DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CSI:NY OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. I DO HOWEVER, OWN SAMANTHA ROSS.

A/N: HOW DO YOU LIKE THE NAME CHANGE FOLKS? THE MUSE WASN'T HAPPY WITH THE FIRST ONE. SHE WANTED ME TO FIND SOMETHING TO STICK WITH THE WHOLE BROOKLYN THEME.

AND WHAT'S SAMTANA YOU ASK? A LITTLE NICKNAME THE OTHER HALF CAME UP FOR OUR TWO GIRLS IN THIS. I COULD NOT RESIST USING IT.

BIG THANKS TO TPTB (as much as it nauseates me to thank them for anything) AND MAC AND PEYTON FOR THIS SONG.


Loving Samtana

"So come with me to a place that we don't know
If you need some inspiration before we go, just know
It's the way I have fallen in with you
Come with me, I just wanna say hello
It's the way I have fallen in with you
On the way, we can wash off in the stream
So come with me to a river I have seen
Time is waiting for the lightning to arrive
You can tell that's the way I'll survive
You can take my life but I'll never die
Driving around, nothing to do
We just made a bad decision, that's alright
So here we are now, a couple of fools
You can tell that's the way I'll survive
You can take my life, but I'll never die
Looking for the bandstand in the sky."
-Bandstand in the Sky, Pete Yorn


Lindsay and Samantha were unaware that the mercury had dropped several digits below zero. Or that the snow was falling heavily and steadily. Or that a stiff, unforgiving, bitter wind rattled windows and ice covered tree branches. They were totally oblivious to the fact it was the dead of winter as they skipped down Broadway, hand in hand, arms swinging as they went. No hats and no mitts, their coats unzipped and their scarves loose around their necks. Talking exceptionally loud and giggling even louder as Danny and Flack dutifully followed several feet behind. The beers they had consumed at the hockey game had long ago taken affect. While they were far from flat out drunk, the girls were definitely feeling good and were feeling no ill effects from the frigid temperatures. The guys on the other hand, had stopped around the fourth beer after it became more than apparent that they were being entrusted to be the sober ones for the evening. The guardians and the protectors.

And that was fine with them.

The hockey game had proven to be one of the most enjoyable, fun and laughter filled nights that the four of them had ever experienced. Danny had won the block of four tickets when he'd managed to be the tenth caller to an online radio contest and than correctly answered five trivia questions regarding the history of the New York Rangers. Tickets were just way too damn expensive to purchase that day in age, not to mention practically impossible to come by, and it had been a monumental moment when he'd gotten that last question right and was told he'd won those tickets. Danny's now famous happy dance around the lab would be remembered for a long, long time. And while the Rangers had gone on to defeat the Boston Bruins 4-0, the real fun had been in spending time together as friends. Drinking and laughing and teasing each other good naturedly. Danny and Flack both seeing the softer, more loving sides of each other when it came to the most important beings in their lives.

Who at the moment had stopped long enough to purchase themselves soft pretzels and hot chocolate from a street vendor at the corner of Broadway and East 78th.

"So things are good?" Danny asked his best friend, as they slowly gained ground on their girls. "With you and Brooklyn?"

Flack nodded and wrapped the pink earphones around the matching Ipod he held in his hand. "Things are going real good, Dan-o."

"Come on…that's all your going to give me? You're usually a little more talkative about the women you're with. What gives? Not sure what you're feeling for her? Or how you're feeling?"

Flack shook his head and tucked the Ipod into his pocket. "Totally opposite," he told his best friend. "And that's what's freaking me out a bit. I know how I'm feeling about her. I've never felt that way about anyone in my entire life. You know, that whole 'all consuming, overwhelming, the world will end if I can't have you' type thing. And honestly, it's scaring the shit out of me."

"Understandable," Danny agreed with a nod. "There's times, especially after all the insanity and bullshit and pain we went through only to come together all over again, that I'm still freaked out over the way I feel about Lindsay. And how far we've come and how much we've managed to survive. Seems surreal sometimes, you know? I look at her and she gives me that smile, and I just about damn near die. I think about how many times I hurt her and let her down, and how she took me back in the end regardless of all that. How can a woman love someone that much?"

Flack shrugged. "'Cause she's insane?" he teased.

"Very funny, Flack," Danny frowned. "All I'm trying to get at is that I know what you're feeling and where you're coming from. It's alright to be scared shitless. As long as it, and her, are exactly what you want. That you're not torturing yourself for no reason."

"She's worth all the torment and aggravation, trust me," Flack said. "I waited a year to do anything about how I felt, so there's no way she's getting away now. And I don't want her going anywhere. I want her with me. It just feels right, you know? I feel right. My life feels right."

