Title: F is for Forever
Author: stellaluna_
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Mac/Danny
Summary: These are the things we do to survive.
Disclaimer: None of these are mine. Characters are the property of Anthony Zuiker, Jerry Bruckheimer Television, CBS, and Alliance Atlantis.
Summary: Danny confides in Mac.

***

"I didn't know who else to talk to," Danny says, and he hugs himself, shivering a little. His breath steams in the cold air, and he keeps looking out the window.

"You know you can always come to me," Mac says.

"Do I?" Danny says, and the words should hurt, Mac thinks, but there's no bitterness in them. It's just a simple statement of fact, and maybe, after all, that hurts worse than anything else. Danny has a right to be bitter, and to be angry, and that he only sounds resigned might be the worst thing of all.

Mac closes his eyes, briefly, since Danny isn't looking at him. "Of course you can," he says.

"Thanks," Danny says. "Sorry." He's still staring out the window, still shivering, and Mac wonders why he doesn't put on a jacket, or at least a heavier shirt. Of course, he still doesn't fully understand the circumstances of this meeting, or why Danny insisted that they talk here in this empty building. There are too many unknown factors here, too many things that Mac doesn't, yet, understand.

"What's going on?" he asks. He can't stop staring at Danny. He can't see many differences, not from this angle and not in this light, but he thinks that, if he got closer, he would be able to see plenty.

"I didn't...I don't want to drag you into this. I really don't. But I..." Danny shakes his head and then, finally, turns away from the window. "This isn't how I imagined it would be."

"Me neither," Mac says. He doesn't even bother to deny that he's thought about it, that he's imagined it. There's no point in trying, not with Danny.

"How the hell are you, anyway?" Danny asks, and takes a step closer. "I don't know how the time got away from me."

"No." Mac keeps his hands in his pockets; he doesn't move forward. He knows he will soon, that he won't be able to resist for much longer, but he wants to hold off that moment. Once he starts touching Danny, he won't be able to stop, and he fears that as much as he craves it.

Once he starts touching Danny, he may forget about all the answers he needs, and he can't afford that yet, either.

***