Moments: Traveling

By: ioanhoratio

A/N: Here is another "Moments" story. Thanks to the summer viewing parties over at DLChem I've been thinking a lot about season 2 Danny and Lindsay (and apparently I'm not the only one since we've been getting some great stories about the same thing recently!) and have been comparing the early days with the latter days. Just to warn you this is unbelievably fluffy, and I've been working on it for about three weeks, adding a paragraph here or there so I hope the story flows well enough.

"Danny it was so pointless," Lindsay explained quietly, glancing in the rearview mirror to ensure their slumbering daughter remained asleep. Lucy's head was slumped back and leaned against the left side of her car seat, her mouth opened slightly, remnants of yellow cheese sauce mixed with a little dirt spattered on her cheek despite Lindsay's attempts to scrub her clean after dinner. The toddler had managed to get one shoe off before losing the fight to stay awake and Lindsay turned in the passenger's seat of the car enough to feel around the floorboard in the back of the car to find the discarded sandal and to pull off the other one, tucking them both into her oversized purse that doubled as a diaper bag.

"She's zonked," Danny said from the driver's seat, his voice a bit louder now that their little girl was completely out.

"Yeah," Lindsay agreed, her level matching his. The need for hushed whispers was gone since they both knew it would take a great deal of noise to wake their child. "Your parents can really wear her out."

"I know, it's weird," Danny observed with a frown, the lights from passing traffic illuminating his face in the darkness. "I can't really remember my parents ever playin' with me and Louie, but now they run around with her playin' whatever weird game she comes up with."

Lindsay laughed, "She's just too cute to resist. And why are you complaining? We get an evening where we can just sit and watch rather than have to be the ones chasing her around."

"I guess. I jus' never thought I'd see the day when my dad was playin' princess tag." He shook his head to shake the perplexing image of his hard-nosed father guessing which Disney princess his daughter was pretending to be and then chasing her around in a circle when he guess correctly.

"Now what were you sayin' about your case?" Danny asked, redirecting their conversation.

"Oh, just that today Flack and I were interrogating the suspect, well I guess perp now since we know she did it, but it was the double homicide we'd been working," Lindsay told him.

Danny nodded without taking his eyes off the road. "The husband an' wife one right?"

"Yeah, that's the one," Lindsay confirmed. "We'd finally determined that the husband had a little somethin' somethin' on the side, and once we tracked down the lover—who was 20 years his junior—the case really became an open book, and it was clear all the evidence pointed to her. It's so cliché but she had been enraged when she found out he wasn't going to leave his wife for her so she poisoned them, then mutilated their bodies."

Danny grimaced. He had heard about that, about how a certain part of the husband's anatomy had been removed, and he unconsciously brought his legs a little closer together.

Lindsay smirked at his reaction, but continued without comment. "It's just so pointless that three lives were destroyed because, as the lover told us, the husband was bored with his wife. Said she wasn't fun anymore and he wanted a younger model."

Danny groaned. "Yeah, that's classy. Sounds like this guy was a real piece of work."

"I'll say," Lindsay agreed, rummaging through her purse for some chap stick. Once she had glided it across her lips she held it out to him.

He shook his head. "I'm good."

Once the chap stick had been tossed back into the purse at her feet, she snuggled into the seat, turning slightly to be able to watch him as he drove. They sat in companionable silence until Danny, glancing at her briefly, finally prodded, "Whacha thinkin' about over

there?"

Lindsay shrugged, and reached out her hand to rest at the nap of his neck, massaging gently. "Nothing really," she offered.

Danny leaned into her hand, allowing her better access to his tight muscles, but pressed, "Yeah right Montana. I can hear ya wheels turnin' from over here."

She gave a small sigh. "You don't really call me that very often."

Danny's brow lowered in confusion. "What?"

"Montana," Lindsay clarified, "You don't really call me Montana much anymore."

"I thought you hated it," Danny countered.

"Oh please," Lindsay replied giving his neck a playful squeeze, "You and I both know I always secretly loved it.

"Yeah ya did," Danny said with a knowing grin, his heavy New York accent making his comment sound lewd.

Lindsay rolled her eyes, but the action was countered by the laughter that bubbled out, and Danny's grin only grew.

"You're a dork," Lindsay said, and Danny grabbed the hand that was on his neck and brought it to his lips, kissing the back of it, and then dropped their entwined fingers to rest on the console between their seats.