"We're goddamn saps," Danny declared. "Listen to us. Waxing poetic about our women. Spilling out our guts about undying, unconditional love and all that crap. Here I am, months away from spending the rest of my life with the woman of my dreams. And here you are, finally getting your head out of your ass and finding your own happily ever after with the woman of your dreams. I mean, that's what she is to you, right?"

"She's everything I've ever wanted and more," Flack admitted. "I'm not ready to take the walk down the aisle of marital bliss, but sometime in the near future I'm sure I will be. Just how do I know she's feeling the same thing for me? That she's thinking about all of that too?"

"Ever thought of just coming right out and asking her?" Danny inquired. "You know, the whole open lines of communication?"

"I sort of asked her tonight about stuff like that," Flack responded. "Testing the waters so to speak. See how she felt about marriage and kids. How she thought about them with me."

"And? What did she say?"

"She said she thought about it from time to time. And than reminded me how we agreed to take things slow and not rush into things. I could tell she was pretty freaked out the way I was talking."

"I wouldn't take it personally," Danny said. "I think she's more freaked because of what she went through not too long ago with that ex of hers than she is because she's not feeling that way about you. I mean, she's wearing your ring, right? She's not with any guys other than you. Not that you know of, anyway."

"What do you mean not that I know of? She's not with anyone other than me, Danny. That I'm a hundred percent sure of. We spend more of our nights after shifts together, splitting our time between each other's places. And the nights we aren't together, we're on the phone. In between all of that we work together. She doesn't have time to be with anyone else. And even if she did, I think I'd know."

"So that what's the deal? You guys are in a solid, monogamous, committed relationship. She's only got you, you only got her. So why do you need verbal confirmation about all that other stuff?"

Flack shrugged. "Guess I'd just feel better if I heard it from her."

"Don't you see it? When she smiles at you and looks at you? Don't you feel it when she touches you?"

"Absolutely. She just has to brush up against me or smile at me across the room and I know how she feels and what she wants."

"Than that right there is worth it's weight in gold. You don't need the words when she's telling you in other ways. That's a strong, powerful bond you guys have if you're experiencing all that so soon into things. Took Linds and I a bit longer to get to that level. But once we got it.." Danny shook his head. "Amazing. Phenomenally amazing to have to kind of love with someone. And I've learned never to take that kind of thing for granted. 'Cause it would suck shit to ever lose that."

Flack grinned. "You started out so intense and romantic at the beginning and ended up so Danny Messer at the end," he chuckled.

"Can't lose all of my identity," Danny laughed. "I'm more than just Montana's future hubby, you know. Still gotta have some Danny Messer in there somewhere. But I'm serious Flack. If you and Brooklyn are feeling that and you've got that already, hold on as tight as you can. Don't ever let go. 'Cause you're never going to find that again. You fuck things up with her, and you'll regret it."

"I'll wind up living a life of miserable, solitude," Flack sighed.

"That," Danny agreed. "And I'll have to beat your ass. 'Cause she's damn good for you and I know it and you know it. And you'll regret losing her. Trust me. 'Cause don't think you're the only guy in the world that would be into little Brooklyn. And don't doubt for a second that she could easily find someone to treat her right if you start slacking off in that department."

"So what's this?" Flack smirked. "Pearls of wisdom from Danny Messer? Are you slowly making your way from being a CSI to being a relationship coach?"

"Wise ass," Danny said and playfully shoved his friend. "I'm just attempting to help you along here. Pony up some much needed advice."

"Well, thanks," Flack laughed. "But I think I am more than capable of handling my own relationship."

"We'll see if you're still saying that when you've done some asshole thing to screw things up and it's me you come crying to. Trust me, Flack. Do not fuck things up. 'Cause you'll regret it for the rest of your life. And it would kill you to see her with someone else. Look how insanely jealous you were over that lawyer guy."

"I was not insanely jealous," he argued.

Danny raised his eyebrows and gave him a pointed look.

"Okay. So I was. But I got the girl in the end, didn't I?"

"You did," Danny nodded. "Now you just gotta make sure you keep the girl. That's the hardest part of all," he circled Lindsay's waist from behind with his arms as he and Flack finally caught up. "Especially with these two girls," he said and pecked his fiancee's cheek.

"Are you two talking bad about us again?" Lindsay asked, accepting her fresh pretzel from the vendor. It was steaming hot and coated in brown sugar and cinnamon. It smelled, and looked, damn good.

"It was all good talk," Danny assured her, grabbing a hold of her hand and pulling it towards his mouth and taking a huge bite out of her treat.

"Do you mind?!" she shrieked and than giggled and elbowed him in the guy playfully. "Get your own!"

"Can only afford one," he laughed. "I'm broke. I've been spending money on you all night."

Flack pulled his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and opened it and took out a ten. "Don't worry about the change," he told the vendor.

