I recently got into watching Twin Peaks and considering the amount of sexual tension between these two there is no way near enough slash fiction out there for Truman/Cooper, so I just had to write some! Enjoy, and let's rock! :)

Black As Midnight On A Moonless Night

Sheriff Harry S Truman walked towards the door of Jacques Renault's apartment, greeting his good friend Special Agent Dale Cooper with a warm smile. They were currently scouring the place for clues to the whereabouts of the Canadian criminal, no one having seen him in the past two days. Coop walked towards him, returning Harry's greeting with a smile, however he could already tell something was amiss. Cooper headed straight towards the doughnut box, looking distraught when he discovered it empty.

"Harry, are there more doughnuts?" He asked quickly, he had a look about him of a kicked puppy. Harry privately thought that he looked simply adorable, but he immediately kicked himself for thinking it.

"Sure thing, Coop." He signalled to Andy to fetch some doughnuts, and the young man hurried from the scene.

"Best make it with a cup of strong black coffee too. I didn't get much sleep last night, due to a large group of insane Norwegians staying on my floor." Harry looked sympathetically at Dale, trying to comfort him with a smile and a pat on the arm.

"You do look a bit peaky," he said, concerned, leaning in slightly closer to take in the dark circles around Cooper's usually flawless face. He smiled slightly at Harry, appreciating the concern. Harry smiled back, subconsciously inching his face closer to the Special Agent's. He idly realised that his hand was still warmly cupping Dale's arm, and he didn't mind one bit. Practically breathing each other's air, Harry noticed Cooper's eyes flicker closed, before suddenly pulling back almost quickly enough to give himself whiplash as the loud voice of Andy penetrated his ears.

"Here's that doughnut you wanted, Agent Cooper," Andy grinned at them both, completely clueless to what he had almost walked in on. "And a steaming hot cup of Joe," he added, holding them out to Cooper who had sprung back to his usual professionalism within milliseconds.

"Thank you very much, Andy," Cooper said quickly with his trademark smile on his face. He took a large bite of the sugary jelly doughnut and washed it down with a generous mouthful of coffee, swallowing with a look of pure ecstasy on his face. "Mmm!" He exclaimed, a large sigh escaping him. "Much better."

Harry surveyed the scene with a smile on his face, but inside he was panicking. What the hell had just happened? He'd been warring with himself ever since Cooper arrived about his feelings for the man. It was almost impossible not to be drawn in by the man's almost perpetual happiness, and his strange quirks which Harry found pretty darn cute, although he'd never admit that out loud to anyone. However, almost kissing the man in public, that was way too far across his imaginary line. His crumbling relationship with Josie and his obvious attraction and chemistry with Dale had pretty much convinced him of his sexual orientation by now, although he was still pretty shocked at that particular revelation about himself. It had taken an entire bottle of Jack and a few sleepless nights before he could even admit it to himself. No matter how comfortable he was with himself, however, the entire town finding out about this was another matter entirely. How would they react to finding out their very own sheriff was like that? He imagined angry mobs, being chased from the town with pitchforks. No matter how friendly he was with the inhabitants, you never knew how people were going to react to something like this, and in such a small town it was damn near impossible to keep it secret.

Harry sighed, tearing himself out of his thoughts to pay attention to the investigation. Dale was staring thoughtfully at the ceiling. Harry followed his gaze, but he didn't see anything amiss. Looking questioningly at Cooper, he was briefly dazzled by the man's winning smile. "Can I get a leg up?" Coop asked him, and Harry rushed to oblige. Bending down, he linked his hands together and pushed Dale up to the ceiling with a little effort – the man was rather tall, after all. Harry looked up from the ground, only to feel the heat rush straight to his face as he realised where exactly his eyeline was. His face was inches away from Coop's tight black trousers and oh boy, he closed his eyes so that he didn't distract himself too much and end up dropping his favourite special agent on the floor. Luckily Dale was finished quickly, and he jumped back down to the ground with another copy of Flesh World in his hands.

