A/N - Thank you reviewrs and readers!

Chapter Five

It was buzzing. Everywhere was buzzing. People as they flew past; walking hurriedly up and down the corridors, the lights as they gleamed down from overhead; illuminating everything in an almost clinical bluish-white light and the machines as they clicked and whirred; the electrical currents that powered them flowing through them and buzzing excitedly. Life was buzzing as it worked and whirled in a confusion of puzzles and challenges and emotions. But it was positive and the movement forward, the passing of time meant that new ideas could be explored; new faces were to be seen, new people to meet and new connections to be made. Life was good, it progressed and got better and joy was always there to be found, waiting in even the darkest of places for the most sorry of souls.

Danny Messer let out a contented sigh as he placed his last piece of trace away in a tiny clear pocket and then added it into the larger envelope of evidence. His results had been successful and he would go and find Mac to let him know what he had discovered. It had taken him the best part of the day and the light of the sun had already disappeared by the time he exited the trace lab and glanced out of the windows. All over the city lights were flickering on and his gaze shifted down to the small dial on his left wrist. 5 o'clock; the start of the evening which thus became the start of the night. He knew Mac would let him off home soon; he needed to get back and see how the girls were doing. Danny frowned as he noticed his boss' office was devoid of any boss shaped figures sitting at the desk or standing and looking at his walls. He sighed and wearily turned when the most delicious aroma came to his nose. He sniffed and closed his eyes as he breathed it in; it smelt divine... it smelt like heaven... it smelt like...coffee.

Danny turned and drifted his way towards the breakroom and over to the fresh coffee that sat in a pot on the hot stand. A pretty blonde lab tech smiled at him as she passed him by with her own steaming mug and he flashed her a grin showing too many teeth for it to be convincing. Yes, he enjoyed a pretty face and yes, he still did the odd bit of flirting and he was even quite partial to checking out the rear side of some of the more buxom ladies that worked in the lab. But he deeply loved his wife and nothing would ever change that, sometimes he even doubted that death would. He smiled again as he thought of his wife and then poured himself out a cup of coffee. He gently perched on a stool, taking the weight off weary feet and sipped the steaming black drink with three added sugars. The first taste sent shivers down his spine, the second made him release an audible sigh of satisfaction and the third had him moving to a couch to make himself more comfortable. He could find Mac in a few minutes time; he deserved a break after working non-stop for most of the day.

He placed his feet up onto the small stool in front of him and leant his head back, eyes drifting closed. Coffee was such a remarkable thing really, just a few small beans but with such powerful properties that made him feel so good. So awake and enlivened to work on and power through to solve a case. He could have done with some that morning really... so could have Flack. Danny frowned as his mind turned to thoughts of his best friend. He'd looked shit that morning and that was despite the broken nose and bruised face. He was edgy... nervous and yet distant and off-hand. It was most unlike Flack who was always on the ball except for those few months after Jess had passed. It was like he'd become another person during those months. Danny's frown deepened as his thoughts focused more intently on his friend. And yet Flack had always been a little distant for some time before that, never the cheerful chappy he'd first been since that one night. Danny's eyes flashed open as he thought of that night. It had been a good night and he remembered it like it was yesterday.

It had been a few weeks before she'd died. That had been half the problem and they'd met up with her, all three of them; himself, Flack and Kali Maka. Aiden had taken them to a strange bar, not in their usual vicinity and she'd seemed a little distant. She wouldn't talk about her new job... but then again, none of them had wanted to talk work so they'd got pissed instead. The music was a thick drum and bass and was thumping loudly out from the speakers. He could feel the alcohol hampering his every move but it made him all warm and fuzzy inside; as if there was a hot water bottle in his tummy. The lights of the club were flashing brightly and illuminating the females' posteriors very pleasantly. Danny grinned as he looked them over before his eyes settled on the dark haired man across from him. Flack was leaning against the table, holding on tightly as though he might collapse at any second. Danny felt himself snigger loudly, Flack had always been a lousy drunk... man couldn't hold his alcohol at all.

"Whoa Flack, how much have you had to drink, buddy?" he chuckled. Suddenly a gorgeous woman walked past behind Flack and he was momentarily distracted.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," Flack mumbled in reply. He didn't look fine though. Always trying to be the tough guy.

"This place has such gorgeous women, why have we never been here before?" Danny asked as he was once more distracted.

"Because this place isn't our type of thing," Flack grumbled in reply.

"We should make it our type of thing," Danny grinned excitedly and then downed his fluorescent yellow shot.

"Well then I'm probably just dull," Flack frowned and Danny nodded.

"That you are, my friend. But whether you do or not, I'm sure making this place my local. Just look at all these girls," Danny smiled.

"Maybe you're right," Flack replied as he slid back onto his stool. "They'd probably all love to go home with you, Danno. You'll be fighting them off."

"Course I will," Danny laughed. "Now would you look at her..."

