Penname: Jayden Bell
Setting: CSI:NY
Title: Snowy Fate
Description/Summary: Set near the end of the second season; unfortunate weather conditions keeps everyone stuck in the lab for the night. It's a fairytale so it definitely has some fluff.
Characters: Danny/Lindsay
Rating: fun for all
On any other day, Lindsay would have been more than willing to take a double shift without too much complaint. But she really didn't feel well. And she was the only person left who could go into the scene. She knew it was going to be a long night. She took a dose of non-drowsy cold medicine and bundled up.
When she got to the scene, there was only one officer there, and he was running himself crazy trying to keep the onlookers from contaminating the scene. Lindsay helped him put up more barriers and crime scene tape before she started collecting evidence.
It was a pretty straight-forward collection: there was a blood trail to the body, clean shoe prints in the soil, and plenty of trace around and on the body that seemed to be some kind of grease or oil.
Officer Perkin was still trying to hold off a crowd as he attempted to take witness statements. Lindsay put her things into the truck and joined Perkin next to the tape line. He pointed to the people he had gotten statements from so far, and Lindsay went in the opposite direction to get a few more.
After the area was cleaned up, Lindsay headed back to the crime lab. She sorted through her evidence and sent a few samples off to the appropriate departments. She sat over her microscope, analyzing the greasy substance, when her head began pounding. The cold medicine was wearing off and she still had at least four hours to go.
She decided to take a break to make herself some tea. She went to the break room and fixed a hot cup of lemon and honey herbal tea and sat on the couch. She looked out the window and saw the wind picking up and causing the snow to whip around fiercely. She hoped the weather would hold out for the rest of her shift; she didn't want to be stuck in the lab the rest of the night.
After a couple more hours of sifting through her evidence, Lindsay was glad her shift was nearly over. Her head was pounding and her body ached all over.
As Lindsay cleaned up her station, Danny and Hawkes walked into the lab.
"Hey Montana. You pull a double again?" Lindsay looked up at Danny and Danny noticed that she had dark circles under her eyes. "Linds, you feelin' okay?"
Lindsay shook her head. "I think I have a cold or the flu or something. My head is gonna explode and my whole body just…hurts. But my shift is over in about two minutes, so I'm headed out."
Hawkes looked over at Lindsay. "Lindsay, it's bad out there. A lot of streets are being closed until they can get plows in there. And it's impossible to drive or walk. You're not gonna make it to the subway tonight."
Lindsay opened her eyes wide with worry. "I've gotta get home. I've been here for almost seventeen hours and I feel like death right now."
"The couch in our office sleeps pretty good. I've tested it out a few times myself." Danny began to lead Lindsay by her shoulder, gently squeezing it to try to relax her. "Come on. I'll find you a blanket."
Lindsay took a dose of night-time cold medicine and lay on the couch in the office she shared with Danny.
"Do you need anything Montana?"
Lindsay looked up from where she was settling in on the couch. "No, I just need some sleep. Thanks Danny."
Danny collected a few files from his desk, turned off the light and left.
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A few hours later, most of the team had finished all the paperwork they had. As most of the city's residents were stuck in their places due to the severe weather, there had been no call-ins for new cases. Detectives, CSIs, techs, and all other personnel began getting very bored. Some started playing games, some watched TV, a few took the opportunity to catch a little shut-eye.
As Danny walked by the break room, he saw a female detective laying on the couch in the dark. Adam was laying on the floor near the end of the couch with his lab coat rolled up under his head. He passed a couple techs headed down the hall with blankets. Danny continued to head toward his shared office.
He walked in the door and closed it behind him quietly, without turning on the light. He slid his shoes off, set his glasses on the desk, and lay on the floor next to the couch with an extra blanket. Moments later, he was asleep.
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Around 5 am, Danny woke up. He looked up at Lindsay, who was still sleeping soundly on the couch. He slipped on his shoes and glasses and left the office. He went to the restroom and to the break room for a bottle of water. He stepped lightly around Adam, who was still sleeping on the floor, curled up under a blanket. As he walked through the halls, everyone was sleeping. Although there were always fewer people on a night shift and several had not made it in due to the weather, several had not made it out from the night before either. There were a couple dozen people laying on every couch and scattered through the halls, wrapped in dark blue NYPD blankets. Danny was sure several people would be waking up with muscle cramps in more places than they could ever imagine.
He walked back to his office with his bottle of water and lay back down on the floor next to the couch. He looked out the open window. The snow was only lightly falling now, and the sun would be rising soon, which would help melt the three feet that fell in the last few hours. But until the roads were plowed, they still weren't going anywhere.
Danny closed his eyes and let himself drift back to sleep for a bit longer. He woke a while later as the warm sunlight broke through the window. The warm rays felt good as they soothed the ache from the night on the floor out of him. He looked at his watch. Seven fifteen. He glanced over his shoulder to look out of the office. There was no movement in the hall, and he didn't hear anything either. I guess everyone's plannin' on sleeping all day. He sat up and looked at Lindsay who was curled up on the couch. A few stray curls fell in her face. Cute.
Danny debated internally for a moment about whether or not he should wake Lindsay up. Finally, he realized that she had been laying on that couch for nine hours and would probably be stiff if she didn't get up and move around soon. Besides, she had been pretty sick the night before. She could probably use some more water or tea. He tapped her gently on the shoulder. "Montana." She didn't stir. "Linds? Do you want some tea?" She still didn't move. He put his hand on her face. She didn't feel exceptionally warm. She didn't have a fever, but she was really out. He decided that if she was still that sleepy, he would just let her sleep. He got up to head to the break room again. Giving into a surge of feelings, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
Just as he got to the door, he heard Lindsay moving behind him. "Danny?" The word came out so soft that Danny barely heard her.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" He returned to the side of the couch.
She sat up on her elbow and rubbed her face a little. "A little better, I think."
Just then, they heard many voices coming from the hall. It was mostly a laughing commotion, but the talking was quite loud and quite sudden.
"Wow. How did I sleep through that?"
"They were all sleeping until just a minute ago. I didn't think anyone was ever going to wake up." He stood, heading back toward the door.
Lindsay sat up on the couch with the blanket over her lap, shaking her fingers through her hair. "They were just waiting for the prince."
Danny stopped with his hand on the door handle and looked back at her, thinking maybe she did have a fever after all. "Excuse me?"
"Sleeping Beauty. The whole kingdom would sleep until the prince woke the princess with a kiss. Only, he didn't know it was time for them to wake up anyway. The prince's kiss didn't actually wake the kingdom, but he still got to kiss the princess." Lindsay smiled.
Danny, still standing at the door, started to blush a bit. "Um, I'm just gonna go get that tea." He grinned and left the office, heading for the break room.
Lindsay smiled and whispered to herself. "And they lived happily ever after."