Rooms On Fire
DL Set duringafter S2 'Stuck On You' Being right did have its benefits.
Disclaimer: I have custody of my Muse and the plot but I humbly acknowledge that I have no jurisdiction over the characters themselves.
A/N:- I have a whole list of post-eps that I've wanted to write and I finally got round to writing this fluffy post-ep with a little bit of MS thrown in for good measure.
It helps if you watch the end scene of 'Stuck On You' again I mean I watched it several dozen times whilst writing the beginning of this - but overall this is just an excuse to write and read something fluffy.
'Rooms On Fire' – Stevie Nicks
Lindsay looked around the dimly lit room and couldn't help but notice how everyone else in there were either elderly jazz fanatics or couples kissing and holding hands and it suddenly occurred to her that Danny probably got the whole wrong idea when she asked him out here. She felt a little foolish but when she had rung Danny up telling him to come down here as soon as he had finished his meeting with the DA she had been so excited by being able to prove him wrong that she had never stopped to think what it must have sounded like. She blushed slightly at the thought of Danny thinking she had asked him out on a date and she guessed that to him it wouldn't have come straight out of the blue given that he had spent the past six months flirting with her and she had smiled and taken it. Plus the place was called 'Cozy's'.
Lindsay glanced at the musicians and then over to the door for the fiftieth time. Whatever he thought this was, she hoped he showed up soon as it was getting quite awkward sitting there alone having to ignore the somewhat sympathetic glances the waitresses kept giving her as they swirled past.
Just as she was about to reach for her cell phone to give him a call she spotted him talking to the bouncer and she raised her hand to wave him over.
"Sorry I'm late." Danny apologised as he took a seat at the table. He had spent half an hour listening to the DA talk him through the case he was going to have to present at court next week and all he could think about was Lindsay and how she had called him up and invited him out to a place called 'Cozy's' ………..
"It's okay. I ordered you a beer." Lindsay told him. He looked good. Well, he seldom didn't look good but considering they had just worked a twelve hour shift, he looked irrevocably cool and breezy wearing the collar of his coat the 'cool' way, his hair smoothed and in place.
"Thanks." Danny said. She looked happy and was glowing with controlled excitement. He knew that look – she had first given it to him a few weeks after she had joined the lab when she had finished analysing her evidence long before he had finished with his. "So … what's up?" He asked. Although Lindsay was a tough investigator and held her ground, he knew that she was just a shy country-girl at heart and he doubted very much that she had asked him out here on a date no matter how much he would like to believe that.
Lindsay saw the way he looked at her when he asked that – like he knew it wasn't what he hoped it was but what it quite obviously could be. "It's just something I thought you might be interested in." She replied, seeing Mac about to walk onto the stage. She couldn't keep the grin from her face – she was really looking forward to seeing Danny's reaction to this!
Danny stared at her lips for half a beat. She was completely oblivious to how she made that sound seductive. His mind whirled. When it came to Lindsay Monroe there were a lot of things he was interested in. "Jazz music. That's me." He said deadpan in an attempt to rid those thoughts from his mind. As they clapped, Lindsay gave him a slightly superior look and she was grinning again. Danny found himself grinning as well, probably looking like an idiot as half of his brain wondered what this evening really was all about whilst the other half analysed how her smile reached her eyes and how she had cute little dimples ……….
Suddenly a very familiar voice interrupted his thoughts and his smile faltered and a frown took over as he turned round to see Detective Mac Taylor on stage with a bass. Now this was something he did not expect.
"Get out of here!" He exclaimed with surprise, turning round quickly to confront Lindsay. "Are you kidding me?"
Lindsay giggled. Yes, Lindsay Monroe actually giggled. But she couldn't help it – the baffled look on Danny's face was priceless.
Danny looked back at Mac for a second letting it sink in before his attention was back with Lindsay to question her. "How'd you know he played?"
"Figured it out. I could tell by the way he held the base in the lab that he knew guitars and I knew he had a standing appointment on Wednesdays. It could have been a shrink. Or yoga. But I took the music option." Lindsay explained rationally.
"I'm impressed." Danny said. And he was. Being the typical New York city-boy macho man that he was, he usually liked to be in control and always be right … apart from when he was with Lindsay apparently. Her going out and researching their notoriously secret boss just to prove that he was wrong about knowing him better really did impress him ….. and quite frankly it turned him on.
