DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CSI:NY OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. I ONLY OWN SAMANTHA FLACK AND THE FLACK KIDS.

LITTLE SHORTER CHAPTER THIS TIME FOLKS, ONLY 'CAUSE I HAVE A SAM AND FLACK 'DATE' PLANNED AND I DIDN'T WANT TO SMOOSH IT INTO THE END OF THIS CHAPTER AND NOT TO OUR COUPLE JUSTICE!


Honest, to a fault

"It's something I said, or someone I know.
Or you called me up, maybe I wasn't home.
Now everybody needs some time,
And everybody knows
The rest of it's fine
And everybody knows that.

Come on now, sugar,
Bring it on, bring it on, yeah.
Just remember me when you're good to go
Come on now, honey,
Bring it on, bring it on, yeah.
Just remember me when."
-We Used to Be Friends, The Dandy Warhols


"Borderline intermittent explosive disorder," Danny read from the computer print out in front of him, a doubtful eyebrow arched and scepticism creeping into his voice. A manila folder sat opened in the middle of the table as Flack thumbed through them, their ice cold glasses of Coke and their menus all going untouched.

It had been seven months since Flack's marriage had begun to disintegrate right before his, and everyone else's, eyes. Five months since he'd moved out of the house and filed for legal separation and just shy of two since he and Sam had begun not only seeking therapy for their children, but themselves as well. While they were still living at different addresses, they'd been working non stop at repairing their relationship. Everyone who knew them -friends, co-workers and family alike- were genuinely and immensely surprised at the steps they were taking in order to make things right again. Marital counselling every two weeks, group therapy sessions with other couples in crisis four times a month, and individual sessions with psychiatrists in an attempt to get to the heart of their own problems and issues. To narrow down exactly why it was that they lost control on each other so easily. Why they couldn't help themselves from arguing and saying cruel, vicious things to each other in the heat of the moment. Why, in some instances, Flack reacted aggressively and violently, resorting to putting his fist through a wall in order to prevent himself from doing much, much worse. Something that both concerned him, and terrified him.

In the last seven months, he and Danny had barely spent an hour alone together. There were times that Flack had honestly wondered if their friendship was waning. The easy going rapport that they had possessed for years had suddenly seemed to be vanish. When they worked cases together and questioned suspects, that back and forth bantering and those witty and sarcastic comments seemed to falter the moment they left both men's lips. The words hanging in the air between them and the tension thick and nearly unbearable. The separation itself hadn't helped matters either. While Flack and Sam remained, as they had since the day he walked out the door, professional and courteous to each other while on the clock -some were even amazed at how well they got along given the circumstances, and often wondered if being apart personally was better for both of them in the long run- it had caused rifts with their friends. Those around them had been unwillingly dumped into the middle of the Flacks' personal problems. Caught in between wanting to be loyal to both of them but having to take sides at the same time.

Danny hadn't been able to fairly jump on either side of the bandwagon. While he understood why Flack did what he did by walking out -it wasn't fair or healthy for the kids to see and hear their parents going at each other on a constant basis- he couldn't just agree with his best friend a hundred percent. As far as he was concerned, Flack had started the proverbial ball rolling when he'd fucked around with Jordan Gates. Danny had kept his mouth shut and his opinions to himself the second the cat was let out of the back on that one. And while he'd ranted and raved to Lindsay about how in the hell Sam could ever take Flack back after what he'd done especially after finding out he'd fathered a baby with another woman, he'd also been quick to remind himself that he'd had his share of massive screw ups too. Neither of them could be excused or forgiven for the mistakes they'd made in the past. The fact of the matter was, there was no reasoning in the world to begin to justify what had gone done. And it was Danny's own guilt for his past mistakes that had prevented him from being able to support either Sam or Flack through their problems.

Fight or flight, as the old saying was. And in essence, Danny had chosen flight. Instead of firmly and diplomatically planting himself in the middle of his embattled friends and listening to both sides of the story and dispensing, if needed, less than stellar advice, he'd backed away and essentially closed himself off from both of them. Doing little more than engaging in mindless chit chats with Flack while at a crime scene or with Sam while they were on the road or in the lab working a case together. He was thankful that he worked during the day and Lindsay was in charge of looking after Kallison and Kellan because he just didn't have the heart or the stomach to discuss the downfall of their parents' marriage with two vulnerable and emotional five year olds. He didn't have the answers the girls wanted and he wasn't up to dishing out empty promises to them that things were going to perfect again between their parents.

