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kathierif_ficTitle: Fly Away
Author: Kathie
Fandom: CSI:NY
Characters: CSI:NY general cast
Prompt: 076. Rebirth
Rating: FRAO
Warning: Spoilers for Run Silent, Run Deep, Slash, Threesome, serious AU
Pairing: Don/Danny, Danny/Mac, Mac/Don
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
“Detective Flack.”
The woman folded her mousy gray wings carefully behind her back and pointed to the chair in front of her desk. “Take a seat, please. I’ll be with you in a minute.”
Don did what he was told and waited patiently for her to speak, pressing the arm in the sling close to his body and clasping his other hand tightly over his thigh, to stop himself from fidgeting. There was nothing to fear.
The woman – the sign read ‘M. Carlitas’ – finally closed the folder she had been working on and gave him a smile.
“Now, have you ever been in private hands?” she asked, and although he knew that it was a rhetoric question, he answered.
“Not really. My parents took me in for a few months, but I was already with the NYPD.”
She nodded, opened another folder and leafed through the contents. “I see. You left your father’s care and spent the next four years with some very respectable officers of the PD before you came into Detective Taylor’s care almost three years ago.”
Don nodded. It was nothing new to him. It was his life, after all. And so far, he thought, it had been a good life – all his keepers had been good men, good officers and eventually, even friends.
“A few things will change for you once you’re given in private care. You will get a new ID-bracelet. Your keeper is responsible for your physical and psychical well-being, just as the NYPD was until now. If there is any problem, you shouldn’t hesitate talking to your keeper first before filing a complaint with us.”
She sounded as if she had given the same speech a few times already. Don just nodded – there was nothing else he could do. Even if he protested, it wouldn’t help his situation. He trusted that they had found someone who wouldn’t try to interfere with his life too much.
“I don’t expect any trouble. The evaluations all praise your ability to adapt quickly to new situations,” Mrs. Carlitas concluded. “Of course there’s the question of your further occupation. I’ve spoken to the keeper we’ve chosen for you, and he has expressed a keen interest on this subject.”
Don nodded again. He couldn’t fight off the sudden feeling of doom that overcame him. He wanted to stay where he was, a cop, and he feared that his new keeper had other plans for him. He couldn’t help but think of Ellie Peterson. This was one of his greatest fears. He never could fight off a Normal – especially not if it was his keeper. He thought back to the time he’d spent with Mac. Mac had talked to him about what he’d wanted to do, and then he’d done everything he could to make sure that his life could go on as uninterrupted as possible. Mac was a good keeper. Don bit his lip slightly. At the moment, while he was sitting here, and learned about his future, Mac and Danny were at the lab, completing their ceremony. By the time Don knew where he would spend what was maybe the rest of his life, Danny would be Mac’s Companion.
“As for your personal life – well, some people report that they experienced more freedom once they’ve been given into private care. For others, it was more restrictive. You have to work out the details with your keeper. If you cannot manage to reach an understanding, you are, of course, free to leave, but if you decide to do so, you have to report it to us, so we can investigate.”
Don nodded again. He knew that. Danny had told him about it, and he had forced Don to promise to call him if anything was wrong. He didn’t plan on calling Danny. Danny had other things to think of now. He would forget him soon.
Ruthlessly he turned away from any thoughts of Danny. He would probably never see him again. Danny was a respectable Companion to Mac now, something he had dreamed of for as long as Don knew him.
He was happy for his friend.
Mrs. Carlitas gave him another smile. “Are you ready to meet your new family now?”
His lips twitched. “I get a family?”
“We’ve chosen someone for you who has expressed a keen interest in you. He mentioned in his interview that he needs someone to keep his young Companion out of trouble, and you fit the description perfectly.”
Don nodded and bit his lip. He tried not to think of Mac and Danny, who were probably performing the final Bonding Ceremony right now. He regretted that he couldn’t be part of it, but maybe it was better this way. He wasn’t sure he could watch as Mac claimed Danny as his.
“Mr. Flack.” She stood up and shook her wings slightly. “Sign here and here, please.”
She pointed to the dotted lines on the paperwork and Don scrawled his name on them. He saw that Mac had already signed the release papers, but not his new keeper. It was slightly unsettling.
She took off his ID-bracelet, careful because of his injury, pushed the papers in a thick manila envelope and stood up. “If you’d follow me, then.”
“Thanks,” he said and rubbed his sweat-slicked palm of his left hand against his pants before following her into another office. He felt naked without the bracelet around his wrist.
“Wait here,” she instructed and entered another room. Don caught a glimpse of Mac and Danny, sitting in front of another desk, both dressed in formal clothes. Danny’s wings fluttered slightly, and Don was sure, would Danny be on his two feet, he would bounce. Then the door closed behind Mrs. Carlitas and he was left alone with his racing heartbeat and his thoughts.