"It's nice to see some men still have manners and that chivalry is still very much alive," Lindsay told him, and motioning for him to bent down, stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "If we were both single Flack…"

"Let's not finish that sentence," Danny said, and encircling her wrist with his hand, pulled her away from the vendor and down the sidewalk.

"Danny's got that whole overprotective, jealous thing going on," Sam commented.

"He can go a bit overboard," Flack said with a nod. "But he loves her. We get a little like that for the women we love I guess."

"That all your girlfriends have been very lucky," Sam told him, taking a bit out of her pretzel.

"I was never in love with any of them," Flack said, and reaching for the zipper on her coat, did it up all the way up to her chin, than proceeded to tie the tassels on her hat. "Don't want you catching pneumonia," he reasoned, when he noticed she was watching him with a little grin, her eyebrow arched at his antics.

"You're a mighty good man, Donald Flack Jr," she declared.

"I try my best," he said, and taking either end of her scarf in her hands, he pulled her into him and covered her lips in long, soft and promising kiss.

She tasted like cinnamon and chocolate. And those tastes, mixed in with the subtle scent of her perfume that lingered in the air, held him completely and utterly captive as they stood there, kissing in the middle of the sidewalk, snow tumbling down around them, lost in their own, warm and wonderful word.

She smiled up at him as the kiss ended, her eyes sparkling, her nose crinkling. "I swear to God, I could stand here all night doing this," she said with a sigh.

"How about we go back to one of our places and do this all night there?" he suggested. "Where it's not as freezing and we can be nice and warm and relaxed."

"I think that sounds like the best idea you've had yet," she said. "But.."

"How can there be a but?" he asked. "Let's just hail a cab and take off. Danny and Lindsay can fend for themselves."

"Hey!" Danny bellowed in the distance, as he stood outside the front door of Sullivan's. "Quit acting like a horny high school couple and hurry up!"

Sam grinned up at her boyfriend. "I think they need us more than you realize. And besides, once we actually do get back to your apartment, we can spend the entire night in bed kissing if we want."

"My apartment? Is it my turn to play host already?"

"Last weekend was my place and this weekend, it's yours. Why? Is the place a mess? Or do you need to call home and make sure your other girlfriend is out of there before I arrive?"

"Both," he teased.

"Well you better get calling her than. 'Cause I don't share."

"At all?"

She shook her head.

"And here I was, getting my little heart set on some hot threesome action."

She frowned and pushed him away from her.

"Get back here," he said, and grabbed her by the scarf once more. Kissing her once more, he brushed snowflakes off of her cheeks with gentle fingertips. "Only you, Sam," he whispered, tenderness and affection and love in his eyes. "Only you."

She smiled. "You're one of three," she said, laughing as she back away from him.

"You're lucky I know you're joking," Flack told her, wrapping his arm around her slender shoulders as they headed down the sidewalk towards their friends. "And I'm going to hold you to that, you know. That whole kissing all night thing."

"I wouldn't expect nothing less of you," she said. "And it's one hell of a way to spend a Friday night."


Sullivan's was crowded. Wall to wall people. It was a mixed bag of customers. Off duty cops that exchanged polite nods and small chit chat with Flack and Danny as they pushed their way through the sea of humanity, hands clasped tightly with their girlfriends', anxious, and hopeful, to find a table. Boisterous frat boys in their backwards ball caps and baggy jeans with the crotches hanging to their knees and girls in skirts and tops three sizes too big and way too much makeup gracing what would have been attractive faces had they not tried so hard to be appealing.

They secured a table near the back, next to the entrance to the rear hallway that led to the washrooms and across from the last vacant pool table in the house. The winter coats were shrugged off and dumped on nearby stools, and while the guys staked their claim at the pool table, Sam and Lindsay retreated to the seats across from them, ordering themselves a pitcher of beer, a bottle of Jose Cuervo accompanied by two shot glasses and a massive plate of nachos.

"It's on their tab," Lindsay told the waitress, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at Danny and Flack as the frazzled college student set their order on the table.

"Do they know that?" the waitress asked. "Are you together?"

"We are," Sam confirmed. "And the hot sex they're going to get when we leave tonight is worth a pitcher of beer and nachos. Although I may have to earn the bottle of tequila."

"That's where the tongue ring comes in handy," Lindsay grinned and poured two mugs of beer.

"Exactly," Sam agreed. "I've had no complaints in the last four months."

Lindsay arched an eyebrow. "Four months? You and Flack have only been together for three months."

"I know," Sam said cheerfully. "But there was this time, after Hawkes' birthday party, you know, when we got into the B-52's a little too much and Don drove me home and we kinda…never mind. It's a long, sordid, perverted story."

"All the more reason to share it with your best friend," Lindsay declared. "The more sordid and perverted the better. So you just made a move on him, sucked it up?"

