your attendance record. You're probably my most reliable, dependable CSI. I just can't afford to spare you."
"But you said yourself if you ever needed people to help out you could call Jersey PD and..."
"Their lab is swamped. I already called when Lindsay left to see if they could spare someone and they couldn't. And now that Samantha is out of the field for who knows how long, my lack of staff situation just got worse."
"But you let Sam go!" Carmen argued.
"In essence, Samantha is no longer a CSI. At this point she's a lab tech. A highly qualified and hellishly expensive one at that."
"Don't ever let her hear you call her a lab tech." Carmen said.
Mac grinned. "She is safely out of ear shot. How is she doing, Carmen? Being stuck in the lab?"
"She hates it." Carmen answered honestly. "She curses about it every single day. You know how sensitive she is about being pulled off the street."
Mac nodded. "For her health and the health of her and Flack's baby, it was the only choice I had." he said.
"For her health and the health of the baby you should have said no when she asked to go." Carmen told him.
Mac smirked.
Carmen blushed slightly. "I am so sorry. I did not mean that the way it came out. I am in no way telling you how to do your job, Mac. I just...I'm worried about her. I don't want anything happening to her or the baby."
"Neither do I." he said with sigh. "But she assured me she'd be fine and I even spoke to her doctor and she told me herself that it was safe for Samantha to fly and that if she had have had any concerns whatsoever, she wouldn't have let her go."
Carmen sighed.
"I'm sorry I can't let you go." Mac said sincerely."I just can't spare you."
"I understand. Like I said, I'm just worried."
"We all are. Believe me."
The phone on top of Mac's desk began to ring and he looked at it with disdain.
"Probably Sinclair." he said with a heavy sigh. "I've been after him to allow me to hire some new staff. I need someone to take Lindsay's place. And then when Samantha goes on maternity leave..."
"We're screwed." Carmen finished. She got up and headed for the door.
"Carmen." Mac called to her.
She turned to face him.
"I'd let you go if I could. You know that."
"I know. And I understand Mac. I just hope nothing happens with the baby while she's there and we're all here. It would kill Flack."
"I know. And unfortunately, he can't be spared right now either. And that's right from Gerrard."
"That man is such a goddamn peach." Carmen declared. Then realizing what she'd just said, sheepishly added. "Sorry."
"I think of things a lot worse." Mac laughed. He picked up the phone. "Detective Taylor." he answered. "Can you hold on for one moment, Chief?" he covered the receiver with his hand. "I really am sorry, Carmen."
"I know. So am I. But thanks anyway, Mac. It didn't hurt to ask."
He smiled and held up the phone.
"Good luck with that." Carmen said and slipped out of the office.
It didn't hurt to ask, but the answer sure did.
The rain hammered down. It was seven thirty at night and the sky was all ready pitch black. Wind rattled the windows of Flack's unmarked squad car. Visibility was poor on the slick roads and traffic was heavy along the midtown tunnel and all the way on the Long Island Expressway. I-495 was the easiest and most direct route from midtown to JFK airport in Queens, but it was in no way the easiest. Traffic was always backed up on the LIE regardless of time of day or weather conditions. In fact, it was not uncommon to see bumper stickers on other cars that read: I TAKE THE LIE, PLEASE PRAY FOR ME.
Going east on this particular evening seemed to be taking longer than usual. Flack had driven east on the expressway in blinding snow storms and hurricane like conditions during peak traffic hours and he'd never come across worst drivers or as many of them. Didn't help that the poor visibility had slowed things down considerably and by the looks of things, a half hour drive was going to turn into an hour, maybe even an hour and a half. He wasn't even half way to the Van Wyck South turn off that led directly to the airport. His nerves were shot, his patience on short supply and there was an ache in his chest unattributed to the bombing that he couldn't get rid of. At least the drive was made more peaceful when Sam managed to talk her parents into taking an cab to the airport, convincing them she had errands to run before she could leave. In reality, she had just wanted that last half an hour with Flack all to herself. And he was grateful for that.
Only neither of them had said two words to each other from the moment they'd gotten into the car. They had both come to realize that there was nothing more to be said between them. She knew where he stood on her going to Arizona. He was firmly against it and even if she explained her reasoning until she was blue in the face and put as much as a positive spin on it as possible, there was nothing that would change his mind. He said he understood why she felt the need to go. That it was her choice to make. She was a big girl and more than capable of making her own decisions. He wasn't going to fight with her. Not only was a nasty blow up bad for both her and the baby, he knew, stubborn as she was, that her mind was made up and there was no way to change it. And he wasn't about to force her to stay or forbid her to go.