He briefly wondered what those two were doing here, before forcing his thoughts in another direction. Mac and Danny - they were his past. He needed to look forwards now, into his future, and stop thinking about them. Life had to go on.
“Detective Taylor.”
Mac looked up at the petite woman and squeezed Danny’s knee reassuringly. She smiled at them. “Congratulations, Mac.”
“Thank you, Molly.” He couldn’t help but smile at his nervous Companion. Danny didn’t know yet why they were here, and if he wasn’t mistaken, neither did the rest of his team. “Is the paperwork ready?”
“For you, always,” she held up the envelope she was holding. “Everything is in here, including the mandatory instructions. I don’t think you’ll need them, though.”
Mac nodded. “Thank you. It’s the first one for Danny, he might appreciate them.”
Danny frowned. “What?”
“It’s an expensive present for a Companion,” she remarked and handed over the paperwork and a pen. “Sign here, please. And Detective Messer, sign here.”
Danny opened his mouth to protest, but Mac gave him a quick glance. “Trust me,” he said quietly and handed over the pen. “You’ll love it.”
“You bought me a pet?” Danny’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You know that I don’t have time for some pretty kid.”
“He requested to be kept in his current position,” the woman piped up. “And I can assure you that he won’t need much attention. He adjusts easily.”
Danny turned towards Mac and narrowed his eyes. “I can’t take care of someone else,” he whispered. The words ‘I can barely take care of myself’ hung unsaid in the air between them. “Don’t let me…” he swallowed. “Don’t let me fuck this up,” he then said with the kind of brutal honesty he sometimes displayed.
“That’s why I picked a special one for you, Danny,” Mac smiled reassuringly. “Do you trust me?”
Danny opened his mouth, closed it again, shook his head, took off his glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and put his glasses back on to sign the papers. “You know I do.”
Mac pulled something out of his pocket and nodded. “We’re ready then,” he said and gave Danny’s knee another squeeze.
“He’s waiting.”
She got up and opened the door.
“Mr. Flack?”
Danny blinked and turned towards Mac.
“What’s going on?” he hissed.
“I told you I got you a present you would appreciate,” Mac said and folded Danny’s fingers around the object he had pulled out of his pocket. “He’s yours.”
“Mine?” Danny repeated and turned his head to watch Don enter and the woman leave to give them some privacy.
“Molly informed me that he was on the list of those who would be given into private care,” Mac said simply. “I collected some favors. And here he is.” He smiled at Don who looked at him with an expression between surprise, pain, and joy. “It’s perfect. He’s yours. You can do with him whatever you want – but at the same time, I know that you won’t.” He smiled softly. “He would kick your ass.”
“And you couldn’t have told any of us?” Danny demanded to know, but he bowed his head down to look at the object in his hand. A bracelet.
“It was a surprise.” Mac shrugged. “Don’t you like it?”
“Are you crazy?” Danny looked at him with a wide smile. “I love him!” He leaned over to kiss Mac briefly before getting up and pulling Don in a tight hug.
Don yelped in pain, and when Danny adjusted his hug, he wrapped his arm around him and stroked gently along the edge of a wing. “Messer.”
Danny took a step back and took Don’s right hand. “You’re mine,” he said quietly. “That okay with you?”
Don chuckled. “It was never different.” He managed to pull back the sleeve of his shirt, baring his wrist to his friend. His keeper.
Danny fastened the bracelet around his wrist before smirking.
“And I’m never letting you go now, Flack.”
“Wouldn’t want it any other way,” Don agreed and looked up at Mac.
“I couldn’t do this for the last few years,” Mac said and cupped his face gently. “But I can now – and you can hit me now, if you want.” He leaned slowly closer, giving Don the time to pull back, as if Don would –
And he kissed him deeply, while wrapping an arm around Danny and pulling him close, as well. He wrapped his wings around them, protecting them from the world.
Mac knew that there would be dangers in their future. He couldn't keep it away from his Companion, or from Don. He knew he had to accept it - just as much as Danny and Don had to accept that Mac could get in dangerous situations. They were cops, all of them, and they all didn't want it any other way. He just had to learn to live with the constant fear.
He didn't know yet how to do it, but he promised himself that he would find a way. There always was a way. For the moment, however, he just enjoyed the feeling of two warm, pliant bodies pressed against him.
Don smiled against Mac’s lips. Danny was still holding his hand, and the comfortable weight of a bracelet around his wrist reassured him that he was where he belonged.
With Mac and Danny.
And he realized that, as long as he had them, he didn’t need wings to fly.