"That's the perfect way of putting it," Sam giggled. "We fooled around a bit. Nothing major. He enjoyed himself let's put it that way. And after that, for some reason he always wanted to drive me home. He was always practically tripping over himself to be done work early enough to give me a ride."

"Which kind?" Lindsay asked, eyes sparkling playfully.

"You little country girls are dirty," Sam said, reaching across the table to grab the bottle of tequila.

"No dirtier that you Brooklyn girls," the other woman laughed. "So what gives? Why haven't you two sealed the deal, as Danny calls it?"

"We've just been taking it slowly," Sam said with a shrug, pouring tequila into the two shot glasses.

"Okay. Let me get this straight. You'll give the guy head, you'll let him return the favour, but you won't go that extra, logical step? What gives with that? That I don't quite get."

"I don't know," her friend responded. "It's not that we haven't tried a few times. I just get all freaked out when we get close to penetration. I've told you about this a million times. I've got something wrong with me, I think. A problem with intimacy or something. I just can't seem to trust him with that final part. Weird, I know."

"Is it him you don't trust or yourself?" Lindsay asked.

"Why Miss Monroe," Sam grinned as she picked up the salt shaker sitting on the table. "You should have been a psychiatrist or a sex therapist."

"You're avoiding my question," Lindsay said, as Sam sprinkled salt over her curved thumb and forefinger, than held out her own hand so Sam could do the same for her.

"I'm good at that," Sam grinned, dressing her best friend's hand with salt before they both picked up their shot glasses, clinked them together, than downed the potent liquid.

"Jesus Christ," Lindsay gasped, slamming her shot glass down and hurriedly licking the salt of her hand.

Sam's eyes widened at the burn that followed the liquor and sucked the salt from her hand before washing everything down with a large swallow of beer. "Explain to me again why we do this to ourselves every Friday night?" she asked, as Lindsay poured more shots.

"Because we just do," her best friend replied. "There's no rhyme or reason. We just do it."

"Yeah, well my liver is seriously telling me that these binges are not appreciated," Sam said. "Not to mention how I'm going to be feeling tomorrow morning. Last Friday, I spent the majority of the early mornings curled up against the cold porcelain of my toilet while my boyfriend enjoyed a queen size bed all to himself."

"Before or after he held your hair back as you puked?" Lindsay asked. "And why do we never get lemon slices with the tequila?"

"Because lemon slices are for pussies," Sam responded. "And it was after he spent an hour on his knees holding a…"

"An hour, huh?" Lindsay grinned devilishly. "Lucky you."

"Holding a cold wet face cloth to my forehead," Sam informed her. "Get your mind out of the gutter. Mind you, he has spent just as long doing the act you were referring to."

"God bless him," Lindsay giggled. "And lucky you for snagging a guy that's willing to spend that much time doing it. I love Danny, but once I finish, that's it. He's onto the main course."

"Don's all for pleasuring me for as long as he possibly can," Sam happily declared. "And trust me, the man is a damn pro. He's got some mad oral talent."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Lindsay asked, toasting her friend with her shot glass before they both pounded back the tequila. "Flack just looks like he knows what he's doing. And that he's just really, really dirty."

Sam grinned. "He's in a league of his own," she sighed happily. "Danny doesn't look like he'd be a slouch in that department either."

"I have no complaints," Lindsay said. "I am more than satisfied and so is he. But back to my original question…"

"Which one is that?" Sam asked, pouring more shots before digging into the nachos.

"You know which one. The one about maybe it's you that you don't trust."

"I was hoping you'd forgotten about that."

"Best friends don't forget stuff like that," Lindsay said. "So spill. Is it really Flack you don't trust, or is it

yourself?"

Sam sighed and considered the question.

"It's really not that hard to answer," Lindsay told her, sipping her beer. "I mean, it's either one or the other. You've been friends, really, really, really close friends with Flack for over a year now. I'm sure you've told him things. Deep, dark secrets that friends tell each other."

"Of course," Sam said. "But we were just friends, than."

"And you're not friends now?" Lindsay asked, digging into the nachos.

"Of course Don and I are friends now. We're even better friends now because we've got something stronger and so much more on top of that."

"Okay. Than how come when you didn't have that something stronger you were able to talk to him about everything and anything and now you shut him out completely?"

"I'm not shutting him out completely. Donnie and I talk. About a lot of stuff."

"And does this other stuff include why you freak out over intercourse?"

Sam sighed.

"So I'll ask this again. Why can't you tell him that kind of thing now if there's something so much stronger between the two of you?"

"Because before I didn't have to trust him with my heart, Lindsay. Before there was nothing to lose. We were friends and that was it. And now? Now there's everything to lose."

"And so much to gain," Lindsay pointed out.

"The last man I trusted to that extend, fucked me over, Linds," Sam told her. "Zack was the last man I ever gave myself to. Wholly and completely. And look what happened there. So excuse me if I have some issues trusting men."