Dale gave Harry an odd look, almost calculating, and Harry knew that he had guessed exactly what was going through his head. He was a genius after all, picking up on the slightest clues to come to the correct conclusion every time. Harry briefly met his gaze, blushing slightly more, before quickly turning away to help search the rest of the apartment. You could almost cut the tension in the room with a knife. Sighing, Harry knew it was going to be a long day.

Harry walked through the woods, enjoying the familiar feeling of the crunching leaves under his feet. He had walked these woods his entire life, having been born and raised in Twin Peaks. Hawk walked ahead of him, Dale was slightly behind him and Doc Hayward was lagging behind, too old for this really but adamant that he should come along to help with the investigation. Evidence inside Jacques Renault's apartment had pointed them towards a log cabin somewhere in the woods, so that was where they had come to investigate. It was Cooper that had put the clues together, of course, seeing things that no one else could see. His intellect really was astounding sometimes, Harry thought to himself with a fond smile on his face. He shook his head, mentally goading himself about how sappy he was getting in his old age. He was going to be getting down on his knees and serenading the man at this rate.

They got a bit further through the woods, the sounds of Doc behind them getting further away the more they walked. Harry watched Dale walk slightly ahead of him, almost mesmerised by the movements of the man. He moved slightly stiffly, not as used to this terrain as Harry was, but he pushed forwards with such determination. Dale bent forwards slightly to brush some foliage out of his way, and Harry swallowed, his breath catching in his throat as he stared unashamedly at Coop's tight trousers framing his backside. His gaze was so focused on the glorious sight ahead of him that he promptly missed a large tree root in front of him and he tripped, falling onto his hands and knees. He cursed his stupidity as Coop stopped walking and turned back around to see what the noise was.

"You okay, Harry?" Coop asked with concern written all over his face as Harry stood up and brushed himself off.

"Yeah, fine. Only my dignity is hurt," Harry said with a wry smile.

"You should be more careful, Harry. I wouldn't want to see you get hurt," Coop said brightly in his permanently optimistic voice.

"I'll have you know, I'm always careful," Harry said indignantly. "I know these woods like the back of my hand."

"Then why did you trip?" Coop asked him with a playful glint in his eye. Harry smirked back at him, momentarily distracted from the conversation. He thought about the answer, then suddenly realised why he'd actually fallen over and immediately blushed again. Damn Coop and his alluring body. The know-it-all look on Dale's face was taking over, his eyebrows ever so slightly raised as he probably got straight to the correct conclusion as always.

Harry decided not to reply to that question, attempting to walk past Dale instead, however that plan failed when he very nearly almost stumbled again, and reflexively grabbed onto Dale's arm for support. Coop pulled Harry towards him, steadying him and moving forwards until they were standing only inches away from each other.

"You should definitely be more careful, Harry", Dale said brightly, his arms still wrapped around Harry's shoulders. Harry inched closer, his hands clutching onto Coop's arms as if he still needed support. Looking into those deep hazel eyes certainly made him feel like he needed to be supported, anyway. They both breathed quickly, softly, gazing at each other as if to gauge the situation. One of them moved first, it wasn't apparent which, but before Harry knew what was happening his lips were pressed gently against Coop's and his heart stopped in his chest.

This immediately felt so different to what he had experienced before, so much better. Dale's lips pressed insistently against his own, and Harry responded eagerly. His hands moved up to cup Dale's face, running his fingers gently across the soft skin, pulling their mouths even closer together. Harry darted his tongue out, deepening the kiss, and Dale let him right in. The special agent tasted of jelly doughnuts and black coffee, a beautiful heady mix of sweet and bitter tastes that mixed on his tongue deliciously. He felt Dale's hand move up to cup the back of his head, fingers entwining his shaggy, curly hair, and how did Coop know how much Harry loved that feeling? Within a minute or so Coop seemed to have memorised perfectly what Harry liked with that intuitive skill he possessed, and oh boy he had never been kissed like this before. He pushed Dale backward slightly, pressing him against a tree so that their bodies were flush against each other. They were lost in each other, oblivious to the world until Harry's brain finally caught up with what was happening and he sprung backwards from Coop as if shocked.