Yet for Sam, that was what she wanted him to do. She'd always prided herself in being independent and had always sworn up and down she'd never, ever rely on a man for anything. She had convinced herself a long time ago that they couldn't be relied on. And now all she wanted was for this man to take complete and utter charge and tell her there was no way in hell he was letting her go. In her mind, that would show her just how far he was willing to go to keep her safe and protected. She wanted him to just say fuck this and turn that car around and keep her right where she was. She'd stay if he did. All she wanted was for him to let her and Sarge know that that he was the boss in that relationship and he was calling the shots from here on out. And that it was his job to make sure she, and their unborn child, were okay.
But she knew he wouldn't do it and that she wouldn't tell him she wanted him to. Two incredibly stubborn, strong personalities mixed together. She would never admit she needed and wanted him that badly, and he'd never actually do it because he respected her independence and strong will.
One of these days, someone was going to break. And neither wanted it to be them.
Flack was pissed. Not necessarily at her, but at her father for putting her in such a situation. He didn't understand how a father, knowing the kind of problems his daughter was having and how risky the pregnancy had been so far, could put her through such an emotional ringer. Didn't he care about her health and well being? Or that of the child she was carrying? It made no sense to Flack at all.
"The weather is really bad." Sam said, stating the obvious but needing the smallest thing to break the chill in the car.
"They said on the news is was going to be like this." he reminded her, reaching forward to turn up the heat and the speed on the windshield wipers. "Why anyone would fly in this is beyond me. I can't even believe they haven't grounded some flights yet."
"Takes a lot worse to ground flights, you know that." Sam said, sipping a cup of hot chocolate. It was unseasonably chilly outside and despite her long sleeve sweater and denim jacket, she still had the shivers. And a slight sore throat and neck ache to suggest she had more than likely come down with something.
"Wishful thinking I guess." he said with a sigh and eased his foot onto the brake as traffic came to a complete stand still.
Sam knew where he was coming from. She'd been praying since they'd left the lab that traffic would be bad enough to keep them from reaching JFK in time. She checked the clock on the Buick's dashboard. Quarter eight. The flight left at quarter after nine. There was still a chance they'd be sitting in that exact spot of the LIE for a long time.
"Maybe I should get off at the next cut off." Flack suggested, turning down the PBR. The damn thing was turning a small tension head ache into a massive migraine that hit him right between the eyes and at base of this skull.
"Why?" Sam asked, hoping he'd come to his senses and was just going to turn around all together and take her home.
"I can take Jamaica Way to the airport too. Still take as long 'cause of the extra distance, but at least there won't be this kind of traffic. I think that's our best bet if..."
"No." Sam said quickly. Abruptly.
He glanced over at her.
"I mean, let's just keep going this way. I like this way better."
Flack knew that she hated the LIE. If she had to drive it for a crime scene, she'd use the Avalanche GPS to plot out an entirely different route. Even if it took her longer to get there. And every time they drove it together, she was always saying how grateful she was that he was driving and how all the other motorists were nuts and she couldn't stand all the traffic.
He wasn't going to call her on the obvious lie. It would only cause an arguement and he didn't want the last hour or so together to be spent arguing. The pause in driving gave him a chance to massage his aching neck and take a sip out of the take out cup of coffee resting in the holder between their seats.
Samantha sneezed noisily. Then again. Then a third time. Then cleared her throat noisily.
He paused just as he went to take a sip of the coffee. "You sick?" he asked.
"No." she replied, although the scratchy quality to her voice told him the opposite. She sipped her hot chocolate, attempting to soothe her throat.
"You sound like shit." he told her.
"Thanks. That's very sweet of you, Don."
"If you're sick, you're not going." he informed her.
"I am not sick." she insisted. "It's just a little cold. Nothing major."
"Yeah? Well things have a way of turning major when it comes to you." Flack told her.
Sam sighed. "I don't want to fight."
"Am I fighting? I'm not fighting. I just don't want you to get sick. That's all I meant. 'Cause when things happen to you, Samantha, it always seems like you get the worst case scenario."
"Things follow me around." she said.
"No kidding." he sighed and sipped some coffee. "I think this traffic followed you, too."
"It's way worse than usual." she agreed.
He nodded. "Don't worry. I'll still get you there in time."
