Lennie Briscoe was just plain hot. It was three-thirty in the morning and the sun had long been down for a long while, but it was still a warm and sticky night. With no power, there was no air conditioning. Sweat beaded his forehead as he climbed to his and Jack's second floor apartment. He carried his suit jacket and tie over his arm. His sleeves were rolled up and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone.

Lennie breathed a sigh of relief when he finally stood outside his apartment. He staggered inside and leaned against the door. He dropped the tie and jacket, not caring because both were already dirty. Then, he rubbed his sore knees, peering into the dimly candlelit room, and heard movement.

"Jack," he called softly.

Jack McCoy appeared from their kitchen. He was barefoot and dressed in t-shirt and shorts. He held a candle in one hand, whose soft light

illuminated his face. He smiled tiredly at his lover. "Hey."

Lennie smiled back, pushed himself away from the door, and walked over to Jack by the couch. He touched Jack's arm and gave him a soft kiss. "I didn't think you'd still be up."

Jack set the candle on the coffee table. "No, I wanted to wait for you."

He put his arms around Lennie.

Lennie rested his head on Jack's shoulder and yawned. "I'm glad. At least I didn't have to stumble through here in the dark," he quipped.

Jack chuckled. "It's my pleasure to serve."

"Hey, I'm serious. I slipped on the stairs coming up here twice."

"Lennie, we only live on the second floor."

"Well, when it's dark and you're completely exhausted, it doesn't matter how many times you've climbed a particular flight of steps," Lennie stated matter-of-factly.

Jack sat down, pulling Lennie with him. "I can see your point." He started unbuttoning the rest of Lennie's shirt. "And along with providing illumination, I've also opened all of the windows. there's not much breeze but it helps a little. Plus, there's bottled water in the kitchen because
who knows when we'll get back to normal."

"You've thought of everything."

Jack shrugged. "It doesn't hurt to be prepared."

Lennie smiled at the light brush of Jack's fingertips against his skin.

He kicked his shoes off and used each foot to push the sock off the other.

He was already a lot more comfortable and sighed, content despite the heat and lack of electricity. "So, how long did it take you to get home?" he asked, putting his head back to stare up at the dark ceiling.

"Three hours," Jack answered wearily, leaving Lennie's shirt hanging open. "Traffic was at a complete standstill. And tons of people were on the street and all of us were trying to get home."

Lennie grunted. "I know. It was a zoo and the number of emergency calls was overwhelming." He let out a long, weary sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. "But at least there wasn't much looting. The situation could have turned out a lot worse, like in '77."

Jack leaned back, mirroring Lennie's position. He rested his hand on Lennie's thigh and the two just sat together in the silence. Finally, he glanced at Lennie, whose eyes were shut. "Let's go to bed," he suggested.

Lennie took a deep breath and looked at Jack. "Okay."

Jack sat forward and blew out the candle on the table. "You go ahead into the bedroom and I'll take care of the rest of these."

Lennie nodded and shuffled into the bedroom. It was lit by a candle on the night stand and one on the chest of drawers. He locked his gun away and put his badge on the stand. Jack came in and they both stripped off their remaining clothes. He crawled into bed while Jack took care of the two remaining candles.

Jack got into bed next to Lennie. He lightly kissed Lennie's chest before putting his head down. Lennie's arm wrapped around him, holding him close, and neither cared that they were making themselves hotter by laying so close together. He sighed, happy despite the problems of the day. "Night, Lennie."

Lennie lovingly ran his hand through Jack's hair. "Night, Jack."


The End