"Are they ever going to show up?" Martin had to shout to hear himself over the music.
Danny slid his hand along the small of Martin's back as he leaned in, and the heat of Danny's breath in his ear made him shiver. "They're probably watching us from up on the balcony. Relax, you look like someone's robbing you."
"Easy for you to say. If this shirt were any tighter, I wouldn't be able to breathe."
Danny grasped Martin's hand and slipped it into the front of his unbuttoned shirt. Danny's skin was warm and slick, and in the heat of the club Danny's cologne teased at his senses. "I'll probably catch a cold when we leave, so I think we're even."
Martin smiled as he continued scanning the crowd over the other man's shoulder. "Wimp."
"Guilty as charged." Danny turned to lean back against the bar, moving Martin to stand in front of him, his arms looped loosely around Martin's waist.
"Well, that's it then, we're done here. Off to jail with you." Martin tried to relax into the curve of Danny's body, but he was acutely aware of the fact that not only were a pair of creeps watching them, there were other agents scattered throughout the writhing crowd of revelers whose sole duty was to watch Martin and Danny.
"Martin." Danny drew his name out, his voice taking on the soft slur of a pleasantly drunk man, pulling Martin closer so that he had to lean against the length of Danny's body or fall over.
"Yes?" Martin looked straight at Danny for the first time all evening, and felt his breath catch. Danny's hair was rumpled and sticking out in every direction, and the royal blue silk shirt he wore was open to the waist. A shadow darkened his jaw line, making him look every bit as rakish as his voice sounded.
"Kiss me."
Martin felt his eyes widen as he looked more closely at the man he was pressed up against—for a moment, he thought it had nothing to do with the case, but then Danny's eyes flickered slightly to the side, enough to let him know the men they were searching for had been spotted. He sighed and leaned in the rest of the way.
Danny's lips were soft against his, and Martin closed his eyes as he forced himself to relax completely. Danny's tongue pressed for entrance as their bodies found where they fit together, and a hand moved up to cup the back of his head. Martin fell into the warmth of his partner, feeling like he'd been cracked open and handed the world all at the same time.
Danny stroked a hand down his back, and Martin gasped as Danny broke off the kiss to move up his jaw to whisper in his ear. "You look really sexy tonight."
Martin arched against the other man, letting his head fall back as he stifled a groan. "That was the goal, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, but I wasn't sure you'd be able to pull it off without help. Usually you dress like a dork. I mean, what is up with that ugly brown suit?"
A laugh escaped him as he turned his head to find Danny's smiling mouth. He pressed his open mouth to Danny's, his hands framing the other man's face as he licked the sweet taste of ginger ale from Danny's lips.
"You boys look like you're enjoying yourselves. Don't they, Jake?"
Martin buried his face in Danny's neck, struggling not to stiffen at the sound of the smug voice behind him. He felt Danny tense slightly against him before speaking. "We'd like to go home and enjoy ourselves even more. You're late."
Martin wrapped his arms around Danny's neck and shoulders as he moved to look at the men who'd come up behind him. Danny's hand settled at his waist, hot and distracting as a thumb gently stroked the skin revealed by Martin's cropped shirt.
"Something came up. We'll take care of this next week." Jake's amused tone grated along Martin's nerves.
"But you said—"
"I know what we said, but now we're changing it. Deal."
Danny sighed. "Fine. Let us know the change in venue and we'll be there. Now, we're heading home."
"Enjoy yourselves, boys."
Martin let himself be drawn away from the bar, grasping the hand in his tightly as they wound their way through the horde of happy people. On the big screens around the dance floor, pictures of the throngs crowding Times Square flashed by in increasingly dizzying shots as the final minute of the year started.
Danny threw a quick glance over his shoulder at Martin and flashed the smile that never ceased to make Martin's knees unsteady. Martin returned the smile self-consciously, his ease with the situation disappearing the further they got from the stage of their little drama.
Danny forged his way out the door, and Martin shivered as the cool air hit him. Danny flagged down one of the taxis circling the area like vultures, then turned to Martin as they waited for the car to pull up.
"Are we ok?"
"Wh—" Martin cleared his throat and tried again, surprised at how gravelly his voice was. "What?"
Danny gestured between the two of them with his free hand. "Are we ok? Are you going to be able to talk to me at work tomorrow without feeling awkward? Are you going to be able to handle the teasing we'll get for a while?"
Martin felt his brows lower, surprised that Danny would choose to talk about this now, let alone thought that he would have agreed to go undercover if he'd had a problem with anything they'd have to do together. "Of course. What about you?"
Danny nodded and released Martin's hand to slide his arms around Martin's waist, pulling them close together again. "Then can I kiss you?"
Martin blinked in surprise and nodded slowly. Warm lips descended on his; he closed his eyes and opened his mouth as Danny's tongue swept in. His hands stroked up the firmly toned chest to cradle Danny's head as the sounds of midnight arriving blared out around them.
When they finally broke for a breath, Danny leaned his forehead against Martin's, a soft smile on his expressive mouth.
"Happy new year, Martin," Danny whispered, his dark eyes reflecting the glittering lights all around them.
Martin smiled. "Happy new year, Danny."
For Tiriel, who's been sick since Christmas and requested—nay, demanded—a New Year's fic snippet last night as we were all being goofy: "Okay, I want Danny and Martin kissing when the ball drops in Times Square fic. Right. Now."
I've never been good at taking instructions. ;) So instead I wrote the "Danny-and-Martin-undercover-in-a-gay-bar" cliché fic scenario that I so desperately wanted the show's writers to give us a couple of weeks ago in "Coming Home", which (predictably) they didn't. Go figure. *g*
I rarely make deadlines either, and certainly didn't make last night's you-have-twelve-minutes-until-midnight one from Tir. *vbg* But she and Veronica were quite patient and let me promise to finish this this morning.
Of course, I've been informed that it's not even morning in Guam anymore, but hey, it's finished! *vbg* At least this scene is. It really wanted to grow into a larger story (and it will soon), but I managed to wrangle it into submission for the moment. *g*
So here you go, ladies! Finished! Yay me!
Happy New Year, everyone! *vbg* Here's to a year in which I finish more stories than I start. *vbg*
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