"Maybe you didn't know him as well as you thought." She said, her voice slightly smug whilst her dark eyes danced with humour.
Danny stared at her for a long while holding the thought that if she was sitting next to him and not across the table he would probably be kissing her right now. He nodded in acknowledgement to her victory and held her gaze for much longer than he should have. Lindsay smiled nervously and dropped her eyes to the table just as the waitress brought Danny's beer to him.
"Thanks." Danny said, treating the young blonde girl to a Messer-smile.
"You're welcome." The girl said flirtatiously, arching her back slightly making her breasts ever so slightly more prominent beneath her low-cut top. Lindsay looked away and stared very hard at the musicians on stage.
Danny let the waitress do her thing but didn't do anything except hold his smile and then make it quite obvious that his attention was on the music.
"So Miss Monroe what other things have you managed to discover about the team?" He asked, pulling off his jacket and moving his chair round slightly so they could talk quietly without disturbing anyone else.
"You make it sound like I'm an OPR investigator." She said indignantly. "Don't worry I won't tell anyone that you're the one who leaves the coffeepot empty."
"I don't leave the-" Danny protested. "Only sometimes." He admitted after Lindsay gave him a look. "So what else?"
The musicians finished their set and a round of applause went up as Mac and his band took their bows. "You do this thing whereby you pour yourself a cup of coffee and you always take a sip before you put in the sugar even though you know it'll be too disgusting for you to drink." Lindsay told him.
Danny looked at her. He guessed he did do that and it was an old habit that made no sense since he hated the bitter taste of coffee by itself. "So you've been watching me and my coffee in the break room eh?" Danny said, nudging her teasingly. "That's …… intimate." He whispered in her ear.
Lindsay knew that his words were only meant in a teasing manner but it was his close proximity to her that caused her to blush slightly and she fiddled with the stem of her wine glass nervously.
"Hey guys!" Stella said walking up to them, a large grin on her face. "Didn't expect to see you two here."
"Hi Stel." Lindsay said warmly, thankful for the interruption.
"Stella." Danny said, surprised to see her here too. Did everyone know about Mac's bass playing except him?
"Danny, you usually take girls to see their boss on dates?" Stella laughed, pulling a chair up to the table.
"It's not a date." Lindsay said hurriedly.
"Actually this was Montana's idea." Danny said. "Wanted to prove that I didn't know Mac as well as I thought and I have to say this kinda shocked me."
"I think Mac's going to be more shocked to see you two here." Stella said before waving the bartender over. "Same again please Bill."
"Sure thing Stel!" Bill hollered back, quietly observing what Danny and Lindsay were drinking and ordering his assistant to prepare another round.
"You seem to know him well." Danny observed with a chuckle.
"Well, I spend most weeks here when I can." Stella replied.
"Watching Mac play?" Danny asked with a slight frown. He knew Mac and Stella went way back but sitting in a jazz club every week for a friend seemed to be pushing it.
"Yeah." Stella said with a smile before exchanging a knowing look with Lindsay who laughed lightly and fixed her gaze on Danny.
"What?" Danny asked, feeling like he was being kept out of the loop about something. And then it dawned. "Oh you and Mac are … together." Danny exclaimed with realisation.
"Knew you'd get there in the end Danny." Stella laughed.
"Everyone knows?"
"Lindsay knew." Stella said.
Danny looked at Lindsay who was smiling at his cluelessness. "Your talents are wasted as a CSI – you should be working for the gossip columns."
Lindsay smiled taking her glass of wine from the waiter and sipping it. She hadn't counted on seeing their colleague here tonight and she felt quite self-conscious at the fact that Stella seemed to think that there was something going on between her and Danny.
Mac came out from backstage and Danny started clapping as he approached. "Wow, I didn't realise I had a fanbase." He said, giving them a small smile. Then he put his arm around Stella and leant down to drop a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Who doesn't like jazz." Danny said gruffly, not knowing where to look. It was weird seeing his two bosses together like that. He glanced at Lindsay but she was smiling softly when she met his gaze no doubt seeing their interaction as sweet and natural. Such a girl.
"How did you find out?" Mac asked, shooting Stella a questioning look who shook her head to tell him that she hadn't told them and nodded her head in Lindsay's direction.
"These two were having a little contest over who knows you best." She told Mac.
"Let me guess, Lindsay won." Mac said.