She was about to say I don't want to get there in time, when she was interrupted after the word I by his cell phone ringing. She clamped her mouth shut and watched him as he leaned forward to snatch the phone off the dash. He had promised that he wouldn't take any calls the entire drive there or while he was at the airport. That he didn't want anything interrupting their time together. And here he was, answering the damn phone. She sighed and shook her head and stared out her window. She understood his time was never his own in this job, but just once she'd like to go at least an hour without his phone ringing.
He heard the soft sigh and saw the roll of the eyes and the shake of her head and the way she moved closer to the window and pretended to be interested in the night time scenery. She always had the same reaction when they were out somewhere or in the middle of something and his phone rang. Intimate situations were the worst. But she of all people he thought would understand the ramifications if he didn't answer. Especially if it was dispatch or someone important. He checked the caller id.
Gerrard. Shit. Not good when the old bastard gave you a personal call.
"Flack." he answered simply.
"I come into the station on my night off to check on everyone's progress when I could be at home relaxing and spending time with my family, and you know what I find, Flack?"
You couldn't find your ass with a road map, Flack thought. "What's that, sir?" he asked, taking the polite approach.
"I find a big, fat case load on your desk and you nowhere to be found." Gerrard snapped.
"Sir, I..."
"This is getting to be a habit with you, Flack.Taking off whenever you feel like it."
"I didn't take off, sir. I cleared some time with the duty captain so I could take my pregnant wife to the airport."
"She's not your wife." Gerrard informed him gruffly.
"Well she as good as and I wasn't letting her find her own way to the airport and make her fend for herself." Flack told him. "I'll be back in an hour, hour and a half tops."
"Be back here in an hour, Flack, or you'll be riding a desk for a very, very long time."
"What was that, sir? I didn't hear you." he lied. "My signal is bad in this weather."
"I said you be back in an hour or..."
"I can't hear you, sir. Somethings wrong with my phone. I have to hang up before it disconnects you."
"Flack, I am telling you right now..."
"I can't make out what you're saying. I have to hang up." he pressed end on the phone and tossed it back onto the dash.
Samantha just sipped her hot chocolate and stared out the window.
"Now what's your problem?" he asked.
"Your phone." she answered simply.
"Look, I know I said..."
"It doesn't matter." she cut him off.
"If I hadn't have answered that, Gerrard woulda handed me my ass when I got back." he told her.
"Whatever. It's done now. So you can drop me off and go back to work."
"It's not like that and you know it." Flack told her.
"I said fine, whatever. Drop it."
"Jesus, Sam. I'm here, aren't I?"
"Don, I said drop it."
"Fine. You want to make this more painful then this has to be, that's fine."
She glared at him. "You always have to turn things bad, don't you?"
"You started this." he pointed out.
"Would you just drop it, Don? Let's just not speak so it avoids you getting nasty."
"Me? Nasty?" he shook his head. "This coming from the queen of mood swings."
"Just be quiet and drive. Okay?"
He sighed heavily and silently wished for some Tylenol. A whole bottle preferably. Because as much as he loved this woman, she was starting to make that head ache even worse. The traffic began to move again. At a snail's pace. They inched along for several minutes before he finally spoke again.
"You gonna call me when you get to your parents?" he asked.
"I'll see." she replied.
He frowned. "'What kind of dumb answer is that?"
"You may be too busy to answer." she replied.
Her offhanded, flippant way was just too much for him to handle. "What the hell do you want from me, Samantha?" he snapped, noticing her visibly flinch at the harshness in his voice. "Why do you have to bitch at me constantly!?"
"You said you wouldn't take any calls!" she shot back. "No. Correction. You promised you wouldn't take any calls!"
"It was Gerrard! What choice did I have!"
"You should have just ignored it and let the voice mail get it." she huffed, arms crossed over her chest like a spoiled rotten little girl who'd just been told she couldn't have her own way and was sulking about it.
"Right." he said with a slight chuckle. "Why don't I just personally hand him my badge?"
"Don't be so dramatic." she sighed, rolling her eyes.
"I am not being dramatic. You are." he argued.
"Would you just do me a favor and be quiet and drive?" she asked, sugary sweet.
What he would have given for her to be man for just five minutes so he could knock the shit out of her. She just knew how to push his buttons and did it every damn chance she got. But instead of fighting back, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly and decided to take a calmer approach to her.
"Talk to me." he said. "Stop being such a bitch and just talk to me."
"Tell you what, Don. When you stop being such an immature asshole, I will do just that."
"Excuse me? I'm immature? You can't be serious. You sitting there and acting like a spoiled rotten little bitch who can't have her own way? You have got to be kidding me."
