Fic: Triptych (CSI:NY, Mac Taylor/Don Flack/Danny Messer, FRAO)

[kathierif_fic]

Title: Triptych
Fandom: CSI:NY
Pairing: Mac Taylor/Danny Messer, Danny Messer/Don Flack, some Mac Taylor/Don Flack
Word Count: 11138 words
Rating: FRAO
Warnings: slash
Beta: ginny305
Summary: It looks so easy on first glance – Mac wants Danny, Danny wants Mac, Danny wants Don, Don wants Danny – and Mac has a crush on Don. But the reality is at the same time just that easy and yet, extremely complicated.
Author’s notes: Written for polybigbang.

~*+*~


Mac Taylor slowly blinked his eyes open, unsure what had woken him up – the sounds from the street, maybe, he thought fuzzily, his brain not quite awake yet, still unfamiliar with the normal sounds of his environment even after all the weeks he’d been living in this new apartment.

He stayed where he was, muscles unmoving and quiet, his eyes closed again, while he tried to figure out what had pulled him from sleep and if it was worth getting up and getting his gun from its resting place in his bedside table. The bedroom was still dark; the lack of bright lines on the opposite wall indicated that it wasn’t morning yet. Mac wasn’t sure, but he figured that it wasn’t later than three or four o’clock, which meant he hadn’t slept more than two, maybe three hours now.

He sighed softly. The blankets were stifling, he realized. They were too hot and wrapped too tight around his torso and legs. Danny would grumble about his blanket-hogging again if Mac didn’t unwrap himself soon and let the younger man have his share of the sheets.

Danny.

Mac’s thoughts froze for a second.

Danny wasn’t here, his side of the bed empty and cold. He’d called Mac and had let him know that he was picking up an extra shift subbing for a colleague from nightshift, so Mac shouldn’t have expected the younger man to be home in the first place.

He sighed and sat up, to scrub both hands over his face. The bedroom was quiet, no soft snoring or sleepy mumbling reminding Mac that he wasn’t alone anymore, that people cared about him and wanted to spend their time with him.

No cold feet that were playfully pressed against his leg, no grabby hands worming themselves under his clothes and holding on to him, as if they were afraid that he might disappear into thin air; disappear and never come back.

Mac frowned and padded on bare feet into the kitchen. He just needed a glass of water, he decided, and then he could go back to bed.

The soft chirping of his phone, charging on the bedside table, made him abandon that plan as quickly as the half-full glass of water in the kitchen. A call at this time of night could only mean one thing, and that was a new case.

He was already half-dressed by the time he ended the call.

~*+*~

“Hey, Mac.” Don Flack smiled, the skin at the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly as he greeted Mac.

Mac smiled back instinctively. “Did you get any sleep at all in the past four days?” he asked, only half-joking.

Don shrugged slightly. “A nap here and there,” he replied. “I’m fine, Mac.”

“Not doubting that,” Mac assured him. “What do you have for me?”

He allowed himself to watch the younger man while Don filled him in on their case, cataloging every inch of Don’s body and every word he said and didn’t say. He took in the jeans with the frayed cuff, the wrinkled shirt that was unbuttoned at the throat, the dark shadows under Don’s eyes that indicated that he really hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep in the past few days, maybe weeks, while at the same time listening to the details of the case.

“…I’m talking to the vic’s parents first thing in the morning, and Mac, you’re staring again,” Don ended his report with an amused twinkle in his eyes that indicated he didn’t mind too much.

Mac raised an eyebrow. “I was focusing all of my attention on you,” he pointed out mildly.

Don laughed briefly. “That’s what you’re calling it now?” he teased. His good mood apparently hadn’t been affected yet by his exhaustion.

“That’s my story,” Mac confirmed with a slight smile before growing serious again. “Listen, I want you to go home and sleep after you talk to the family. I can’t have you on the case when you’re not at one hundred percent.”

“Mac, I’m fine,” Don protested while Mac bent down and pulled a pair of gloves out of his case.

“Humor me,” he said as he straightened again, his voice pitched low, to avoid being overhead by anyone else. “Please?”

Don narrowed his eyes slightly, but he sighed. “If no hot leads turn up,” he said reluctantly. “If they do, all bets are off.”

Mac smiled, a vague twitch of the corners of his mouth. He would make sure Don got his rest, and it wasn’t just professional interest that made him do it. He had a few cards up his sleeve for that, although the irony that he, the member of the New York Crime Lab with the most overtime, was trying to keep a dedicated Detective like Flack away from the precinct was not lost on him.

“I mean it,” he said. “If you fall face-first into my crime scene and contaminate evidence because you were too exhausted to see where you’re going, I’m…”

Don interrupted him with a shake of his head. “I get it,” he promised. “You want to talk about the case now?” He raised his eyebrows. “Focus all of your attention on catching some bad guys?”

Mac nodded and crouched down next to the body.

~*+*~

“Morning, Mac,” Danny greeted and pushed his glasses up his nose with a knuckle. “Had a good night?”

Mac raised both eyebrows. “Not really,” he admitted. “I was woken up by something and there was nobody to distract me.”

Danny frowned slightly. “Really?” he asked and sat down in the chair in front of Mac’s desk. “Where was everyone?”

Mac smiled. “At work, I hope,” he answered easily. “What do you have for me?”

“A pile of closed files, and by pile, I mean two.” Danny handed the folders over. “And a test result you wanted from Adam. Stella called, but she said it’s more for catching up than anything else…and that’s about it, for now.”

Mac nodded as he took the test result and quickly scanned it. “Blue cotton fibers,” he muttered. “Drenched in…spider venom?”

Danny chuckled. “Looks like you’ll be busy for the rest of the day,” he said and stretched his arms up, over his head. “If you don’t need me anymore…I’ll be going home, then.”

Mac nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Get some rest.” He stood when Danny did. “There is one more thing I need you to do,” he added quietly.

“Pick up something for dinner?” Danny asked and bounced on the balls of his feet while pushing his hands deep in his pockets.

“That too.” Mac looked around and pulled Danny into the locker room. It was empty, which Mac had hoped for, and he exhaled briefly. “I need you to check up on Flack.” He shook his head slightly. “Don.”

Danny frowned again. “What’s with him?” he asked, his voice pitched low. “He’s not doing anything stupid again, is he?”

“I hope not,” Mac replied. “Make sure he gets some rest, will you?”

“Sure thing, Mac,” Danny promised. “I’ll see you for dinner?” He held up a hand. “If you make me cook, you better be there to eat it!”

Mac smiled. “You’re a pushy roommate, you know that?” he teased. “I’ll try to be home at seven.”

“Good.” Danny nodded and tilted his head to the side. “You know, we’re in the one place in this lab without camera surveillance,” he pointed out slowly. “And we’re alone.”

