Lucky

title: Lucky
fandom: CSI: NY
pairing: Danny/Mac
rating: NC17
author: nancy
email: the_tenth_muse1@yahoo.com
feedback: yes, please!
archive: sure! just let me know!
summary: Mac finally realizes that you can get lucky more than once in a lifetime.

It was always hard to meet Mac's angry gaze, especially when Danny knew that he was the reason for the anger in the first place. It was worse, a lot worse, when there was disappointment mingled in with the anger. But the very worst, was betrayal. Seeing all three together just about killed Danny and he could only meet that piercing blue gaze for a matter of seconds before looking down at the floor.

The voice was cool and detached, completely at odds with the fire in Mac's eyes, and Danny flinched. It was the voice reserved for suspects. A voice for strangers. Fidgeting a little, Danny finally said, "I never lied to you, Mac, or, I didn't mean to. I just…I wanted you to give me a chance, okay? I knew if you knew about me being connected, I'd never get a spot on your team. I know how important the name of the lab is to you."

"So you think that us being colleagues will protect you? Because I know you now?" Mac demanded, a hint of incredulity present.

Shaking his head, Danny exclaimed, "No, of course not! I'm just hoping…I mean, you know me, Mac. I would never do anything to hurt you or the lab. I'm not a made guy or anything like that. I just, you know, know people who are."

"Danny…" Mac's voice trailed off, exasperated, and he sighed. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he continued, "You know that appearances are almost as important as what actually is. If Sonny Sassone, or anyone else, were to make allegations about you, even though they'd be false, it could do a lot of damage. This was something that I needed to know about and instead, I was blindsided in an interview by a guy who makes his living killing and stealing!"

Relief ran through Danny at the words, "…even though they'd be false…" because that meant that Mac believed him. Knowing that he wasn't out of the woods yet, he said, "I know, and I'm real sorry about that. I was just burying my head in the sand, I guess, hoping for the best."

"The world doesn't work that way, Danny, and you know it," Mac reminded sharply.

Mac sighed again. "Honestly? I don't know. I have to admit I'm surprised you got through the background check without raising any flags. You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?"

Still hurt, Danny looked back at the floor, hating that he couldn't meet Mac's gaze without flinching. There was still a lot of disappointment and betrayal there, even if the anger had calmed down.

The one thing that Mac wanted to ask Danny, but hadn't, was if he was in danger. Now that his ‘connections' were known, would that make him a liability? He couldn't forget the warning in Sassone's voice when the other man had intimated that they were keeping close tabs on Danny. It had made him want to use his Marine training on the man and beat the smirk off his face. To cause serious damage so the punk never even thought about Danny ever again.

A knock on the office door startled him and his eyes opened on Stella waiting outside with uncharacteristic patience. Praying for the strength to deal with her, Mac motioned her inside and waited for the tirade.

"I just passed Danny on his way out," she announced, sitting on the edge of the desk. "He didn't look so good."

With an eye roll, Stella pointed out, "Deniability. If you didn't know, you couldn't be held accountable for hiring him. And come on, you knew already, anyhow."

Arching an eyebrow at him, Stella asked, "So why go to Danny for information on Tanglewood in the first place? For advice on how to deal with them?"

"You knew that he knew all about that world, or assumed that he did, and now you're letting him twist in the wind because of it? I didn't think you were that mean, Mac."

"It's not being mean, Stella. I can't show favoritism," Mac stated. "And once word gets out who Danny really is, if I keep working so closely with him, it'll look like just that."

Stella got to her feet only to lean close to him and demand, "Since when do you care what other people think?"

The long week turned into a longer month, and then the longest summer that Mac could remember in years. After Sassone, there was the shooting incident, which turned Danny into more of a target and pariah than his ‘family' associations ever could have. It wasn't obvious, but Mac had the feeling that Flack was doing a lot of damage control with the other cops. And then there was his own problem with Flack's partner, which had caused additional friction.

Through it all, Mac kept himself buried at work, focused on the task at hand. He couldn't deny that the more he kept Danny at arms' length, the more irritated and short tempered he got. He kept the younger CSI working on other assignments, pairing him up with Aiden most of the time, and their easy camaraderie pissed him off even more. He took it out on Danny in little ways, ignoring the knowing look in Stella's eyes even as he damned himself for his capriciousness.

Oddly enough, it was his date with Rose that clinched things for him. One minute Mac was having drinks with a lovely woman whose eyes were promising him breakfast the next morning, and the next, he was making excuses to leave. He claimed that work had called him in, flashing his beeper as ‘proof.' So it was, that Mac found himself on Stella's doorstep at almost midnight, waiting for her to let him in.

