in winter lives are falling fast in line
the words make sense
but they don't seem to rhyme
rising tide, ocean breeze
crashing waves, asking please

forget about the plans you made
decisions wrap that coat up tight
and keep it safe from the light
well i'm going home
when i find the girl
makes me forget
what i should have done

-“Wintercoats”, BTE

Hours later, with Flack's family safely ensconced on a plane headed home, the rest of the team lounged in T-B's den feigning interest in the Super Bowl. T-B had left them to their own devices, as a party was still happening on First Street, even with one of the royal families of New Orleans in Arizona.

Adam and Hawkes were leaning against the couch, throwing popcorn more on the floor than into each other's mouths.

“Keep your day job, Ross” Hawkes teased as Adam hit him in the eye.

Mac and Stella were on the over-sized couch, talking about how to handle Lindsay's situation with a sure to be pissed off Brass back home.

Danny sat miserably in the corner in a wingback chair, feeling like this was all his fault somehow.

Gus leaned back against Flack on the chaise lounge, enjoying the closeness of him while worrying about her friend in prison and still cheering on her hometown favorite.

“Do you like them because their from New Orleans or because their cute?” Flack teased in her ear.

“They are cute in a Muppet kind of way, you just want to smoosh them, like Adam”, Gus replied, nuzzling his neck.

Flack made a face“You want to 'smoosh' Adam? Do I even want to know what that means? And we've been married for a day!”

“Get over it, Detective husband”, Gus snuggled against him, feeling guilty over being so content. She sighed heavily, Mac looking in her direction and then back at Stella.

Stella leaned over the arm of the couch and patted Gus on the shoulder, “I'm sorry this put a damped on your wedding”.

Gus snorted, “Are you kidding, our wedding was going to get eclipsed by something, may as well be a murder, us being homicide detectives and all. I just wish Lindsay wasn't mixed up in all of this”.

“I shouldda paid more attention to her, she wouldn't have brought that gigolo back with her then!” Danny exclaimed from the corner.

“Gigolo, Messer?” Flack said with a smirk.

“Whatever you call a male slut”, Danny muttered.

“Usually stud”, Gus interjected, “but I believe Tibs used the term tramp”.

Danny crossed his arms over his chest. “Great just great, my lady finds a tramp”, Danny hissed under his breath.

Gus exchanged a look with Flack, a silent conversation over who was going to get him out of his funk occurring.

“Fine, you big baby”, Gus moaned.

She climbed off the comfortable chair and went over to Danny. “How about we head out to the porch, get some fresh air?” she said, pulling Danny to his feet.

“Whatever”, he grumbled.

As Gus poured Danny a stiff drink on the porch, Flack turned to Mac and said, “What the hell are we going to do about Monroe?”

“To be honest, Don, I'm not entirely sure”, Mac said sitting ramrod straight, his expression beyond serious.

“The evidence processing is a big issue”, Stella added, also pulling herself up.

“Is there another lab that can be used?” Hawkes questioned, “maybe an FBI lab?”

Mac nodded slightly, “Possibly, or the Baton Rouge lab, I discussed that possibility with Lieutenant Moschella”.

“The problem is she hasn't actually been charged with anything”, Stella added.

“Then how can they keep her, this is Guit-mo!” Adam announced, perplexed.

“Apparently it is another quirk of this city”, Flack explained.

“How did Gus turn out so normal?” Hawkes questioned.

Flack smirked, “I don't know if I would go that far, Sheldon”.

Mac had to add a chuckle to that, “I think this city had definitely given Gus a few survival skills she wouldn't have gotten anywhere else”.

“Are we going to explain this all to Brass?” Stella questioned.

“I think they will notice if Lindsay doesn't come back with us”, Mac pointed out, “Sinclair and Gerrard are not going to be happy about this. Just when I think I have gotten them out of my lab.” Mac looked somber.

“But she hasn't been charged and she might not even be charged” Stella pleaded.

“Save it, Stella, you don't have to tell me. But she is still a person of interest. There is no arguing that she was found in a locked hotel room with a mortally wounded individual. At the very best, she is going to be confined to the lab for a while”.

“Big Easy my ass”, Flack grumbled.

“Sorry my wandering eye ruined your wedding, Broussard”.

“Sorry my wedding got your bed buddy locked up, Messer”, Gus shot back, taking a long pull of her own drink.

Danny smiled slightly, “Damn, this is a mess”.

Gus nodded in agreement, “Hot mess”.

They sat in silence for a long moment before Gus turned to Danny in the cloak of darkness, “What is going on with you two, honestly and seriously, Danny?”

Danny shrugged as he pondered the question and the contents of his drink. “I wish it was as simple as you and Flack, that's for damn sure”.

“If we are simple, I would hate to see complicated”, Gus sniffed.

“I'm just saying no matter what happens between you and Flack, you always have each other's back. You are partners in every sense of the word. Even if you disagree, you still are there for each other. I am not so sure Lindsay and I have that. I am not so sure either one of us want that. She was pushing for more than I could give, but I don't even know if she was doing it out of genuine desire or out of wanting to keep up with you. She thinks a lot of you, Broussard, she admires you”.

“I am the last person anyone should be admiring”.

“Can it. Flack's a lucky guy. He better be glad I was too busy sniffing out the first new girl when you blew into town”.

Gus blushed, but didn't say anything.

Danny sighed and continued, “Regardless of what may or may not happen between me and Linds, I know she didn't kill anyone and I will do whatever I can to make sure whoever did it gets what's coming to them”.

“Just don't do anything stupid, Danny”.

Danny shook his head, “I won't, but she is part of the team and that makes her family. We gotta stick up for her”.

“I am pretty sure everyone is, Danny, T-B will make sure she is taken care of, I promise”.

“I know your word is good, Broussard, though I guess I should say 'Flack' but that is just too damn weird”.

“Don't worry, Messer, I am a Broussard until the end of time”.

T-B came bounding into one of the guest rooms early the next morning. The team had all bedded down at “Camp Brooks”, no one wanting to go back to the hotel and face the crime scene tape still hung in the hallway.

“Glad we are wearing clothes”, Flack said under his pillow so only Gus could hear.

“You better have something amazing to tell me coming here at the crack of dawn without coffee”.

“Coffee is in the kitchen, Buela is making breakfast, Mac and Stella went for a jog, and I found an ADA who is sober enough to work on Lindsay's case”.

Gus bolted out of bed, “Seriously, how did you do that?”

“A friend of a friend of a friend in recovery introduced us last night. He is looking over the case as we speak and should be calling me asap. And he is a post-K transplant who doesn't get all this Mardi Gras stuff”.

“T-B, have I told you how much I love you recently?” Gus threw her arms around him.

“Down, baby, save it for your grumpy bear hiding under his pillow. And hurry up with any morning love, grits are getting cold”.

Gus pounced back on the bed, bouncing.

“Feel free to stop that anytime, sunshine”, Flack said, not removing the pillow.

“Come on, Flack, you heard Tibs!”.

“Yeah, an ADA is looking at the case, he still might file charges”, Flack said emerging from his cocoon and blinking.

Gus rolled his eyes, forcing herself to be optimistic, “Don't be a downer, blue eyes. And maybe I was talking about the other thing”.

“What other thing?”

Gus pulled Flack to her by his t-shirt. “The grits are getting cold”, she growled, planting a deep kiss on him.

A/N: My bunnies are still hopping around trying to figure out what to do with Lindsay. In the meantime, go check out "What Ifs" under Aphina's account. Or the continued cuteness of a Gus/Adam pairing in "Devine Intervention" or Brown Eyed Girl's "Memories of Brooklyn".