He stood fixed in place, catching his breath, a completely nonplussed expression locked onto his face as he processed the current situation. He had kissed Dale. After weeks of pining after the man, longing for him, restraining himself, arguing with himself, he had finally lost control and done it. There was certainly no question as to whether Dale returned his feelings. He could still taste Coop's delicious flavour on his tongue, and his cheeks flushed even more than they already were. After a moment, Harry glanced back up to meet the eyes of the man standing before him and he saw the conflicting emotions that Dale for once wore plainly on his face. Attraction, of course, even arousal, but that was now being swiftly replaced with disappointment as he clearly read Harry's hesitation in his own expression. It was the hopeful optimism that overruled everything in the special agent's face, however, and this was what got to Harry the most.

"I can't, Coop..." Harry managed to choke out, after a minute or two of tense silence that felt like a lifetime. "I can't do it. I'll be lynched by the town," he said in a strangled voice, closing his eyes and praying that when he opened them the expression of hurt wouldn't be so plainly written on Dale's angelic face. He opened his eyes slowly, and saw a mask of apparent calm and acceptance on Dale's face, which was possibly worse than seeing the hurt written there. It tore at his heartstrings, he almost considered just kissing him again, consequences be damned, but he shook his head and took a step backwards. He just wasn't ready for something like this.

"Harry..." Coop said softly, his voice uncharacteristically wavering. "The town might not react as badly as you seem to think they will." His voice seemed to be pleading Harry to see sense. "How can something that feels so right, be so wrong, really?" Cooper went on, seemingly talking to himself at this point. Harry watched him with a lump in his throat, every fibre of his being wanting to comfort him but he somehow held himself back.

A rustling and cracking of twigs brought Harry to his senses, and he turned to see Doc Hayward clambering towards them through the woods. He turned his back on Coop and walked forwards, asking Doc in as level a voice as possible how he was doing, trying to regain some sense of normalcy after that moment of madness. After a minute or so he finally heard Coop following behind them, his movements stiff and disjointed. They walked through the woods in the general direction that they had last seen Hawk. Luckily, Doc didn't ask them why they'd fallen behind, but after a few minutes they were confronted by the perturbed Hawk who had walked back through the forest to find out where everyone had gone.

That afternoon was one of the most tense and awkward times Harry had spent on the force. Every word felt strained, and despite the fascinating evidence that they uncovered at the log cabin, including the poker chip from One Eyed Jacks that matched the piece of plastic found in Laura's stomach, Harry could not find it in himself to concentrate on the job. They headed back to the station with their findings after a while, and Harry escaped to the pleasant solitude of his office while the others went to file the evidence. He put his head in his hands as soon as he sat down, trying desperately to process what had happened today.

Everything in him was telling him that what he was feeling for Dale was wrong. Well, not everything exactly. There was that part of him that he was stamping down, that voice telling him to listen to what the distressed Dale had said in the woods. "How can something that feels so right, be so wrong, really?" Harry swallowed, his eyes closed, letting the thoughts run through his head until he thought he was going to go insane. He stayed like that for a couple of hours until a knock on his door jolted him out of his thoughts.

"Come in," he called wearily, glancing nervously at the door. He sighed in relief when he saw it was only Hawk. He didn't feel ready to face Cooper yet. Hawk looked at him strangely, obviously wondering what was wrong but not wanting to bring it up.

"You look like you need a drink, boss," Hawk said with a sympathetic expression on his face. "Come to the Roadhouse."

Harry couldn't argue with that. He certainly felt like he needed a stiff drink in order to recover from today. He stood up and followed Hawk out the door, faltering slightly and almost groaning out loud when he saw Dale standing out in the corridor with Hawk, and also Andy and Lucy. So everyone was off to the Roadhouse, then? Great. He heaved a great sigh and followed the group out of the building into his car. Brief solitude for a while as they all drove separately to the bar, although the silence felt stifling to Harry who would usually have Dale sitting in his passenger seat, eating doughnuts and sipping black coffee to his heart's content. "Black as midnight on a moonless night..." Harry said softly to himself out loud, cursing everything as he felt strong waves of guilt roll over him. He supposed the special agent was riding with Hawk instead, to save them both from the inevitable tension. Was this what it was going to be like from now on? He didn't think he could take it.