“So?” Mac felt amusement fill him and warm him from the inside.

“So…” Danny murmured and took a step toward him, and another one, until he was crowding Mac against the row of lockers behind him, “so I think I want a good-morning-kiss from you now.”

Mac smiled and reached out, to run his hands up Danny’s sides, under the jacket he was wearing, and back down, to his hips. He tangled his fingers in Danny’s belt and pulled him close, until they stood with their bodies touching from their knees to their chests. Danny leaned against him with a little sigh and tilted his head up for a kiss.

“Good morning,” Mac smiled and brushed his lips against Danny’s. It was just a brief contact of dry lips against dry, slightly chapped lips, but it was enough to bring a smile to Danny’s tired face.

“Don’t forget about dinner,” he murmured.

“Don’t forget about Don,” Mac answered as he gave Danny a little nudge, to make him step back.

“As if I could do that.” Danny shook his head. “I’ll get that stubborn son of a bitch in bed, all right.”

Mac chuckled. “I didn’t doubt you for a second,” he promised. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Yeah.” Danny watched as Mac straightened his jacket and left the room with nothing more than a quick glance and the hint of a smile in Danny’s direction before he shook his head and fished his phone from his pocket. Don’s number was on his speed-dial-list, right below Mac’s, and it took him only two swipes of his thumb over the keys of his phone to dial the other man’s number.

“Hey, man,” he greeted. “You still up? You want to grab some breakfast with me? The usual place?” He grinned as he listened to Don’s answer. “See you in ten,” he then said before ending the call.

He gave Hawkes a cheerful wave as he stepped into the elevator, but he didn’t stop to chat. After the double shift he’d pulled, he suddenly couldn’t wait to get out of the lab, out of the building and onto the bustling streets of New York to remind him that there were a lot of people out there who weren’t involved in any crimes.

He knew that it was probably an illusion, but it was one he clung to with all his mental strength. There were good people out there. He knew that. He did his job so that these people could sleep at night without having to worry.

~*+*~

Five minutes after Danny had ordered his first cup of coffee, Don Flack stepped into the diner they had picked as their favorite breakfast spot, and Danny lifted his hand and gave him a small wave in greeting. Don slid on the faded red bench on the other side of the table and leaned his elbows heavily on the tabletop.

“Morning,” Danny greeted softly. “You okay? You look…”

“Yeah, don’t say it,” Don interrupted with a small grimace. “And don’t tell me you’re not here because your man sent you.”

“My man?” Danny spluttered and pushed his glasses back up his nose. “What are you talking about, nobody sent me!” He shrugged slightly. “He might have told me to take care of you, but I’m here of my own free will, because I wanted to see you and spend some time with you. Preferably naked and in bed.”

Don rubbed the bridge of his nose with a little sigh. “Mac didn’t say that,” he murmured.

Danny’s foot slid along Don’s under the table, until his leg was pressed against Don’s, and Danny gave him a brilliant, wide smile; a smile that looked happy and innocent and like it belonged to a man who had not lost his wife and child in childbirth. Don’s heart clenched a little at the sight, and he quickly closed his eyes again and rubbed his open palm over his face. He didn’t open them when Danny ordered him a cup of coffee – Danny knew how he liked it, and Don was too busy ignoring the burn of his eyes to do much more than nod and force a smile on his own, to confirm Danny’s order.

“Mac said to get you in bed and take care of you,” Danny continued as soon as they were alone again.

“He didn’t mean what you want him to mean,” Don pointed out. “Come on, Dan. This is Mac we’re talking about. He loves you. In an awkward Mac way.”

Danny shrugged. “Yeah,” he said softly, “I know, but I’m telling you, it’s okay. Trust me, Don. He told me to go.” He leaned over the table to brush his fingertips against Don’s wrist. “What about you?” he asked softly. “You want me?”

Don sighed and reached for his coffee. “Danny…it’s not that easy,” he whispered.

“Seems like an easy enough question to me,” Danny replied, his voice as quiet as Don’s. “Do you want me – yes or no?”

“You know I do,” Don murmured with a small grimace he hid behind his cup. “You know that!”

Danny grinned triumphantly and leaned back. “See, I think you’re too tired to make sense of the presented evidence, Detective,” he said playfully. “Allow me to explain.” He pushed his glasses up his nose again – he’d exchanged his contacts for them halfway into his second shift, when his eyes had started to itch, and, he thought, it was time to get them adjusted again, to stop them from sliding down his nose all the time. Apparently his glasses didn’t like it when he got punched in the face by a running suspect.

“Yeah? Enlighten me, Detective.” Don lifted a hand and waved it invitingly.

“You see,” Danny started. “Usually, the easiest solution is the right solution: Most people don’t think up elaborate and complicated schemes for their crimes – they just do the first thing that comes to their minds when they find themselves with a gun in their hands and a dead guy in their kitchen.”

He paused to take a sip of coffee before continuing. “This is just like those crimes – it’s so simple, really, that you almost dismiss it out of hand because it’s too simple. I want Mac. Mac wants Me. You want me. I want you. Mac doesn’t mind. He likes you. And he thinks you’re sexy. I think he wouldn’t push you off the side of the bed, if you know what I mean.”

Don narrowed his eyes. “What?” he asked, disbelief coloring his voice. “How the hell can you know that, Mess?”

Danny shrugged and grinned. “We talk about you,” he confessed. “Plus, I’m a CSI. I know conclusive evidence when I see it.” He grew serious again. “Don,” he said quietly, “this is the third time in two months we’ve had this conversation. If you’re unsure about our agreement here, if you want to change something, you gotta tell me, man. Just…don’t always start at the same point, again and again, okay?”

Don sighed. “It’s not that,” he protested tiredly.

Danny’s fingers tangled in his. “How about this,” he suggested gently. “We’ll get some breakfast, and then we go home, see what happens. You take a long nap, and when you wake up and you can think straight again, we’ll talk and…work it out. If you want. Or we have great sex.”

Don nodded. “Yeah. Sounds like a plan.”

~*+*~

They were almost at Don’s place when Don reached for Danny’s elbow and closed his fingers around it. “I meant what I said,” he said, his blue eyes serious and begging Danny to understand, to accept. “That I want you.”

Danny grinned. “Good,” he replied firmly. “I want you too.”

“It’s just, Mac doesn’t seem like the guy who shares this kind of thing,” Don added as he pulled out his keys. “I constantly feel as if you guys will start laughing at me any minute now and tell me it’s just a joke.”

Danny frowned. “You don’t think we’re cruel like that,” he protested. “Don, we’re your friends. Both of us. We never want you to feel like that.”

