Title: Entanglement
By: Callista_Mythol
Pairing: Mac/Danny
Rating: R
Summary: Danny makes a stand which leads to a misunderstanding.

***

Danny rubbed tiredly at his eyes, slouched slightly in his seat as he tried to convince them to stay open. Aiden was sat across from him and watched him carefully as he continued to sag with exhaustion, both physical and mental.

"You okay?" she asked softly and Danny jerked slightly, maybe to wake himself up, and nodded heavily.

"Hard case," he said as though it explained everything, which in a way it did and Aiden nodded in understanding. That was one thing she didn't miss about working in the labs, and no matter how many times people told you not to take your work home with you, not let it become personal you still couldn't help taking on the burden to try and correct all the wrongs.

Hell, it had cost her her job, she knew better than anyone how it ate away at you.

"Wanna talk it out?" she asked and she say her friend hesitate for a moment. Finally though Danny sighed and nodded, leaning forwards in the booth they had accommodated for the evening and balled his hands into fists resting them on the table.

"It wasn't just the case. I mean, I've seen worse then these two poor guys but it was...Jesus Aiden, it was the Officers."

Frowning now Aiden leant in more closely.

"What'd you mean Danny?"

Danny removed his glasses and rubbed a hand down his face before folding the legs of his glasses and rested them on the table. He shook his head viciously once and then turned his passionate blue eyes back onto her.

"Long story short, these were two guys who were together. And I mean that how I say it, they were lovers, shaking up, fuck buddies, whatever the hell you wanna call it. And I'll give you three guesses what the motive behind the neighbour shooting them was."

"Homophobia?" Aiden said, her accent thickening and Danny nodded again.

"Some bull story about his daddy leaving him and his momma when he was a kid for another man and his resentment for the 'filthy faggots tainting the world'. I tell ya Burns, I was ready to sock him one right there in that interrogation room. Bigoted ass."

"So that gave him the right to shoot those two men then?" Aiden said in a distasteful tone, shaking her head in disgust and sighing heavily.

"Oh apparently so. But you know, he shot them so I wasn't expecting remorse from him anytime soon," Danny said taking a moment to sip his drink.

"But you said something about the Officers," Aiden said slowly and dreaded the answer. This case was probably hard enough on Danny anyway, being Bisexual and all, but she didn't want to believe that 'their side' had contributed to Danny's sullen mood.

"Not all, I'll admit that. Flack kept them in check," Danny said smirking for a brief moment before it disappeared again, " But yeah, seems some of our Boys in Blue wanted to play the stereotype."

Massaging his temples Danny rested his elbows on the table.

"They were only offering a half-assed job at it. They didn't care, didn't see fit to stop any unnecessary comments coming from some of the other just-as-stupid neighbours. I think I even heard a couple of them agreeing. Don't quote me on that. But the minute I told them to shut their traps, that it was disrespectful to talk ill of the dead, the dead they'd never met in real life at that, God you shoulda seen the looks Aiden."

Shaking his head Danny looked up at her again, his face flushed and his eyes looking glassy.

"You should've seen the way Mac looked at me."

Aiden felt her heart thump uncomfortably and she reached over to grip his hand hard. She knew about her friend's little crush, had teased him discreetly about it all the time in work and occasionally still did. Always told him to just plant one on the man and see what would happen.

She never imagined that Mac would share the same views as...as those people.

"I might've as well as declared I was Elton John from the way they was looking at me. You could almost see them trying to look for the 'tell-tale' signs, limp wrist, lisp, and funny walk. Jackasses!"

"But you're sure Mac..." Danny's sharp self-pitying laugh cut off Aiden mid sentence.

"Oh yes, all calculating looks and silent treatment. Thing is, I'd never pegged him as a homophobe before. He always seemed so understanding...well, to the victims anyway, maybe not so much with me."

"But he never said anything outright?" Aiden asked carefully. It wouldn't be the first time Danny had jumped to the worse conclusion first.

"When does Mac ever say anything outright?" Danny retorted and Aiden had to nod at that.

"Touché."

"Maybe it's not the victims," Danny said quietly, "Maybe its me."

"What did you say exactly?"

"To the Officers? Basically that if they couldn't say anything nice or professional maybe they should keep their mouths shut. That they didn't even know the victims so how dare they speculate on how they lived and that there wasn't nothing wrong with who they chose to love and that they should respect that. I think it was the last line that was the clincher."

