A/N: Hello folks. It's me... again! Don't know about you guys, but I really enjoyed this week's episode - something that Lisa said to me was that it was a strong episode, and I feel that really fits it's description. That and the parallels to something else we've seen before.

Huge thank you to those who reviewed the last post-ep... it seems like I posted that forever ago now!

Hope you enjoy this one!

P.s. 80th story... WOO! :)


Post ep oneshot; season 6, episode 16 - Uncertainty Rules.


Danny let out a breath as he made his way into the little diner, two blocks from his and Lindsay's apartment. Standing on his tiptoes, he searched the small crowd, desperate to see his wife and baby girl that he hoped were there.

After today, all he needed was some time with his girls.

"DADDY!"

He whipped his head to the other side of the room in search of where the little voice bellowing his name had come from. His eyes caught Lindsay's, offering her a wide smile before he turned his gaze to his highly excited daughter who was bouncing in her booster seat.

"DADDY! DADDY! MOMMY... IT DADDY!"

"Sssshhh!" Danny laughed to himself, as he passed through the diner holding a finger to his lips.

Giggling, Lucy copied her father by holding a finger to her lips.

As he reached the table, he bent down to greet his daughter with a kiss to the top of her head before turning his attention to his wife. Instantly, he laced his fingers through her hair as she craned her neck up to meet him in a kiss.

"DADDY!"

Breaking what would have turned into a heated kiss; Danny turned and smiled brightly at his little girl. "Yes?"

"Hi."

"Hi." He smiled. "Are you done bellowing at me? I'm pretty sure everyone else in here doesn't want to hear my name, Lucy."

Lucy giggled.

"She's been excited all day." Lindsay explained. "I made the mistake of telling her we were meeting you when you got off work."

"Oh wow. When did you tell her that?"

"When she woke up..." Lindsay grimaced. "It's all I've heard all day."

"Well, you'll do it once," he teased as he finally took a seat. "Won't make that mistake again."

As Lindsay passed him a menu she smiled at him, glad that he was now her's for the rest of the night.

"How was work?" she inquired.

Opening up the menu, Danny shrugged her question off. "Did we say the cheeseburgers were good here?"

Raising an eyebrow, Lindsay glanced over her menu. "Danny..."

"Or was it the..-"

"Dan." Lindsay sighed. "What's the matter? Was work okay?"

"Fine," he lied. "What are you ordering for Lucy?"

"Chicken strips," Lindsay answered. "How was work?"

He laid his menu on the table and took her hands. "Can we not?" he asked softly. "I don't really want to talk about it, honey."

She nodded before sitting back and taking hold of her menu again.

"Daddy." Lucy squealed, making her presence known at the end of the booth.

"Hi baby," Danny smiled at his daughter as he pulled the booster seat closer to him. "Have you been good for your Ma, today?"

Lucy nodded. "Mhmmmmmm."

"Enthusiastic," Danny teased his little girl. "What did you do with Mommy today?"

Lucy giggled and hid her head in Danny's shirt.

"What, you've come over all shy?" he teased. "Surely not."

Lucy continued to giggle as she squirmed her way further into Danny's side.

"Out." She requested suddenly, holding her arms around Danny's neck. "Daddy, p'ease."

"You gotta stay in there, sweetie." Danny said shaking his head. "Mommy put you in there for a reason."

"Daddy. Up!" Lucy sniffed.

"No baby." Danny said shaking his head. "Sorry honey but no."

"Daddy!"

"You can Daddy me, all you want baby girl, but Daddy isn't taking you out of your booster seat, baby. Sorry."

"Mommy!"

"It's Daddy's call," Lindsay said, holding her hands up. "Mommy's off duty when Daddy gets off work."

"Gee, thanks babe." Danny smirked.

"Daddy!" Lucy wailed, taking them back to the conversation at hand.

"No. You can sit in there," Danny said, shaking his head. "Sorry baby."

Lucy's lip trembled and her eyes became glassy.

"She's gonna blow," Lindsay teased.

Lowering his voice, Danny craned his neck so that he was nose-to-nose with his daughter as he stared her in the eyes. "You dare start that and Mommy and Daddy will take you home, k?"

Lucy sniffled.

"Daddy won't think twice 'bout it."

Lucy's lip continued to tremble.

"You make everyone sad in here because you're crying Daddy won't be impressed."

"But Dada..."

Danny sat back. "Think about it Lucy."

Lucy threw her toy to the floor in a mad huff.

"Sure, we can keep that down there." Danny nodded. "Do it again and see what Daddy does." he warned his daughter.

As Lucy kicked her feet against the booster seat, Danny shook his head before turning to face his wife. "Hi."

Lindsay giggled. "She's going to blow."

"She won't if she knows what's good for her."

"Why?" Lindsay giggled. "What are you going to do? Lay down on the floor kicking and screaming when she starts?"

"I might consider it," he winked as the continued to ignore Lucy who was on the brink of a tantrum.

Lindsay giggled as she tangled her feet in his underneath their table as he sat opposite. "What did you decide on?"

