Fic: A Day Gone Wrong (CSI:NY, MDD)
Title: A Day Gone Wrong
Author: Ginny
Disclaimer: Not mine. Still. *sigh*
Fandom: CSI:NY
Trio: Mac/Don/Danny Pairing: Implied Stella/Lindsay
Rating: FRT-13
Summary: They oversleep. And that’s the best part of the day.
Author’s Notes: Kathie gave me the bunny when I was trying to figure out what to write. Thank you. Also, thank you for letting me steal the last line from one of your bunnies. I’m returning it now, no harm done. Originally from 2006. Why didn't anyone ever stop me from writing back then?
Mac rolled over and looked at the alarm clock. And blinked. Then blinked again. That couldn’t be right. Reaching for his cell phone, he checked the time. And then jumped out of bed, swearing.
“Get up!” he ordered Danny and Don sharply as he headed for the bathroom.
“What’s going on?” Danny asked sleepily.
“Get up!” he said again. “It’s almost seven. Dammit!”
“Calm down Mac,” Don ordered soothingly. “You don’t have to be at work until eight.”
“I have to be in court at 7:30!” Mac corrected with a growl. “Someone forgot to set the alarm clock.” He disappeared into the bathroom, yanking hard on the faucets and jumping into the shower.
“The alarm clock?” Don repeated in confusion to Danny who had sucked in a deep breath.
“I did set the alarm,” Danny said quietly, almost to himself. He scooted over to the end of the bed and pressed the button to see the set time. “See. It’s set for 5:30.”
Flack chuckled a little. “It’s set for pm, not am, Danny.”
“Shit!” he swore, flinching slightly, “He’s going to kill me.”
“He is not. Go get ready. You still have to work today.”
“Yeah yeah, not all of us can have the day off,” Danny teased gently, kissing Flack softly and bouncing up, hurrying into the bathroom to brush his teeth.
Don dropped back against the pillows and thought about going back to sleep before deciding he was up, he might as well get some coffee and see his lovers off for the day.
“I’m sorry Mac,” Danny said as he entered the bathroom.
“All I asked you to do was set the alarm Danny,” Mac snapped, rubbing furiously at his hair as he rinsed the shampoo out. “One damn thing so I wouldn’t be late to court. What happened?”
“I accidentally set it to go off tonight instead of this morning,” Danny admitted sheepishly. “I’m sorry.”
The water was forcefully turned off and the curtain yanked aside. “If I’m the first person they call, what happens then?”
“They go back to you,” Danny pointed out, starting to get annoyed.
“And the defense uses it against us,” Mac retorted, stalking out to get dressed, only to be stopped by Don.
“Coffee,” he said, handing each man a mug.
Mac took it and continued into the bedroom, slamming it onto the dresser.
“Dammit Mac! I didn’t do this on purpose!” Danny pointed out irritably, his own temper getting the better of him.
“How difficult is it to set a damn alarm clock?”
“Stop it,” Don warned them. He was not up to their arguing today.
“Obviously it’s beyond what I can do,” Danny retorted.
“Shut up,” Mac growled.
“I tried to apologize! You’re the one being unreasonable.”
“Seriously, stop it,” Don warned them, but the ignored him. As they continued arguing, he pulled on sweatpants and a sweatshirt. “I’m leaving,” he announced loudly. The both stopped talking and stared at him.
“What?” Danny asked, blinking in confusion.
“It’s too loud here. I’m going out and getting coffee. Talk to me when the two of you are sane again.” Grabbing his shoes from next to the door, he left, leaving the other two slightly stunned.
“This is your fault,” they said simultaneously. They glowered at each other and then Mac finished getting ready, leaving Danny by himself in the apartment as he rushed to get to the courthouse.
****
Danny closed the door behind him and set off for the subway station. He hadn’t gone more than a few feet when he heard sirens racing in his general direction. He watched as four cars raced past him and down the street. He watched, dread seizing him, as they pulled to a stop two blocks down the street. In front of the diner Don liked to go to.
He took off at a run, praying that he was being paranoid.
“Jim!” he called when he recognized one of the officers. “What’s going on?”
“Hey Danny,” Officer Jim Wilkins greeted. “We’ve got a gunman in there, eight hostages, as far as we can tell. One of them is wounded.”
Danny bit his lip, trying to calm the flood of anxiousness. “Don Flack is in there.”
“Don’s in there?” Jim repeated. “Shit. Thanks. I’ll pass that along. You gotta step back now, okay?”
Danny nodded, listening to reason for once as he pulled out his cell phone to call Mac. After getting voicemail four times, Danny finally called Stella, letting her know what was going on. Taking advantage of his connections, he was allowed to stay where he could overhear what was going on, as long as he didn’t interrupt them.
Half an hour later, Stella and Lindsay had arrived and joined him. All three had offered to help however possible, but they’d been told they weren’t needed until this was over and they could process the scene. Not that anybody was expecting to need much to lock this guy away forever - assuming he survived.
It was another half hour before things fell quiet. The door to the diner opened, guns were raised. A dark haired man ran out.
“You’ll never take me alive!” he screamed, waving his gun as he ran straight for the line of officers. Dozens of shots rang out and he fell to the ground. It was only a moment later before officers and medics took off, some running for the man, most running into the diner.
Danny, Stella, and Lindsay started forward immediately, but Wilkins caught the movement. “Not until we’ve cleared it,” he ordered them. Officers themselves or not, they knew the regs and nodded, even if Stella had to put a firm hand on Danny’s shoulder to keep him in place.