“I know.” Don shrugged one shoulder and pushed the door to his apartment open. “I really do, but sometimes…”

Danny closed the door behind himself and turned to wrap both arms around Don’s waist and pull him backward against his chest.

“Don’t worry about that,” he begged and kissed Don’s neck softly. “You’re safe with us. I promise.”

Don leaned back against him. “I know it’s stupid,” he said quietly. “It’s stupid and idiotic and…”

“…and it’s okay,” Danny interrupted gently. “Come on, let’s get some sleep, and we’ll talk about it when you’re feeling better. Find a way to get it in your thick, stubborn skull that I’m serious.”

“Are you staying?” Don asked and freed himself from Danny’s embrace to take off his shoes.

“Definitely,” Danny answered and took off his own shoes. “Come on. Let’s go to bed.”

His hands were gentle as they unbuttoned Don’s shirt and pushed it off his shoulders, as they reached for the button and the zipper of Don’s jeans. His mouth was hot and insistent on Don’s, distracting him and assuring him that Danny really loved and wanted him while expressing everything Danny didn’t have words for.

~*+*~

Danny woke up because of the all too familiar sound of his cell phone. He blinked sleepily at the fuzzy outlines of the room around him while groping for the small contraption and finally managed to wrap clumsy fingers around it.

“Hmmm?” he murmured and sat up. Don hadn’t moved a single muscle and was still sleeping peacefully, his back turned toward Danny and the sheets pooling around his hips.

“It’s me,” Mac’s familiar voice filtered to his ear. “Listen, Danny…something came up at the lab…” He stopped himself. “I’m sorry, Danny.”

Danny rubbed a hand over his face and caught a glimpse of his watch. It was almost seven in the evening – he’d slept all day long, and apparently, so had Don.

“It’s okay, Mac,” he said softly. “I’m still at Don’s place…there’s a few things we need to talk about.”

“Okay,” Mac replied. He sounded slightly distracted, Danny realized, a hint of amusement tinging his thoughts, as if he was talking to Danny while at the same time working on some kind of complicated puzzle.

“Spider venom?” he guessed.

“Yeah,” Mac admitted. “Raincheck on the dinner?”

Danny chuckled softly. “It’s okay,” he repeated. “I’ll be at Don’s place for the night, then. You can come and bring us breakfast tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll do that.” Mac hesitated briefly. “Love you.”

“Yeah, I know. You, too,” Danny answered and ended the call. He tossed the phone back onto the bedside table and stretched out on his back again. For a split second he contemplated if he wanted to wake up Don, either for the talk they needed to have or to make out a little bit before they decided what they wanted for dinner, but in the end, he decided against it. Don had looked really exhausted and could use the rest, and Danny just curled himself against Don’s back and pressed his palm flat against Don’s shoulder blade. He could feel the sharp edge of bone under the soft-washed cotton of the t-shirt Don had put on before going to bed, and a small frown formed on his face. Slowly, he skated his hand over Don’s back and side, along the hollows of his ribs.

Don had always, all the years Danny had known him, been lanky and slender, and Danny had seen him naked often enough to know how thin Don really was without the protection of clothes to hide behind. But, no matter how often Danny had put his hands on Don’s body, he’d never been able to feel the other man’s ribs as clearly pronounced as they were right now.

Don huffed a breath. “Stop it,” he ordered firmly. “I can hear you think, you know, and I can see the expression on your face.”

“No, you can’t,” Danny replied and stroked his hand carefully lower, across Don’s stomach and toward his groin.

“Yeah, I know what expression you’re wearing right now,” Don replied and turned under Danny’s arm, to face him. “Yeah, that one.”

“Man, you have to take better care of yourself,” Danny grumbled. “I can break you in half like a stupid twig right now.”

“No, you can’t, but I would pay five dollars to watch you try,” Don answered with a grin.

Danny ran his hand along Don’s side again before settling it on his hip. “It’s not my fault I worry,” he defended himself. “I care for you, you stubborn nutjob.” He watched Don open his mouth for a reply that was probably going to be acerbic, and he leaned in to seal his mouth over Don’s before any word could escape.

Don made a small sound at the back of his throat that probably was a muffled protest, but Danny chose to ignore it. He had his tongue in Don’s mouth and Don’s thigh between his legs, and if Don would really object to getting kissed breathless, there were ways to show Danny that, and kissing back and tangling his own hand in Danny’s hair to hold him I place was not one of them, as far as Danny was concerned.

He pressed their bodies closer together and pushed his hand under the waistband of Don’s shorts, to touch hot skin with his palm.

“Donnie,” he murmured, his head thrown back and his eyes closed. “Want you…”

“Want me to do what?” Don asked, his voice a breathless growl that had dropped almost an entire octave.

“Your mouth, your dick, either,” Danny begged. “Please?”

“Did Mac teach you that?” Don asked and closed sharp teeth carefully against the pale length of Danny’s throat. “To beg so nicely?”

Danny laughed, startled by Don’s words. “Do you want me to say yes?” he asked and wormed his free hand between them, to cup Don’s half-hard dick through his clothes. “Do you want to imagine Mac trying to make me beg while you fuck me? Do you want Mac to make you beg, too?”

“Shut up,” Don answered, but without any heat in his words, and Danny squeezed him again through his pants before releasing his grip and wriggling out of his own underwear and t-shirt. Now completely naked, he pressed himself back against Don’s body.

“Make me,” he grinned. “I bet you’d love to know how Mac is in bed.”

Don growled and rolled on top of Danny, his shorts pushed to mid-thigh by his own and Danny’s impatient hands. His t-shirt was pushed up, revealing a scarred stomach.

The first contact of their bare stomachs was like an electrical current racing through him. Danny sucked in a harsh breath and wrapped his legs firmly around Don’s hips. Their dicks rubbed against each other, and this time, it was Don who clenched almost desperate fingers into Danny’s shoulder and hip, probably leaving bruises that would remind him for the rest of the week of them and of what they were doing right now.

Those, he decided while bucking his hips, were good moments and good memories, moments when Don and he were so close they woke with the other’s breath on their lips and the texture of the other’s skin on their fingertips.

Moments he cherished.

“Don,” he groaned, “Fuck me now?”

Don’s breath hitched, but he nodded and carefully untangled himself from Danny and from his clothes.

“I won’t last long,” he warned as he reached for the bottle of lube in the drawer.

“Me neither,” Danny murmured and wrapped his arm around Don’s shoulder, to pull him close and kiss him softly. “That’s what round two is for – we have all night.”

“Yeah, I heard,” Don replied and slipped a slick finger into Danny’s body.

“Mac’s gonna bring us breakfast, and we can talk. All three of us,” Danny added and arched into Don’s fingers.

