Title: P is for Phobia
Author: stellaluna_
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Mac/Danny
Summary: "What scares you?"
Disclaimer: None of these are mine. Characters are the property of Anthony Zuiker, Jerry Bruckheimer Television, CBS, and Alliance Atlantis.

***


The jukebox is loud, and there's a lot of conversation going on all around them, and so at first Mac doesn't hear the question Danny asks him.

Danny leans closer and repeats it. "What scares you?" he says, right up against Mac's ear.

Mac looks at him in surprise. "What brought that on?"

Danny shrugs. "Just wondering." He leans in close again. "It's one of those things that really lets you know what someone is all about, you know? I was thinking you've never really mentioned anything that might scare you, so I was kind of curious."

"What scares you?" Mac counters.

Danny smiles at him. "You first," he says.

"Oh, you know," he says after a pause. "The usual."

"The usual varies from person to person," Danny says, and Mac has a brief fantasy about punching him. "You gotta be a little more specific, you know that. Flying? Spiders? There must be something."

"I'm fine with flying," Mac says. "Spiders are all right, too. I'm not about to keep one for a pet, but they don't bother me." He considers. "I'm not crazy about snakes."

Danny gives a brief shudder. "Me neither. I used to scream my head off when I was a kid and anyone tried to make me go into the Reptile House at the Bronx Zoo."

Mac has to smile. "I would never go in the one at the Lincoln Park Zoo when I was little."

"Smart move. Don't blame you." Danny raises his beer. "So what else?" he says, and smiles, moving a little closer as he does.

This, Mac thinks, but there's no way he can say that.

***