Stella grinned as she sat on the recliner to the side. "Normally, I'd be happy to unilaterally agree with that statement, but can you be a little more specific as to why you think you're an idiot this time?"

Offering a faint smile, she explained, "You're like a dog with a bone, Mac, always have been. You sank your teeth into Danny when he first got here, rarely letting him work with anyone else. I think you scared yourself when you saw you were getting close and took Sassone as an excuse to back off. Then the shooting happened and you were pissed off all over again. Despite all of that, every time you saw him and Aiden laughing together, or with their heads together on a case, all you could do was scowl. And not just the usual scowl, either."

She grinned outright at that. "You do. Anyhow, this particular scowl has a definite ‘hands-off' vibe to it and Aiden wasn't the only one who got it."

Getting into her case, Stella continued, "So here's poor Danny, caught between Mac and a hard place. He's definitely getting the possessive vibe from you, but you're also giving him some shit cases and glaring at him whenever he makes the tiniest mistake. Or worse, giving him hell for doing what he thinks is right, right out in the middle of the hallway where everyone can hear."

Wondering if it would just be easier to bang his head against the wall, or at least less painful, Mac asked, "I don't suppose you'll be showing me the light at the end of the tunnel at some point?"

"It is, actually," she countered. "Trust me, Mac. If it'd been me or Aiden, or any rational person for that matter, we'd've reported you for harassment or quit by now. Maybe both. Danny, though…Danny doesn't care what kind of attention he gets from you, as long as he gets it. Or, I shouldn't say he doesn't care, but it at least reassures him that you've got some kind of feelings for him, even if you're ticked at him."

After the Summer of Hell, as Danny had silently named it, fall was a blessed relief. Even though the temperatures stayed up, the city began slowing down, just a little. It was one of the reasons that it was his favorite season. His heart had nearly stopped on hearing that Mac had been involved in a diner shootout and was only just recovering now, the next day. If he'd walked into that scene to find Mac bleeding on the floor, or already dead…

"Other than watching the tube and paying bills? Nope. You?" Danny replied as they started walking.

She sighed and told him, "My mom's place for dinner. Monthly penance and all that."

"Yeah, whatever," she retorted. "But hey, you'll never guess who does have plans tonight."

The conspiratorial tone of voice warned him not to ask, but Danny couldn't help. "Who?"

Danny's heart nearly stopped again, but he forced a smile and said, "Good for him."

"Good for him? Danny, the man's been a monk for four years, so far as we know. It's great that he's finally going out. Maybe he'll get a little and become more human," Aiden exclaimed.

Abruptly tired, of the situation and the double he'd pulled, Danny said, "Yeah, I guess. Look, Aiden, I'm beat, so I'm gonna head out. See you tomorrow."

The next couple of days were harder for Danny than he anticipated. Working one-on-one with Mac again was an agonizing kind of sweetness, especially when the other man gave him a simple, but heartfelt, "Good job, Danny," on finding a key piece of evidence. Something had clearly changed in Mac's life to make him a little more approachable and Danny was afraid that it had to do with that date Mac had gone on.

The shit hit the fan when Aiden showed up at his apartment at the end of the week and told him that she'd been fired. Shock of a different kind hit him at the announcement. Once she'd explained what had happened, Danny realized that Mac hadn't believed her when she'd told him she hadn't tampered with the evidence. He hadn't believed her and had fired her for it. It brought home just how narrowly he'd missed the same fate, though for a different reason.

"Aiden, I can't believe he'd just up and do that. It's not Mac!" Danny protested, holding out a beer.

She took it and gulped down half before snapping, "He did it, Danny! I got no job now because Mr. High and Mighty couldn't bring himself to believe that I was telling the truth!"

Danny winced at both the anger and insult, but didn't correct her. She had every right to be pissed. "So what are you going to do, appeal it? You can get a hearing and try to get reinstated."

But Aiden shook her head, drinking down most of the rest of the beer before saying, "I'm done with it, Danny. I can't take the shit we slog through anymore. I should probably thank Mac for firing me, because I never would've quit."

"But what'll you do for work?" he asked quietly. "You need a recommendation to get anything decent."

At that, she sighed and confessed, "I don't know. I'll find something though, Danny, don't worry."

Danny gripped her shoulder and said, "Of course I'm gonna worry, you're my friend."

"Figures that I find the nicest guy in New York and he's gay," Aiden sighed, leaning into the sideway hug.

He kissed her temple, tightening the hug briefly, and told her, "You need anything, Aiden, and I mean anything other than sex, and I am totally here for you."