They moved closer, watching helplessly when EMS came out a few minutes later, a familiar dark-haired man on the stretcher. Danny stared at it, jumping when Stella spoke.
“Go with them Danny,” she ordered.
“I can’t, I should stay,” he said quietly.
“We need someone to process at the hospital. Not just Don, but everyone is going to have to go for a checkup. Go,” she ordered him again.
He nodded once and took off for the ambulance, sliding into the back where he could watch them try to stabilize Don.
“What do we do now?” Lindsay asked Stella quietly.
“Now we process. We’ll keep trying to get a hold of Mac. I’ll send Sheldon to meet him at the courthouse if he hasn’t called back within an hour.”
“Do you think he’ll be all right?”
“This is Don, of course he’s going to be fine,” Stella answered optimistically.
****
Danny paced the waiting room. He’d listened to the hostages statements and done everything he could. All were shaken up, but none were hurt badly except for some bumps and bruises. Only Don had been hurt. He felt his heart clench, knowing that if he hadn’t picked a fight with Mac, Don wouldn’t have been there in the first place.
He looked up when he heard footsteps hurrying toward him. And was disappointed to see that it was Lindsay, not Mac.
“You done there already?”
“For the moment,” she shrugged. “It’s taped off and no one will be disturbing it until we say. Stella’s running everything back to the lab, but it should be open and shut, since we got the guy.”
Danny nodded. “He got off too easy,” he muttered.
“I agree,” the bitterness in Lindsay’s voice made him look at her sharply.
And then he gave her a small smile. Frankie should be glad Stella had killed him. He’d gotten off a lot lighter than he would have if Lindsay had been able to get a hold of him. He suspected that she danced on his grave some nights.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “This is Don, he’s going to be fine.”
“You sound a lot like Stella,” he informed her with a tiny smirk.
“Danny!” The sharp summons echoed down the hall before she could respond and he jumped, turning to see Mac and Hawkes hurrying toward them. “Where is he? What happened?” Mac asked. Hawkes had only had sketchy details when he’d caught him outside the courtroom.
“Gunman... in the diner ... shot Flack ... held them hostage for over an hour before he ran out ... Hammerback’s probably doing the autopsy now. The bullet hit him high in the right chest. Didn’t puncture a rib... but he lost a lot of blood. They’re still operating,” Danny said disjointedly, trying to bring his thoughts back together.
“What do the doctors say?”
“I don’t know. They rushed him up here immediately. I was getting statements, trace from under a girl’s fingernails and haven’t been able to get any more information since.”
“Okay,” Mac said, nodding.
“Where have you been?” Lindsay asked. “You didn’t answer your cell phone.”
Mac looked at her, glanced at Danny, and then looked back at her. “I left it at home this morning. I overslept.”
Lindsay didn’t miss Danny’s quick flinch at the announcement, but one of the nurses walked up to them just then.
“Detective Messer?” she summoned.
“You have news?” he asked. She’d dealt with his nervous questions very well and had promised to get him the second she heard anything. He saw her questioning look at Lindsay and Mac and did the introduction. “Sheila, this is Detective Mac Taylor and Lindsay Monroe, Mac, Lindsay, this is Nurse Sheila Mylton.”
They shook hands and then Sheila continued. “He’s on his way to the recovery room. The bullet did minimal damage and he stabilized once we got some more blood into him. He’s going to be just fine,” she smiled.
“Thank you,” Danny whispered, hugging her in his relief.
“Can we see him?” Mac asked.
“Not yet. I’ll let you know as soon as we’ve moved him to a room,” she promised. “It shouldn’t take much more than half an hour.”
They thanked her and she left, leaving them alone for the moment.
Lindsay could feel the relief of the two men next to her, but they didn’t make any more toward each other. They barely smiled at each other and she frowned, wondering what had happened. “Stella’s going to be here soon,” she told them. “She’ll take me back to the lab and the two of you can spend time with Don.”
Mac nodded, content to wait patiently now that he knew Don would be fine.
****
Stella frowned as she compared the bullet embedded in the wall of the diner to the one that had hit Don. They didn’t match. Tapping her fingernails against the keyboard, she mulled it over. There must have been a second gun that they hadn’t found.
Leaving a note for Lindsay and Hawkes, she headed back to the diner, determined to find the missing weapon.
**
Danny sat next to Don’s book, reading.
“Hey,” a quiet voice said from the bed. “What’re you reading?”
“Don,” Danny said, elated. He’d been conscious for a couple of minute, but this was the first time he had seemed truly coherent.
“That’s me.” Danny couldn’t help the chuckle that response prompted. Don looked around the room slowly. “Where’s Mac?”
“He’s around here somewhere,” Danny explained. If Don hadn’t been only half-conscious and high on pain killers, he would’ve seen the small wince of guilt.
“Did you get them?” he asked quietly.
“Them? We got the shooter Don. He came out, waving his gun and we got him.”
Don shook his head. “Them. There were two.”
Don vaguely heard his book his the floor as it fell from numb fingers. “What do you mean there were two?”
“Two guys. Two guns. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. I’ll be back in a minute, okay? I have to let Stella and the others know.”
Danny stepped into the hall, pulling out his cell phone. He cursed softly when he got Stella’ voicemail, but called Lindsay next.
“Monroe,” she answered on the third ring.
“Hey, it’s me. Where are you?”
“Hawkes and I are at the lab. We got called out to a murder at a bodega,” she answered.
“Where’s Stella? Don said there were two shooters.” There was silence on the other end of the line. “Lindsay?”