He found himself staring as a beautiful blonde made her way to the dancefloor and started swaying about. The music was changing slightly and Danny found he had the urge to get up and go over, maybe sidling up to her and introducing himself. Suddenly he noticed Aiden dancing nearby; she looked a bit funny though, that girl was always clowning around. But then she put her arms around Kali and boy was that hot! Danny found himself gawping as he watched Kali dancing about next to Aiden. He'd always had the hots for her and perhaps this night might be his chance... He turned to Flack for his opinion and frowned as he noticed Flack staring as well.

"You checking out Maka?" he slurred as he leant over the table and gently touched Flack on the arm.

"Ouch," Flack moaned like a big girl.

"Do you like Maka?" Danny asked again, slightly concerned.

"No, I do not like Maka," Flack replied.

"Good," Danny nodded. "Cos I do so keep your paws off. She's mine."

"You should go for it, Mess. I reckon she likes you back too," Flack urged.

"It's probably my Messer charm," Danny grinned.

"You're so lucky, I wish I could be as successful with the ladies as you," sighed Flack.

"Don't worry buddy. You'll get there, just watch and learn from the master," Danny laughed, gesturing to himself.

"Good luck then," Flack smiled. "Though you won't need it."

"Thanks. I reckon a cop would even make a good girlfriend," Danny grinned.

"Girlfriend, eh?" Flack smirked. "Next we'll be hearing wedding bells!"

Danny grinned good-naturedly at his friend. "Never say never, Flack. I reckon I'd be mightily lucky to marry a cop. Just gotta find the right one first."

"Who's marrying a cop?" Aiden grinned as she came over and threw an arm around Flack's shoulders.

Danny smiled back at her and then turned to Kali who had also come over and flashed her his most charming of grins.

"You okay there, Donny boy?" Aiden asked, looking in concern at Flack.

"He's alright, aren't ya Flack?" Danny said loudly.

"Yeah, think I'm sobering up a bit actually," Flack muttered.

"Sober?!" Aiden giggled. "Then you can dance with me. Kali's getting tired."

Danny watched as Flack was pulled off his stool and dragged away to the dancefloor. Then he turned back to Kali again and gave her another smile.

"Hey, Kali, you having fun?" Danny asked.

"Sure am, it's so much better with you guys here," she replied.

"Why thank you," Danny chuckled. "Everything's better with a bit of Messer in it."

"Is that so?" Kali asked in interest.

Danny nodded and then suddenly his attention was caught by his two best friends on the dancefloor. They were staring deeply at each other, bodies pressed closely together and it seemed as if they'd forgotten the whole world around them still existed.

"Well fuck me..." Danny murmured under his breath.

He could see Flack slowly tilting his head down, lips moving closer to meet hers. They were going to kiss, Flack had been checking out Aiden not Maka. And everything suddenly clicked into place. Flack. Aiden. Aiden. Flack. Flack was in love with Aiden. That was why he was so hopeless with the ladies, not because he actually didn't know how to pull but because he didn't want to. Danny could see Flack's eyes flutter closed and his heart almost leapt with joy for his two friends, this would be perfect. The two people he loved most in the world, bar his family, getting together. And they were so suited to each other as well. He could see the wedding now, he'd be best man, Kali would be bridesmaid with possibly Stella... though she was a little old for that now.

"Hey Aiden!"

"Aidennnnnn...!"

Danny heard the cries of his friend's name and watched as two huge blokes appeared from the crowd, grinning jovially. Aiden pulled back and turned before letting out a squeal of delight and bounding over to them to be wrapped up in two huge bear hugs. These men were obviously old friends of hers though Danny had never seen them before. He looked back to Flack who had frozen on the dancefloor and was staring at them with a look that Danny didn't recognise. And then he suddenly turned and stalked away, towards the exit of the club.

"Flack!" Danny yelled as he jumped up and started to make his way towards his friend.

"Danny, you're not leaving are you?"

It was Maka. And Danny turned back towards her as Flack disappeared out of the club. He sighed and then made his way back to the table. He'd check on Flack in the morning; guy probably just need a few hours by himself to cool off and get his head straight.

"Now where were we?" Kali asked, smiling slightly.

Danny frowned as he stood from the couch in the breakroom and placed his mug onto the counter. Flack had never been the same after that night. The next day he'd shown up to work with this frosty exterior and his sarcasm was much more evident. He saw less joy in the world and was far too cynical for his age. At the time Danny thought it might have been due to the fact Aiden had died a few weeks later. But it wasn't that, he saw that now. Flack had been dying of a broken heart. When she'd turned from him to hug those two men, she'd rejected Flack and in doing so broken his heart and any hope he might have had that they'd get together. Danny felt such sorrow for his friend. He'd been a broken man long before Jess died, and long before those events that had followed. He pulled out his phone and pressed two on his speedial. He waited as the phone rang and then heard the other man answer.

"Flack."

"Hey Flack, it's..."

"I'm not here right now, so leave a message and I'll get back to you."

Danny frowned and then shut his phone. It was most unusual for Flack not to answer his phone, especially as he was still on call. Danny made up his mind. He'd go down to the precinct and find out what was up with his friend, maybe he was just feeling poorly like the girls were.