"And have you told Flack that that's the reason why you haven't been able to sleep with him?"

"Not exactly. I can't just come out and tell him that. He's already had the tempter tantrum when I made the mistake of lumping him and Zack in the same category over something else."

"And do you blame him? Zack was a prick. Plain and simple. The way he treated you for three years, especially what he did at the very end? That guy deserves to be shot and pissed on. And for you to even think about comparing Flack to him in any way? I could kick your ass for that."

"I never said that he was like Zack," Sam defended herself. "I just said that the last person I got involved with that deep was Zack and that ended really, really bad."

"Which is just like comparing him to Zack," Lindsay argued. "Look, Sammie, you're my best friend. And I love you to pieces and there's nothing I wouldn't do for you. But Flack…Flack means a lot to me. When the whole Rikki Sandoval thing happened, you and Flack were the ones that really stepped up and supported me and helped me through things. He's like a brother to me. So I really feel the need to defend him here."

"Linds, I never…"

She held up a hand. "Let me finish. Flack is really good with dealing with peoples' emotions, Sammie. And you need to give him a chance. You need to be honest with him and tell him the reason why you are the way you are. Trust me, he'll understand, hun. Just let him in and he'll get it."

Sam nodded slowly and glanced over towards the pool table where Flack and Danny were talking animatedly, doing more laughing and chatting than they were playing pool. Such a change from the seriousness and professionalism that they conducted themselves with at work. Just two best friends hanging out and goofing off.

"Did you see that?" Lindsay asked, when Flack had become aware that Sam was looking in his direction and smiled softly and winked at her. "Did you see that look he gave you, Sammie? It's all in his eyes. He loves you. Wholly and completely. And if you tell him what's going on in your head, trust me, he will listen and he will do whatever he can…"

"To make sure he gets laid before he goes insane," Sam finished, downing half her glass of beer.

Lindsay glared at her. "To make you feel comfortable in yourself and with him. I know that you know all of this, Sam. And that you just want some reassurance and someone else to look you in the eye and tell you that Don is a great person who cares about you and would never, ever hurt you like Zack did."

"It's hard," Sam admitted, fighting back emotion. "Trying to go on after all of that. After Zack…it's just hard and it's been over a year, Linds. And it's screwed me up and I don't think I'll ever be the same person ever again."

"You don't want to be the same person you were with him. You want to be who you are now. The Sam Ross that I know. Strong and vivacious. Independent and tenacious. Who doesn't put up with shit from anyone. The Sam Ross that you were when you were with Zack? The scared and weak little girl you told me about? She's gone. It's time to put that part of your life to bed. Permanently. She doesn't exist anymore. And that's just how it should be. For you and for Flack."

"And how do I do that? Let go of all of that?" Sam asked. "All this hurt and anger and bitterness? All the pain? How do I let it go and move on?"

"Just by closing your eyes and taking a deep breath and jumping into what you have right in front of you. By trusting in him. And in my heart, I know that once you do that, all that hurt, Sammie? All that hurt is going to dissipate. It will probably never go away a hundred percent. But being with him? With a man that loves you like that? That can solve everything. Letting it go and just concentrating on him will do you a world of good. Have I ever steered you wrong?"

Sam shook her head.

"And I never will," Lindsay vowed. "Now, I believe we have a date. A threesome."

Sam's eyes widened. "I'm not getting into any kinky shit with you and Danny," she said.

"Well there goes my plans for the night," Lindsay sighed. "I was talking about me and you, and…" she held aloft the tequila. "Jose Cuervo."

Sam grinned. "Pour us some shots, country girl."

"One step ahead of you, Brooklyn," Lindsay said and filled the shot glasses.


"They're talking about us, Flack," Danny complained, nursing a JD and Coke as he glanced over his shoulder at their respective partners laughing and talking noisily. And quickly and effortlessly polishing off a pitcher of beer and a bottle of tequila.

"Hate to tell you this, Dan-o," Flack said. "They do it all the time. And they're not talking about us. They're making fun of us."

Danny snorted. "Have you honestly ever seen two women that small drink like that?" he asked, as his friend took, and missed, possibly the easiest shot of his life.

"No," Flack replied, than sighed heavily and hung his head and shook it in shame at his horrible shot. "You ask me," he said as he moved to the ledge behind him and picked up his own drink. "They both drink way too much."

"Tell me something I don't know," Danny said. "Especially your girl and her penchant for the tequila."

"Yeah…" Flack nodded slowly. "Between you and me, that's got me a little worried."

"What's that?" Danny asked, banking the white ball over the left side of the table and sending it careening across the felt and into the seven ball. Which went sailing effortlessly into the right corner pocket.

"That's fucking bullshit," Flack declared in disgust. "Got a horseshoe up your ass or something?"