“She left a note... she went back to the diner,” Lindsay told him. He could practically see her mind racing as she tried to figure out whether or not the other woman was in danger. “I’m sure she’s fine, right?”
“Yeah. What are the odds he’d return, when the scene is still roped off,” Danny agreed, trying to sound like he believed it. “I’m going to meet her there, okay? Let her know what we found out.”
“Do you want us to go down too?”
“No. We’re bein’ paranoid. I’ll give you a call before we head back to the lab,” Danny hung up without waiting for her to reply. A quick check showed that Don had fallen back to sleep. Deciding not to wait for Mac to return, he took off.
****
Mac peaked into the room, feeling like a coward. He wasn’t mad at Danny, but he knew that Danny thought he was. He just didn’t feel like talking about their stupid fight. It was over and now they needed to concentrate on Don. He felt an irrational flash of relief when he was that Danny wasn’t there. He stooped down to pick up the book that had fallen, pushing the chair slightly, which woke Don.
“Hi Mac,” Don greeted around a yawn. “Danny still here?”
“I’m sure he’s around. How are you feeling?” he said, leaning down to give Don a brief kiss on his forehead.
“Like I was shot and almost bled out.”
Mac’s lips twitched into his usual half-smile. “Imagine that.”
“Did Danny talk to Stella?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“I told him there were two gunmen. He said he was calling Stella,” Don explained. He was starting to hate the pain medication that made thinking feel like walking through thick soup.
“Two shooters?” Mac echoed, feeling a knot of dread curl up in his stomach.
“Yeah. Mac? What’s going on?” Don demanded, pushing hard at the medicine-induced lethargy.
“We only knew of one shooter. I’m sure it’s nothing,” Mac smiled. “I’m going to track Danny down just to make sure, okay?”
“No.”
“What?”
“You’re not leaving this room. Use that phone,” he gestured to the phone on the table next to him.
“Don.” The other man simply glared at him and Mac gave in. “All right. I’m sure everything is fine.”
***
Stella frowned as she moved her flashlight throughout the diner. The other gun had to be here somewhere. He must have stashed it somewhere nearby before he ran outside. Otherwise, there just wasn’t time.
She jumped slightly when she heard a noise in the kitchen. “NYPD!” she shouted. “Who’s there?” She moved forward, her gun and flashlight raised. Kicking the door to the kitchen open, she saw nothing. She stepped inside, the light sweeping across the room. And cried out when she felt a wave of pain in her abdomen.
**
Danny heard the cry of pain just as he entered the diner. He ran toward it, knowing that it was Stella. He slammed into the kitchen, the door bouncing off the wall. “Freeze!” he ordered the man, his gun steady.
He watched as the man started to yank Stella up to use her as a shield and he fired, hitting him in the shoulder. The man lay unmoving as Danny knelt down to check on Stella. Only to be sent stumbling into the counter as the man kicked out. His gun clattered to the floor as he hit the counter. They fell to the floor, grappling. Even in the midst of all that, he was careful to steer them away from Stella. Rage consuming him, he head-butted the other man and slammed him back onto the floor, effectively knocking him out. He quickly cuffed him, shoving him away as he knelt next to Stella.
“Stella! C’mon honey, open your eyes,” he pleaded. He saw the deep stab wound and ripped his coat off, using one hand to press it against the wound, the other hand to dial 911 on his cell phone. He hung up a few moments later, letting it drop to the ground. “Open your eyes Stella. Lindsay’s going to kill me for letting this happen. You don’t want that, right?” he tried to joke and failed miserably, feeling very alone.
****
Mac cursed when Danny’s phone went straight to voicemail. Stella’s as well. “Don, I have to go.”
“You have to stay here,” Don told him firmly. “You’re not leaving until I know what’s going on. You don’t even know if anything was wrong.”
Giving in with a brief sigh, Mac dialed Hawkes and nearly cheered when the man answered immediately. Don was right, he didn’t know for sure that something was wrong, but he strongly suspected it.
“Hi Mac. How’s it going?” Hawkes asked.
“Is everyone there?”
“Just Lindsay and I. Stella went back to the scene. Why?” Hawkes asked, slightly surprised.
“Shit! Have you heard from Danny?”
“Danny?” Hawkes repeated, looking over at Lindsay.
“He’s meeting Stella at the diner,” she told him. She hadn’t mentioned any of her concern to him.
“Diner. Thanks,” Mac said and hung up. “I’ll call you as soon as I get there,” he promised Don.
“Go,” Don waved, giving up. Mac kissed him quickly and took off. Every instinct was screaming at him that something was wrong.
****
“The ambulance is here,” Danny told Stella when he heard the sirens stop in front of the building. He pressed two fingers against her throat, feeling a weak and thready pulse. “Just hang on for a bit longer, okay? I know you can. After all, you’re Stella. There isn’t anything you can’t do.”
He looked up when the medics came in.
“Detective Messer, I’m seeing you too much today,” the younger one greeted with a smile.
“Hi Leslie,” he returned. She and Tom had been the ones to take Don to the hospital that morning too.
“What happened?” Tom asked, slipping a mask attached to an oxygen canister over Stella’s face.
“Bastard over there stabbed her,” Danny said, gesturing with one hand toward their still unconscious second gunmen. “He’s gonna need to see a doc too.”
“He can wait,” Leslie said firmly as she and Tom carefully placed Stella on the stretcher. They were just starting to move her when Mac burst in.
Danny didn’t even wait for him to ask before explaining.
“Are you okay?” Mac asked in concern, taking in his blood splattered clothing and slightly dazed expression.