Mac flinched when he saw Aiden leaving Danny's apartment building and took his hand from the door handle. Stella was normally a very good judge of people and their relationships, but maybe she wasn't as good as they'd both thought. Maybe Aiden and Danny were a lot more than just friends and coworkers. They spent most of their time together, after all. The key was back in the ignition when Mac stopped and really thought about it, shoving aside the knee-jerk reaction to seeing her exit Danny's building.

She's leaving, not spending the night, he thought, relief flooding through him. She was probably just talking to him about getting fired.

But knowing that was what the topic of conversation had to have been, was it really a good idea to knock on Danny's door? He might not get a punch in the face, but he probably wouldn't be very welcome, either. There were several minutes where Mac just sat there, indecisive. Finally figuring that it was better to just face the music and get it over with, he took a breath and left the car, setting the alarm before he jogged across the street.

There was a pause, but then the buzzer sounded. He grabbed the door open before Danny could change his mind and went inside. A few minutes later, he faced Danny across the threshold into the apartment, the other man's arms crossed defensively over his chest.

Taking the uncertain invitation before it could be rescinded, Mac walked inside and took a quick look around. It was neat and comfortably furnished. Nothing out of place except a couple of sports magazines on the coffee table.

Mac turned his attention back to Danny and discovered that he couldn't think of a single thing to say. How did you tell someone that you treated them like shit because you were scared they'd gotten too close?

A frown had just surfaced on Danny's face when Mac finally said, "I've decided to take Stella's advice on something that's been bothering me for a while now."

Mac reached out and grabbed Danny's shirt, hauling him in to press their mouths together in a hard kiss. Danny reacted almost instantly, shoving Mac away and stumbling back a few steps as well. The look on his face was pure shock with not a little anger mixed in.

I should probably be glad he hasn't decked me, Mac thought with dark humor, waiting warily and automatically shifting into a defensive posture.

"I'm sorry, Danny," Mac apologized, relaxing a little when it looked like the other man wasn't going to physically retaliate. "I shouldn't have come here. We'll forget…"

Danny grabbed his shirt and returned the favor before he could finish speaking. Startled, Mac took a second to open his mouth to the hungry kiss, then returned it just as avidly. He found himself up against the wall in seconds, a strong leg thrust between his and groaned into Danny's mouth. He gripped Danny's hips, holding him in place while they traded control of the kiss back and forth, getting acquainted with each other in an entirely new way and gasping for air only when necessary.

It was over almost before it began. Mac had been alone for so long that having someone touch him at all, let alone with the need and caring that Danny evinced, had him hard and aching within a couple of minutes. Danny finally left his mouth, which Mac protested with a breathless, "Danny!" only to latch onto the side of Mac's throat, biting and sucking at it. Once Danny started rubbing against him, pushing their cocks together, Mac saw stars and came without any control whatsoever.

"Oh God, oh God, Mac," Danny gasped right up against his ear, jerking against him.

Still breathing hard from the exertion, Mac wrapped his arms around Danny and held him up while the younger man regained his composure. He pressed small kisses to the stubbled underside of Danny's chin, then up his cheek to the tiny space just at the corner of the ear.

Danny rested his forehead on Mac's shoulder and said, "Jesus, Mac, why didn't you just say something, all this time?"

"Say what, exactly?" Mac countered, rubbing a hand up and down Danny's back. "I'm your supervisor, Danny. This is breaking so many rules, especially after everything that's happened in the last few months, I shouldn't even be here now."

Mac sighed, shifting so he could brush aside that lock of hair that kept getting into Danny's eyes. "Because I couldn't fool myself any more. And I didn't want to be alone any more. Aside from Stella's more dubious advice of jumping you out of the blue, she said something to me just after we arrested Sonny and it stuck with me."

"She asked me when I started caring what other people think," Mac answered. "And it made me really think about things. About you. About where I am, and what I want."

Leaning comfortably against him again, Danny questioned, "And what did you come up with?"

Mac huffed in amusement. "Not much. But to cover at least a couple of bases, we can't change how we act at work together. And I'm going to have Stella do your reviews from now on, to keep any hint of impropriety out of the office."

"Maybe, maybe not, but let's talk about this later. How about a shower and then bed for more of this?" Mac suggested, kissing him softly. It was so good to finally have this kind of right to touch someone again. The kiss deepened even though he didn't mean it to, and by the time he pulled back, they were both breathing a little heavy.

Danny grinned at him and said, "Shower sounds good, but don't think I'm waitin' ‘til we're in bed to do more of what we just done."

Danny took his hand, dragging him towards the bathroom, and Mac laughed as they went, hardly able to believe that maybe, just maybe, he'd gotten lucky twice in his life.