"Yeah, looks like Danny will be buying your dinner tonight Linds." Stella said amicably.
Lindsay laughed nervously as they stood up and gathered their things. Just then a group of stage-hands carrying heavy looking equipment needed to pass through and as they made room, Stella took Lindsay aside.
"So you and Danny?" Stella prodded.
"It's not like that." Lindsay said quickly.
"I think it is but you just don't want to admit it." Stella said carefully.
Lindsay sighed and glanced over where Danny was standing with Mac. Danny was …. Danny but she had never really considered the possibility of a her-and-Danny.
"There's a nice restaurant round the corner – very quiet but delicious food." Mac said, whilst nodding at the crew who knew him.
Danny shifted on his feet uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "No offence Mac but it's one thing coming to see you play and another to be taking dating advice from your boss."
Mac chuckled. "Point taken."
"Shall we head out then?" Stella smiled as they came together. "Well, you two have a good night." She said to Danny and Lindsay with only the hint of a smirk on her face.
They waved goodnight to Mac and Stella and stood there watching the two senior CSIs walk away.
"Ready? I know this really great Italian place a few blocks over-"
"Oh Danny you don't really need to get me dinner. The look on your face was enough!" Lindsay laughed nervously.
"No, I want to." He insisted until he saw Lindsay look away uncomfortably. "….. unless you've got other plans?"
"No." She said a little too quickly. "Italian's good."
"Great." Danny said with a grin, stuffing his hands in his pockets before leading the way down the street. They walked to the restaurant mostly in silence and as the waitress seated them in the dimly lit corner of the restaurant Lindsay wondered on a scale of one to ten how awkward this dinner was going to be.
She was in the middle of reading through the menu for the third time trying to decide what to have when she felt his eyes on her. "What?" She said, laughing nervously.
"Nothing." He shrugged, leaning back in his chair, his hands resting on top of the closed menu.
She looked back down but she could still feel him staring at her. "Seriously, what?" She said, feeling slightly self-conscious.
"Nothing. I'm just looking."
"At what?" She asked, glancing over her shoulder but there was nothing there except a pretty floral pattern on the wall.
"At you." He said offhandedly before looking away to call the waitress over.
Lindsay was thankful for the lack of light as she was sure she had gone slightly red. They had spent the whole day together working the case, having a laugh and they hung out at Sullivan's together all the time so why did this feel different?
After they had ordered and she had sensibly declined the offer of more wine, she decided that talking about the case was probably a good, safe option. "So if one of the members hadn't been put in jail, you think Rough Sects would have made it in the music world?"
"A name like that would've gotten my attention." Danny said, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "But I dunno. Chick rock was so past its sell-by date by the 90s."
"Oh and I suppose because you played a bit awhile ago it makes you an expert able to say only men can rock?"
Danny shrugged and raised his palms defensively. "Name me any good female rock musicians. Ever."
"Heart, Carly Simon, Pat Benatar, Kate Bush – if you can count her as rock and then of course there's Stevie Nicks." Lindsay listed, slightly put-out.
Danny raised his eyebrows. "Don't tell me you listen to Stevie too?" Just when he thought he couldn't like her any more than he already did.
"Of course I listen to Stevie Nicks. I grew up in Montana, not Mars!" Lindsay laughed at Danny's surprised look.
"I thought it was all Tim McGraw and Faith Hill over there."
Lindsay gave him a glare before laughing. "No don't forget we have Carrie Underwood too now!"
They continued talking about music throughout the whole meal and Lindsay was so wrapped up in discussing the guilty pleasures of Foreigner and Journey that she forgot about the awkwardness before.
They had their empty dessert plates in front of them when Danny was telling her how he had met Roger Daltrey backstage at a concert once a few years ago.
"Oh wow I'm so jealous. My friend had the biggest crush on him."
"You know the whole sexy rock star, guitar-singing heroes are always guaranteed girls hanging off them no matter how old they are."
"Seems like you shouldn't have given up on the music business so fast then." Lindsay said wryly, taking the last sip of water and putting the glass back down on the table.
"I don't know, being a CSI doesn't seem too bad." Danny said quietly, putting his hand over hers.
Lindsay's eyes flickered to his in surprise before she dropped her gaze to the tablecloth, a small bashful smile on her face.
