Danny woke slowly to the feel of warm breath on his neck. He quickly noted an arm wrapped tightly around his waist, and memories from the night before began to surface. He couldn't tell if Mac had yet regained consciousness, but the warm breath was slowly replaced with the older man nuzzling into Danny's neck. Mac's nose swept up Danny's neck to behind his ear, before being replaced with soft, barely there kisses. Danny's breath hitched unconsciously as he tried to figure out what to do, and that seemed enough to wake his bed partner. Breathing in deeply, Mac sighed.

"Sorry," He mumbled. "Habit." Danny nodded.

"S'ok," He answered, but quickly noticed Mac's arm wasn't getting any looser around his middle. Danny turned onto his back in the embrace, looking up at the man he was with. To his surprise, Mac's soft expression quickly changed to one of concern and anger.

"What happened to you?" He all but demanded. Danny looked up, confused for a moment, before quickly realising the problem. Slowly, he raised a hand to his face, already knowing the makeup must have smudged. Mac didn't seem to be getting any calmer, and Danny sighed as he answered.

"Hazards of the job," He explained quietly. "You hang out with thugs and criminals all the time, it's bound to happen. No offence to your profession."

"This Sonny's fault?" Mac looked positively mutinous, and Danny realised he could be losing Sonny the deal he'd been setting up.

"No!" Danny sat up quickly. "Sonny just introduces me to people he needs me to entertain. Anything that happens after is my fault. Sometimes I'm not as enthusiastic as people like." Danny let his head drop at the admission. He heard Mac sigh heavily before feeling a gentle hand on his leg.

"We should get up," Mac's voice was soft, and Danny had to look up. "Your brother could be back by now, and I've got a few things to do."

"You go ahead," Danny whispered. "I'll be out in a minute." Mac nodded, leaning in to kiss Danny on the forehead.

Mac left the room once he was dressed and immediately headed for the front door. There was nobody around and he didn't need to worry when he pulled out his phone and dialled a familiar number.

"Don," Mac's voice was tense when the call was picked up. "I need you to get all the information you can on Danny and Louie Messer." The reply was in the affirmative, and Mac's shoulders relaxed a little. "Thanks. Come get me when you've got something." Mac hung up and put his phone away; heading straight for his apartment.

(~*~)

Mac swirled the drink in his glass. He'd only been at his apartment for half an hour before he needed to get out. So, here he was; three hours later, sitting in a bar he'd never normally go to. A shadow fell across the bar, and Mac turned to the source. He suppressed a smile at the sight of Flack, in full Detective mode.

"Mackanna Rogers?" Mac smirked.

"Who's askin'?" His smirk was mirrored in Don. They were having too much fun with this.

"I'm afraid I have to ask you to come to the station."

"I didn't do nothin'," Mac protested. Flack let out an indulgent sigh and pulled Mac off the bar stool.

"Don't make this hard, Rogers." The barman had wisely stepped into the backroom, but not before refilling Mac's glass.

"How 'bout I make it easy?" Don gave Mac a 'try me' look, and was rewarded with a glass of Scotch being thrown in his face.

"You're right, that is easy," Flack turned Mac and pinned him to the bar. He handcuffed the man; making it look much rougher than it was.
"I'm arresting you for assaulting an officer," Flack pulled Mac away from the bar and pushed him out of the door.

Looking around when they got outside, Flack checked for suspicious people before putting Mac in the back of his car.

When he got inside, Flack adjusted his mirror so he could see Mac; smiling at him from the back seat.

"You alright?"

"I'll be better when you take these cuffs off." Flack laughed.

"Not until we get to the station. Gotta make it look real, Mac." Still smiling, Mac looked out of the tinted window.

"Good to see you're not slipping without me around."

(~*~)

Mac rubbed his newly released wrists; watching as Don sat opposite him.

"I got good news and bad news," Flack sighed.

"Start with the good."

"Louie Messer has a rap sheet a mile long. Most of it Tanglewood related; all of it violent." Mac sighed; he wasn't really surprised.

"And the bad news?"

"Danny Messer. Apart from citations on a few assaults when he was a kid, I got nothing."

"Citations?"

"As the victim," Don replied. "Every time the charges were dropped."

"Who was the attacker?" Mac was sitting straighter now. Flack looked down at his casefile.

"Sonny Sassone. Never seemed the slightest bit sorry either. One report states his reason as, 'He was giving me lip,' another says 'I was knocking some sense into him.' Danny's brother Louie always accompanied him to the police station, and the hospital when he needed it." Mac sighed a little.

"When did the complaints stop?" Flack looked back down.

"Five years ago. In fact, Danny hasn't popped up on the radar at all in those five years. He hasn't even been by to pick up his brother from lock-up."

"So who has been picking him up?"

"Jessica Sassone. She's Sonny's older sister. Been down here so many times, she's on a first name basis with half the precinct." Mac nodded.

"I met her. She made no secret about how sick she was of bailing Sonny out."

"We might be able to use that somewhere down the line."

"I have to go back tonight," Mac said thoughtfully. "I'll see if I can get any more from her." Don looked at Mac curiously.

"What's the story with the Messer boys?"

"Louie looks to be Sonny's right hand man."

"And Danny?"

"He's… entertainment," Mac looked disgusted; shaking his head.

"You think he's being held against his will?"

"I think he's terrified of Sonny Sassone." Flack closed the file with a sigh.

"So, you're telling me, when this sting goes off, that we've got at least one victim to be mindful of." Mac was silent for a long moment before looking up at Don.

"I may be able to get him out before all this happens." Mac stood up slowly; closely followed by Flack.

"You be careful," Don's tone was a warning; almost parental. Mac smiled affectionately at Flack.

"I will. Can you do me a favour?" Don nodded. "Get Stella over here; I'd like to talk to her before I go back."

"You find something the lab can use?" Mac shook his head.

"I'm hoping she can help me get her some though."

(~*~)

Stella's eyes danced with laughter as she walked into the interrogation room.

"Never thought I'd see you that side of the table, Mac." Mac smirked.

"Well don't get used to it." Sitting down across from Mac, Stella looked serious.

"What do you need?"

"I want you to see if you have an open casefile." Stella looked at Mac's expression before sighing.

"I'm not getting a lot of information for this one, am I?" Mac smiled apologetically.

"All I know is it's a Tanglewood case. A dead male. Would have happened in the last few years."

"That's all you're giving me to go on?"

"I know he has a younger sister," Mac offered. Stella sighed again before standing up.

"I'll see what I can do, but I can't make any promises. We're already short staffed." Mac nodded in thanks and Stella smiled at him before leaving. Flack stepped forward as Mac stood.

"Got everything you need?" He asked.

"For now," Mac replied. "All I need is what I was arrested for." Don smirked.

"I just didn't like the look of you, Mac. You know how it goes." Mac smirked back.

"So it has nothing to do with me dousing your favourite shirt in bourbon?" Flack laughed as he opened the door.

"Tell you what. You make up the charge, and I'll just agree with it." Laughing softly, Mac clapped Don on the shoulder before leaving.