“Less talking now,” Don murmured and slipped a second finger into Danny while swallowing his moan, with his lips pressed to Danny’s. Judging from Danny’s grip on his shoulders and the way a shudder ran through his entire body as Don pressed three slick fingers into him, Danny agreed with that plan whole-heartedly.

Don pulled his fingers free and sat up, to drizzle more lube over his erection. Danny used the moment to rearrange his limbs and roll onto his stomach. He brought his knees under himself and lifted his ass up, his back arched like a cat’s.

“You don’t want to look at me?” Don asked with a small chuckle and grabbed Danny’s hips.

“Want you like this,” Danny replied and turned his head to the side, to grin at Don. His eyes were half-closed, his cheeks flushed, and his hair was probably a complete mess, but Danny didn’t care.

Neither did Don.

They fit together like pieces of a puzzle, perfect and seamless. Danny rocked back into Don’s thrusts, angling his hips to let Don’s hard, full cock brush against that one spot deep inside him and send sparks of intense arousal flying through him.

“Has been…too long,” he gasped and spread his legs further apart.

Don’s fingers bit into Danny’s hips. “That’s what you have Mac for,” he replied breathlessly.

Danny’s toes curled. “Are you jealous, Flack?” he teased and glanced over his shoulder at Don. “You want me to bring him to you too?” His own dick twitched at the thought of Don and Mac together, with him in the middle. “Imagine that, Donnie…I’m blowing you while Mac fucks me…every thrust pushes me down on your dick, and man, that man’s a beast in bed…can you imagine that?”

Don hissed sharply. His thrusts became shorter and harder, more erratic, and his grip on Danny’s hip became bruising.

“And when he comes,” Danny gasped and arched his back again, “you take his place, just slip in me and fuck me while Mac kneels behind you and teases you with his hands on your body…you know those hands, and how careful they can be and how strong they are…”

Don moaned softly as orgasm overwhelmed him and wracked his entire body. His muscles twitched almost violently as he curled over Danny’s sweaty back, his breath caught in his chest from the force of his orgasm.

Danny whimpered and squeezed his eyes shut while worming a hand between the mattress and his own body, to wrap it around his own dick. The tip was moist with pre-come, and his hand slid easily enough along its length.

“Damn, Mess,” Don groaned and slowly, almost reluctantly pulled out of Danny’s body. “Turn around.”

Danny rolled on his back without slowing down the movements of his hand. He was almost there, almost –

The touch of Don’s fingers against his hole sent more sparks flying in him, and his back arched off the mattress, with a sharp pain that was momentarily masked by the overwhelming, blinding force of an orgasm before settling into an all too familiar ache again.

Come streaked his stomach, his chest heaved as he struggled to regain some sort of control over his body and his breathing.

Don grinned at him exhaustedly. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Danny replied softly and reached out, to splay his fingers against Don’s hip. “You?”

“Fine,” Don said. “I’ll get a washcloth before you ruin my sheets.” He stood and stretched languidly before padding into the bathroom.

Danny laughed softly, but he stayed where he was. His muscles were slowly relaxing, leaving him with a satisfied, heavy feeling. Not even the touch of the washcloth as Don ran it over his stomach could do more than make him twitch slightly.

“You want to grab a bite to eat?” Don finally asked, “or do you wanna stay in that half-comatose state you’re in right now?”

Danny laughed and wriggled his toes. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’m feeling pretty good right now.”

“Yeah, I can imagine,” Don said dryly. “If you change your mind, I’m in the kitchen.”

He left, and Danny sighed softly in comfortable relaxation before he struggled to sit up and pull on his underwear and t-shirt again. On bare feet, he padded into Don’s living room.

“Hey, Mess?” Don called out from the kitchen area where he was stirring something in a pot. It smelled like pasta sauce, Danny thought as the tantalizing smell drifted past him.

“Hmmm?” he replied distractedly.

“Are you going to tell Mac?”

Danny frowned. “Tell him what?”

Don waved the spoon. “About your little fantasy there.”

Danny grinned. “About you and him and me, and how much it turned you on to think about it while you were fucking me?”

Don blushed, but he refused to look away from him. “Yeah, about that one.”

Danny smiled. “Would it bother you if I told him?” he wanted to know.

Don shrugged and turned toward his pots again. “It’s Mac,” he said, as if that explained everything.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind,” Danny said thoughtfully. “Remember how I said he wouldn’t push you off the edge of the bed? I’m sure Mac would appreciate it if he finds out that his little crush isn’t as one-sided as he thinks it is. Besides, off-the-job Mac is completely different than lab-Mac. In some regards.”

“You sure?” Don asked and tossed a handful of pasta in the boiling water in his second pot. He glanced over his shoulder at Danny and added another handful.

“Yeah, of course I’m sure,” Danny answered. He was suddenly right behind Don and wrapped his arms around Don’s waist. “But if you want me not to say anything to him…” He shrugged and pressed his lips against Don’s shoulder. “That’s okay, too.”

Don shrugged as well. “I don’t know, Danny…” he confessed hesitantly. “I mean…it’s unusual enough to be with you, to share you with some other guy.”

“Not some other guy,” Danny corrected. “Mac.”

“Mac,” Don repeated before shaking his head. “Nobody would understand.”

“Maybe,” Danny admitted, “but nobody has to know if you don’t want them to. And Mac and I won’t judge you either way, no matter what you decide. We do understand, you know?”

“I know,” Don answered with a small smile. “You hungry?”

“Starving,” Danny replied and kissed his shoulder again. “Love ya, Don.” He gave Don one more squeeze. “Just let me know how you decide. Let us know,” he asked earnestly.

Don nodded. “I will. Now get us some plates.”

~*+*~

“Mornin’, Mac,” Danny said and hid a yawn behind his hand before accepting a soft kiss from Mac.

“Good morning,” Mac replied. “Coffee, breakfast…” he handed Danny another bag, “and some of your clothes. I didn’t know if you had some stashed away here.”

“Thanks.” Danny smiled and looked into the bag. “I really appreciate it.” He glanced at Don. “I’ll grab a quick shower, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, go ahead,” Don said and took the coffee Mac handed him. “You know where everything is.”

“Yeah.” Danny grinned and leaned into Don, to kiss him briefly. “You guys can probably start…talking or having breakfast, you know.”

He left, and Mac shook his head slightly. He knew the grin on Danny’s face. He knew Danny was planning something, he just didn’t know yet what it was.

“Sit. Take off your coat. Get comfortable,” Don offered and waved an inviting arm while taking a sip of his coffee.

Mac nodded and shrugged out of his coat. He folded it and put it over the back of a chair while keeping a quiet, discreet eye on Don – he was dressed in sweatpants, a faded t-shirt and socks, and Mac could see the tension in his shoulders from across the apartment.