"And you're stuck with me," he crowed with glee, then added with emphasis, "Montana."

"Smart ass," Lindsay grumbled under her breath, but loud enough to ensure he heard her. She began rubbing her thumb across the skin of his hand, loving the feel of his large fingers engulfing her smaller ones. "When did you stop calling me that so much?"

Danny face scrunched up comically as he thought back through the years. "I don't know. I guess, it was around the first time we slept together," he finally concluded.

Lindsay considered that. "Hmm…I guess you're right. It did seem to drop off after that." Then with a bemused smile she added, "So if we had never slept together you'd still be calling me Montana every chance you got."

It was Danny's turn to laugh. "Ha! We were always going to sleep together sweetheart."

Lindsay's eyebrows shot up. "You sound awfully sure of yourself there babe. How'd you know it was foregone conclusion?"

"Besides the little munchkin sleepin' in the back seat as evidence you mean?" Danny teased.

"Well obviously you were right because we did sleep together, but what convinced you that it was going to happen before it happened?"

"I knew I wanted to sleep with you probably that night at Cozy's when you wanted to prove me wrong about Mac, an' I suspected you were startin' to get a little interested in me," he confessed, glancing again at her for confirmation, but she merely gave a noncommittal shrug.

He shook his head, but continued, "I definitely knew you wanted to sleep with me after the Holly case."

Neither needed anymore verbal prompting to know instantly that he was referring to the first time he'd wrapped her fully in his arms as she had clung to him following Lindsay's brush with danger.

"You mean when I was emotionally vulnerable?" she goaded with a smirk.

Danny snorted. "Yeah right. I know when you're emotionally vulnerable and that wasn't it. Yeah you were shankin' up by what had happened, but you were so brave and strong. You walked in there without blinking an' eye. It didn't matter that you were scared. No. I've seen you when you were vulnerable and that wasn't it. You held on to me because you wanted to. Between the two of us I was probably the more emotionally distraught."

Lindsay couldn't help the small smile that spread across her lips. She loved how Danny respected her as a detective, as a cop, and how he never condescended to her because she was a woman, never treating her like he was there to save her from a dangerous situation—at least in a professional sense. It was in the personal application that she wanted his help and strength.

"The chemistry between us was jus' too strong. You can't deny it," Danny accused. "You wanted me as bad as I wanted you."

With an elaborate sigh, to give the illusion that the words about to pass through her lips were pulled against her will, Lindsay finally responded, "You're right. I can't deny it. I wanted to jump you desperately."

"Ya see?" Danny prodded with a self-satisfied smile. "We were always going to sleep together. I jus' didn't know when, and I definitely I didn't know what it would lead to."

"You mean Miss Thing back there, and the 'as long as you both shall live' part?"

Danny shifted lanes, knowing their exit was coming up soon, then answered, "Sorta, but more the 'this country girl is the love of my life and my soul mate' part. Lucy an' our marriage are the manifestations of that; the icin' on the cake type thing."

Lindsay's gaze moved from his face to stare unfocused out of the windshield. It was a look Danny recognized easily. It was the look she always got when a piece of evidence grabbed her attention and got her thinking of something.

"What?" Danny urged, understanding there was more to the conversation than the use of a nickname.

"I don't know," Lindsay prevaricated, keeping her eyes focused on the road ahead of them, "I think you'll think I'm being dumb."

"Well I can't know how I'll react because I don't really know what we're talkin' about here so I can't promise I won't think you're bein' dumb, but I hope you won't let that stop ya from tellin' me."

"That wasn't really the answer I was hoping for," Lindsay huffed.

"Oh sorry, I meant to say of course I won't think it's dumb. Nothing you say is ever dumb and I would never find anything to tease you or make fun of you for," Danny said in an emotionless voice, giving the impression of rote presentation.

"Well that was closer to what I wanted to hear, but the tone left much to be desired," Lindsay responded dryly.

"Give it up Linds. Quit stallin' an' jus' tell me what's on your mind," Danny instructed, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Knowing she didn't really have a choice since Danny had clearly picked up on something bothering her, Lindsay began, "I was just thinking about what I was like when I first got to New York, and I don't really see myself as that girl anymore."

"Ok," Danny said slowly, unsure of her point.

