Title: A Rookie Mistake
By: ebonyfeather
Fandom: CSI: NY
Pairing: Danny/Don
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A night out at a club sees Danny and Don being arrested as they try to break up a fight, when the rookie cop doesn't believe who they are.

Mac had to stop and take a moment to process the sight of the two of them, sitting on the doorstep, hands cuffed behind their backs, looking royally pissed. Danny Messer and Don Flack were both dressed in what he could only think of being as far from work clothes as they could get; Danny’s tight leather jeans and skin-tight black shirt were practically moulded to him, his hair a little more spiked than usual and… was that eyeliner? Don had followed in his footsteps, going for a royal blue shirt rather than black, and he seemed to have forgone the makeup. He had a black eye and a cut lip, as well as bloodied knuckles. Danny had got off lighter but even he had scuffed knuckles.

 

“Want to tell me what happened?” he asked the young cop standing guard the two NYPD officers joined him.

 

The paramedics had loaded the victim into the ambulance and were heading for the hospital, Don and Danny both refusing to be checked over before they left.

 

“Yessir! I received a call from the owner of the club, a Mr-” the cop said, eagerly checking his little black notebook, “Mr Alexander. He said that there was a man in the alley behind the club who had been beaten. He said that the assailant had fled after the fight was broken up and that he had been asked to call an ambulance and the police. As I was the nearest officer, I responded to the call. I noticed the two suspects as well as the assaulted man and approached them but that one,” he indicated to Don, “became agitated and aggressive toward me. It was clear that he had been consuming alcohol and so I placed him under arrest. At which point, the other man also began to threaten me.”

 

Mac glanced across at Don and Danny and then back to the cop. “Unfortunately, who you actually managed to arrest, Officer…”

 

“Officer Gomez, sir.”

 

“…Officer Gomez, is one NYPD Detective and one of my CSI’s. Did they, at any time, identify themselves to you?”

 

The cop swallowed nervously, looking unsure for the first time. “They were clearly inebriated, sir. I thought that they were just making it up; they didn’t have any identification at all. Oh God; I’m sorry, sir.”

 

Mac looked to the two NYPD officers behind him. “Get them uncuffed,” he said, going over to Don and Danny.

 

“Are you both OK?” he asked, waiting until they both nodded, standing up and rubbing their wrists where the handcuffs had been. “I need to know what happened.”

 

Don glared at the two officers who were, at this point, casting a critical eye over his attire and the hand that Danny was casually resting around his waist. It wasn’t a secret that he and Danny had been a couple for the past six months, but then they didn’t exactly publicise it either. Those he worked closely with and most of the CSI’s knew but obviously to these two it was a surprise. He knew he wouldn’t get any trouble off them about it but he did expect this to be all over the station by the time he got in tomorrow.

 

“What?”

 

Officer Smyth smiled. “Not exactly what I would have pictured you wearing. Kinda used to seeing you in the suit.”

 

Don could have wrung Danny’s neck when he murmured, “Yeah, but his ass looks way sexier in these,” before giving said ass a quick grope.

 

Mac had to bite his lip to stop himself laughing at the exasperation on Don’s face as he smacked Danny’s hand away. The two officers just stared, open-mouthed.

 

Don caught the wicked sparkle in Danny’s eye and realised that he knew exactly what he was doing, baiting the two cops. He loved doing stuff like this, just to get a rise out of people.

 

“Anyway,” he said, pointedly changing the subject. “We were outside- came out of the emergency exit –and heard the sounds of a fist fight. There were two guys beating on the vic, laying into him pretty good.”

 

Danny nodded. “We got the guys off him and I made sure he was still conscious, made sure he was OK, while Don went in to get Barry to call for an ambulance.”

 

“Barry’s the owner: Barry Alexander,” Don told them. “When Officer Gomez over there turned up, we tried to tell him the situation but he wouldn’t listen. You know the rest.”

 

“Why were you out back in the first place?” he asked. “I didn’t think that the club allowed people to use the emergency exits, their way of keeping track of the patrons by making sure everyone uses the main entrance.”

 

Danny glanced at Don, feeling his face heat up. Don’s cheeks were already scarlet as he avoided Mac’s gaze.

 

“Um, personal reasons, Mac,” Danny mumbled. “Can we leave it at that?”

 

Mac’s eyes widened slightly but he nodded. “OK. What time did you come out here?”

 

“Must have been sometime around midnight,” Danny said. “Right, Donny?”

 

Don nodded.

 

“Look, I recognised the guy,” Danny told Mac. “We’d seen him inside earlier; he offered to buy us a drink and we talked for a while. He said he was here with someone but never said who. Never seen the other guys before but I got a pretty good look at them.”

 

Mac sent the two officers inside to go and ask around before turning back to the two of them.

 

“I’m going to need statements from the both of you,” he said. “After you’ve got those cuts and bruises seen to.”

 

No amount of arguing was going to stop Mac and so they both reluctantly agreed to a compromise; if they went back to the lab, then Hawkes could patch them up and they could give their statements at the same time. Since they didn’t have the car with them, and had been drinking, Mac ordered Gomez to drive them back. He needed to go to the hospital to check on their victim. He might not have intended it, but this assault case seemed to have become his problem due to the involvement of Don and Danny.

 

Danny walked into Hawkes’ office, thinking that maybe it would have been a good idea to get changed before coming in here. Glancing at Don, as he sat down beside him, he saw the uneasy look on the detective’s face. When Stella and Lyndsay appeared in the doorway and Stella let out a wolf-whistle, Don’s face reddened.

 

“So, is this a new uniform I should know about?” she asked, coming out to join them. She circled them once, grinning as she unashamedly checked them out. “I have to say, I like it.”

 

“You’re right, Stella,” Lyndsay agreed, smiling. “I could definitely get used to this.”

 

Don quashed the urge to hide in the nearest office, knowing that the women weren’t going to go away anytime soon. From the wicked smirk on Stella’s face, she was having way too much fun teasing them. Just wait until she heard about them getting arrested, he thought. He felt Danny’s arm slip back around his waist possessively.

 

“Back off, ladies,” he said. “He’s mine.”

 

The smiles on their faces widened as Don gave in and draped his arm around Danny’s shoulders. He flinched as Hawkes dabbed at the cut on his lip with antiseptic cream.

 

“So, joking aside,” Lyndsay said, “What happened to you two? Mac called in to say that you got mixed up in an assault and you were coming in to make statements.”

 

For the next two hours, they wrote statements, checked mug-shots and answered questions, waiting until Mac returned to let them know how the victim was doing before finally leaving. Stella gave them a ride home, stopping them before they got out of the car.

 

“I’m sorry if we went too far before,” she said. “You know we didn’t mean anything by it, right?”

 

Danny assured her that they weren’t offended; if anything, it was good to know that his and Don’s relationship hadn’t affected the easy camaraderie with Stella and the others. He followed Don into the flat and kicked the door shut behind him.

 

“I am so glad that day’s over,” Don said, climbing into bed a short time later. It was nearly three o’clock in the morning.

 

Danny slid down under the covers next to him and yawned as he curled up against Don. “God, I’m tired. I’m getting too old for this.”

 

He felt Don’s hand brush lightly down his side, fingertips teasing his skin, and angled his face up for a kiss.

 

“Nah, you’re too tired, remember?” Don teased.

 

Danny rolled them so that he pinned Don to the mattress, claiming Don’s lips in a crushing kiss.

 

“I’m not that tired.”

 

End.