They arrived at the Roadhouse before Harry had much more time to contemplate things. Stepping out into the frigid night, Harry saw Dale standing in the darkness, illuminated by the headlights of a car. The light shone over him and cast an almost angelic scene. The breath caught in Harry's chest, Dale looked simply stunning. Gorgeous. He shook himself, joining everyone else as they headed inside and arranged themselves around a table. Harry, of course, ended up sitting directly next to Coop. He grabbed a whiskey from the bar, needing something strong to settle his nerves.

A few whiskeys later, Harry finally calmed down enough to look to his left and take in the sight of Dale sitting next to him. He looked pleasantly calm on the outside, but Harry knew him well enough by now to recognise that underlying sadness beneath the surface. Harry closed his eyes briefly, summoning his courage and praying to the gods that he was about to do the right thing. He opened his eyes again, and stared directly at Dale as he slowly got to his feet. The soft voice of the female singer who was always playing at the Roadhouse began to sing a slow song, and Harry desperately tried to hold back his nerves as he held out his hand to Dale. The special agent looked up at him, disbelief colouring his face. Harry managed to school his face into a nervous smile.

"Will you dance with me?" He asked softly, not sure if the man could even hear him over the music, but he saw Dale's face light up, the spark returning to his eyes, and he hesitantly stood up to join Harry. Wordlessly, Harry walked the two of them over to the dance floor, joining the other couples that were dancing to the romantic music, lost in each other. Harry gazed into Dale's eyes, smiling softly at him. "I'm sorry..." Harry said quietly, while intertwining his fingers in one of Dale's hands and sliding his other arm around the man's back, pulling them flush against each other. They began to sway in time to the music, their movements fluid and perfectly in tune with each other.

"I forgive you," Coop said softly into Harry's ear, resting his head on Harry's shoulder as they moved closer together. Harry's hands both slid behind Dale's neck, Dale's moving down to cradle around Harry's lower back. They moved together to the haunting music, lost in each other's presence. Harry even forgot to look around him to see how people were reacting to them. As the melody drew to a close, Harry pulled just far enough back to look into Dale's eyes. He smiled warmly at his special agent, and Coop smiled back with that wide eyed innocence that he'd missed so much today. As if magnetically connected, their lips found their way together to meet in another sweet kiss. Harry smiled into Dale's mouth, this kiss so much softer and gentler than the desperate kiss they had shared earlier, although no less passionate. Harry smiled and brushed his nose against Coop's in an Eskimo kiss, his smile only growing at the expression on Coop's face which could only be described as adorable.

Harry glanced away from Dale at last, when he heard noises in the background, turning to look at the table they had been seated at. A triumphant looking Hawk was collecting a wad of money from Andy, and Lucy too. He heard Hawk shout out "I knew they'd get there eventually!" and Harry raised an eyebrow at the deputy, who looked back defiantly, a smirk on his face. "I knew you had it in you, boss," he said with a smug expression on his face. "No one else believed me." Harry glanced around the Roadhouse and saw to his dismay and, to be honest, amusement, that various other people around the room had been watching them the entire time and some were also exchanging money.

"Did the entire town have a wager on my love-life?" Harry growled at Hawk, moving to sit back at the table.

"Pretty much," Hawk answered matter-of-factly.

"So you don't...people don't care that we're both, you know. That we're men," Harry said awkwardly. Discussing this sort of stuff had never been his strong point.

"Of course not," Hawk said incredulously. "You really thought that in a town as messed up as Twin Peaks that people would care about two men falling in love?" He smirked at the two of them as Harry and Dale blushed at glanced at each other.

"I suppose not," Harry said, entwining his fingers with Dale's again. "Well, in that case..." he tailed off, swiftly getting to his feet again. "It's getting late, I think it's time to head home..." He glanced down at Coop, grinning mischievously down at him, "would you like to accompany me?"

"I would love to, Harry," Dale replied in his trademark excitable way, a grin spreading over his face. They headed out of the bar, hand in hand, to a chorus of wolf-whistles and laughter. For once, it seemed, Twin Peaks had produced a happy ending. For now...

A/N: So there you have it! It's nearly 3am now and I have no idea if this is good or how many errors there are but I hope you enjoyed it none the less!