“I’m fine. It’s Stella’s blood,” Danny said softly, flinching in surprise when more officers entered.
“Why wasn’t this scene secure?” Mac demanded harshly.
“We didn’t know anyone was here sir,” the bravest officer explained. “We thought we’d got the guy this morning.”
“It’s still a crime scene! Until the case is officially closed, it’s your job to make sure it’s secure!” Mac told them angrily. “We will be discussing this more Officer Williams.”
“Yes sir,” he said quickly and motioned to the others to secure everything.
“We need a statement,” Williams said hesitantly. “Detective Messer?”
“Yeah, okay,” Danny agreed reluctantly. “I’ll meet you at the hospital?” he asked Mac.
Mac shook his head. “I’m staying. Give me your cell phone so I can call Lindsay, give your statement, and then we’ll go back to the hospital.”
Danny nodded and handed over his cell phone, relieved more than he could say that Mac wasn’t leaving.
****
By the time Mac and Danny got back to the hospital, Lindsay and Hawkes were already there. It was a sickening deja vu from that morning. To their surprise, Sheila directed them to Don’s room.
“This way you’re all contained and not harassing anyone else,” she told them, only half teasing.
Lindsay was pacing and paled when she caught sight of Danny. “That’s Stella’s blood, isn’t it?” she asked quietly. He nodded and she threw herself in his arms, crying.
“It’s okay Monroe,” he said, patting her back awkwardly. “Stella’s strong. She’ll be fine.” Not quite twelve hours ago, she had said the same thing to him about Don.
She sniffed and clung tighter, not noticing his small groan of pain. He looked to Mac for help, but help came from Don instead.
“You’re hurt Danny!”
“What? I’m not,” he said in confusion. He shook his head as Lindsay pulled back and everyone stared at him. “It’s not my blood.”
“It is,” Don said, pointing to where Danny’s shirt was soaked with fresh blood.
“Oh,” Danny said distantly, suddenly realizing that his side hurt a bit. He stumbled a bit and felt Mac’s arms around him, steadying him. “I’m okay,” he told Mac as he was pushed into a chair.
“Uh-huh,” Mac said unbelievingly as he ripped open Danny’s shirt to see what had happened.
“In front of everyone?” Danny asked with as much of a leer as he could muster.
“Shut up,” Mac ordered him, moving over for Sheldon to look.
“It’s long, but not deep. A few stitches and you’ll be fine,” he pronounced.
By the time Sheila came to tell them how Stella was doing, Danny had been stitched up, given clean clothes, and everyone but Don had found the coffee machine... several times.
“She did well,” Sheila said with a smile. “She came through wonderfully. We thought that Detective Flack, here, wouldn’t mind sharing a room if it was with someone he knew. We’ll need you to clear out when we bring her in, but that won’t be for another fifteen or twenty minutes.”
“Thank you,” Mac told her sincerely. Stella was his best friend and the idea that he’d almost lost her and Don today still made his heart clench.
Lindsay, in her relief, threw herself into the nearest pair of arms, which, again, happened to be Danny. He grunted and looked at the others for help, but they were too busy snickering.
Finally, Mac came to his rescue. “Lindsay? Let go. You already have a woman, so let go of my man please.”
Lindsay released Danny immediately, turning bright red. “You know?”
“About you and Stella? Yes,” Mac said, smirking slightly.
“How long have you known?”
“Four weeks.”
“Three weeks.”
“Three weeks.”
“Six months.”
“What?” she squeaked, looking at Danny. “But we’ve only been together since... since just after ... Frankie,” her voice dropped to an angry whisper at the end.
Danny shrugged, “You’ve had a thing for her since you moved here. It’s why you tried flirting with me an’ Mac.” He sat on the edge of Don’s bed.
She blushed a bit more. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You tried to hard Monroe. I saw right through you.”
“You don’t care?” she asked the four men.
Don and Danny laughed outright, Hawkes snickered, and Mac smirked. “Do you honestly think we’d have a problem with it?” Mac asked her in disbelief, gesturing toward his two lovers on the bed.
“And you?” she asked Hawkes.
“Why would it?” he asked, honestly confused.
She smiled, “You guys are the best.”
Danny shook his head, “You’re crazy Montana.”
****
Mac slipped outside and stepped up next to the man standing there. “You disappeared on us,” he said gently, standing next to him, but not touching him.
“Sorry.” He was quiet for another minute before he said, “Mac? I really am sorry.”
“For what?”
“If I’d remembered to set the alarm, none of this would have happened.”
“Danny, no,” Mac told him, aghast at the idea. He wrapped his arms around him, his arm settling protectively over the knife wound.
Danny laughed bitterly, refusing to be comforted by the touch. “Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it. The way you were avoiding me, I know you did.”
Mac tightened his grip and pressed a kiss against Danny’s temple. “That wasn’t it. Not at all.” He sighed. He wasn’t good at saying things like this. “I was annoyed about this morning. And I was worried about Don. I just needed time to recenter myself. It wasn’t you. I swear that it wasn’t you.”
Danny thought about it for a bit before nodding slightly. “I’m still sorry,” he said, relaxing into Mac’s embrace. He sighed before admitting, “I’m tired.”
“It’s after midnight. I’m not surprised. Do you want to go back in?”
“Not really. I’ve spent too much time here lately.”
Mac nodded in agreement. “We can stay out here as long as you want.”
“Thanks.” They sat, enjoying the solitude for a bit longer. “Mac?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” Mac grinned slightly. “And when we take Don home, I’m tying both of you to the bed so you stop getting in trouble.”