He took a sip of his own coffee while contemplating what he wanted to do. Apparently, Danny thought there was something he and Don needed to talk about, although he didn’t know what, unless Danny had told Don about this stupid little crush Mac had developed on Don, and Don now was uncomfortable in his presence.

“So…” he started and raised his eyebrows. “Let’s talk.”

“Talk about what?” Don asked and mirrored Mac’s expression, his eyebrows pulled up.

“I don’t know,” Mac said and lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Whatever you want to talk about, I guess.”

Don muttered a curse and wrapped his hands around his coffee. “I don’t…” he started. “Listen, Mac…about Danny.”

Mac took another sip of coffee, hiding his face behind the rim of his cup. “What about Danny?” he asked, his voice quiet.

“You don’t mind the sharing? Not at all?” Don blurted out before running a hand over his face.

Mac shook his head. “No,” he replied truthfully. “I told you this when it started, Don. Danny and I…we have a pretty open relationship.” He frowned. “Although, that’s not quite true anymore. We had a pretty open relationship. Right now, there’s only one other person beside him and me, and that’s you.”

Don’s lips twitched. “And you really don’t feel the need to beat me up for sleeping with, what, your lover?” he mumbled, disbelief and his attempt of humor mixing in his voice.

“Not at all,” Mac promised. He grinned slightly. “I am thankful for your help in keeping Danny in line.”

Don laughed sharply. “You know, Mac,” he said quietly, “for a really long time, I didn’t understand how you could love more than one person at the same time.”

“What changed?” Mac asked gently.

Don sighed. “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Jess and Danny and now…” He stopped himself and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Nevermind.”

“For me,” Mac said slowly once it became obvious that Don wouldn’t say anything else, “I always loved more than one person. It…” He shrugged slightly. “It was what made me go on, after Claire’s death. There was someone else…and by the time that ended, there was Danny.” He didn’t like talking about himself and about that time, hard as it had been, but he knew that he could trust Don with this, and his gut told him that it was not only okay to tell him, but that it was important that he did.

“I’d never thought you to be the type,” Don admitted. “I mean…we all didn’t think you…”

“I could get dates?” Mac asked back. “More than one, at the same time?”

“No offense, Mac,” Don said and managed a small smile. “We all thought you were married to your job.”

“I do take my job very seriously,” Mac agreed. “But it doesn’t mean I love only my work. There’s Danny, and then…” He stopped and considered his words for a moment. “There is another person I’m feeling attracted to right now.”

Don stared at him. “Who?” he asked, his voice rough and stumbling over that one word. His tongue flickered out to run over his lips, wetting them, a nervous habit Mac had never really noticed on him – at least not on the job.

Mac leaned back in his chair. “I think you know,” he said, his voice dropping into a deeper register. If Danny had told Don about Mac’s crush – and Mac had told Danny that it was okay to bring it up with Don if he saw a good opportunity – then it was now Don’s turn to make a move; either by rejecting Mac or not.

Don licked his lips again. “Yeah,” he murmured. “I think I do.”

Mac took a slow sip of coffee, the hot liquid bitter and perfect in his mouth. “What are you going to do about it?” he murmured huskily.

Don smiled, a brilliant flash of white teeth. “You think I should do something about it?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Mac nodded.

Don opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Danny wandered back in, toweling his hair dry, and the moment between them was broken. Don blinked and took a sip of his coffee, and he didn’t say anything when Danny started to distribute the food Mac had brought between them while chattering about small things unrelated to the job. Both Don and Mac let his voice wash over them and soothe them, tossing in a comment here and there between bites of food and sips of coffee.

The topic that was on all their minds didn’t come up again.

~*+*~

“You two didn’t really solve anything, did you?” Danny asked around his toothbrush.

Mac snorted and reached around Danny for the toothpaste. “We…talked,” he said. “The ball is in his court now.”

Danny snorted and spit out into the sink. “In that case, it’ll only take eternity,” he griped. “Seriously, Mac, have you ever played with him? He hogs the ball. He’ll never give it back.”

Mac laughed. “I don’t think he’ll keep this particular ball for forever,” he said fondly and waited until Danny faced him before giving him a peck on the lips. Danny tasted like mint and toothpaste, and Mac gave him a small nudge with his hip to get to the sink himself.

“You never know, with Don,” Danny grumbled from behind him. Mac caught his eye in the mirror and raised his eyebrows while brushing his teeth. “I’m just saying, Mac, he’s thorough. He’ll think this through from every angle and until he has conclusive evidence that you really meant what he thinks you said. He’s like you.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with that,” Mac pointed out mildly. His words were slightly garbled, but Danny had no trouble understanding him.

“But you didn’t give him anything conclusive, right?” Danny asked and rubbed his chin. “You didn’t…declare your undying love or anything, right? Which means…he’ll doubt. This is unusual for him, three guys in one relationship, he’ll have a ton of doubts.”

“I didn’t declare my undying love,” Mac said. “I also didn’t break into song or tattoo his name across my heart before his eyes. I’m sorry, Danny.”

Danny threw his hands up in frustration and left the bathroom while Mac smiled and cleaned up. He washed his hands and grabbed a towel to take with him to the bedroom when he was done.

Danny was sprawled across the bed, one of Mac’s forensic journals in his hands. He looked up when Mac came in and turned off the lights in the bathroom, and grinned, his little temper tantrum already forgotten.

“You planning on getting lucky tonight?” he asked with a wink and ran his hand teasingly down his chest.

“I got a good-looking guy in my bed,” Mac smiled and put one knee on the edge of the mattress. His hand ran up Danny’s leg and stopped just above his knee.

Danny laughed and tossed the journal off the bed. He reached up with both hands and pulled Mac down into a kiss.

“Want me to fuck you?” he asked, his voice muffled by Mac’s lips and tongue. “Or want to fuck me?”

Mac pulled away slightly and closed his hand around the back of Danny’s neck, to lean their foreheads together. “What you’re up to,” he replied softly. “I’m up to it. Really.”

“Me. In you,” Danny decided. “It’s been a while since we did that.”

“It’s been a while since we did anything, thanks to work,” Mac replied quietly. “I’ve missed you.”

“Missed you too,” Danny replied tenderly and tugged the hem of Mac’s t-shirt up. “Come on, off with your clothes.”

Mac laughed. “I’ll have to ask Don if you’re this bossy with him, too,” he teased while slipping out of his clothes.

“Yeah, do that,” Danny replied and kissed his shoulder. “You should ask him if he wants to join us for some hot sex, too.”

“That’s your idea of conclusive evidence?” Mac asked amusedly and brushed his fingertips under the waistband of Danny’s shorts.

“It would get the message across, I’m sure,” Danny grinned and wriggled out of his own clothes.