"Or something," Danny laughed and sized up his shot on the eight ball. "So what were you saying? Something about being worried and…"

"Just about being worried about how much Sam drinks."

"You think she drinks a lot?" Danny asked.

"You don't?"

The CSI shrugged. "Never thought about it. She drinks just as much as you or I do."

"And you don't see the problem with that?" Flack inquired. "The fact that she's five foot nothing and a hundred and twenty pounds and can drink like you and I do? I've never, ever seen a woman drink like that, Dan-o."

"She's just having fun, Flack," Danny said. "She drinks what? Once a week when we all go out? What's wrong with that?"

"It's not how often she drinks," Flack told him. "It's how much she drinks when she does."

"Don't fault the girl and have her signed up for AA just because once a week she goes out and gets hammered," Danny told him, biting on his bottom lip as he took his shot, pumping his fist in the air victoriously when he sank the eight ball.

"I'm not saying she has a drinking problem. I'm just saying that it worries me that someone her size can drink that much at once. It's like once she gets started she doesn't know when to stop. And think about it, Danny. Three weekends in a row, I had to carry her from the cab, up to either my place or hers. And I had to spend half the night crouched beside her, rubbing her back and putting a face cloth on her forehead and holding her hair back while she puked in the tub. That's not pleasant."

"What? A little upchuck from the woman you love is too much to handle? Don't be such a cupcake."

"Well excuse me for worrying about it when my girlfriend passes out in the backseat of a taxi and doesn't remember her own name, never mind mine. Ever heard of alcohol poisoning? She's a prime candidate for it. Look at what their drinking, Mess. That's their second pitcher and three quarters of that tequila is gone."

"You're making a big deal out of nothing," Danny told him. "Leave her alone and let her have a good time. Suck it up and take care of her when she's sick."

"I think it's this whole shit with Zack bringing it on lately," Flack commented.

"That's still going on?" Danny asked. "When's the last time he called her place?"

"He hasn't called since I answered three nights ago and we had a thing."

"A thing?"

Flack nodded. "I told him if he didn't stop calling her, I'd personally come to Arizona, hunt him down and break both of his legs and than rip his balls off and shove them up his ass."

"What did he say?" Danny asked with a chuckle.

"Said, mind your own business New York," Flack replied, in a perfect imitation of the Oklahoma born and breed Arizona state trooper. "I told him if was my business. That she was my business. And that if he wants his money back, I'd be happy to write a cheque from my own money just to get him out of her life for good."

"He accept it?"

Flack snorted. "You kidding? He doesn't even really want the money back. That was a joint account. She had every legal right to that cash and he damn well knows it. He's using it as an excuse to stay in her life. Torture her from thousands of miles away."

"He still get in contact with her?"

"He avoids calling there 'cause he knows I'll make good on my promise. But he still sends her emails. You know what the sneaky bastard does? Uses his sister's email address 'cause he knows that her and Sammie still talk. I am telling you right now, Messer. This goes on for much longer, and I'm heading to Phoenix and finding that guy and rearranging his face."

"I'll be right behind you helping out," Danny assured him. "Guy needs to be taught a lesson."

"Who needs to be taught a lesson?" Lindsay asked in a cheerful voice as she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

"Asshole Flack and I had in interrogation today," Danny answered. "He was a smart mouth prick. Flack was just telling me all the crap that was spewing out of his mouth in holding and saying he wanted to go in and beat the guy senseless. I just said I would be right behind him laying the boots to the guy too."

"Such tough guys," Sam said, standing on her tip toes to yank the backwards ball cap off of Flacks' head.

"You two wanna play?" Danny asked. "Couple against couple? Boys against girls?"

"We'd kick your ass," Sam declared, adjusting the band on Flack's ball cap so it would fit her tiny head and than slipping it on. "I just came to announce that I was heading for the bar for something."

"For what?" Flack asked. "You haven't had enough with the pitcher of beer and the bottle of tequila?"

"Just a little something," she replied and held her hand out, palm up.

He smirked and reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. "Be good," he said and sat it in her hand and kissed her softly.

"Always," she assured him.

"Can I have my hat back?" he asked, reaching for it.

"I think not," she responded, dancing away from him and clamping a hand on the top of her head. "I'll be back," she said, and headed through the crowd. Swaying slightly as she went. Bumping into a young frat boy that was just as intoxicated as she was. She giggled and offered up her apologies and he smiled and laid a hand on her hip and whispered something into her ear.

"Here we go again," Flack sighed. "I'll be breaking this pool cue over someone's head tonight. I just feel it."

"I'll go and keep an eye on her," Lindsay said. "I've got it under control."

"Great," Danny snorted, swallowing the remains of his drink as he and Flack stood watching Sam politely informing the young man that she just wasn't interested. "Too hot drunk women in a sea of frat boys. Nice."