~End~
Author: Ginny
Disclaimer: Not mine. Still. *sigh*
Fandom: CSI:NY
Trio: Mac/Don/Danny Pairing: Implied Stella/Lindsay
Rating: FRT-13
Summary: They oversleep. And that’s the best part of the day.
Author’s Notes: Kathie gave me the bunny when I was trying to figure out what to write. Thank you. Also, thank you for letting me steal the last line from one of your bunnies. I’m returning it now, no harm done. Originally from 2006. Why didn't anyone ever stop me from writing back then?
Mac rolled over and looked at the alarm clock. And blinked. Then blinked again. That couldn’t be right. Reaching for his cell phone, he checked the time. And then jumped out of bed, swearing.
“Get up!” he ordered Danny and Don sharply as he headed for the bathroom.
“What’s going on?” Danny asked sleepily.
“Get up!” he said again. “It’s almost seven. Dammit!”
“Calm down Mac,” Don ordered soothingly. “You don’t have to be at work until eight.”
“I have to be in court at 7:30!” Mac corrected with a growl. “Someone forgot to set the alarm clock.” He disappeared into the bathroom, yanking hard on the faucets and jumping into the shower.
“The alarm clock?” Don repeated in confusion to Danny who had sucked in a deep breath.
“I did set the alarm,” Danny said quietly, almost to himself. He scooted over to the end of the bed and pressed the button to see the set time. “See. It’s set for 5:30.”
Flack chuckled a little. “It’s set for pm, not am, Danny.”
“Shit!” he swore, flinching slightly, “He’s going to kill me.”
“He is not. Go get ready. You still have to work today.”
“Yeah yeah, not all of us can have the day off,” Danny teased gently, kissing Flack softly and bouncing up, hurrying into the bathroom to brush his teeth.
Don dropped back against the pillows and thought about going back to sleep before deciding he was up, he might as well get some coffee and see his lovers off for the day.
“I’m sorry Mac,” Danny said as he entered the bathroom.
“All I asked you to do was set the alarm Danny,” Mac snapped, rubbing furiously at his hair as he rinsed the shampoo out. “One damn thing so I wouldn’t be late to court. What happened?”
“I accidentally set it to go off tonight instead of this morning,” Danny admitted sheepishly. “I’m sorry.”
The water was forcefully turned off and the curtain yanked aside. “If I’m the first person they call, what happens then?”
“They go back to you,” Danny pointed out, starting to get annoyed.
“And the defense uses it against us,” Mac retorted, stalking out to get dressed, only to be stopped by Don.
“Coffee,” he said, handing each man a mug.
Mac took it and continued into the bedroom, slamming it onto the dresser.
“Dammit Mac! I didn’t do this on purpose!” Danny pointed out irritably, his own temper getting the better of him.
“How difficult is it to set a damn alarm clock?”
“Stop it,” Don warned them. He was not up to their arguing today.
“Obviously it’s beyond what I can do,” Danny retorted.
“Shut up,” Mac growled.
“I tried to apologize! You’re the one being unreasonable.”
“Seriously, stop it,” Don warned them, but the ignored him. As they continued arguing, he pulled on sweatpants and a sweatshirt. “I’m leaving,” he announced loudly. The both stopped talking and stared at him.
“What?” Danny asked, blinking in confusion.
“It’s too loud here. I’m going out and getting coffee. Talk to me when the two of you are sane again.” Grabbing his shoes from next to the door, he left, leaving the other two slightly stunned.
“This is your fault,” they said simultaneously. They glowered at each other and then Mac finished getting ready, leaving Danny by himself in the apartment as he rushed to get to the courthouse.
****
Danny closed the door behind him and set off for the subway station. He hadn’t gone more than a few feet when he heard sirens racing in his general direction. He watched as four cars raced past him and down the street. He watched, dread seizing him, as they pulled to a stop two blocks down the street. In front of the diner Don liked to go to.
He took off at a run, praying that he was being paranoid.
“Jim!” he called when he recognized one of the officers. “What’s going on?”
“Hey Danny,” Officer Jim Wilkins greeted. “We’ve got a gunman in there, eight hostages, as far as we can tell. One of them is wounded.”
Danny bit his lip, trying to calm the flood of anxiousness. “Don Flack is in there.”
“Don’s in there?” Jim repeated. “Shit. Thanks. I’ll pass that along. You gotta step back now, okay?”
Danny nodded, listening to reason for once as he pulled out his cell phone to call Mac. After getting voicemail four times, Danny finally called Stella, letting her know what was going on. Taking advantage of his connections, he was allowed to stay where he could overhear what was going on, as long as he didn’t interrupt them.
Half an hour later, Stella and Lindsay had arrived and joined him. All three had offered to help however possible, but they’d been told they weren’t needed until this was over and they could process the scene. Not that anybody was expecting to need much to lock this guy away forever - assuming he survived.
It was another half hour before things fell quiet. The door to the diner opened, guns were raised. A dark haired man ran out.
“You’ll never take me alive!” he screamed, waving his gun as he ran straight for the line of officers. Dozens of shots rang out and he fell to the ground. It was only a moment later before officers and medics took off, some running for the man, most running into the diner.
Danny, Stella, and Lindsay started forward immediately, but Wilkins caught the movement. “Not until we’ve cleared it,” he ordered them. Officers themselves or not, they knew the regs and nodded, even if Stella had to put a firm hand on Danny’s shoulder to keep him in place.