She hadn't pulled her hand away which Danny saw as a good thing. To reach out and touch her hand had been such an instinctive thing to do, he hadn't really thought about what he would do if she'd backed off and asked him what he was doing.
As he softly drew small circles on the back of her hand with his thumb, she felt her heart start to race and something flutter in her stomach. She looked back up at him and she could see his cool blue eyes trying to read her.
The waitress brought them the check and Danny slowly moved his hand away to pull out his wallet.
"Here." Lindsay said, trying to put some notes down to cover her half but he pushed them away.
"No I've got it." Danny insisted.
As they walked out of the restaurant, Lindsay realised that things had gone back to being somewhat uncertain and awkward between them until Danny, sensing this, picked up on a thread of the conversation from earlier.
"I can't believe you don't think I was any good at the guitar." He said, offended.
"It wasn't the guitar playing at all. I just didn't know you sang." She said, looking up at him. It was hard to imagine Danny doing anything except being a tough cop and CSI.
"You want me to serenade you Montana?"
She didn't have time to respond before he had blocked her path and standing in the middle of the sidewalk he began his performance, his voice exaggeratedly deep.
"We're caught in a trap, I can't walk out, Because I love you too much baby…"
"Okay Danny, I believe you!" Lindsay said quickly, trying to shut him up. Thankfully they weren't on the main street but even so there were quite a few people out who were starting to give them irritated looks.
"Why can't you see, What you're doing to me, When you don't believe a word I say?..."
He had always maintained that he was too cool to ever do something so goofy but the look on Lindsay's face was priceless – it was a mixture of amused, shocked and embarrassed.
"Okay Danny." She said raising her voice and hitting his arm repeatedly. "People are staring."
"We can't go on together, With suspicious minds, And we can't build our dreams ………."
He looked so dorky with his arms outstretched and his eyes raised to the sky that she couldn't help laughing. "I am so not with you." Lindsay called over her shoulder as she edged round Danny and started walking away hurriedly.
"Hey! I have as much musical talent as Mac!" Danny said, jogging to catch up with her.
"You two should start a band together." Lindsay suggested with a smile. "Though I'm sure the flock of girls following you guys would upset Stella somewhat."
Danny shook his head slightly as they took a turning off the street and into the park. "I still can't believe Mac and Stel ….. after all this time. I always thought they were just good friends."
"They're very professional." Lindsay said thoughtfully.
They walked further into the park along her favourite path by the lake.
"Would you ever date anyone from work?"
Lindsay looked up quickly. The question caught her off guard and she wondered whether he was implying anything. The way he'd touched her hand in the restaurant ... but his face was giving nothing away apart from general interest. "If I thought the person was worth the risk."
He didn't say anything for awhile, wondering whether he was going too far with this. "Do you think I'm worth the risk?"
Lindsay slowed down, her stomach tingling. "Are you-"
"-asking you out? Yes."
"Hypothetically?" She said, coming to a halt. She would be lying if she hadn't thought about what this moment would be like but Danny was so Danny-like and she'd always looked upon the flirting as just his way of interacting with most women.
"No. As in I-want-to-kiss-you-right-now-cally."
They'd stopped walking now and she turned to face him in surprise but unable to make eye contact.
Danny looked at her but she was avoiding looking at him, staring intently at the chain of his dog-tags, mild shock registering on her face. He took a few steps towards her and reached for her hands, holding them down by their sides. "I really really like you and this evening was amazing and we weren't even trying ……. and I know I'm not just imagining all this attraction between us..."
She slowly looked up at him, his blue eyes meeting her dark ones searchingly. She hadn't planned this. When she had asked him out to the jazz bar she thought it would be like all those other times she had hung out at Sullivan's with him and the guys but it hadn't been. It had been cosy and tingly and, like Stella had said, she had been forced to admit that she really did like him. A lot. And now he was here right in front of her, looking at her, staring at her, offering to be her guy.
She leaned up and brushed her lips against his softly but pulled away slightly just before he could react. Her. Danny. It was really going to happen.
Danny looked at her, her eyes were bright and sparkling, her smell intoxicating. "Is that a yes?"
Lindsay shrugged slightly, a smile on her face. "You interested?"
A/N:- Woot. Ignore me I'm just revelling in Danny/Lindsay love. Join me please for two choruses of the anthem 'Canon, Baby …. Canon baby baby, wooohooo, we got caaaannnooooonnnn babe ……….!'. Anyway ……..