"Cheeseburger," Danny shrugged, shutting the menu. "You?"

"I can't decide," She sighed heavily. "I don't know what I want."

"Pick the cheeseburger." Danny smiled. "We can match."

"No, you can have my pickles... and steal my fries."

"You know me so well."

She shut the menu and glanced with the corner of her eye to see what her daughter was doing. "Daddy..." Lindsay smirked getting Danny's attention.

Danny turned to his daughter and fought back the snort as he saw what she was doing. Danny scooted back in the booth and lowered his head, meeting his daughter as she hung her upper body down the side of the booster seat.

"Hi." He began getting her attention. "Um, what are you doing?"

Lucy turned her head as she dangled in her booster seat. "Noffin'."

"This doesn't look like nothin'." Danny smirked. "Could you sit up like a normal person, Lucy?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "No."

"Could you sit up like a normal person, please?"

"No."

"Would you like Daddy and Mommy to take you home?"

"No."

"Well then sit up," Danny said calmly.

Slowly but surely, Lucy sat up in her booster seat.

"I expect you to stay sat up." Danny started. "You don't see any other little kids hanging from their seats, do you?"

"No."

"Well, that means that you shouldn't do it either." Danny concluded. "Sit nice, k? Mommy's got you all your toys here on the table," he said, gesturing to the wide range of toys and plush teddies. "Daddy really wants to talk to Mommy for a little bit because he missed her so much today, and if Lucy does this now, Daddy might be able to persuade Mommy to let us get ice cream."

Lucy's eyes went wide. "I-c'eam?"

"Mhmm." Danny nodded. "But we can't give treats for bad judgements, can we?"

Lucy shook her head. "Sad."

"It does make me and Mommy sad. So, do you think you can be a good girl?"

Lucy nodded.

Pressing a kiss to her temple, Danny turned and smiled proudly at his wife. "Where were we?"

Lindsay blinked. "Could you teach me that?"

"Teach you what?" he snorted.

"That," Lindsay implored, gesturing between her husband and daughter. "What was that?"

"That was Daddy is favourite, so let's do as he says because he's a pushover really and we know that if we push him he'll bribe me with something so that Mommy, who is my real favourite, caves and lets me have ice cream at like eight o'clock at night."

Lindsay laughed. "Alright sparky, I'll take your word for it."

"How was your day then?" Danny smiled.

"So-so," she shrugged. "We had a few dramas... The apartment's clean though... again."

"Didn't you clean it yesterday?"

"Try last week babe," Lindsay smirked.

Danny blinked. "It's been a week?"

"Yup." She sighed. "Time flies, right?"

"Apparently." He laughed. "Has she been good?"

"As good as a baby girl who is missing her Daddy is."

Danny smiled at his daughter. "You miss me today baby?"

Lucy nodded enthusiastically. "Mommy toooooo!"

"Mommy missed me too?" Danny smiled.

Lucy nodded before going back to the toy she was playing with.

"You missed me today?" Danny smiled.

"I miss you every day." Lindsay said shyly.

"Aww, baby." Danny smirked with a teasing tone. "I missed you too."

"You did not," Lindsay smirked.

"I did so." Danny said, his tone serious. "I missed you a hell of a lot actually."

Lindsay smiled before turning and looking over her shoulder. "Can you go order? It doesn't like they're gonna be coming over here in a hurry."

"Lucy probably scared them off."

"Probably." Lindsay smirked. "Two of whatever you're getting, a children's chicken tenders... you can have most of her fries, and a milk, a Dr. Pepper and whatever you want."

"Anything else?"

Lindsay shook her head, "That's good for now." She beamed at him. "Thank you."

As he stood and pulled his wallet from his pocket, he manoeuvred his way around Lucy and pressed a kiss to Lindsay's temple, "I'll be right back."

Danny disappeared as he went to order, leaving Lindsay unsure of what exactly happened during shift today... all she knew was that usually, Danny shared whatever it was that they'd solved that day – unless it was something to do with a baby, a wife or...

Or teenagers.


Dinner had gone smoothly with Lucy devouring most of her chicken tenders like a big girl, while Danny had destroyed his and the majority of Lindsay's dinner. They'd quickly moved onto the ice cream joint they frequented often, letting Lucy pick two different flavours.

Lucy had quickly dozed off, holding her ice cream; to which Danny had stolen and finished.

"Poor thing," Lindsay sighed. "She's zonked."

"Mommy did a good job of wearing her out today."

Lindsay giggled as she and Danny strolled down the sidewalk, uncaring of those passing around them. "It is way past her bedtime."

"True," he smiled as he tossed the empty ice cream cup in a nearby trash can. "But it's been nice tonight."

"It has," Lindsay smiled. "Hopefully it took your mind off what ever happened at work today."

Danny fell silent.

"You can tell me you know," Lindsay coaxed. "I'm not going to freak out."

"I might though."