They moved closer, watching helplessly when EMS came out a few minutes later, a familiar dark-haired man on the stretcher. Danny stared at it, jumping when Stella spoke.
“Go with them Danny,” she ordered.
“I can’t, I should stay,” he said quietly.
“We need someone to process at the hospital. Not just Don, but everyone is going to have to go for a checkup. Go,” she ordered him again.
He nodded once and took off for the ambulance, sliding into the back where he could watch them try to stabilize Don.
“What do we do now?” Lindsay asked Stella quietly.
“Now we process. We’ll keep trying to get a hold of Mac. I’ll send Sheldon to meet him at the courthouse if he hasn’t called back within an hour.”
“Do you think he’ll be all right?”
“This is Don, of course he’s going to be fine,” Stella answered optimistically.
****
Danny paced the waiting room. He’d listened to the hostages statements and done everything he could. All were shaken up, but none were hurt badly except for some bumps and bruises. Only Don had been hurt. He felt his heart clench, knowing that if he hadn’t picked a fight with Mac, Don wouldn’t have been there in the first place.
He looked up when he heard footsteps hurrying toward him. And was disappointed to see that it was Lindsay, not Mac.
“You done there already?”
“For the moment,” she shrugged. “It’s taped off and no one will be disturbing it until we say. Stella’s running everything back to the lab, but it should be open and shut, since we got the guy.”
Danny nodded. “He got off too easy,” he muttered.
“I agree,” the bitterness in Lindsay’s voice made him look at her sharply.
And then he gave her a small smile. Frankie should be glad Stella had killed him. He’d gotten off a lot lighter than he would have if Lindsay had been able to get a hold of him. He suspected that she danced on his grave some nights.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “This is Don, he’s going to be fine.”
“You sound a lot like Stella,” he informed her with a tiny smirk.
“Danny!” The sharp summons echoed down the hall before she could respond and he jumped, turning to see Mac and Hawkes hurrying toward them. “Where is he? What happened?” Mac asked. Hawkes had only had sketchy details when he’d caught him outside the courtroom.
“Gunman... in the diner ... shot Flack ... held them hostage for over an hour before he ran out ... Hammerback’s probably doing the autopsy now. The bullet hit him high in the right chest. Didn’t puncture a rib... but he lost a lot of blood. They’re still operating,” Danny said disjointedly, trying to bring his thoughts back together.
“What do the doctors say?”
“I don’t know. They rushed him up here immediately. I was getting statements, trace from under a girl’s fingernails and haven’t been able to get any more information since.”
“Okay,” Mac said, nodding.
“Where have you been?” Lindsay asked. “You didn’t answer your cell phone.”
Mac looked at her, glanced at Danny, and then looked back at her. “I left it at home this morning. I overslept.”
Lindsay didn’t miss Danny’s quick flinch at the announcement, but one of the nurses walked up to them just then.
“Detective Messer?” she summoned.
“You have news?” he asked. She’d dealt with his nervous questions very well and had promised to get him the second she heard anything. He saw her questioning look at Lindsay and Mac and did the introduction. “Sheila, this is Detective Mac Taylor and Lindsay Monroe, Mac, Lindsay, this is Nurse Sheila Mylton.”
They shook hands and then Sheila continued. “He’s on his way to the recovery room. The bullet did minimal damage and he stabilized once we got some more blood into him. He’s going to be just fine,” she smiled.
“Thank you,” Danny whispered, hugging her in his relief.
“Can we see him?” Mac asked.
“Not yet. I’ll let you know as soon as we’ve moved him to a room,” she promised. “It shouldn’t take much more than half an hour.”
They thanked her and she left, leaving them alone for the moment.
Lindsay could feel the relief of the two men next to her, but they didn’t make any more toward each other. They barely smiled at each other and she frowned, wondering what had happened. “Stella’s going to be here soon,” she told them. “She’ll take me back to the lab and the two of you can spend time with Don.”
Mac nodded, content to wait patiently now that he knew Don would be fine.
****
Stella frowned as she compared the bullet embedded in the wall of the diner to the one that had hit Don. They didn’t match. Tapping her fingernails against the keyboard, she mulled it over. There must have been a second gun that they hadn’t found.
Leaving a note for Lindsay and Hawkes, she headed back to the diner, determined to find the missing weapon.
**
Danny sat next to Don’s book, reading.
“Hey,” a quiet voice said from the bed. “What’re you reading?”
“Don,” Danny said, elated. He’d been conscious for a couple of minute, but this was the first time he had seemed truly coherent.
“That’s me.” Danny couldn’t help the chuckle that response prompted. Don looked around the room slowly. “Where’s Mac?”
“He’s around here somewhere,” Danny explained. If Don hadn’t been only half-conscious and high on pain killers, he would’ve seen the small wince of guilt.
“Did you get them?” he asked quietly.
“Them? We got the shooter Don. He came out, waving his gun and we got him.”
Don shook his head. “Them. There were two.”
Don vaguely heard his book his the floor as it fell from numb fingers. “What do you mean there were two?”
“Two guys. Two guns. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. I’ll be back in a minute, okay? I have to let Stella and the others know.”
Danny stepped into the hall, pulling out his cell phone. He cursed softly when he got Stella’ voicemail, but called Lindsay next.
“Monroe,” she answered on the third ring.
“Hey, it’s me. Where are you?”
“Hawkes and I are at the lab. We got called out to a murder at a bodega,” she answered.
“Where’s Stella? Don said there were two shooters.” There was silence on the other end of the line. “Lindsay?”