"He touches her ass one more time, Mess, and I'm taking him in for drunk and disorderly and sexual harassment," Flack said. "But that's after I take him out back and beat the shit out of him."

"Excuse me?!" Lindsay shouted over the music as she stepped in between her best friend and the obnoxious college kid. "What the hell's your problem?" she asked him, poking him in the chest with her index finger.

"What the hell is your problem?" he spat. "Me and the lady were talking."

"I don't appreciate guys touching my girlfriend's ass," Lindsay informed him.

He looked from the pretty brunette with the NYPD ball cap on to the equally as attractive woman before him. He snorted. "You kidding me? You're girlfriend?"

"Yeah!" Lindsay exclaimed, and turning to Sam, took her best friend's face in her hands and planted a long, deep, passionate kiss on her lips.

Flack nearly spit out the remains of his drink at the sight of his girlfriend and her best friend locking lips, willingly, in a crowded, noisy bar.

Danny's eyes widened and he grabbed his best friend's arm. "I'm dreaming right? I must be dreaming. 'Cause that right there? Your girl and my girl? That is every wet dream of mine come true."

"I am going to pretend you never said that," Flack said. "But I gotta admit, Mess. That is totally and completely hot."

"Turned you on, didn't it." It was more of a statement than a question. "'Cause it did me."

Flack shook his head, an amused smirk on his face as the two girls, hand in hand, disappeared through the crowd, leaving the flustered frat boy in their wake.

"No one would believe us if we told them," Danny said with a content smile as he moved back to the pool table.

"Always the ones you least expect," Flack declared. "Always the tiny, quiet ones."

"Lots and lots of sides to Montana and Little Brooklyn," Danny told him. "Damn good ones if you ask me."

Flack couldn't deny that.


It was after one in the morning when the two couples stumbled out into the snowy street. Three inches at the least had fallen since the time they had gone into the bar. The air was cold and crisp. The stars and moon high and bright in the sky.

"You guys wanna come back to mine?" Danny asked. "Got lots of beer and some tequila we can put a dent in."

"I think she's had enough," Flack responded, once again in possession of his ball cap, turned backwards on his head, nodding down at his drunk girlfriend, her arm around his and tucked into his side, laughing hysterically for now apparent reason. Other than the fact she couldn't feel her toes or the tip of her nose as she had announced an hour earlier.

"Don't be a party pooper," Lindsay said, slurring her words, sticking her tongue out at him as she clung to Danny's arm.

"Pooper," Sam giggled. "You said the word poop."

"Now you just said the word poop!" Lindsay cried. "Hey, Danny! Look under there!"

He frowned and looked around. "Under where?" he asked.

"She just made you say underwear!" Sam shrieked and burst into a fit of giggles. Lindsay joining in suit.

"Okay," Flack said to his girlfriend, tightening his grip on her waist. "Time to get you home."

"Underwear!" Sam howled. "He just said underwear!"

"I know," Flack stayed as patient and calm as possible. "And it was as funny as all hell. But it's time to get a cab and go home."

"You're home or my home?" she asked.

"Either one. Doesn't matter to me."

"It would be just so much easier if we had just one to chose from," she declared. "Don't you think? It's too confusing with two apartments to worry about. If there was just one it would be so much better."

"Tell you what," Flack said. "When you sober up, maybe we'll talk about that. Okay?"

"Okay," she nodded vigorously. "You and me," she pointed at him, than at herself. "We'll talk tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," he agreed.

"Alright than," she said and motioned for him to bend down. Pressing a kiss to his cheek when he did. "I will call you tomorrow," she told him and patted his face and slipped out of his grasp and began stumbling down the sidewalk.

"I don't think you understood what I said, Sam!" Flack called after her. He turned to Danny and Lindsay and shook his head. "God give me strength," he sighed.

"Good luck, Flack," Danny chuckled as his best friend hurried off after his girlfriend.

"He doesn't need luck," Lindsay declared. "He's got love. That's all he needs."

They watched, as Sam and Flack stopped several yards down the sidewalk, Flack attempting to explain what he had meant, and Sam unable to keep a straight face. Her giggle travelling on the air. Her friends' laughter joining in at the annoyed expression on Flack's face as his girlfriend, in a fit of giggles, proceeded to sit down on her ass in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Trust me," Danny said to his fiance. "It's luck he needs. I swear that man has the patience of a saint when it comes to her."

"It's love," Lindsay slurred. Sounding more like she said luvre.

"That is the last time you're drinking that much," Danny declared.

They watched, highly amused, as Flack, after arguing for a couple of minutes with his girlfriend about why it wasn't a good idea to be sitting in the snow in the middle of a New York City sidewalk, finally gave up and grabbed Sam under the arms and lifted her effortlessly to her feet. Propelling her towards a nearby park bench, his arms wrapped around her from behind.