Aiden darted her eyes off to one side before glancing up at her friend again.

"And what did Mac do exactly? Talk me through it."

Danny did smirk a little at that even as he rubbed tiredly at his forehead.

"'Walk you through it', Jesus Christ, once a CSI always a CSI. Okay, I finished my little speech and the boys all got these funny looks on their faces. Gave me a wide-berth if you will just in case I might try to bend one of them over perhaps. Mac...Mac watched in that pensive quiet way that he does, looking between me and the Officers before giving a quiet order for everyone to get back to work..."

/Flashback/

"All right, enough. Everyone, back to your posts. Messer, keep processing the bodies."

Danny stared at Mac in disbelief but was met with a steady, stern blue gaze. Mentally throwing up his arms he growled quietly and returned to the two men resting on the bed, he would've said peacefully if it weren't for the gunshot wounds in their heads.

He gently brushed aside the hair of one of the victims to get a better picture of the wound, carefully tilting the man's head to get the various angles before he quietly moved around the bed to do the same to the victim's lover. He kept his resentment towards the Officers and suspect inside for now, the little ball of fury in his chest causing it to clench every now and again when he passed something sentimental: A photo of the two on the bedside table, splattered with their blood, matching rings on their wedding fingers, their shoes tucked in beside one another under a chair across the room.

Two men who loved each other, nothing more than that, punished for the same thing.

God he wanted to hit something. It hurt even more because it was a life that he wanted with someone, for all his protestations against such a thing. To be loved, to share your life with someone.

Looking up through his eyelashes at his Boss Danny felt his stomach clench unpleasantly.

Mac was watching him, his blue eyes cold and there was a lick of anger in them. He was watching Danny's every move and instantly Danny dropped his eyes back to the bed.

Was it pathetic that he suddenly felt like crying?

/End of Flashback/

"Oh Danny, I'm sorry," Aiden said quietly and Danny shrugged as impassively as he possibly could.

"Hey, I wouldn't be a Messer if I didn't pine after something I couldn't have."

Aiden watched him carefully for a moment before she stood up, moved round the table and dropped in beside him on the other side of the booth. She threw an arm over his shoulders and pulled him in until their temples were touching lightly.

They were silent for a moment, Aiden squeezing reassuringly and Danny absorbing his friend's comfort before he heard Aiden lick her lips and begin to speak again.

"You want me to come down to the Lab and kick his ass?"

Danny let out a quick burst of laughter before falling sombre again.

"Yeah," he said pitifully and smiled a little when Aiden chuckled, squeezing him again.

...............................................................................

Danny closed his eyes, breathed in deeply and exhaled with a small growl. Casually he looked over his shoulder and all he found was the surrounding lab and glass.

Then why the Hell could he feel eyes staring at his back?

Turning back to the experiment in front of him he shrugged and began working again. That was, until the hairs on the back of his neck twitched again as he felt someone staring at him once more. It took everything inside of him to resist slamming down the test tube and shouting at the person he couldn't even see.

"God dammit," he muttered to himself, rolling his shoulders and standing straight to stretch his back slightly. He placed his hands at the base of his spine and pushed in as he arched, groaning satisfactorily when his spine clicked. He shook off his hands and returned to his crouched over position, deciding to ignore the 'eyeballing'.

Squinting at the hairs in front of him from his new case he crouched in lower, sub-consciously tugging the stool he was sitting on further under the workspace as he concentrated.

"Danny."

Danny yelped, jumped and simultaneously banged his knee against the underside of the desk. He moaned as he put down his tools and rubbed furiously at his throbbing knee before turning to glare at his intruder.

The glare quickly left though when he came face to face with Mac, who was resisting the urge to smile at Danny's reaction.

"Mac..." Danny really didn't want to see his Boss right now, especially considering the events of the other day and his conversation with Aiden. But it wasn't like he could avoid the man forever even if he wanted to stay out of the range of that cold stare.

Although, granted, right now they looked more amused then disgusted.

Still.

"What can I do for you?" he said returning his attention to the hairs lying on the glass slate. He pushed his glasses further up his head and peered down the microscope, trying anything really to have an excuse not to look at the man beside him.