Five minutes later Danny found himself trudging through the snow on his way to the precinct. He'd passed the results of the trace onto Hawkes who was going to brief Mac for him. The evening traffic was at a standstill all down the street, 5.30pm; hometime for so many. He sighed wearily as he crossed the road and then went on down the next street. He would have rung Flack but he didn't want the detective to be forewarned of his impending arrival. If he knew he was about to get the Spanish Inquisition, he'd most likely scarper and then Danny would never find out what was bugging his friend. Suddenly a hand closed over his mouth and he found himself pulled backwards through the snow. His feet skidded over it, trying to get some grip... trying to fight back. He wrenched his mouth open and bit hard into the gloved hand. He heard a shriek and frowned as he recognised it as a female's.

"What the hell, bitch?" he snarled as he turned and then almost tripped over backwards in shock.

"Thanks a bunch, Messer," she replied.

"Aiden?" Danny choked, eyes wide and mouth open gormlessly.

"Yes, Messer. It's me," she replied, her dark eyes staring wildly at him.

"It can't be... you're dead!" Danny scoffed, his face unchanging.

"No, I'm not. I'm very much alive," Aiden replied, her eyes shifting around to glance at their surroundings.

"No, you're dead!" Danny stated again.

"No, I'm not. Come on, Messer, I know you got a brain in their somewhere," she sighed.

"But...but...but... how?" he spluttered.

"I was recruited by the F.B.I after Mac fired me and after a few months they wanted to send me away on an undercover mission. Change my identity and they needed Aiden Burn to disappear," she explained.

"So they killed you!" Danny gasped, eyes still wide.

"In a manner of speaking... yes," she nodded. "They needed something to happen to me that would convince you and all of my friends in the NYPD that I was gone for good. It was top secret."

"But what about Pratt?" Danny frowned. "How'd you get him to go along with it?"

"He was set up. The whole thing was planned from the bite mark in the car to the pictures in my apartment. I knew it would be believable for you all to think I'd become obsessed with him and that he'd killed me" Aiden said, her eyes darting about once more.

"Fuck me..." Danny breathed loudly and then scratched at the back of his neck with cold fingers.

"I need your help, Danny, it's urgent," Aiden said hurriedly, not waiting for a moment's pause.

"What? Wait... you need my help? Why?" Danny frowned.

"It's Flack. He's in danger," Aiden replied and her dark eyes took on a slightly sadder and more worried look.

"Flack? He knows too?" Danny gawped. And suddenly it all made sense. Why Flack had acted so strangely that morning. He'd known about Aiden.

"I met Flack by accident last night... it wasn't supposed to happen. I just saw someone being mugged and didn't realise..." Aiden murmured.

"Wow, I bet he took it hard," Danny nodded, remembering what he'd been thinking about back in the lab.

"I had been meeting an informant prior to coming across him," Aiden continued as though she hadn't heard what he'd said. "That informant was the body you were investigating this morning."

"Shit..." Danny swore.

"Exactly," Aiden nodded. "But I think the people who killed him must have seen me with Flack too that night. He's been taken Danny. And they'll kill him."

Danny swallowed as he stared back at her, barely able to comprehend everything she was saying. It was all too much information in too short a space of time. Aiden was alive, she was hunting bad people, the F.B.I, Flack had known, the body was her informant... Flack was in danger...

"Flack's in danger?" Danny choked.

Aiden nodded worriedly at him.

"The people I'm after are bad people, Danny. And I mean really bad. It's taken us years and years to get to the point where we can take them down now. And they have Flack, they sent us a message. As soon as they realise he knows nothing they'll kill him. It's that simple," she replied and Danny wasn't certain but she almost looked like she was about to cry.

"But can't you and your F.B.I buddies go rescue him?" Danny asked, somewhat bitterly.

"No, you don't understand. We're supposed to be taking them down tonight. That's what the number one priority is. None of them care about Flack, if he gets hurt or killed in the process then it's unfortunate but necessary if we are to succeed," she explained hurriedly.

"So you want me to help you?" Danny asked.

"I need you to come with me to get Flack back," Aiden pleaded.

Danny pursed his lips and frowned. Something wasn't right about all this. Aiden suddenly showing up out of the blue... coming back from the dead. And the F.B.I whom she was supposedly working for sounded somewhat suspicious, though certainly not as sinister as whoever had Flack, if that was even true.

"I dunno, Aiden. I can't get involved in anything dangerous like this. I got a family to think about now; a wife and kid and I don't want to put them in jeopardy," Danny muttered.

"But it's Flack," Aiden begged and this time there were tears in her eyes. "He was your family long before they were. We both were."

Danny hesitated for a moment, mulling things over and silently agreeing with her.

"I still don't get why you came to me?" he finally said.

Aiden sighed and then took a step closer, staring into his eyes. "Because you're the only one I can trust, Danny. And the only one who cares about Flack like I do."

Danny sighed and then finally nodded. If there was even the slimmest chance that Flack might be in danger then Danny knew he had to go. It hadn't even really been a decision to make.

"Fine, I'll go. But tell me this. Why are you going after Flack? Why aren't you with the rest of your people, going after whomever it is you're trying to catch?" he asked.

"Because I love him, Danny," she said softly. "I always have... and I won't let him die."