"I'll call you guys a cab!" Danny called, taking out his cell phone.

Flack nodded and waved his thanks and physically sat his girlfriend down on the bench before taking a seat beside her. Anchoring her in place with a strong, tight arm around her.

"I love you," Sam gushed, bearing her face in her boyfriend's neck.

"I love you, too," he said. "Sometimes I want to kill you, but I still love you just the same."

"No," she shook her head. "You don't understand. You don't understand how much I love you."

"Sammie, why don't you just take it easy, baby. We can talk about this tomorrow. When you're in the right frame of mind. Okay?"

"No," she responded. "No. We're talking about this now."

He sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?" he asked, laying a hand on the top of her head and stroking her hair.

"For the way I've been. For the way I've been leading you on so much."

"You haven't been leading me on, Samantha. We talked about that. You haven't been comfortable and that's okay. I'm not going to pressure you into anything. You don't want to make love, that's fine. I'm happy with the way things are. No matter how long they stay that way."

"It's not fair to you!" she cried.

He felt something wet against his neck. "Look at me for a second," he said.

She glanced up. Tears were streaming down her flushed cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" Flack asked.

"Because it's not fair!" she replied. "You've been so amazing. So patient and understanding and I've been…I don't know! I've been me!"

"Sam, we've talked about this. Why are we getting into this right now? On a park bench in the dead of winter at one in the morning?"

"I need to get it off my chest!"

"Okay…" he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "What is it you need to say, babe?"

"I haven't been able to make love with you because of Zack!" she sobbed. "Because of the way he was! Because I trusted him with every fibre of my being! Because I gave him every part of me and look what he did! And I don't want to go through that again! I don't want to get hurt, Donnie!"

"I'm not going to hurt you, Sammie," he vowed, in a quiet, soothing voice. "I'm not in this to hurt you."

"I'm scared," she sniffled. "I'm so scared."

"What are you scared of, baby? Do you know? Are you scared of something physical or something emotional?"

"Both," she responded. "Because he wasn't…he wasn't the most gentle person in the world. When we had sex…when we had sex it was all about him."

"That's why the first night we fooled around you told me that you'd never had a guy…"

She nodded. "I'd never had a guy to what you did. Oral sex. Never. It was all new to me. I know that sounds screwed up because of my age and the way I look and the way I act and…"

"It's not screwed up," Flack told her. "Honestly? Knowing that you weren't very, I don't know, experienced? That turned me on more than anything. That I was the guy to do something like that for you and get you off. Does that sound weird to you?"

She shook her head.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Samantha," he said. "Not during sex, not emotionally. You need to trust me."

"I do trust you," she told him. "With my life. You know that."

"You trust me on the job. You trust me with your life when we're at work. I want you to trust me with your life outside of it, too. And so far? I haven't felt that from you. And I know Zack fucked you over and trust isn't easy for you. But give me a chance, Sammie. That's all I want."

"I'm sorry," she pulled away from him and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her coat. "I haven't been fair to you at all. I haven't been honest. And I should have told you right from the beginning what I was scared of."

"You should have," Flack agreed. "But you've told me now. Do you feel better that you told me?"

She nodded.

"I feel better, too. Because now I know it wasn't something I was doing wrong," he told her. "Do me a favour, though?"

"Of course" she sniffled.

"Don't hold anything back from me. Whatever it is, just tell me about it. I can't read minds, babe. And us being honest with each other, that's what's going to make our relationship work. And I want it to work. So bad."

"So do I," she said with a smile. "More than I've ever wanted anything in my life."

He smiled and kissed her softly.

A yellow cab pulled up to the curb, its tires crunching on the snow.

Flack pressed a kiss to her forehead. "How about you and I get out of here? Go home and start on making things work?"

"But you know I can't…"

"I just want to love you, Sammie. Beyond the physical stuff. Can you let me do that?"

She nodded.

"Than let's get started on that," he said, and getting to his feet, offered her his hand. "Put everything else behind us and start us, from this night on. Well, except for maybe the part of you and Lindsay dancing on those benches to…what was that song?"

"Bootylicious," Sam giggled, as he opened the back door of the taxi. "I don't think you're ready for this jelly," she sing-songed as she climbed into the cab. "My body's too bootylicious for you, baby."

"She's just a little nuts," Flack told the wide eyed cab driver as he slid in beside Sam and shut the door.

"Just a little," Sam agreed and cuddled up to her boyfriend. "But he loves me. My man loves me."

"I do," Flack said. "Don't ever question that."

"I never will," she sighed. And promptly passed out with her head against his chest.

Flack smirked and shook his head.

She's insane, he thought.

But she's mine.


Thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing and adding me to alerts and favourites! I appreciate each and every one of you! Even the lurkers. But please, please, please review. It would seriously make my day! Hell, my week even! Thanks for the love and support, BEG75

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