"I was wondering how those hairs you pulled off the vic were coming along?" Mac's voice was so calm, so soft that Danny could almost forget the look in the man's eyes from a couple of days ago. The anger, the coldness...

"Fine, fine I've got them under the microscope now. Way too thick to be human, I'm thinking cat hair and we know the vic didn't have any pets so..."

"So you're thinking transfer," Mac finished and Danny nodded. "Nice work Danny, we'll check out the suspects, see if anyone owns a cat...Danny..." Mac's voice trailed off.

'Don't look, don't look, he'd going to ask you about that day!'

Danny looked up, his glasses slipping back down onto his face as he did.

Mac was staring at him.

'You don't listen to anyone do you? Not even yourself you putz!'

"Yeah?" he managed to croak out and mindlessly reached down to rub at his still throbbing knee. Mac's eyes followed the movement and Danny saw his hand twitch slightly before the blue eyes settled on his again.

"You okay? I know that that case got to you."

"Case, which case?" Danny said quietly and inwardly berated himself. Only idiots pull the denial card, it never works and just further aggravates things.

"Danny," Mac's voice held a warning and the younger man flinched slightly, thankfully not enough for Mac to notice.

"You know which one I mean, the one with a couple murdered in their bed. The other cops and neighbours...the ones you so graciously mouthed off at."

Danny sighed in frustration this time and turned to Mac. Hearing the man put it like that tugged at something inside of him and in a way it acted like the lever to the Dam he'd been building up for the last couple of days.

"I didn't 'mouth off', I told them to shut up if they couldn't be professional about it. You telling me I should've let them keep on disrespecting the victims like that? Because Mac, they had as much right to be in those apartment blocks as anyone else there, just because they had a different lifestyle doesn't mean that those bigots had a right to just..."

"Danny..." Mac tried to cut across but Danny was on a roll now and wasn't to be stopped.

"...Keep bad-mouthing them like that. Hell from what I could see of those scummy bastards the victims were probably one of the nicer couples there. And lets face it, as Officers we're supposed to have a none-biased opinion to whatever happens around us so watching our own boys agreeing with some of those misguided views just really..."

"Danny..." Mac sighed but still Danny continued, his tongue loose now and really, he didn't want to stop until he'd said his piece.

"...Got to me and I didn't see anyone else stepping forwards so yeah, I said my piece. I'm sorry if that pissed you off but I'm not sorry about what I said, those guys were asses and..."

"Danny!" Mac shouted making the younger man whip his head round at him furiously.

"What!" he hissed back.

The two men glared at one another, Danny now juggling one leg agitatedly as he held his bosses gaze. Everything from the case began festering in his chest again and he wanted more than anything to question Mac about 'that look' but from the way the man was currently looking at him decided it probably wouldn't be his smartest move.

"Are you done on your soap box yet?" Mac asked and Danny narrowed his eyes further.

"Would it matter?" he retorted and felt a sliver of satisfaction at the way the other man's face shifted from pissed to confused.

"What? What'd you mean by that?"

"Well lets be honest...I didn't exactly see you stepping in yesterday. And now you're down here to chew my ass out over doing something any decent human being should do anyway."

Silence followed his accusation.

That was the thing about righteous anger, you never realised when you'd over stepped a line. Danny continued to glare and missed the subtle way Mac's head dipped back away from him.

"What exactly is it you're accusing me off Messer?" Mac said slowly, quietly and normally Danny would want to rectify what he'd said but not today. Today he was too frustrated at having the whispers following him around, people speculating him and his 'ways', too tired at having to dance around Mac and his moods, never knowing whether today was 'blame-Messer day' or not and he was too tired and upset at the prospect at the guy he liked being a possible homophobe.

'I mean, I know he was a Marine and all but I thought that that was getting better these days,' he thought defeated.

"Nothing," Danny said in the end, his voice laced with fatigue as he pushed his glasses up slightly to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Listen, I'm tired, I'm gonna take a break."

He moved around Mac and was just passing him when Mac's hand gripped his upped arm. The electric bolts that shot through his arm from the touch made Danny's knees quiver for a moment before he righted himself again, until he could, just for a second, enjoy the warmth of that hand on him.

"Danny, what's going on?" Mac asked, worry now beginning to seep into his voice and any other time Danny might've basked in that.

"Nothing Mac, don't worry. Guess I'm just climbing onto my soap box again."