Lindsay arched an eyebrow. "Why? What happened? You're alright, aren't you? It wasn't anything to do with," Lindsay paused and lowered her voice, "Shane Casey, was it?"

Danny shook his head before taking hold of the stroller around Lindsay, so that he had effectively encased her in a protective shell. He then sighed as he began his recount of the day's case. "It was some kid's 21st birthday party, right? Real bookworm; reminded me of Mac actually."

Lindsay giggled.

"So his friends throw him this massive blow out; doing things they'd never do... Played Bingo, won twenty five grand..."

"Oh my god."

"Yeah, right?" Danny implored. "So they go do all this crazy stuff and end up going back to their hotel room eventually. They'd picked some girls up, who'd slipped them some LSD, right? So they're all tripping, apart from these two girls."

Lindsay nodded against him as they continued to walk slowly together.

"So then this guy who the girls had shot earlier in the night came to have a to do with them... Big drug guy. Wrap list as long as Lucy's birthday present list, right?"

Lindsay giggled.

"So..." he paused, indicating to Lindsay he was getting to the part where he assumed she'd find it hard. "The birthday boy's in the bathroom, right?"

She swallowed.

"And his three friends are with the girls in the hotel room..." he paused again. "Linds, I..."

"He watched them get murdered, didn't he?" Lindsay finished. "From the bathroom."

Danny exhaled against her. "Yeah."

Lindsay nodded and straightened up.

"I didn't want to tell you because..."

"How similar it was to when I watched my friends die."

Danny nodded. "It was all coincidence. Like had they not driven past the girls and picked them up, they wouldn't have been in the middle of all that... Then if James hadn't gone into the bathroom he would have been killed too... Just like how..."

"Like how if we had decided to go to a different diner that night; or I hadn't have gone to wash my hands, I would have been killed like my friends."

"And I wouldn't have you or Lucy."

"Clearly James had someone looking out for him." Lindsay said quietly.

"Do you believe in that?" Danny asked. "That there's someone up there looking out for you?"

Lindsay nodded. "Otherwise I wouldn't be here."

Danny nodded. "It was a tough day; more so towards the end when the pieces were put together."

"What happened?"

"When?"

"How did you apprehend him?"

Danny sighed. "James... There... there was a shootout and..."

Lindsay stopped. "No!"

"What? No what?"

"He... he didn't..."

"Oh no, no... James didn't get shot," Danny assured her. "No, James picked up a gun from the dude that Mac had shot and Mac had to talk James out of blowing the guy's brains with it. He realised it was him who'd killed his friends."

Lindsay nodded and let out a breath. "It was probably a good job I wasn't at work today."

"You think?" Danny coaxed gently.

"It sounds too... I... I think it seems too.."

"It hits too close to home?"

Lindsay nodded. "I think if I had gone in there, I wouldn't have been able to... It would have brought back too many memories, you know?"

Danny nodded. "It took me back to your testimony," Danny admitted. "I'm glad I had Flack with me today. He gave me the opportunity not to think of what was goin' on in my head, if that makes sense."

Lindsay shook her head, "It doesn't, but it makes sense to me."

He lowered his head as he pressed a kiss to her neck. "I love you, you know that right?"

Lindsay nodded against him as they approached their apartment building. "Can we go to bed?"

Danny nodded against her. "I'll get Lucy ready for bed, you can go get ready an' stuff... but don't fall asleep..." he paused "I just want to hold you for a little while... Not... you know... Just..."

Lindsay let out a breath as she dug in her pocket for their keys and slid it into the slot. "Yeah," she said simply.

Quickly, they made it up to their apartment. Danny carefully lifted their sleeping daughter from her stroller as Lindsay locked up and headed for the bedroom. She quickly rid herself of her clothes, dropping them in a pile on the floor, as she changed and slid into bed.

She knew exactly what the boy; James, would be going through right now. The guilt. The heartbreak. The mixed emotions on actually surviving. The nightmares he'd have on the moments before his friends died; fifty different scenarios haunting his dreams at night.

The feeling of never seeing his friends again.

All of what James was feeling was what she sometimes still felt.

The bed dipped as two arms enclosed around her, pulling her into the strong chest of her husband. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder as his arms crossed over her stomach, as he tried to protect her from the emotions and feelings he knew she would be fighting with.

"I'm here," He whispered to her. "If it gets too much."

She shook her head as she took a deep breath. "I'll be okay," she whispered as she shifted in his arms so that she was facing him. She nudged him so that he now lay on his back so that she could lay her head on his chest.

And, in the first of a long time, Lindsay was thankful she hadn't experienced that case at work; that she had been safe at home with her daughter. Most of all though, she was thankful that she had been given the opportunity to lay in the arms of her husband – who was armed and ready to fight the nightmares that she hoped would stay away from her night's sleep.

And, as her eyelids closed, she knew that someone had been looking out for her that night. Just like how James had someone looking out for him.


As I watched this episode, I couldn't shake the similarities that we saw in SOOH, so we channeled it and put a DL twist on it... because well, someone has to! :P Hope you all liked it, and thanks for reading!