MY HERO

Summary: Post "The Thing about Heroes." DL. Danny and Lindsay discuss what happened on the train.

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. I don't own the show or the characters; I am merely borrowing them for entertainment purposes.

Just a quick one-shot I cooked up whilst watching this episode last night, so I don't think it's that good. Reviews are greatly appreciated.

An insistent banging woke Lindsay from a light slumber. Groaning, she sat up from the sofa she had collapsed on upon arriving home and rubbed the kinks out of her neck. The banging, which she soon indentified as sound of knocking on her front door, increased in volume.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" She yelled as she rose to her feet, stretching her arms above her head. A yawn escaped from her mouth as she padded to the door. Looking through the peephole, she was surprised to see the familiar face of her boyfriend, Danny Messer. She quickly unlocked the door and pulled it open.

"Danny? I wasn't expecting you today. What you doing here?" Danny looked up at her sheepishly.

"Can I come in?" She nodded and stepped aside to allow him access to her apartment. He slung his jacket over the back of her futon and kicked off his shoes, before making himself comfortable, sinking into the soft fabric of her couch.

"You want something to drink?" Lindsay asked as she headed into her small kitchenette.

"A beer would be nice, thanks, Montana." Lindsay smiled at the sound of her nickname, something she hadn't heard recently. She took two beers out of the fridge and walked back into the living-room. She gave one to Danny and took a seat beside him.

"So, what brings you over here?" Lindsay asked, curious as to why Danny would come over. He had been distant the past few weeks. Lindsay had just put it down to the fact that they had both been very busy with work.

"I wanna talk about what happened today. On the subway."

"Oh."

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I didn't really get a chance to talk to you, you know, because of the case." She could see how nervous he was; the incident today had obviously shaken him up more than she realized.

"I'm fine, Dan." She took his shaking hand in hers, rubbing soothing circles over the back of his hand. He looked up and saw a mixture of emotions in Lindsay's deep brown eyes - concern being the most prominent.

"I could have lost you today, Linds." Danny's sea blue eyes flooded with tears that he desperately tried to hold back. Despite his attempts, one lone tear slid down his cheek.

"Hey." Lindsay reached up and cupped his face with her free hand, gently wiping the tear away with the pad of her thumb. "I'm still here, baby."
"Weren't you scared?"

"When I saw that train ahead of us, of course I was scared, but in situations like that you can't let fear get the better of you. You didn't. You saved us, Dan. If you hadn't smashed that MP3 player, you'd still be pulling our bodies' outta the wreckage."

"Please, don't." Images flashed in Danny's mind - the bodies of his friends mangled in the wreckage. Blood everywhere. Him frantically searching. Finally finding Lindsay, lying on 

the floor, her dead eyes staring up at him. He shook his head in a vain attempt to rid himself of those haunting images.

"When those doors closed, I was so scared that I'd never see you again. That I'd never get to tell you..."

"Tell me what?"

"How I really feel about you." Lindsay's eyes widened in surprise. They hadn't been dating long, and they hadn't gone any further than just casual dates, minus that one night on the pool table. In truth, Lindsay had begun to think that Danny was getting bored of their relationship as he had been coming round less and less, using work as an excuse not to see her.

"I know I've been kinda distant the past couple of weeks, Linds. And I'm sorry about that. It's just... I've never felt this way about anyone before and at first, it scared me. I mean, everyone knows my reputation, and I didn't want you to think you were just another "conquest." Coz, you're more than that to me, Linds. I really care about you, and I wanna make this work. I'm just... kinda new at this. Can you forgive me?" During Danny's speech, Lindsay's eyes had too begun to fill with tears that she allowed to cascade down her cheeks. Danny quickly wiped them away, relishing in the feel of her soft skin against his calloused hands. Not trusting her voice, Lindsay meekly nodded as Danny pulled her into a tight embrace. Lindsay wrapped her arms around his neck as they both let out the emotion they had both been holding back.

"Linds?" Danny asked a few minutes later. He pulled back to look her in the eye.

"Yeah?"

"Can I stay here tonight? I just wanna be close to you." He looked so vulnerable and weak, his voice sounding like that of a scared little boy, that Lindsay was powerless to resist.

"I'd like that." Danny smiled as he leant down to capture her lips with his. Lindsay titled her head to give better access as Danny deepened the kiss.

"Mmm. I've missed you, baby." He mumbled as he pulled her closer.

"I've missed you too, Dan." Lindsay pulled away.

"Come on. It's late." She pulled him up and towards the bedroom. She went into the bathroom to change whilst he stripped down to his boxers. He slipped between the covers of Lindsay's large bed. She emerged from the bathroom moments later, dressed in one of Danny's old T-shirts that he had left there, to see Danny already falling asleep. She slipped in beside him and curled up to his side.

"Sweet dreams, Montana." He mumbled sleepily as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Sweet dreams, my hero." She whispered as sleep overcame her, feeling safe and secure in the arms of her knight in shining armour.