“She left a note... she went back to the diner,” Lindsay told him. He could practically see her mind racing as she tried to figure out whether or not the other woman was in danger. “I’m sure she’s fine, right?”
“Yeah. What are the odds he’d return, when the scene is still roped off,” Danny agreed, trying to sound like he believed it. “I’m going to meet her there, okay? Let her know what we found out.”
“Do you want us to go down too?”
“No. We’re bein’ paranoid. I’ll give you a call before we head back to the lab,” Danny hung up without waiting for her to reply. A quick check showed that Don had fallen back to sleep. Deciding not to wait for Mac to return, he took off.
****
Mac peaked into the room, feeling like a coward. He wasn’t mad at Danny, but he knew that Danny thought he was. He just didn’t feel like talking about their stupid fight. It was over and now they needed to concentrate on Don. He felt an irrational flash of relief when he was that Danny wasn’t there. He stooped down to pick up the book that had fallen, pushing the chair slightly, which woke Don.
“Hi Mac,” Don greeted around a yawn. “Danny still here?”
“I’m sure he’s around. How are you feeling?” he said, leaning down to give Don a brief kiss on his forehead.
“Like I was shot and almost bled out.”
Mac’s lips twitched into his usual half-smile. “Imagine that.”
“Did Danny talk to Stella?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“I told him there were two gunmen. He said he was calling Stella,” Don explained. He was starting to hate the pain medication that made thinking feel like walking through thick soup.
“Two shooters?” Mac echoed, feeling a knot of dread curl up in his stomach.
“Yeah. Mac? What’s going on?” Don demanded, pushing hard at the medicine-induced lethargy.
“We only knew of one shooter. I’m sure it’s nothing,” Mac smiled. “I’m going to track Danny down just to make sure, okay?”
“No.”
“What?”
“You’re not leaving this room. Use that phone,” he gestured to the phone on the table next to him.
“Don.” The other man simply glared at him and Mac gave in. “All right. I’m sure everything is fine.”
***
Stella frowned as she moved her flashlight throughout the diner. The other gun had to be here somewhere. He must have stashed it somewhere nearby before he ran outside. Otherwise, there just wasn’t time.
She jumped slightly when she heard a noise in the kitchen. “NYPD!” she shouted. “Who’s there?” She moved forward, her gun and flashlight raised. Kicking the door to the kitchen open, she saw nothing. She stepped inside, the light sweeping across the room. And cried out when she felt a wave of pain in her abdomen.
**
Danny heard the cry of pain just as he entered the diner. He ran toward it, knowing that it was Stella. He slammed into the kitchen, the door bouncing off the wall. “Freeze!” he ordered the man, his gun steady.
He watched as the man started to yank Stella up to use her as a shield and he fired, hitting him in the shoulder. The man lay unmoving as Danny knelt down to check on Stella. Only to be sent stumbling into the counter as the man kicked out. His gun clattered to the floor as he hit the counter. They fell to the floor, grappling. Even in the midst of all that, he was careful to steer them away from Stella. Rage consuming him, he head-butted the other man and slammed him back onto the floor, effectively knocking him out. He quickly cuffed him, shoving him away as he knelt next to Stella.
“Stella! C’mon honey, open your eyes,” he pleaded. He saw the deep stab wound and ripped his coat off, using one hand to press it against the wound, the other hand to dial 911 on his cell phone. He hung up a few moments later, letting it drop to the ground. “Open your eyes Stella. Lindsay’s going to kill me for letting this happen. You don’t want that, right?” he tried to joke and failed miserably, feeling very alone.
****
Mac cursed when Danny’s phone went straight to voicemail. Stella’s as well. “Don, I have to go.”
“You have to stay here,” Don told him firmly. “You’re not leaving until I know what’s going on. You don’t even know if anything was wrong.”
Giving in with a brief sigh, Mac dialed Hawkes and nearly cheered when the man answered immediately. Don was right, he didn’t know for sure that something was wrong, but he strongly suspected it.
“Hi Mac. How’s it going?” Hawkes asked.
“Is everyone there?”
“Just Lindsay and I. Stella went back to the scene. Why?” Hawkes asked, slightly surprised.
“Shit! Have you heard from Danny?”
“Danny?” Hawkes repeated, looking over at Lindsay.
“He’s meeting Stella at the diner,” she told him. She hadn’t mentioned any of her concern to him.
“Diner. Thanks,” Mac said and hung up. “I’ll call you as soon as I get there,” he promised Don.
“Go,” Don waved, giving up. Mac kissed him quickly and took off. Every instinct was screaming at him that something was wrong.
****
“The ambulance is here,” Danny told Stella when he heard the sirens stop in front of the building. He pressed two fingers against her throat, feeling a weak and thready pulse. “Just hang on for a bit longer, okay? I know you can. After all, you’re Stella. There isn’t anything you can’t do.”
He looked up when the medics came in.
“Detective Messer, I’m seeing you too much today,” the younger one greeted with a smile.
“Hi Leslie,” he returned. She and Tom had been the ones to take Don to the hospital that morning too.
“What happened?” Tom asked, slipping a mask attached to an oxygen canister over Stella’s face.
“Bastard over there stabbed her,” Danny said, gesturing with one hand toward their still unconscious second gunmen. “He’s gonna need to see a doc too.”
“He can wait,” Leslie said firmly as she and Tom carefully placed Stella on the stretcher. They were just starting to move her when Mac burst in.
Danny didn’t even wait for him to ask before explaining.
“Are you okay?” Mac asked in concern, taking in his blood splattered clothing and slightly dazed expression.