The End.
Author: Kathie
Fandom: CSI:NY
Characters: CSI:NY general cast
Prompt: 076. Rebirth
Rating: FRAO
Warning: Spoilers for Run Silent, Run Deep, Slash, Threesome, serious AU
Pairing: Don/Danny, Danny/Mac, Mac/Don
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
“Detective Flack.”
The woman folded her mousy gray wings carefully behind her back and pointed to the chair in front of her desk. “Take a seat, please. I’ll be with you in a minute.”
Don did what he was told and waited patiently for her to speak, pressing the arm in the sling close to his body and clasping his other hand tightly over his thigh, to stop himself from fidgeting. There was nothing to fear.
The woman – the sign read ‘M. Carlitas’ – finally closed the folder she had been working on and gave him a smile.
“Now, have you ever been in private hands?” she asked, and although he knew that it was a rhetoric question, he answered.
“Not really. My parents took me in for a few months, but I was already with the NYPD.”
She nodded, opened another folder and leafed through the contents. “I see. You left your father’s care and spent the next four years with some very respectable officers of the PD before you came into Detective Taylor’s care almost three years ago.”
Don nodded. It was nothing new to him. It was his life, after all. And so far, he thought, it had been a good life – all his keepers had been good men, good officers and eventually, even friends.
“A few things will change for you once you’re given in private care. You will get a new ID-bracelet. Your keeper is responsible for your physical and psychical well-being, just as the NYPD was until now. If there is any problem, you shouldn’t hesitate talking to your keeper first before filing a complaint with us.”
She sounded as if she had given the same speech a few times already. Don just nodded – there was nothing else he could do. Even if he protested, it wouldn’t help his situation. He trusted that they had found someone who wouldn’t try to interfere with his life too much.
“I don’t expect any trouble. The evaluations all praise your ability to adapt quickly to new situations,” Mrs. Carlitas concluded. “Of course there’s the question of your further occupation. I’ve spoken to the keeper we’ve chosen for you, and he has expressed a keen interest on this subject.”
Don nodded again. He couldn’t fight off the sudden feeling of doom that overcame him. He wanted to stay where he was, a cop, and he feared that his new keeper had other plans for him. He couldn’t help but think of Ellie Peterson. This was one of his greatest fears. He never could fight off a Normal – especially not if it was his keeper. He thought back to the time he’d spent with Mac. Mac had talked to him about what he’d wanted to do, and then he’d done everything he could to make sure that his life could go on as uninterrupted as possible. Mac was a good keeper. Don bit his lip slightly. At the moment, while he was sitting here, and learned about his future, Mac and Danny were at the lab, completing their ceremony. By the time Don knew where he would spend what was maybe the rest of his life, Danny would be Mac’s Companion.
“As for your personal life – well, some people report that they experienced more freedom once they’ve been given into private care. For others, it was more restrictive. You have to work out the details with your keeper. If you cannot manage to reach an understanding, you are, of course, free to leave, but if you decide to do so, you have to report it to us, so we can investigate.”
Don nodded again. He knew that. Danny had told him about it, and he had forced Don to promise to call him if anything was wrong. He didn’t plan on calling Danny. Danny had other things to think of now. He would forget him soon.
Ruthlessly he turned away from any thoughts of Danny. He would probably never see him again. Danny was a respectable Companion to Mac now, something he had dreamed of for as long as Don knew him.
He was happy for his friend.
Mrs. Carlitas gave him another smile. “Are you ready to meet your new family now?”
His lips twitched. “I get a family?”
“We’ve chosen someone for you who has expressed a keen interest in you. He mentioned in his interview that he needs someone to keep his young Companion out of trouble, and you fit the description perfectly.”
Don nodded and bit his lip. He tried not to think of Mac and Danny, who were probably performing the final Bonding Ceremony right now. He regretted that he couldn’t be part of it, but maybe it was better this way. He wasn’t sure he could watch as Mac claimed Danny as his.
“Mr. Flack.” She stood up and shook her wings slightly. “Sign here and here, please.”
She pointed to the dotted lines on the paperwork and Don scrawled his name on them. He saw that Mac had already signed the release papers, but not his new keeper. It was slightly unsettling.
She took off his ID-bracelet, careful because of his injury, pushed the papers in a thick manila envelope and stood up. “If you’d follow me, then.”
“Thanks,” he said and rubbed his sweat-slicked palm of his left hand against his pants before following her into another office. He felt naked without the bracelet around his wrist.
“Wait here,” she instructed and entered another room. Don caught a glimpse of Mac and Danny, sitting in front of another desk, both dressed in formal clothes. Danny’s wings fluttered slightly, and Don was sure, would Danny be on his two feet, he would bounce. Then the door closed behind Mrs. Carlitas and he was left alone with his racing heartbeat and his thoughts.