And after tugging his arm free Danny sped past his private crush and left the lab, holding a hand up in apology when he bumped into a bemused Lindsay who was just entering.

........................................................................................

"Well it could've been worse," Aiden said reassuringly as she stroked Danny's hair, "You could've mentioned why his reaction to your little speech upset you so much."

Danny groaned and buried his face further into her shoulder as Flack chuckled. The three of them were camped out at Aiden's apartment; 'Grand Theft Auto' paused on the screen and a couple of empty bottles sitting on the coffee table. Flack had accommodated the sitting chair as Aiden and Danny spread out on the sofa and the pair of them had listened as Danny griped about his encounter with their ever-stoic boss.

"He said I was 'On my Soap Box', as though he just discredited what I had told those men," Danny mumbled, his voice muffled by Aiden's shirt and groaned again as he buried in closer.

"Gotta admit, that was a little callous, even for Mac," Flack agreed as he sipped from his beer again. Danny flopped back against the sofa as he sighed, his arms spread-eagled as he did so and stared at the ceiling.

"Suppose I should take it as a sign," he said reluctantly and didn't even twitch when Flack un-paused the game to continue playing despite the fact he was still listening.

"And what sign is that Messer?" Aiden said as she reached over to pat his head again.

"That I really have to stop falling for the straight ones."

Flack chuckled and then cursed as his character was shot on the screen. Aiden smirked and ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Yeah, that could help."

Danny smirked despite himself and closed his eyes.

..............................................................................

Danny got home a couple of hours later, stumbling up the apartment block stairway as though drunk but merely tired and reached his door. He put the keys in the lock, turned it but didn't open the door straight away. Instead he rested his forehead against the cool wood and stared at the chipping red paint before knocking his head against it a couple of times.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid..." he muttered quietly with each bang then groaned and pushed the door open. Clicking it closed behind him he automatically threw the chain lock closed and hit a couple of light switches by the door. His kitchen and living room table light lit up with a soft glow, and clumsily he traipsed into the kitchen to open the fridge. The low hum of the freezer sounded as he peered in and grabbed a microwavable meal, turning and nudging the door shut again with his foot as he threw the meal into the microwave. After he'd pressed the glaring five-minute button he turned and surveyed the otherwise silent apartment as he leant against his kitchen counter.

Across his mind's eye he got a flash of a framed photograph on a bedside table, two men holding each other as they smiled for the camera, of two pairs of shoes resting beside one another.

Blinking he then looked round at his own apartment; one pair of shoes kicked haphazardly to the side by the door, one jacket thrown over the back of a chair, and the sound of a 5 minute meal turning in his microwave.

Sighing he pushed up and away from the counter just as a beep filled his kitchen. He opened the door of the microwave, the smell of chicken coming out in a gust of freed air and with his free hand pulled a plate out from the cupboard above his head. He scrapped the miserable looking meal onto the white plate with a fork then threw the empty box into the bin tucked under his sink.

He sat himself down at his table and after gathering up a mouthful of chicken on his fork he made to put it into his mouth when a knock sounded at his door.

He groaned, contemplated ignoring it and stuffed the bite into his mouth when the knock sounded again, louder this time. Groaning he continued to chew his food as he pushed up from the table, wiping his hands on a nearby dishcloth and quickly ran a hand over his mouth as swallowed.

The knocking came again and he growled loudly.

"Alright, alright, keep it down! Some of us are trying to have dinner ya know! If that's you Flack I'm gonna pound on you just a little bit." he called and he threw off the lock and opened the door.

He faltered and blinked when he came face to face with Mac Taylor, his grip on the door tightening in panic as he stared at his guest.

Neither of them spoke for a couple of minutes until Mac shifted his weight onto his other foot and cleared his throat.

"So are we going to stay like this all evening or can I come in?" he asked hoarsely although there was a hint of amusement in his voice at that way that Danny remained frozen.

As though he'd been prodded Danny jumped and stuttered before he nodded and opened the door wider for lack of anything else to do.

"Mac, what...why are you here?" he asked as he closed the door behind him and turned to face his boss. Mac however was looking at the rapidly cooling meal on the table and gestured towards it.

"I didn't mean to interrupt your meal Danny. If you want you can continue eating as we talk, I don't mind."