“Right now,” Mac said and wrapped his arms around Danny’s waist, to squeeze his ass with both hands, “Don isn’t here…but I am.”

Danny nodded. “I got you,” he promised. “No more talking about Don until we actually get him in your bed?”

“At least not right now,” Mac agreed and rolled his hips against Danny.

“Okay,” Danny promised and kissed Mac again. “Only talking about you. How good you look like this, spread out for me.”

Mac laughed. “How about no talking at all for now?” he suggested softly and handed Danny a tube of lube.

“I can do that, too,” Danny promised as he took it and poured some of it in the palm of his hand.

“You’re still talking,” Mac pointed out and pulled him into another deep kiss.

“Gotcha,” Danny murmured and slipped his fingers to Mac’s ass, spreading the lube around while running his fingertips teasingly over the opening to Mac’s body, again and again.

“Danny,” Mac murmured.

“What, I’m not talking,” Danny grinned and slipped his fingers into Mac.

“Danny,” Mac murmured again and reached between them, to close his own fingers around Danny’s erection. He stroked it gently, not changing his rhythm even as Danny pushed a third finger into him and brushed them over his prostate.

“Ready?” Danny asked and touched his lips to the scars on Mac’s chest. “Are you ready for me?”

“Yes, I am,” Mac answered, slightly breathless. He pushed Danny onto his back and straddled him when Danny pulled his fingers free. He waited while Danny coated his erection with lube before settling down over it and taking Danny slowly into his body. He set a slow, steady rhythm, and Danny let his head fall back into the pillow and clenched one hand into Mac’s hip and the other in the sheet underneath him while he panted and strained his hips up, to meet Mac thrust for thrust.

“Danny…” Mac braced his hands on Danny’s sweat-slicked chest and lifted himself up again.

“Who’s the one talking now,” Danny murmured before giving a startled growl before chuckling and tracing his fingertips up Mac’s thighs. “Love you, Mac, so much…you feel so good…”

Mac nodded and blinked sweat out of his eyes. He angled his hips slightly and let the tip of Danny’s erection drag along the sensitive spot deep within him, again and again, driving him higher and higher, until the slap of their skin and their heavy breathing filled the room, blood rushed in his ears and he could almost taste the thickness of arousal and the beginnings of his own orgasm on his tongue.

Danny bucked up, into him, while lifting his head. His stomach muscles tensed, and his mouth was pressed against Mac’s chin for a second, cool and moist against his overheated skin. It sent a wave of arousal through Mac’s body, and it was followed by a second, bigger wave as Danny wrapped his hand tightly around Mac’s thick and aroused cock.

He felt his own muscles go rigid and his mouth fall open as hot liquid splashed over Danny’s muscular stomach, his arousal dissipating in his release and leaving nothing but slow satisfaction behind.

“Mac,” Danny murmured under him, his eyes glazed and half-closed, “Mac, close…so close…” and Mac forced his shaking and tired muscles to lift him up again and again, until Danny came with a strangled groan that almost sounded like a sob – a sob of relief.

Mac allowed himself to fall forward, his cheek resting against Danny’s shoulder. They breathed in unison for a long time, Danny’s fingers carding through Mac’s hair and brushing gently over his shoulders, not caring about the drying mess between their bodies.

Finally, Danny stirred. He pressed his lips against Mac’s temple and murmured, “You know what would make this moment even more perfect?”

Mac shifted off of Danny and stretched out beside him while already reaching for the towel, to clean up the worst of the mess they’d made.

“I thought the golden rule in a poly relationship is not to compare your partners,” he asked quietly.

“Hey, I’m not comparing you guys,” Danny protested. He grinned and stretched, not bothered by his state of undress. “I’m just trying to be a friend for you, Mac.”

“You’re trying to hook me up with Don,” Mac clarified.

Danny shrugged. “Does it work?” he wanted to know. “Because I really think you and Don would be good for each other.”

Mac shook his head. “I told you, the ball is in his court,” he repeated his earlier words. “It’s his move now. Not mine.”

Danny only sighed, but he let the topic drop and curled himself against Mac’s side, with his head on Mac’s shoulder, and let Mac wrestle the blankets from under them and over their sated bodies by himself.

~*+*~

“Hey, Mac?” Don Flack stuck his head into Mac’s office and turned his memobook between his hands. “You got a minute for me?”

“Sure.” Mac waved him in. “Take a seat. What do you need?”

“Well,” Don said while stepping into the room and closing the door behind himself. “It’s unrelated to the case, actually. It’s…personal.” He took a deep breath and slowly released it, visibly arming himself for the conversation.

Mac leaned back in his chair and thoughtfully rolled his pen between his thumb and forefinger. “What is it?” he asked gently and waved a hand invitingly toward the couch in the corner of his office. This didn’t look like a conversation they should have with the barrier of a desk between them.

Don sat down and rested his elbows on his knees while rubbing his hands together absentmindedly. Mac took the chair and watched for him a moment.

“You know,” he said carefully, “whatever it is you want to talk about, just spit it out. We’re still friends, no matter what our relationship to Danny is like.” He’d had his hands in Don’s stomach, after all, keeping him alive with a piece of shoelace and determination. If that hadn’t been a turning point that had solidified their friendship, which was already based on mutual respect and a healthy work relationship, Mac didn’t know what was.

Don flashed him a quick, nervous smile. “Yeah,” he said quietly before coughing. “So…Danny said a few things the last time he was with me…” He trailed off again.

Mac nodded and allowed a small smile to break through. “What did he say? And let me guess, you want me to deny or confirm what he said?”

“Pretty much,” Don said and glanced at the tips of his shoes before squaring his shoulders determinedly. “He said you have a crush on me.”

Mac was silent for a long moment before folding his hands in his lap. He looked Don calmly in the eye and said, “He’s right.”

Waiting for a few heartbeats, he added, “I hope that doesn’t influence our work relationship negatively.”

“No, no, of course not,” Don promised hastily, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Mac raised his eyebrows questioningly. “What now?” he wanted to know, his voice gentle. As far as he was concerned, the ball was still in Don’s court, and it was still Don’s turn to make a move.

“What if…” A pink tongue appeared to wet pale, thin lips. “What would you do if Danny told you the same about me?”

Mac smiled again. “Why don’t you tell me yourself?” he asked softly. “You know already how I feel. I promise, I won’t bite if you tell me.” He almost wanted to add unless you want me to, but he stopped himself. There was a time and space for such a joke, such an offer, but it wasn’t now. He knew with perfect clarity that Don was nervous and that this was a delicate conversation; a conversation that required a certain degree of seriousness.

Don’s throat worked. “Mac,” he said hoarsely, a tinge of desperation in his voice, “I think…I think I have a crush on you too. And I have no idea what to do now. With Danny. And you. And…”

Mac reached out slowly and touched Don’s wrist with his fingertips.