"Well you get arguing with me so it makes you just as petty as me." she reasoned. "So do me a favor and shut up and..."
"Excuse me?" he asked. "You did not just tell me to shut up. Please tell me you just did not say that."
She smiled that phony, sugary sweet smile once again. "Live with it." she said.
That was it. He just couldn't take it anymore. That was the last straw. He roughly yanked the steering wheel to the right and dangerously cut through two lanes of traffic, narrowly missing getting into at least one accident, before coming to a halt on the shoulder of the LIE. He put the car in park.
"What the hell were you thinking!" Sam shrieked. "You coulda got us killed!"
"Car has airbags." he reasoned.
"What are you doing? We need to..."
"What we need to do is talk. First off, don't ever tell me to shut up ever again. I promised you I'd never say it to you again, so you show me the same respect and don't say it to me. Second, we're both pretty pissed off. So you tell me what the hell has gotten you so wound up."
"I'm tired of being put second to your job!" she cried, tears welling in her eyes.
"Okay...and I'm tired of you making decisions without me."
"It was the right decision to make! You know that, Don. And I'm tired of you not sticking up for me and not taking control of things and just letting me do what I want!"
"You made this decision on your own, Samantha. I don't want you to go. But I also don't want to put any more stress on you and the baby. And as far as sticking up for you goes, I stuck up for you in front of your damn father twice now! Last night and when he came down to New York months ago and showed up at my desk. So don't fucking tell me I never stick up for you. 'Cause I would stick up for you come hell or high water and you know that. I'd give up everything for you. Hell, I would die for you for Christ sakes!"
"But you're just letting me go! You're not even trying to stop me! You just said okay, that I'm a big girl, do what you want."
"It's what you wanted, Samantha!" he argued.
"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I want you to stop me from leaving? That if you showed you even cared in the slightest I wouldn't go. Instead you just let me do whatever I want!"
Flack had never been so confused in his life. "Are you crazy? You bought a non-refundable airline ticket because you want me to stop you from going?"
She nodded and sniffled noisily and brushed tears off her face.
"What the fuck is wrong with you? You wanted to be strong and independent and I'm letting you!"
"I'm just so tired of being that way." she said, her voice quiet. "I need you to be and want you to be in control of all of this. Of us. I want you to show me you care enough to stop me from going. And maybe this does make me sound a bit crazy, but it's the truth.'
He leaned forward in his seat, elbows on the steering wheel, his face in his hands. "This is fucking nuts." he declared, running his hands down his face and settling back against his seat. "I love you, Samantha, but you're nuts. You really are. And you're going to drive me nuts."
"I love you." she said. "I don't want to loose you."
"You're not going to loose me. Okay? I'm not going anywhere. It's just all of this stuff with you?" he shook his head and closed his eyes briefly. "I can't take this sometimes. I'm being honest. I can't. As much as I love you, you're just pushing me to the breaking point Samantha."
She sniffled noisily and stared down at her hands.
"Fine. You want me to take charge? Want me to be in control? Fine. You're not going. In fact, I'm taking the next exit and I am dropping you off at home and you're going to call your father and tell him I said you're not going. Okay? And if he gives you a hard time, tell him I said to call me and me and him will have a nice little talk."
"Was that so hard?" she asked, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her jacket.
He snorted and shook his head. "You never make anything easy, do you."
"No one said life was easy, Flack." she said light heartedly.
"Yeah? Well live with you shouldn't be this hard."
"Come on," she said. "If it wasn't this hard, you'd be bored."
"I'd be sane though."
"Please. You'd miss me if I wasn't around."
"I have to admit. Things would be pretty dull." he said.
She frowned. "I was hoping for something a little romantic and sweet."
"You know, you keep owing me all these favors for the shit you make me put up with." he informed her. "Driving you all this way, putting up with your dad."
"What kind of favors?" she inquired.
"The kind where I cuff you to the bed and do dirty things to you." he grinned.
She managed a smile. "When did you say you had to be back at work?" she asked.
"I've got about an hour and fifteen minutes before Gerrard hands me my ass."
She smiled and reached over to switch the car into drive. "Then you better use lights and sirens to get us home." she said.
"Why is it every time we fight, we always seem to have sex afterwards?" Samantha asked.
They were in the living room, his lips were on her slender, silky neck, his hands up the front of her chenille sweater. One was trailing down her side to her hip while the fingertips of the other were grazing along the bottom edge of her bra before slipping up to cup her breast, his thumb teasing the nipple through the satin fabric.