Danny glanced at the meal and sub-consciously ran his tongue over his back teeth.

"Ah, tasted like crap anyway, don't worry." He then turned his attention back to Mac, "You didn't answer my question."

"Eat, the last I knew you hadn't eaten since lunch. I'll answer your question."

Mac gestured towards the meal again and Danny made to protest but Mac smiled gently as he pointed again. Sighing Danny managed a small smirk of his own and moved round to pick up his fork and settled, Mac sitting across from him as he did so.

"Christ, makes me feel like I'm two again with my nanny making sure I eat every bite," Danny joked and Mac uttered a soft chuckle as he tugged off his coat, draping it over the back of the dining chair.

"Well someone has to make sure you look after yourself," Mac said lowly and Danny stared at him for a moment, watched as the light banter between them began to die down again.

"Why're you here Mac?" he said after a moment and Mac looked down at the table for a moment before meeting his eyes square on.

"I wanted to apologise for this afternoon. It wasn't until afterwards that I realised what it looked like. I wasn't there to reprimand you and I'm sorry that it came across that way. It's just, when you started saying those things..."

"Yeah," Danny said cutting him off, "Yeah, no sorry about that. You were right, I got on my high horse and..."

"You beat me to it. I made to talk to the other Officers but you'd already gotten up, it upsets me that we even have people who think like that on the Force."

Danny slowly chewed some more chicken and swallowed thickly as he looked away from the man across from him.

"Oh," he said wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, "Right. Then I really am sorry, accusing you of...well, of being a jerk. Guess that would be me instead huh?"

Mac shook his head and leaned in closer.

"You were upset. Danny...is there something you'd like to tell me?"

Danny froze and looked up at the older man, placed his fork down gently onto the table as he did so and pushed the plate away.

"You know, I'm not really that hungry," he said quietly and grabbed the plate as he stood, putting his foot down on the peddle of his bin to raise the lid and scrapped away the rest of his cold dinner. He heard Mac stand up and he moved himself over to the sink and started rinsing the plate off trying to ignore the presence behind him.

"Danny?" he tensed as a hand rested on his shoulder and clenched his eyes shut at the warmth of the touch. It had exactly the same effect as before and he took a couple of seconds out to enjoy the tingling sensations running over his back from that point.

"Like what?" he managed to croak out after a minute and inwardly winced at how he sounded. Mac's hand moved away and he silently cried out at the loss but that was only until he was turned and he was face to face with Mac, his upper arms held in a gentle grip as the older man looked down at him.

"I know what everyone has been saying, I know what rumours have started. And...I know that its getting to you," Mac said softly and Danny found himself leaning in to hear him better. He failed to notice as the older man stepped closer though and continued to just stare at the grey blue eyes in front of him, unconsciously logging all the different shades that made up the irises as he did.

"And I guess I wanted to know whether it was getting to you because it was false...or because it was true."

Danny felt his heart stutter and briefly wondered if he was old enough to qualify for a heart attack. His eyes widened and he pulled back but found himself trapped in Mac's hands still.

"Shh, I'm sorry," Mac released him as soon as Danny became distressed, "I didn't mean to upset you."

Danny fell back against the kitchen counted not taking his eyes off the man in front of him. Mac looked sincerely apologetic for scaring the younger man and Danny could see his hesitation to move any closer, but the fact that Mac wanted to proved an interesting point.

'Shit. Okay, do you put the cards down? Do you deny everything? This is the moment Danny boy, gamble or nothing. Continue on how you've been or take that risk?'

Danny closed his eyes tightly and after a long moment he nodded.

"What're you nodding at Danny? False or true?" Mac said softly and Danny could feel it when the man stepped forwards again. Opening his eyes he clenched his jaw before breathing in and licked his lips.

"True, partially. I mean...I'm...bisexual is best used for me," he said, his voice cracking at different intervals as his heart pounded against his ribcage. He saw something in Mac's eyes, a flash of something he couldn't quite place and licked his lips again.

"Is that going to be a problem?" he asked quietly and he watched as Mac frowned slightly.

"Of course not. You've had no problem with women when I thought you were heterosexual, I don't see how this changes anything."

Danny huffed out a relieved laugh and rested a hand against his forehead.

"Right, yeah of course. Sorry, I'm a little..."

"Jumpy?" Mac offered with a small smile and Danny chuckled again.