“We do what we’d do if Danny wasn’t involved,” he said simply. “We go on a date, find out how far that crush goes, and then we try to figure out if we want a relationship or if it really was just a little crush that quickly blew over.”

Don nodded shakily. “Okay,” he murmured. “Do we…do we tell Danny?”

Mac nodded, as well. “Yes,” he simply replied. “We should.”

“Okay.” Don took a deep breath, relieved now that his confession was out and Mac hadn’t reacted negatively. “Does that mean I can ask you out for a drink after work tonight?”

Mac laughed softly. “Just you and me?” he asked. “Or you, me and Danny?”

“Just you and me for now?” Don shrugged. “Unless you want him there from the get-go, but if we want...you know…to find out if something could happen between us…” He trailed off and shrugged briefly.

Mac shook his head slightly. “I want to get to know you,” he said, decision made. “Danny can come next time, okay?”

Don nodded and turned his hand, to close his fingers around Mac’s. “It’s a date,” he said, relief audible in his voice. “Do you want to tell Danny or should I?”

“I can do it,” Mac promised and squeezed Don’s hand for a brief moment before letting go again. He hadn’t forgotten where they were and that everyone who walked by his office could see them holding hands.

Don glanced over his shoulder amusedly. He knew as well why Mac had pulled back. “You tell Danny and I pick you up after your shift?” he suggested.

“I’d really like that,” Mac smiled. He stood when Don did and watched him leave without even trying to hold back his excited smile.

~*+*~

“You don’t need to wait for me tonight,” Mac murmured softly. “I’ve tried all day to get a quiet moment with you, to let you know.”

Danny frowned. “What’s going on?” he asked, his voice low and suspicious. “Did something happen at that scene you and Hawkes went to? That jeweler?”

“No.” Mac shook his head. “It’s not that. I have a date tonight.”

Danny stared at him for a long moment, and Mac had to think of how Don had confessed that they hadn’t thought that Mac could get dates in the first place.

“You have a date?” Danny finally repeated, unable to hide the bafflement in his voice, but Mac thought he also detected something else in Danny’s tone.

Disappointment? But he wasn’t sure why Danny would be disappointed, though – Danny had been the one who had pushed him to think about a relationship with Flack, hadn’t he?

“It’s just a drink,” he said soothingly. “I’m not going to do anything else, without talking to you about it first. You know that.”

“Yeah,” Danny said and shook his head, to clear it. “Well, Mac, have fun. I’ll…I guess I’ll ask Don if he wants to hang out tonight, then.”

Mac shook his head as well. “He won’t,” he replied apologetically. “He has a date, too.”

Danny stared at him from narrowed eyes. “Get outta here,” he finally blurted out. “You and Don? On a date?”

Mac shrugged. “Isn’t that what you wanted, in the first place?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Danny admitted and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “But when you said you had a date, I didn’t really expect…you know what, never mind. Enjoy your date. Finally.”

He leaned in and brushed a dry kiss against Mac’s lips, taking advantage of the fact that they were alone for the moment, alone and hidden from the cameras. When he pulled back, a small smile twisted his lips.

“Here I thought I could have you both,” he mock-complained, “and now it turns out that all that’s happening is you and Don going out on a date without me.” He shook his head theatrically and bounced on the balls of his feet. “Are you planning on bringing him home after those drinks?”

“No,” Mac said truthfully. “I told you, I’ll talk to you first before doing anything.”

“But that’s just for other people,” Danny protested. “This is Don. He’s different. Hell, I wouldn’t mind if you brought him home tonight…”

“Danny.” Mac sighed and shook his head. “We’ll see,” he then simply said.

Danny just gave him a triumphant grin and stepped back. He nodded, the move slightly awkward, and disappeared around the corner.

~*+*~

“What did he say?” Don asked and took a sip of his beer. His eyes sparkled with amusement.

Mac chuckled. “He didn’t object to me bringing you home with me,” he answered truthfully. “If I’m honest, I like that idea more and more, myself.”

Don leaned closer. “Yeah?” he murmured smoothly. “Is that so?”

“Definitely,” Mac confirmed. “I really want to kiss you. Without being watched by my co-workers.” He nodded toward the other end of the bar, where several cops they regularly worked with were sitting and drinking.

Don laughed and sprawled back in his chair. His shirt was unbuttoned at the throat, and Mac’s eyes were inevitably drawn to the V of pale skin, covered with dark curls of chest hair, that were visible there.

“But if we go to your place,” Don pointed out, his forefinger lifted from the cool, smooth glass of the beer bottle he’d half-raised to his lips already, and pointed it in Mac’s direction, “Danny will be there and he’ll watch too. Probably give pointers.”

Mac shrugged. “Danny…” he started slowly, “…he can watch all he wants. There isn’t anything on either of us he hasn’t seen yet, right?”

“True,” Don grinned. “But you said you don’t want any of your co-workers to watch.”

Mac laughed softly. “Yes,” he replied before taking a sip of his own beer. “Sheldon and Sid are the only ones, besides you and Danny, that I would consider friends,” he then admitted in a low voice. “Everyone else…hasn’t been there for long enough. Or isn’t close enough.”

Don gave him a long, thoughtful look. “You miss Stella, huh?” he asked softly.

Mac nodded. “Of course I do, but this was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up on,” he said. Even to his own ears, his voice sounded hollow and lost as he said those words.

Don reached out and brushed his fingertips against Mac’s elbow. “Hey,” he murmured. “Before you go sentimental on me….I’ve got an opportunity for you that you can’t pass up on.” He slid off his chair and stretched. “Meet me in the alley behind this joint in five minutes.” A grin flashed over his face. “Either we get to catch some drug-dealing junkies or you’ll get your unobserved kiss.”

Mac laughed. “Five minutes,” he agreed. “I’ll see you there. Be careful, in case there really are drug-dealing junkies.”

Don squeezed his shoulder and left, and Mac leaned back in his chair and kept a subtle eye on his watch.

Five minutes could be a long time, he thought amusedly. Danny would spend them fidgeting nervously in his seat, drumming his fingers on the table, peeling the label off the empty bottle, shredding a napkin…Mac smiled at that thought, a wave of love and warm affection running through him.

Danny was a special person in Mac’s life; he had always been, from the second he’d hired him on.

And Don? Mac glanced at his watch again. He felt respect for the tall detective, respect and protectiveness. Don was his friend, just like Danny was. He was honest and fierce and he believed firmly in what he was doing. He trusted the system, despite all the things he’d been through, all the losses he - they - had suffered. Danny had become wary and mistrusting of the system they were struggling to keep running, but Don remained faithful to it and his beliefs.