“I’m fine. It’s Stella’s blood,” Danny said softly, flinching in surprise when more officers entered.
“Why wasn’t this scene secure?” Mac demanded harshly.
“We didn’t know anyone was here sir,” the bravest officer explained. “We thought we’d got the guy this morning.”
“It’s still a crime scene! Until the case is officially closed, it’s your job to make sure it’s secure!” Mac told them angrily. “We will be discussing this more Officer Williams.”
“Yes sir,” he said quickly and motioned to the others to secure everything.
“We need a statement,” Williams said hesitantly. “Detective Messer?”
“Yeah, okay,” Danny agreed reluctantly. “I’ll meet you at the hospital?” he asked Mac.
Mac shook his head. “I’m staying. Give me your cell phone so I can call Lindsay, give your statement, and then we’ll go back to the hospital.”
Danny nodded and handed over his cell phone, relieved more than he could say that Mac wasn’t leaving.
****
By the time Mac and Danny got back to the hospital, Lindsay and Hawkes were already there. It was a sickening deja vu from that morning. To their surprise, Sheila directed them to Don’s room.
“This way you’re all contained and not harassing anyone else,” she told them, only half teasing.
Lindsay was pacing and paled when she caught sight of Danny. “That’s Stella’s blood, isn’t it?” she asked quietly. He nodded and she threw herself in his arms, crying.
“It’s okay Monroe,” he said, patting her back awkwardly. “Stella’s strong. She’ll be fine.” Not quite twelve hours ago, she had said the same thing to him about Don.
She sniffed and clung tighter, not noticing his small groan of pain. He looked to Mac for help, but help came from Don instead.
“You’re hurt Danny!”
“What? I’m not,” he said in confusion. He shook his head as Lindsay pulled back and everyone stared at him. “It’s not my blood.”
“It is,” Don said, pointing to where Danny’s shirt was soaked with fresh blood.
“Oh,” Danny said distantly, suddenly realizing that his side hurt a bit. He stumbled a bit and felt Mac’s arms around him, steadying him. “I’m okay,” he told Mac as he was pushed into a chair.
“Uh-huh,” Mac said unbelievingly as he ripped open Danny’s shirt to see what had happened.
“In front of everyone?” Danny asked with as much of a leer as he could muster.
“Shut up,” Mac ordered him, moving over for Sheldon to look.
“It’s long, but not deep. A few stitches and you’ll be fine,” he pronounced.
By the time Sheila came to tell them how Stella was doing, Danny had been stitched up, given clean clothes, and everyone but Don had found the coffee machine... several times.
“She did well,” Sheila said with a smile. “She came through wonderfully. We thought that Detective Flack, here, wouldn’t mind sharing a room if it was with someone he knew. We’ll need you to clear out when we bring her in, but that won’t be for another fifteen or twenty minutes.”
“Thank you,” Mac told her sincerely. Stella was his best friend and the idea that he’d almost lost her and Don today still made his heart clench.
Lindsay, in her relief, threw herself into the nearest pair of arms, which, again, happened to be Danny. He grunted and looked at the others for help, but they were too busy snickering.
Finally, Mac came to his rescue. “Lindsay? Let go. You already have a woman, so let go of my man please.”
Lindsay released Danny immediately, turning bright red. “You know?”
“About you and Stella? Yes,” Mac said, smirking slightly.
“How long have you known?”
“Four weeks.”
“Three weeks.”
“Three weeks.”
“Six months.”
“What?” she squeaked, looking at Danny. “But we’ve only been together since... since just after ... Frankie,” her voice dropped to an angry whisper at the end.
Danny shrugged, “You’ve had a thing for her since you moved here. It’s why you tried flirting with me an’ Mac.” He sat on the edge of Don’s bed.
She blushed a bit more. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You tried to hard Monroe. I saw right through you.”
“You don’t care?” she asked the four men.
Don and Danny laughed outright, Hawkes snickered, and Mac smirked. “Do you honestly think we’d have a problem with it?” Mac asked her in disbelief, gesturing toward his two lovers on the bed.
“And you?” she asked Hawkes.
“Why would it?” he asked, honestly confused.
She smiled, “You guys are the best.”
Danny shook his head, “You’re crazy Montana.”
****
Mac slipped outside and stepped up next to the man standing there. “You disappeared on us,” he said gently, standing next to him, but not touching him.
“Sorry.” He was quiet for another minute before he said, “Mac? I really am sorry.”
“For what?”
“If I’d remembered to set the alarm, none of this would have happened.”
“Danny, no,” Mac told him, aghast at the idea. He wrapped his arms around him, his arm settling protectively over the knife wound.
Danny laughed bitterly, refusing to be comforted by the touch. “Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it. The way you were avoiding me, I know you did.”
Mac tightened his grip and pressed a kiss against Danny’s temple. “That wasn’t it. Not at all.” He sighed. He wasn’t good at saying things like this. “I was annoyed about this morning. And I was worried about Don. I just needed time to recenter myself. It wasn’t you. I swear that it wasn’t you.”
Danny thought about it for a bit before nodding slightly. “I’m still sorry,” he said, relaxing into Mac’s embrace. He sighed before admitting, “I’m tired.”
“It’s after midnight. I’m not surprised. Do you want to go back in?”
“Not really. I’ve spent too much time here lately.”
Mac nodded in agreement. “We can stay out here as long as you want.”
“Thanks.” They sat, enjoying the solitude for a bit longer. “Mac?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” Mac grinned slightly. “And when we take Don home, I’m tying both of you to the bed so you stop getting in trouble.”
~End~