"Yeah you can say that."

"Don't be," Mac said and Danny watched again as the older man hesitated. He was leaning in slightly and Danny couldn't help thinking that if he just pushed forwards a couple of centimetres, just went for it then he could finally feel those lips on his.

Mac however seemed to shake his head slightly and stepped back a little so Danny couldn't feel his body heat so much. The older man cleared his throat and briefly rubbed at his temple before dropping his hand again as he turned.

"Besides, I do my job just fine considering, don't see how it could be any different for you," he said and moved over towards his coat to rest his hand on the back of the chair it was lying on.

'Huh?'

"What?" Danny said out loud, raising an eyebrow in confusion and Mac turned to look at him. Danny faltered as he caught the flash of vulnerability in the other man's eyes before it was replaced with exasperation.

'Job fine, same, any different from me,' Danny's mind worked a mile a minute before suddenly, like a car hitting him, he got it.

'Oh.'

"Oh," he said quietly and watched as Mac looked down at his hands, "I never...I mean, what with your wife..."

Mac gave a small, sad smile as he exhaled sharply out of his nose.

"Still miss her, loved her with everything in me."

Danny looked down and closed his eyes, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"It's okay," Mac said and he moved back round to be in front of Danny again although admittedly not as close as before, "It's been five years. It hurts, always will but...Stellas right, I can't stay alone forever, be it man or woman."

They were silent after that and Danny, still slouched against the counter, reached up his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose causing his glasses to ride up slightly as he did.

'So, not only is Mac okay with you being Bisexual it turns out he is too, despite once being married to a woman he clearly loved, still does in fact even five years after her death and you've been acting like a jerk thinking he's just another bigot. Well done Messer, clearly it was getting to that time of year again for you to fuck up your relationship with the man you want to be with.'

"Mac, I'm so sorry, I mean all things considered me saying that you..."

Danny drifted off when he felt hands on the counter either side of his hips and had the distinct feeling of being trapped. Opening his eyes he locked onto the same intense eyes he hadn't been able to stop staring at earlier and found his nose mere centimetres from the other CSI's.

"Mac," he whispered and automatically the other man looked down at his lips as he spoke. Nervously Danny licked his lips and watched as Mac's eyes narrowed and how he moved a little closer.

"Now would be a really good time to tell me whether I've misread some things," Mac whispered back and as he moved forwards Danny automatically closed his eyes.

'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit....'

Soft lips pressed against his pliant ones, simply pressed together for a couple of seconds before both men gently began to press themselves closer, Danny's hand reaching up to grip at one of the arms encasing him and Mac's other hand moving to rest on his hip, thumb moving back and forth in a tingling arch on the slither of skin revealed there.

'Oh,' Danny's thoughts had all but melted as he pressed their lips together again more aggressively and relishing in the feel of Mac pressing closer, chest and hips lightly resting against his own.

They both tilted their heads slightly and Danny felt the tip of a tongue pressing against the seam of his lips and he opened to it, deepening the kiss and moaning brokenly as Mac teased his tongue into action, touching timidly and twining gently.

He reached a hand up to cup the side of Mac's face, holding it as he ran his thumb in an imitation to Mac's still moving on his hip. He groaned a little as he cracked his eyes open slightly, just enough to see that it was indeed Mac Taylor giving him the best kiss he'd ever had. Reassured, he closed them again and gave a happy whimper when a hand slid slowly up his side, across his shoulder, up his arm and finally linked with his own that rested on Mac's face.

Unfortunately oxygen became a situation and pulling back gently they remained pressed together, Danny resting his cheek against Mac's as he caught his breathe and let his eyes flutter shut as he smiled.

"Guess you really don't have a problem with me then," he said shakily and smiled again when Mac huffed out a laugh.

"I'm sure we'll find a way around it," the older man said in return and this time Danny chuckled.

Pulling back enough to look the other man in the face Danny turned serious momentarily. As though captivated by the movement he reached up to stroke one cheek and then ran his hand down until his fingertips rested on Mac's lips. A smile flitted across his own lips when Mac kissed them gently.

"Why? Why now?" he asked quietly.

Mac closed his eyes as he kissed the fingers more firmly before opening them again to lock onto Danny's.

"Because I wasn't sure before," he admitted, "because there was something in your voice when you stood up to those guards. Something that told me you wouldn't punch me on sight."