"And I guess I was just wondering if you sometimes wish I was more like her," Lindsay said in rush.

Danny tilted his head to the side, trying to work out exactly what his wife was talking about. "You mean, ya wonder if I want you more like Montana then like Lindsay?"

"Maybe."

"You're right," Danny said, "that is dumb."

Lindsay made to snatch her hand away from his, but Danny held tight and continued, "But it's a little understandable considerin' the things we see every day. So to indulge you're crazy musings…"

"They're not crazy!" Lindsay defended, "You just got through telling me how in to me you were back then."

"First of all," Danny countered, "I'm way more into you now; secondly, you're not a completely different person Linds. Yes you have changed, grown, but I still see her in you."

Lindsay looked unconvinced. "You don't think I was more fun back then?"

"Babe, we all were more fun back then," Danny argued.

"Again, not really what I was hoping to hear," Lindsay said.

"Look," Danny tried again, "That girl was tough and hard. She fought back with everything she had and wouldn't let me get away with anything. She was razor sharp and knew how to cut, an' I ain't gonna lie, I had a serious crush on that girl."

Danny paused long enough to tug on her hand, forcing her to move her whole body closer to his as he rested their hands on his thigh, then continued, "But that girl was also sad and little bit broken. That girl fought so hard because she was afraid and hidin'. That girl was more like a protective shell. Then I woke up one morning an' I had you in my arms; a girl who wasn't so afraid anymore, who was softer and more vulnerable. A girl who was more forgiving an' happier, an' this girl is the girl I love," Danny insisted. "The girl I had a crush on didn't have a place for me in her life, not really, nothing beyond a fun flirty friendship or a possible one night stand. The girl I love loves me back and we've made a life together, an' that's way better than anything else."

He kissed her finger then added, "I don't want a younger model."

Silence filled the car following Danny's confession. He took his eyes off the road for a moment to gage her reaction, and saw that she was simply staring at him. He had to bring his gaze forward to ensure their safety, but saw her moving in his peripheral vision, and heard the whoosh of the seat belt being pulled, allowing her the extra room necessary to lean over and place a chaste kiss against his cheek.

"Ok," she whispered into his ear before leaning back into her own seat.

"Ok?" he asked surprised, "Jus' like that? Ok?"

"Just like that," she confirmed. "I love you."

"I love you too babe, but I'm really confused here…" Danny trailed off.

Lindsay shrugged, pulling her hand free to be able to reach down and slid her own shoes off. She leaned the seat back a bit and brought her feet up to rest on the dash board, allowing her to settle down against the seat.

Once she had found a comfortable position she held her hand out and Danny again took in into his grasp. In a softer tone she explained, "I think I was being a little vain and feeling tired and run down, and this ridiculous case got me thinking about what we used to be…"

"Ya think I would ever act like that douche bag?" Danny questioned, his tone tight.

"No," Lindsay assured him quickly, leaving no doubt, "Never. It's not that. It's more…It's just weird to think about how different I feel now compared to how I felt when I first moved here. I was so alone and so focused on my job, and now I have you and Lucy, and even thought it's still an important part of my life my job isn't what drives me anymore, it's you two."

"Yeah, an' I use to spend money on suits and expensive haircuts, an' was overall a pretty selfish guy," Danny pointed out. "But now I'm a jeans an' messy hair guy who is responsible for two other human beings."

"And now you're not a glasses guy," Lindsay smiled.

Danny nodded. "Yeah, I made that switch just in time because every time I would wear my glasses Lucy would try an' pull 'em off my face."

Lindsay couldn't help the yawn that escaped and allowed her head to fall back against the seat. "We are both different, and when you started talking I realized I already knew what you were going to say because it's the way I feel about you. I think I just needed a little reminder."

"We're gettin' better with age," Danny commented quietly, glancing at her. He saw her smile again, though her eyes were closed now. "But you'll always be my Montana babe," he promised.

"I know," Lindsay breathed, giving his hand a squeeze. She didn't bother opening her eyes, knowing they were at least a good 15 minutes from home. Instead she allowed the gently rocking of the car to lull her to sleep knowing Danny would get them all safely home.

The end

Thanks for reading!

Hopefully no one has entered a diabetic coma ^_^ but it was too much fun to write and I couldn't resist. Hope you enjoyed!