P.R.I.V.A.T.E. E.Y.E.
~*~*~*~*~

Personally, I believe there’s no better private investigator than Donald, but I’m hardly an unbiased observer. Most people look at him and just see hard muscle and sinful eyes. And believe me, I appreciate the way he looks and the way he looks at me. But truly, the most beautiful part of Donald is his mind. He’s by far the most intelligent person I’ve ever met. He just hides that behind his tough guy persona. And while he needs to wear that armor to do the job he does, it alone wouldn’t allow him to solve the cases he does.

~*~*~*~

I don’t have a stern look as Donald calls it. I don’t. I just hate it when he refuses to admit how smart he really is. Yes, I know he doesn’t have a degree from Harvard or Yale, but I’ve never believed a piece of paper on the wall was any way to measure the merit of a man. Donald solves cases the entire Albany police force can’t figure out, so if you need proof, there it is. Furthermore, his willingness to take on cases everyone else turns down makes him not only a genius, but a hero as well.

~*~*~*~

Victims are a dime a dozen, so I’m not the saint that Timmy makes me out to be. Yes, I take on cases that get overlooked or shoved aside by the police, but in my mind that makes me a lot more stupid than smart. Normally, there’s a reason why the police or other investigators turned the case down in the first place. And yes, I do normally solve them, but a lot of times the answer to the puzzle's one that should have been left buried and forgotten. The truth can be brutal and sometimes ignorance really is bliss.

~*~*~*~

Anyone can do what I do, that’s what Donald would say. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t investigate or interrogate someone who had killed someone or harmed a child. Donald possess a rare gift where he can contain the rage that burns inside him and only release it when it’s absolutely necessary to get an answer or to find the truth. The first time I ever saw him grab someone by the throat scared me until I realized that he’s always in control even when it looks like he isn’t. Especially then.

~*~*~*~

The truth is before I met Timmy I couldn’t control the rage inside me and I really didn’t want to. I was full of hate and anger. At myself, at the Army, at everything that led up to my life at that point. But then one day in walks Tim Callahan and my world turns on its axis. All those awful things that led me to where I was somehow became blessings in disguise because without them I wouldn’t be in the position to be the man that Timmy loves. And honestly, I’d suffer it all again to have him.

~*~*~*~

Everyone assumes that I’m too good for Donald or that he’s managed to con me into spending my life with him. But the truth is that maybe he’s too good for me. I live my life by a certain set of rules. Yes, I am willing to stand up for what I believe in -- getting kicked out of the seminary certainly proved that, but I will never be able to do what he does. He puts himself in harm's way in order to help people. And I’m just selfish enough to wish that he wasn’t so willing to sacrifice himself.

~*~*~*~

Every day I wake up and turn to see Timmy sleeping beside me and I thank God that he’s in my life. I can’t say I’ve ever had much use for the church in general, but I’m beginning to believe that it may have been divine intervention that brought the two of us together. Timmy gets all quiet and shy when I tell him that he’s saved my life, but it’s the truth. I go to work, I do what I have to, so I can come home to him. Tim Callahan’s more grace than I’d ever thought I’d have.

~*~*~*~

You have to understand that while he might not show it to most people, Donald has the biggest heart of anyone. And while you might think that it was his beautiful body that attracted me to him -- and you wouldn’t be totally wrong, it was watching him help a small boy find his lost dog that endeared him to me forever. He didn’t do it for money or glory. He did it so that this one child wouldn’t have to cry himself to sleep at night. Although, I could have done without Donald darting into oncoming traffic to save him.

~*~*~*~

Each time I think I couldn’t love Timmy more, he manages to up the ante. Whether it’s by pushing me to finish a case I don’t want to complete, by not making me talk until I’m ready, or by meeting me at the door with an ice pack and an iced martini, he always knows what I need before I do. He says that I provide the same comfort for him and I really hope I do. The truth is that we are much better together than on our own, and hell, even I’m smart enough to believe that wholeheartedly.