Danny did chuckle at that.

"You used to be a Marine, you could take down a pipsqueak like me no problem."

Mac remained stony faced though as he shook his head.

"I never want to hurt you, in self-defence or anything. Plus...I don't think I could..."

"I get it," Danny said interrupting, stroking more firmly and pulled Mac back towards him, kissing him chastely as he did. Because he did, get it that was. Mac had lost the woman he loved in an event no one could've predicted and Danny was a free spirit so who was to say the man didn't have justifiable reason to be wary? Getting your heart-broken once was more than enough, twice would be torturous.

'And yet he took the chance,' Danny thought and moved to warp his arms around Mac's neck, the other man's automatically circling Danny's hips and they deepened the kiss once again.

He hadn't realised that he had sub-consciously begun leading the man to his bedroom until his back bumped into the doorframe, Mac and he stumbling a little and groaning as Mac pressed him up against the frame there, his hands sliding up under Danny's shirt and roaming over his slightly sweaty back.

Pushing up and away from the wall with one shoulder he continued the path to his bed until he fell backwards onto it with Mac coming down on top of him. He instantly raised his knees to trap Mac's hips over his and moaned in protest when Mac drew his lips up and away from his.

Mac framed his face between his hands, his thumbs stroking over Danny's cheekbones as he looked down at his soon-to-be-lover.

"You sure?" he said softly and Danny was smiling brightly up at him.

"More than anything ever before," he said affirmatively and Mac smiled at him gently.

"I don't mind waiting if you're not, I'm not going anywhere," he promised and Danny leaned his head back with a laugh.

"Neither am I, so why wait? Been wanting this for years," he admitted and Mac kissed just under his eyes in reward.

"How long?" Mac muttered against his skin and once more Danny faltered causing Mac to lean back, a hand stroking his face reassuringly. "Danny?"

"Long time."

Mac kissed him lightly and rested their foreheads together. Blue met blue and after holding the gaze for what felt like hours Danny finally sighed although a light flush began to colour his face.

"A week after I met you," he muttered and Mac remained silent as his eyebrows lifted up in shock.

"I was still married then."

"Yeah."

Mac studied him silently and then moved down to kiss Danny once again whilst simultaneously pushing his hips down to press against the younger man beneath him. Danny couldn't help dropping his head back as he groaned and Mac latched onto his neck.

"Hope I can live up to your expectations," he whispered.

"Surpassed them already," Danny said equally as quietly.

Then he simply closed his eyes and let himself just feel.

....................................................................................

The radio clock on the bedside table buzzed onto 6am and quietly the first few keyboard notes of 'Baba 'O Riley' filled the otherwise quiet room. Danny's hand flopped in its general direction but he just couldn't bring himself to move to turn it off. When Pete Townsend started crooning through the speakers he tried again but his body felt too languid.

He tensed however when an arm reached over him and flicked it off. He watched it as it moved back to rest over his hips and instantly he relaxed.

'Mac.'

Closing his eyes and smiling Danny turned over, stretching midway and then opened his eyes again to come face to face with a tenderly smiling Mac.

"Hi," he mumbled and stretched again as he placed a small kiss on the lips in front of him, smiling when they pressed closer and moaned when Mac pulled him closer by placing a hand in between Danny's shoulder blades.

"Hello," Mac mumbled against his lips. When Danny eventually pulled away he tucked his head under the older man's chin and sighed.

"Can I assume then that this is more than a one night stand?" he asked quietly, practically purring when a hand reached up to run through his tussled hair.

"I don't do one night stands," came the gruff answer and Danny pushed his grinning face into the warmth of Mac's neck.

"Good."

He pulled back to look down at his lover and they both smiled.

"Yep."

So what if everyone was whispering about him now? So what if every guy assumed he was checking him out in the showers after gym? Right then, wrapped up in tangled sheets, curled around his lover and relishing the feel of damp skin pressed against his own he really couldn't bring himself to care. Because thanks to those same pigheaded men he now had what he'd always wanted, was with who he'd always wanted.

Letting his eyes drift onto the floor Danny grinned at what he saw there before he turned to capture Mac's lips once more:

Two shirts, a white tank tee and an Oxford button down, entwined together on the floor with a set of dog tags nestled on top, glistening in the morning light.

Finite

***