And while he loved and missed the Flack kids -all three of them- he was selfishly relieved that they hadn't been around in a month. Not only were Kellan's moods hell on earth to deal with when she got herself riled up and down right vicious, but the little girl had unknowingly caused a massive riff between her mother and best friend. Sam was pissed that Lindsay hadn't kept a proper eye on Kellan considering what kind of mental state the five year old was in and what the violence she was capable of inflicting on herself and others when she got into one of her rages. To which Lindsay, hurt because of her friend's accusations of negligence, had responded that if Sam and Flack hadn't have fucked up their kids so bad, Kellan wouldn't be the way she is and wouldn't be such a burden on everyone.

A totally unjustified fight on both of their parts of course. But one that still had tempers sizzling and emotions raw. And Sam and Lindsay screening any calls that came into their homes on behalf of the other.

Flack and Danny had been unceremoniously dumped into the middle of their wives' spat. Neither man would ever betray the woman that they loved or take sides against them, and it caused an even larger wedge to form in their relationship. Flack may have been separated, but he was completely and utterly devoted to, and in love with, his wife. And there wasn't anyone that he would choose over her. Under any circumstance.

Danny admired, and always had admired, -save for his best friend's one massive fuck up - Flack's unwavering devotion for his family. There wasn't anything that Flack wouldn't do for his wife and his kids. Even if it meant taking unpaid leave to take care of things at home or having to work a disgusting amount of hours to make sure that the bills were taken care of and their finances were in the black. And he was glad that things seemed to be looking up for the Flacks. Rumour had it that Flack was in the process of moving back into the familial home in a matter of a month. That one of his younger detectives was going to sublet his place. Of course, Danny didn't know what was actually going on. Flack didn't talk much about his personal life anymore and Danny had been too busy trying to prevent himself from getting sucked into the middle of husband and wife that he'd turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to all the whispering and gossiping going on around the lab.

So he'd jumped at the chance to grab a late lunch with his best friend. To hopefully get to the bottom of what was going on with Flack and his life, and to fill him in on what was going on the Messer side of things. He'd known that Flack was seeing a department psychiatrist for anger management issues, but that hadn't stopped him from being genuinely surprised when, after the waitress had brought their drinks, Flack had opened that folder he'd brought with him and dropped a physician's report on the table.

"That's the official diagnosis," Flack said in disdain as he sipped his pop. "Based on his expert opinion and notes and what not from my past stints in anger management and some 'incidents' I've had over the years on the job. Explains why I am the way I am when I get pissed off. Why I totally freak on Sam and say nasty ass shit and then not remembering saying it ten minutes later."

"A psychological condition characterized by sporadic episodes of aggression, violence and destructive behaviour," Danny read off of the paper in front of him. "Are you kidding me? Come on. This is not you. This is not you at all."

"Hence the word borderline. I'm not fully there yet but I'm well on my way," Flack said. "And think about it Dan-o. Really think about it. Explains why sometimes when I'm out in the field and some perp says something stupid that should just roll off my shoulders I just snap. Remember Petrix DeRosier? Dealer I shoved off the swings just 'cause he got lippy?"

"Yeah…but…"

"No buts, Mess. I should have been able to just shake my head and turn the other cheek. Not get so offended by what some little piece of shit was saying. But I let him get under my skin and I let him gnaw away at me and work me into a state. I never should have done what I did. Especially in front of witnesses like that. I should have been the bigger man, right?"

Danny just shrugged.

"Also explains why I lose it at home so easily," Flack continued. "Why I'll freak out and put my fist through a wall or a door when Sam really gets on me."

"Better than putting it through her face," Danny reasoned.

His best friend frowned. "You think I'd actually do something like that?" he asked. "You think I'd actually smack my wife around?"

"I never said that," Danny replied. "I was strictly making an observation that it's better you bash a wall or a door than a human being. That's all I meant by that. I don't think you'd hurt your wife, Don. You're not like that. You'd never lay a hand on her and we both know it."

Flack gave a nod, his lips set in a grim, intense line. "That better have been all you were doing," he muttered.

"I'd never suggest you'd beat your wife," Danny said. "You don't have it in you to be like that. And I don't care what some goddamn shrink says about you. You do not have this…" he jabbed the tip of his index finger at the piece of paper in front of him. "…this Intermittent Explosive Disorder. That's just bullshit. You don't display any of these signs whatsoever."