He briefly wondered what those two were doing here, before forcing his thoughts in another direction. Mac and Danny - they were his past. He needed to look forwards now, into his future, and stop thinking about them. Life had to go on.
“Detective Taylor.”
Mac looked up at the petite woman and squeezed Danny’s knee reassuringly. She smiled at them. “Congratulations, Mac.”
“Thank you, Molly.” He couldn’t help but smile at his nervous Companion. Danny didn’t know yet why they were here, and if he wasn’t mistaken, neither did the rest of his team. “Is the paperwork ready?”
“For you, always,” she held up the envelope she was holding. “Everything is in here, including the mandatory instructions. I don’t think you’ll need them, though.”
Mac nodded. “Thank you. It’s the first one for Danny, he might appreciate them.”
Danny frowned. “What?”
“It’s an expensive present for a Companion,” she remarked and handed over the paperwork and a pen. “Sign here, please. And Detective Messer, sign here.”
Danny opened his mouth to protest, but Mac gave him a quick glance. “Trust me,” he said quietly and handed over the pen. “You’ll love it.”
“You bought me a pet?” Danny’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You know that I don’t have time for some pretty kid.”
“He requested to be kept in his current position,” the woman piped up. “And I can assure you that he won’t need much attention. He adjusts easily.”
Danny turned towards Mac and narrowed his eyes. “I can’t take care of someone else,” he whispered. The words ‘I can barely take care of myself’ hung unsaid in the air between them. “Don’t let me…” he swallowed. “Don’t let me fuck this up,” he then said with the kind of brutal honesty he sometimes displayed.
“That’s why I picked a special one for you, Danny,” Mac smiled reassuringly. “Do you trust me?”
Danny opened his mouth, closed it again, shook his head, took off his glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and put his glasses back on to sign the papers. “You know I do.”
Mac pulled something out of his pocket and nodded. “We’re ready then,” he said and gave Danny’s knee another squeeze.
“He’s waiting.”
She got up and opened the door.
“Mr. Flack?”
Danny blinked and turned towards Mac.
“What’s going on?” he hissed.
“I told you I got you a present you would appreciate,” Mac said and folded Danny’s fingers around the object he had pulled out of his pocket. “He’s yours.”
“Mine?” Danny repeated and turned his head to watch Don enter and the woman leave to give them some privacy.
“Molly informed me that he was on the list of those who would be given into private care,” Mac said simply. “I collected some favors. And here he is.” He smiled at Don who looked at him with an expression between surprise, pain, and joy. “It’s perfect. He’s yours. You can do with him whatever you want – but at the same time, I know that you won’t.” He smiled softly. “He would kick your ass.”
“And you couldn’t have told any of us?” Danny demanded to know, but he bowed his head down to look at the object in his hand. A bracelet.
“It was a surprise.” Mac shrugged. “Don’t you like it?”
“Are you crazy?” Danny looked at him with a wide smile. “I love him!” He leaned over to kiss Mac briefly before getting up and pulling Don in a tight hug.
Don yelped in pain, and when Danny adjusted his hug, he wrapped his arm around him and stroked gently along the edge of a wing. “Messer.”
Danny took a step back and took Don’s right hand. “You’re mine,” he said quietly. “That okay with you?”
Don chuckled. “It was never different.” He managed to pull back the sleeve of his shirt, baring his wrist to his friend. His keeper.
Danny fastened the bracelet around his wrist before smirking.
“And I’m never letting you go now, Flack.”
“Wouldn’t want it any other way,” Don agreed and looked up at Mac.
“I couldn’t do this for the last few years,” Mac said and cupped his face gently. “But I can now – and you can hit me now, if you want.” He leaned slowly closer, giving Don the time to pull back, as if Don would –
And he kissed him deeply, while wrapping an arm around Danny and pulling him close, as well. He wrapped his wings around them, protecting them from the world.
Mac knew that there would be dangers in their future. He couldn't keep it away from his Companion, or from Don. He knew he had to accept it - just as much as Danny and Don had to accept that Mac could get in dangerous situations. They were cops, all of them, and they all didn't want it any other way. He just had to learn to live with the constant fear.
He didn't know yet how to do it, but he promised himself that he would find a way. There always was a way. For the moment, however, he just enjoyed the feeling of two warm, pliant bodies pressed against him.
Don smiled against Mac’s lips. Danny was still holding his hand, and the comfortable weight of a bracelet around his wrist reassured him that he was where he belonged.
With Mac and Danny.
And he realized that, as long as he had them, he didn’t need wings to fly.
The End.