"Because," he said, speaking between kisses to her ear and her neck. "Make up sex is the best."
"As opposed to all the other times when it's just plain crappy?" she asked, her own hands busying themselves by yanking his shirt from his pants and then undoing the buttons. Having long dispensed of his jacket and tie.
"That is so not true and you know it."
"Okay. So its mediocre." she said, getting that last button undone and yanking his shirt from his pants. She reached for his belt.
"I don't exactly hear you saying no or telling me to hurry up or get off or you or anything." he told her, pulling away from her long enough to take off his shirt and then his wife beater, tossing them both aside before tugging off her sweater for her.
"I just lie there and think of David Beckham." she teased.
"He's got nothing up on me." Flack said and grabbed her by her hips and yanked her against him. Kissing her deeply and hungrily.
Her hands were on his back and she slid them up and across his smooth, broad shoulders, then down his back once more. Around to his waist, her fingers once again working on his belt. His hands slipped down the back of her pants and squeezed her ass firmly through her lace panties.
She moaned into his mouth and hurriedly finished his belt, moving on to the button and the zipper on his pants. Quickly unfastening them and sneaking her hands down the front of his boxers and finding him ready, willing and able.
He groaned and pulled away from the kiss. "You're goddamn hands are freezing." he complained.
"That's why I'm trying to warm them up." she giggled and continued what she was doing.
It didn't take long before he was yanking her hands off of him and was stripping her of her bra, and then her pants and her undies, letting the latter two items fall to her ankles.
She kicked them away and he grabbed her and kissed her again, his tongue greedy as it searched for hers, a hand on the back of her neck and the other on her hip as he gently nudged her backwards in the direction of the couch. No messing around tonight. It had taken half an hour just to reach the apartment, leaving him just under an hour to do his thing and get back to work. She yanked his pants and boxers down, letting them pool at his ankles and almost causing him to trip over them as he steered her to the couch. The back of her legs hit the piece of furniture and she almost tumbled backwards, only to quickly turn the tables on him so that he had his back to the couch instead. She put her hands on his chest and pushed him down heavily into a sit.
"Thought you wanted me to be in charge." he said with a grin.
"I do. But right this second, I have the urge to be in control. Is that okay?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"If you want to get off? No."
She leaned over him to kiss him deeply and straddled him, a hand closing around his cock, guiding it towards her opening, her other hand clutching his shoulders as she lowered herself slowly onto him. Adjusting her legs and hips just right so she could take him in as deep as she could.
He groaned into her mouth, his fingers bit into her slender hips.
She drew back and smiled at him, moving slowly. "It's kinda nice having the upper hand." she said.
"Yeah?" he slid his hand off her hip and onto her thigh, then slipped it between them. "Question is this," he said as his fingers found her throbbing clit. "How long do you think you can keep the upper hand?" he rubbed her clit firmly.
She cried out and her body jerked involuntarily, taking him impossibly deeper. He caught one of her nipples in his mouth and sucked greedily as he thrust into her over and over again. She groaned and pleaded for more and he obliged, shifting to her other breast and suckling that nipple as thoroughly.
She was close to climax. He gently scored her skin with his teeth, then bit softly. She came undone, her body moved ever faster, stroking up and down, screaming his name and throwing her head back in wild abandon. Her fingernails dug painfully into his shoulders and then down his arms. She dropped her head down to kiss him and bit his bottom lip. Hard. Those inner muscles tightened around him and he came powerfully and relentlessly deep inside of her, groaning her name into her warm, moist mouth.
She collapsed into him, her hands finding his and holding them tightly. Her head resting on his shoulder. Their breathing was labored, their body glistening with sweat. Hearts pounding in unison.
Eventually she sat up, smiled dreamily and kissed him softly.
"Imagine if we had have done that in the car on the side of the LIE." he quipped.
"You do have a squad car fantasy." she laughed.
"It's my dirty little secret." he admitted.
"Well maybe one day, Detective Flack..." she kissed his forehead, his nose, his chin and his lips. "I'll make every fantasy come true."
He kissed her delicately and looked deep into her eyes. "You all ready have." he said.
Thanks to all of you reading and reviewing and enjoying. You guys are the reason I keep going. I hope you continue to enjoy this and being positive. Today I am plugging:
Aphina: Devine Intervention, What Ifs (with Madison Bellows) and Finding Kate (over in Miami land)
laplandgurl: A Magnet for Trouble
EvaFlack001: For Kate's Sake