"The key word here is borderline," Flack pointed out. "Borderline IED. He's not saying that I'm totally out of control and that I'm exhibiting every symptom on that list. Just that I do have some issues that are concerning and that he doesn't want getting completely out of control."

"You have a temper," Danny argued. "A bad temper. You've got your old man's Irish temper in fact."

"Yeah…and my old man wailed on his wife and kids when the mood struck," Flack reminded his best fried.

"You are not your father, Don. You are far from being anything like your father. And lots of us have bad tempers. I know I got my old man's Italian temper and Brooklyn's always been her fiery little self. Just 'cause you got a temper does not mean you got this IED crap. And that's just what it is. Crap. You do not have this disorder. And I'll go toe to toe against any shrink who tells me otherwise."

"Be my guest. Maybe you can also convince him that the moon is made of green cheese and that pigs fly. And that the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are all real. 'Cause you saying that I don't have IED? Well you keep living in serious denial my friend."

"So say you do have this thing…this intermittent whatever the hell it is…what can the shrink do about it? So that it doesn't get worse?" Danny asked.

"I just keep going for therapy," Flack replied with a shrug. "I keep going to talk to him and I keep going to anger management and I learn how to calm myself down before I explode and I learn to get my anger and frustration out in more productive, non violent ways."

"Non violent ways," Danny snorted. "Yeah…right…even beating the shit out of a punching bag these days is considered too violent. Whatever happened when we could act like men and not get chastised because of how masculine and aggressive we are?"

"I don't know about you. But I don't need to be violent and mean to be masculine," Flack said. "But you're the last one to talk. We all know what a girl you turned into around mid 2008."

Danny frowned, and picking up the piece of paper, tossed it onto the pile in front of Flack. "I don't give a rat's ass what this says. You do not have any kind of psychological disorder."

"Well, my family doctor and my shrink say otherwise," Flack sighed. "As does a prescription with a years worth of repeats on it for Prozac."

"Department know you're on that stuff?" Danny inquired, and curiously plucked a second sheet of paper from the folder.

"It was the department shrink that wrote the scrip," Flack told him. "And you know what? I actually feel pretty good since I started taking it. I'm less on edge, my nerves aren't as shaky, my temper and my moods are more even. I feel more…I feel more in control of myself. And that's good for me and my family, Mess. Me being like this? Well it makes Sam more at ease when she's around me."

"So your wife only likes it when you're doped up?"

"No. My wife likes it when she's not walking on egg shells around me and she can speak her mind without me jumping down her throat. What the hell is wrong with you? What are you so negative about? I thought you'd be happy that things were finally looking up for me."

"I am…" Danny said. "I am happy that things are on the up and up for you. I just…this whole thing between Linds and Brooklyn is just grating on my nerves, you know? If Sam would just call her up and apologize…"

Flack frowned as he raised the glass of Coke to his lips. "What the hell does Sam have to apologize for?" he asked irritably.

"She was totally out of line with Linds," his best friend replied. "That whole thing with Kellan? Sam did not have to go off the deep end like she did."

Flack snorted, and shaking his head, took a long, refreshing sip of his pop. "Are you really that clueless, Messer?"

"I'm just saying that it's been over a month and…"

"Everyone knows how vulnerable and emotional Kellan is right now. How she's going to therapy to work out how she's feeling and to get a handle of herself. And everyone knows about how she hurts herself when she gets really upset. And how she's more than capable of hurting other people when she's in her moods. And Lindsay left her alone…"

"Kellan asked if she could watch t.v. and play in the basement and Lindsay let her and…"

"…and she was alone and she managed to get a hold of a pair of scissors. And she chopped nearly all of her hair off."

"It's just hair, Flack. Just hair. She didn't hurt herself or…"

"But she could have, Danny. She could have hurt herself. Or someone else. And thank God she didn't or we wouldn't be sitting her arguing about who fucked up and what happened 'cause of it. She was left alone when she was in a mood and she got hold of those scissors and she cut her hair. But it could have been worse and you know that."

"But it wasn't," Danny argued. "It wasn't worse and Brooklyn needs to just make amends already. Not hold grudges and overreact so much."

"You've seen Kellan's arms," Flack said. "You've seen Sam's arms. All the bite marks. All the bruises on Sammie and on Kallison 'cause Kellan kicks and punches them when she gets in a state. She threw herself on the sidewalk and intentionally bashed the back of her head off of it. So maybe Sam is holding a bit of a grudge. But she damn well sure ain't overreacting. I've got her back on this. A hundred percent."

