Work Text:
Crossing the Line
The week was finally starting to look up for Don. He had a nice cold beer in his hand, a good serving of hot wings in front of him, and Wade Redden had just blocked yet another shot, virtually guaranteeing the Ranger's win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Like the Southern states knew anything about a game like hockey.
The game went to commercial, and it was almost over anyhow so Don leaned back and looked at his companion. Mac looked more relaxed than he had earlier in the week, but then again so was Don. Having everyone and their brother look at you like you were some mook that beat up on kids was damn stressful, and had pissed Don off.
Even Angell had given him a few looks. It sucked when everyone but the lab believed that he'd slap some snot-nosed kid around and kill him, and yet Don was always one of the first to stand up and protect his brothers and sisters in Blue when the lab thought one of them had used excessive force or was dirty.
Don took a sip of his beer and then thought about what he was about to do. This whole watching the game could be a buddy thing, especially after the week they'd had, but for some reason he had a feeling this was more. Mac's invite had had a date-ish sound to it. And Don was okay with that. More than okay, really. He and Mac had had their problems in the past but the older man had always been there for him, this past week and even before that.
Hell, Mac had been holding his hand when Don had finally woke up after the blast that nearly killed him and left his chest looking like someone had taken a cheese grater to him. At the time he'd kinda thought Mac and Danny had something going on but then Mac was with Peyton, the British Bitch who left him, and then Danny deciding to give his balls to Monroe ... so that left Mac free. For now. Maybe that was something Don could change.
"Mac, it meant a lot to me, you backing me up like you did this week. I gotta tell you, I was serious about throwing the towel in. I was damn close to being the first Flack to go into private investigation."
Mac chuckled. "I bet your Dad would have loved that."
"Yeah, well ... " Don shrugged. If he lived by his Pop's wishes, he'd never be happy. "If it wasn't for you guys in the lab having my back, I guess we would have found out. Hell, it makes a guy think about going back to school or something."
"It was Sid who found the antidepressants in Todd's system."
"Sheesh, just take the compliment like a man and say thank you."
"Thank you."
There was the slightest tint of a blush on Mac's face and Don almost laughed out loud to see his friend so flustered. It was a good look on the man, made him seem less uptight.
Don was tempted to push his luck right then and there but decided to wait until after they'd left the bar. If he was going to be decked for opening his big mouth and risking his friendship and working relationship with Mac, he'd rather do it somewhere less crowded.
The hockey game was over -- The Rangers had won, of course -- and Don found himself following Mac to the subway, even though he usually took the bus. Like most New Yorkers, he had a car, but Don tended to use public transportation rather than deal with parking. Plus he'd been unwilling to leave his Toyota in the parking garage. More than once an officer who had been under investigation by IAB had his tires slashed.
Still, once they got down to the subway, he and Mac would be taking different trains so it was now or never. Don took a deep breath and let it out. "Mac, I wanna ask you a question. Was the hockey game tonight a buddies thing or a date thing?"
Mac stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and Don had to turn around to see what his reaction was. Thankfully, it was late enough that there weren't that many people around. Mac's face seemed frozen in stone for a moment and then he relaxed and gave Don one of his half smiles. .
"Would it matter?"
Don grinned, mainly because Mac wasn't just automatically shooting him down. "Well if it's a buddy thing, when I ask if you want a coffee we'll go someplace nearby and sit and make fun of how Adam is scared to death of you and how Montana seems to have Danny's balls locked away in a jar somewhere."
Don took a step closer to Mac, amused as always that the tough-as-nails man that seemed to fill up a room with his presence was shorter than he was. "Now on the other hand, if this was a date type thing, then I'd ask if you wanna follow me back to my apartment for a coffee, and I'd actually break out the good stuff. Then hopefully we'd make out like the teenagers that neither of us are before you went back to your apartment, hopefully to get a full night's sleep for once."
"I'm twenty-three years older than you are, Don."
"That has not escaped my attention, Mac." Usually Don was wondering how it was a man Mac's age could have an ass that looked that good in dress pants, but Don did know that. "Just like I know you will always love Claire and if something does happen between us you'd want us to keep it private, which I have no problem with."
Mac seemed to relax a bit more at that statement and this time it was him that took a step closer to Don. "Peyton did."
"Peyton was an idiot." That was just one of the words Don wanted to call the ex-medical examiner. The woman didn't even have the nerve to break up with Mac in person, she'd done it by a fucking Dear John letter. Of course, no matter if he did start dating Mac, Stella had already claimed first chance on slapping the bitch if she ever came back to town. Don just hoped he'd find out about in enough time to be able to watch.
Mac stepped even closer to him, and Don struggled with the want to sway into him. Then Mac's hand brushed him on the cheek and Don found himself closing his eyes to enjoy it and making a disappointed noise in the back of his throat when it was taken away.
"I'm too old to play around anymore, Don, and I've been hurt too many times. If we do this, we're going to take it slow."
"I'm more than okay with that, Mac, especially since I'd hate it if something happened and we didn't work out and weren't able to be friends anymore."
Mac gave him a small, sad smile. "Claire and I were friends before we started dating. That's what hurts so much, I didn't just lose my wife when she died, I lost my best friend."
That statement made Don's heart twist in his chest, but he didn't know what to say. He didn't think there was anything he could say to make Mac feel better. Don grabbed Mac's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I wish I would have known her, she sounds like one hell of a lady to put up with the likes of you."
Mac snorted and squeezed back before dropping Don's hand and starting to move again. "She was. She would have liked the thought of you and me actually. Claire always said I needed someone with a sense of humor to get me to lighten up."
"Yeah, well, you do have a tendency to brood, Mac. Sometimes I think that you think you're Batman or something. And while you have a great ass, I don't think you can pull off spandex."
Mac laughed, a full on laugh, and Don grinned. Mission accomplished. He loved it when Mac laughed. "So, coffee at my place?"
Mac nodded. "Coffee at your place."
They had reached the entrance of the subway and there were more people so they had to put more distance between themselves as they went down the stairs but Don was feeling pretty damn good. Better than he had in a while, actually. "And hey, maybe next time we both have a day off we can go out to the 55 Club or that place down in Harlem that has jazz music and fried chicken and waffles that's supposed to be famous. If anyone sees us, you can say you're educating me in music or something."
Mac gave him a look. "I didn't know you liked jazz."
Don thought about how Mac had taken the first step and invited him out to the bar to watch hockey, despite the fact that he wasn't a hockey fan, and he knew just what to say.
"I don't."
~Fini~