It was something Mac deeply admired: Don was a good man, and he managed to keep the belief in good people alive in the people he worked with, especially Danny and Mac himself, simply by being there, day for day, and doing his job the best he could.

Plus, he admitted to himself, Don had a great smile, a dry sense of humor and quick wit, and Mac simply felt good in his presence. He was able to relax with Don, share a quiet evening with him, be himself with him, without having to worry about pretending; and the thought of finally being allowed to feel that lanky but strong body pressed against his own, shorter and stockier body and finally kiss him, sent a frisson of strong interest through Mac’s entire body, a tingle that started in the soles of his feet and spread upwards until he felt almost giddy with excitement and a hint of nervousness. Belatedly, he realized that he’d pushed his thumbnail under the label of his bottle and had ripped off a long stripe of paper that now was curling into itself on the table in front of him.

Mac shook his head and stood. He shrugged into his jacket and smoothed it down his chest, checked that he had his wallet, his phone, and his keys, and that the text that said ’bring d. there’s still chocolate sauce left’ from Danny was the only new message he had.

He stepped out of the bar and quickly found the quiet alley Don had talked about. Don was leaning against the rough brick wall there, half-hidden in the shadows, one foot pressed against the wall behind him in a relaxed manner.

Mac smiled. “Hey,” he murmured roughly and stepped close to Don, in between his legs. His hands came up to rest on Don’s hips, under the jacket the other man was wearing, and he used his grip to pull them close together.

“Hey,” Don simply replied. His teeth flashed as he grinned, and then he angled his head, leaned down, and his lips brushed against Mac’s gently.

The kiss started slightly tentative, a gentle brush of their closed mouths, but then, Mac made an encouraging sound at the back of his throat and opened his mouth, to let his tongue sneak out and touch Don’s bottom lip teasingly.

Don reacted immediately. His arms slipped around Mac’s shoulders and he welcomed Mac’s tongue in his mouth eagerly, his own tongue curling playfully against it and into Mac’s mouth.

Don tasted like coffee, like beer and like gum, and Mac suspected that he, himself, didn’t taste like anything else, either, not after a long day in the lab and on various crime scenes.

Don pulled away from the kiss and let his head fall back, against the brick wall, and Mac pressed a small kiss to the exposed column of his throat before taking a small step back.

“Coffee?” he asked hesitantly. He didn’t want the evening to end just yet, but he also didn’t want to rush things too much.

Don laughed. “My place or your place?” he asked. “Danny’s at yours – you can call him and tell him to start the coffee. Save us some time.”

Mac laughed. “I can do that, if you want to.”

Don nodded. “I don’t know if I’m ready to go further than this,” he admitted in a low voice and waved a hand between them.

“We’ll go as slow and as far as you’re comfortable with,” Mac promised. “This is just a first date.”

“You didn’t expect anything else for tonight?”

Mac laughed and pushed his hands deep into his pockets. “I didn’t,” he promised. “Hoped, maybe, but hoping isn’t expecting.”

Don nodded. “Coffee, then,” he decided. “Just coffee. Your place. Call Danny.”

Mac pulled his phone out of his pocket, but before he dialed Danny’s number, he reached out and squeezed Don’s hand.

“I had a really good time, so far,” he said awkwardly. “Maybe we can do this again sometime?”

Don grinned and squeezed back. “That’d be awesome,” he replied softly. “I know a great place to eat. Italian?”

Mac exhaled and smiled. “It’s a date.”

~*+*~

Danny was already waiting for them, an open case file spread over the coffee table and steaming mugs of coffee – black, two sugar for Mac, just the way he liked it, and from the smile and the quick kiss Danny received in exchanged for the mug he’d handed Don, the other man’s coffee was exactly to his liking, as well.

He thought Don liked his coffee black, but he wasn’t sure about it suddenly – but, he promised himself, he would find out. He would find out what Don liked for breakfast, what his favorite wine was – everything he needed to know if he wanted to have a relationship with Don. He would find out how to touch Don, how to make him moan, and Don would lean the same things about him, hopefully.

He took a sip of his coffee and smiled at Don and Danny, who both were sitting side by side on the couch, knees and shoulders touching, coffee in their hands, while Danny brought Don up to date with his current case.

This, he thought comfortably, a sense of peace settling over him, was something he could get used to, the easy camaraderie of the three of them after a long day at work.

A lot had changed in their lives over the past five years alone – a lot of people, good people, had left them, one way or another. His thoughts briefly flashed to Aiden, to Lindsay, to Jess, and to Stella, now in New Orleans, and he made a quick mental note to call her, to catch up with her, make sure she was all right, and maybe tell her about this new development in his life, and the way his relationship to Don was hopefully changing. He was sure that Stella knew him well enough not to judge him for falling in love, even when he’d fallen in love with two male coworkers. No, Stella would understand.

Danny leaned back and gave him a thoughtful look. “You okay there?” he asked softly. “You look like you’re a million miles away.”

“Not quite that far,” he smiled.

“I’m sorry, looks like I’ve kidnapped your date,” Danny apologized and reached over, to squeeze Don’s knee affectionately.

“It’s okay,” Mac answered. “As long as you’re willing to share him with me, you can kidnap him all you want.”

“Hey, don’t I get a say in this?” Don protested playfully, his eyes twinkling as he leaned into Danny.

“Of course you do,” Danny answered. “Donnie, do you agree to get shared with Mac and me?”

For a brief moment, Don looked horribly uncertain, but then, he licked his lips and gave Mac a shy smile, and in that moment, Mac knew that they were going to be just fine, he and Don and Danny.

He didn’t know yet where his and Don’s relationship was going, or if it was going anywhere in the first place. He didn’t know what the future would bring to either of them, but one thing he was certain of as he watched Danny and Don share a kiss with an easy familiarity that spoke of their tight relationship to each other, tongues sliding together effortlessly and their eyes falling closed as they allowed the moment to carry them away: they could have something really good here, between the three of them, something spectacular.

And, he thought as Danny came over to his chair, to perch on the armrest, his body turned toward him and his lips moist and inviting as they pressed against Mac’s, his tongue quick and agile in Mac’s mouth while his hand rested on Mac’s shoulder to keep his balance, a warm and comfortable, solid weight anchoring him, this spectacular thing they could have was worth fighting for; was worth getting through all the rough patches and the bad days, because the three of them would make it work somehow.

They could carry each other, their strengths and weaknesses perfectly balanced. They could take care of each other.

Mac didn’t know if they would or could ever become the triad Danny was apparently hoping for, but as Don leaned over him for a kiss that still tasted like coffee and nervousness, quick and with the air of curiousness laced into it, he realized that he was really falling for Don as much as he had fallen for Danny, and that he was more than willing to try to find out what the future might bring them.

~end.