"Look…" Danny sighed heavily and drummed his fingertips against the tabletop. "I don't want to fight about this with you. You know how bad I feel about Kellan being the way she is. No little kid should be going through that. But you and Sam…you and Sam brought this on by being the way you two are. All the fighting and the name calling and all the nastiness. That jump started all of this. And it shouldn't have taken this long to get her some help. That's all I'm saying."

"You think we intentionally held off on getting her to see someone?" Flack laughed dryly and shook his head. "We were on a goddamn waiting list for nearly four months. If it wasn't for Mac, we'd probably still be waiting. I'm sorry that my family can't be picture perfect like yours and you can't possibly understand what this is like. But don't sit here and bad mouth my wife and kids, Danny. 'Cause I got a lot of ammo of my own. A lot I could say about you and your wife."

"Fair enough…" Danny held his hands up in surrender. "If that's the way…"

"You know, I thought that by asking you to come here so we could hang out that we could try and fix whatever it is that's wrong between you and me," Flack said. "But apparently…apparently we've both just changed way too much and there's nothing we see eye to eye on anymore. I thought you'd be happy that Sammie and I were getting back together."

"You are?" Danny arched both of his eyebrows. "Since when?"

"Come on…don't act like you haven't heard the talk going around. One of my guys is taking over my lease in three weeks and I'm going back home. Everyone's talking about it. You can't tell me you didn't hear it."

"I did hear it. And you know what Flack? I shouldn't have had to hear it through the office grapevine. You're my best friend and I should have heard it from you."

"We haven't exactly been on the best of terms lately, Mess. What did you want me to do? Pull you aside and have a heart to heart with you about it? We've been dumped into the middle of what's going on between our wives and we're either Team Sam or we're Team Lindsay. Not saying that it's wrong. 'Cause we're obviously going to side with our wives no matter what."

"Obviously," Danny agreed.

"But I wasn't going to go stepping on any toes just to tell you that Sammie and I are getting back together. But I'm telling you now and I was hoping for a little support here."

"A'right…so then you don't mind if I'm honest with you."

"When are you not?" Flack asked.

"I think you and Sam are making a huge mistake," Danny told him.

The detective blinked.

"I think that by going back this soon, you're only setting yourself up for a huge fall. You're my best friend and your well being is what's the most important to me. You and my nieces and my nephew. And you and Sam can barely stand being in the same room with each other…"

Flack shook his head. "That was before," he argued. "Before I figured out what was wrong with me and I got on the right track to making things better. Before I…"

"What's wrong with you?" Danny asked. "What about what is wrong with her? Sam's not completely innocent in all of this. Look, I know you fucked up You fucked up huge. But Brooklyn…" he sighed heavily and raked his hand through his hair. "I just don't think that you and Sam getting back together while the kids are going through their issues is the right thing to do, a'right?"

"The kids are going through these issues 'cause we're not together," Flack pointed out.

"They started going through them before you walked out and you know it," Danny said. "You leaving just made it worse. And what's going to happen to those kids when you walk back in and things are good for a couple of weeks or a couple of months and then they just go down the shitter again? What's it going to do to them when mommy and daddy start hating on each other again?"

"Not gonna happen," Flack declared confidently.

"You don't know that. How can you…"

"I do now that, Danny!" the detective snapped. "I do know it 'cause both Sam and I have been working our asses off to make things better. We've been going to that counsellor and those group sessions and we've been seeing our own shrinks. We're dealing with our shit as a couple and our shit as individuals. We've worked damn hard at it and things aren't going to go back to the way they were. 'Cause we're both determined to not be like that again. To not do that to ourselves or our kids."

"And you think that everything's going to better when you walk back in the door? That you're not going to have the same old issues hanging over your head?" Danny asked. "Come on. Don't be so naïve Flack. Don't sit here and tell me that things are going to be perfect. That all of your problems are solved just like that. Have you ever thought that maybe you just aren't meant to be together?"

"I love my wife," Flack spat.

"And she loves you! I know how much the two of you love each other. How crazy you are about one another. I know all of that. But sometimes…sometimes two people can love each other to the ends of the earth but they just can't be together. And maybe that's you and Sammie."

