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Chapter 2:

Viv was always the first in the office. Sure there were times when that wasn't true, but that was rare. She always made it a point to be the first one in because she just didn't trust the others.

There were times when Jack, newly separated from his wife, seemed to live in the office. There were times after Sam was shot and riding a desk that she never seemed to want to go home. There were times after the Nelson Rodriguez case and the shooting of Franco Reyes that Martin seemed glued to his desk.

Viv got used to seeing them during those times either before her or just a few seconds after, but they never lasted. Viv could honestly say that they never tried to get in early.

And Danny was hardly ever early. There were times when he was studying to take the bar a few months before the shooting when Danny came in early because of his neighbors screaming baby, but those stopped after the shooting. In fact Danny made it a habit of coming in with only seconds to spare. Didn't mean he didn't love his job. It just meant that he liked his sleep.

So when Viv saw him staring blankly at his computer screen in clothes that he had been wearing the day before, she knew something was up. She distinctly remembered him leaving with Martin the night before. There was no reason for him to be in the same clothes the next day.

Puzzled, Viv walked over to Danny's desk.

"Hey." She said.

"Oh, hey... hey Viv. How are you?" Danny asked looking a bit frazzled.

"I was just about to ask you the same question."

"Oh... what... what do you mean."

Danny seemed fidgety. Viv knew for a fact that Danny wasn't fidgety. He was smooth and suave and anything but fidgety. This set off alarms for Viv.

"Just that you look like you haven't slept all night and like you've spent the night here staring at nothing. The case wasn't that tough Danny. We solved it pretty quickly considering." Viv said.

Danny shook his head. Viv knew it wasn't the case. Danny hadn't even been that invested in it really. There was something else going on with Danny.

"Well you know that kid... in the apartment close to mine. She's really loud..." Danny said trailing off.

Viv fixed him with a look and Danny sighed rubbing his hand over his face.

"You do realize that you're lying to me... virtually impossible." Viv said.

"Well you can't blame me for trying." Danny said with a self-conscious grin.

"Why don't you try telling me the truth?"

"I don't know if you'd believe the truth."

"Why not try me?" Viv said sitting on Danny's desk.

He let out another sigh and started to bite his lower lip.

"I... um... me and Martin... well we went out yesterday. Got some dinner and stuff. He started drinking and you know I figured I'd be a good friend and listen to him bitch about life for a little while. I mean I felt guilty for not visiting him in the hospital."

Viv shook her head. There didn't seem to be anything weird about that. So Danny and Martin had gone out for dinner. They used to do that a lot before Martin started dating Sam. Of course Martin getting drunk was another story.

"Danny he's on pain medication."

"I know. I know. I tried to get him to stop, but you know how stubborn Martin is. Anyway he said that he'd stopped taking it or he'd missed a dose or something. Anyway that's not the bad part."

"There's an even worse part then Martin getting drunk and possibly hurting himself."

Danny shook his head, bottom lip still firmly between his teeth.

"Well so I finally got him to stop drinking and I took him to his home and made him go to sleep." Danny said.

Viv watched as he stalled for time like he wasn't sure if he should tell Viv or not. It was starting to get just a little annoying and Viv was going to tell Danny so when he opened his mouth again.

"I... he... he said something that... I mean I don't think he wanted me to hear it. I don't think he meant to say it. He was really drunk."

"Danny, what did he say?"

"He said... he said that..."

Danny took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It seemed like he was trying to calm himself down.

"He said that he's wanted to have sex with me for the last three years." Danny said all in one breath and all really fast.

"What?"

"I said he said that he's wanted to have sex with me for the last three years... only he was a tad bit cruder than that."

Viv stared at Danny liked he'd grown an extra head. Martin... Martin Fitzgerald... Martin Fitzgerald wanted to have sex with Danny Taylor. This was news to Viv and she knew almost everything that went on in the office.

Oh sure she'd known about Danny's little crush. He told her one day when they'd had cheese fries and way too much soda. She'd always known that Danny was gay. She'd known from the first day he'd stepped into the office in a really nice suit and freshly cut hair like he was trying to make an impression.

Jack had looked him up and down and smiled secretively. He was just getting ready to play pick on the new guy. Danny had looked nervous and Viv had taken him aside and said that Jack could smell the fear. She told him to just be himself and that would make all the difference.

She remembered how he'd nodded and gave her a charming smile before walking into the conference room looking ready to absorb knowledge. He'd solved the case that day and definitely earned Jack's respect.

Viv remembered the days when it was just the three of them. It lasted for a year before Sam joined and then a couple of years later Martin joined. Viv loved her team now, but sometimes she wondered how peaceful it might have been if Sam and Martin never joined. Of course things would be slightly boring.

"So Martin, in a drunken haze, said that he wanted to have sex with you." Viv said as calmly as she could.

"Basically."

"And you, being the gentleman that you are, probably told him no."

"Yup."

"And now you're freaking out because..."

"Viv, I... I don't even know if he meant it. I mean he said he'd dated guys before. Said Sam was just there cause of convenience and that she wanted something and he wanted something so why not. But I mean I don't know if he actually meant it."

"And you didn't stay to find out?"

"I panicked okay. I thought maybe the bartender had slipped me something or something. So I panicked." Danny said.

Viv stared at him speculatively. Danny was probably one of her best friends. She loved him liked a son or brother or some sort of close guy relative. His happiness was important to her.

She'd questioned his choice in crushes when he told her about Martin mainly because Martin didn't seem interested. Viv thought he was just a little bit oblivious to most things, but either way she didn't want Danny hurt because of it.

And Viv knew that being with Martin was something Danny had wanted for a very very long time now. He'd resigned himself to the fact that it was never going to happen. So of course it was a shock that the opportunity had kind of presented itself.

"Danny... maybe you should talk to Martin."

"But... what do I say. I mean even if he remembers what he said he might deny it and that just leaves me looking pathetic."

"So what you're just going to sit on your ass and wait another four years before he says something?" Viv said giving her best 'are you really that stupid look'.

Danny had the intelligence to look a little put off by that comment, but Viv could see the wheels were working in his head.

"This is your chance, Danny. I mean how long have you wanted this?"

"A really long time."

"So now that it's here you're just gonna what... pretend like it never happened. The Danny Taylor I know would never let an opportunity like this pass him by. He'd become his normal charming self and get what he wanted."

"It's different with Martin, Viv."

"Of course it is, but that doesn't mean you should let the whole thing pass you by. Think about it." Viv said as she got up and walked away to the coffeepot.

She looked back to see that Danny was still staring at his computer screen, looking as if he were in deep thought. Viv sighed. Danny didn't act like the normal Danny around Martin and Viv knew that. He was going to need all the pushes that he could get.

Viv wasn't so sure how she felt about another office romance in the team. She was sure that they'd be able to deal with it, but life was full of surprises. The only thing she knew for certain was that things were definitely going to change on the team.

Chapter 3

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