"And maybe you're totally underestimating us," Flack argued. "Maybe I am going to walk back in that door and things are going to be perfect. I know that I'm not the easiest person to live with. And I know that Sammie…well she's downright insufferable sometimes. But I also know that I love her more than I ever thought I could ever love another human being. And I know that she loves me the exact same way. And that whenever I've needed someone, Sammie was there. Right from the beginning. Through thick and thin. No matter what. She's always believed in me, Danny. She's always given me a second chance whether I deserved one or not. And I can't just…" taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly and ran his hands over his face. "I can't just walk away from her. I've never been able to. And I don't want to. I love her and I love my kids and this time…well this time it will work. I will make this work," he punctuated each of the last five words with vicious jabs of his fingertip against the table top.


Danny nodded slowly, letting his friend's determined words sink in. "Okay…" he said and leaned back in the booth they occupied. "Fine…but I'm worried about you, Don. And I'm worried about those kids. And I don't want this continuing. I don't want them girls coming to me anymore crying about how mommy and daddy hate each other and how they're scared you and Sammie aren't going to be together anymore. I don't want to be the one having to explain to them why they're parents are doing that to each other, and them, over and over again. I just can't do. So you and Sam either shit or get off the pot. Kapish?"

"Now you're the one doling out the threats?" Flack smirked. "Hasn't that always been my job? Haven't I always been the one putting a foot up your ass about Monroe?"

"I'm serious," Danny told him. "My nieces…my nieces mean the world to me and if you and Sammie fuck them kids up even more…"

"Sammie and I love our kids and we want to be a family," the detective said. "And we deserve that chance."

"You do," Danny agreed. "But if you fuck this chance up…"

"You'll royally kick my ass," Flack finished for him. "Gotcha. Hear ya loud and clear, Mess."

"A'right…" Danny said with a nod, and leaning forward, once again reached for the piece of paper sitting on the table top. "Darien Lake?" he asked, arching a quizzical eyebrow as he read the information in front of him.

"Sammie and I are taking the girls the weekend before school starts," Flack explained, and finishing off his pop, pushed the empty glass aside. Resting his elbows on the table, he clasped his hands together. "Going to be a madhouse there but I already made some reservations for a camping site. We're going to leave Dawson behind. Adam said he'd watch him for the three days we'll be gone for."

"Nice little family outing," Danny commented.

"The girls won't be able to go on most of the rides 'cause of how small they are, but they've got a lot of kids things to do there," Flack reasoned. "And it gives us a chance to just get a way for a little bit."

"Must be nice," his best friend mumbled.

"You and Linds and the kids are welcome to come along if you want," Flack said. "It was just a quick decision on our parts. There's a lot of camping spots left if you all want to tag along. I don't know if we'd get anything close by to each other or…"

"That's the weekend Linds' parents are coming down," Danny told him. "So even if we wanted to…well even if we wanted to we couldn't."

"Linds' parents haven't been done in a while," Flack commented. "She must be excited about seeing them."

The CSI nodded. "She is. Kids are ecstatic too. But that's not the only reason why we wouldn't have been able to tag along."

Flack frowned. "Everything all right?" he asked. "You sound a little…"

"Lindsay's pregnant," Danny blurted out. "We just found out three days ago."

Flack's eyes widened and he nodded slowly.

"After Dawson came to live with you guys and that whole surrogate thing was pulled off the table, we just got to thinking that maybe, just maybe, another baby wouldn't be such a bad idea. And then after Hawkes died…well after he died it really put a lot of things into prospective, you know? Really made us appreciate each other and our family more and we decided that we were going to give it a try. And things were going pretty slow and we weren't having much luck and then three days ago…."

"What are you rambling for?" Flack asked with a laugh. "You're starting to sound like Adam. It's awesome news, Dan-o. Congratulations. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks…I guess I just…I guess I was just a bit concerned about telling you because of how things happened with you and Sammie. After the girls. And Linds…Linds is worried about how to break the news to Brooklyn 'cause she's worried B's going to get all upset and…"

"Why would Sammie get all upset?" Flack inquired. "Sammie will be just as happy for you guys as I am."

"We were just…we were just thinking about it sympathetically. About how it tore her up to have to have that miscarriage and how you guys couldn't have anymore kids…"

"It happened," Flack said with a shrug. "It wasn't the end of the world. And she may have been a little jealous when you guys got pregnant with Makenna, but she got over it. She's going to be ecstatic for you guys. Trust me. You know how much Sammie loves babies. Can't get enough of them."

Danny nodded in agreement. "We just…we were just concerned is all."

"I appreciate that," Flack said. "And I'm sure Sammie will too. But we got over that a long time ago. It hurt at first. Hell, it hurt a lot for a long time. But we dealt with it. Those were the cards that God gave us and there was nothing we could do about it. We got our little girls. Our miracles. And when the shock and the hurt and the disappointment wore off…well we realized just how blessed we actually were and we were able to concentrate on what we had right in front of us instead of what we could have had. And Dawson…"

Danny arched both eyebrows and stared at his best friend, waiting for him to continue.

"Dawson wasn't the outcome of the best of circumstances," Flack admitted. "And he wasn't made out of love. But he…but he is loved. By both of us. We're his mommy and daddy and we wouldn't give him up for anything in the world."

Danny smiled.

"He's my boy," Flack concluded. "Regardless of what circumstances found him in this world."

"Yeah?" Danny gave a laugh and a shake of his head. "Well you just make sure that you keep that boy of yours away from my baby girl, a'right? "Cause I don't want to have to be chasing your son down my front steps with a shotgun, you hear me?"

"How do I know it's not going to be your girl seducing my boy?" Flack chided.

"Good point. I forgot how easily seduced you Flack men are by beautiful women. And no…that wasn't a cheap shot at you about Jordan. I was making reference to you and Brooklyn. She had you the second she looked at ya, didn't she," he stated.

"Actually…she had me the second she bent over the trace lab during that whole scuba diving thing," Flack said with a grin. "She was this massive, ornery little bitch with this huge chip on her shoulder but man…when I saw her bending over and I got a look at that tattoo and a peek at that thong she was wearing…I was a goner."

"And let me guess," Danny laughed. "Instead of making yourself out to be a total pig in front of her, your wife still thinks that the first thing you noticed about her was her eyes and her smile. And that it was her bubbly, feisty personality that hooked you."

Flack nodded. "That's a secret I'll take to my grave," he declared. "I think it's safer for my manhood that she believes the whole eyes and smile thing."

"I think so too," Danny agreed. "So things are going good? With you and Brooklyn?"

"Things are going really good," Flack confirmed. "Really, really, really good. We got a date tonight, actually."

"A date, huh? As in a family thing or…"

"As in a mommy and daddy thing. Alone. Just us. In the privacy of my apartment."

Danny grinned. "I'd say use a condom but seeing as you two are already married and you can't exactly get her pregnant…"

Flack smirked.

"Good to hear that things are working themselves out," the CSI said.

"We're getting there," Flack told him "We're not quite at hundred percent yet, but we will be. What doesn't kill us will make us stronger, right? I gotta believe that. I gotta believe that all of this…all of this insanity came at us for a reason. Maybe we were meant to go through all of this to show us how much we meant to each other. To make us realize how much we loved each other and can't live without one another. It all happened for a reason. I gotta believe that."

"You know what I believe?" Danny asked his best friend.

Flack shook his head.

"I believe that the two of you truly love one another and that if you put your minds to it, you'll get over this. You'll look back on all of this twenty years from now and laugh about it. Well maybe not laugh about it 'cause there's something so sick and twisted about getting off on your own misery, but you'll look back and wonder how in the hell you'd ever found yourselves in such a mess. And that's when you'll realize just how damn lucky the two of you are that you found each other all those years ago."

A smirk tugged at the corners of the detective's mouth.

"Go on…" Danny sighed heavily. "Go on…laugh. I know you want to."

"It's not that," Flack chuckled. "It's not that I want to laugh. It's just that…it's just that I find it so hard to buy this romantic crap when it's coming out of your mouth, Messer. It just doesn't seem right hearing you wax poetic about life and love like this."

"What can I say?" the CSI shrugged. "I'm a study in contradiction."

"No..." Flack argued. "You just became a goddamn girl just like I said."

"Shut up," Danny grumbled, and reaching across the table, directed a swat at the back of Flack's head.

The two friends both laughed in earnest and leaning back in the booth, lapsed into a comfortable, companionable silence.

Danny picked up his glass and toasted his friend. "Good to have you back Flack," he declared.

The other man smiled and nodded. "Good to be back," he said.


As usual, huge thanks to everyone that is reading and reviewing! And even those just lurking! I appreciate all of the wonderful reviews and words of support that you all have been heaping my way! Words can't express how much all of you mean to me!

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