A/N: Hi guys! Me again, we'll make it brief this week though because I'm absolutely exhausted. BOO! Which I think is a contributing factor behind the sheer randomness of the post-ep today. I feel like when we get DL scenes, Fred gets all 'what do you need me for Laura, you can watch it on screen for crying out loud...' but then again, it could just be me. And random but we're going to take it that there's no new episode next week from the lack of a promo? Dislike.
Also, we're attempting to write Jo for the first time ever today, so bear with me... I still haven't been able to pinpoint her mannerisms and what-not (or accent/way of speaking for that matter) so it may be a little off... maybe? possibly?
So we're going to leave it there for today because I'm literally staring at the screen in a zombie-like trance right now! So... I just want to say a huge, huge, huge thank you to you amazing folk that reviewed last week's post-ep oneshot that I wrote. You guys were so sweet with everything that you said. It's always a huge boost to read the lovely things you have to say. So... huge thank you to: Megan, MesserFamilyFan100, Aveo amacus, Hay, FoxPhile, jennifer32845, cklovesm-m, juliab, brendanakai, saderia, afrozenheart412 &hope06. You guys are awesome! Thanks a lot!
Post-ep one-shot for 7x12: Holding Cell
Warranting a glance at the picture of her daughter on her desk, Lindsay released a sigh and a smile at the sight of her daughter's beautiful smiling face, complete with a cheeky Messer grin. The picture was strategically placed as an attempt to spur her on when she was losing motivation or concentration; because the longer she spent at her desk, the less amount of time she got to spend with her precious little girl.
Turning her attention back to her current task, she rolled her shoulders back to release the tension in her back. The past few days had been long ones. Long and draining. Especially after hearing what actually happened to Miguel. Her heart went out to the guy because although she'd never been in the same dark place as he had been, she could have very well been at one point or another. She couldn't even fathom how it must feel in wanting to end it all; not when there was so much to live for. And even through her darkest times, she had relied on her Father specifically to pull her socks up for her and give her the support she needed. Miguel didn't have that though; and that tugged on her heartstrings more than it probably should.
"Someone looks deep in thought."
Glancing up, Lindsay straightened in her seat and offered her co-worker a smile. "It happens now and then." She paused, "I didn't hear you come in."
"I find that's a finer quality when you have a teenager. It comes in handy."
"Catches them in the act," Lindsay smiled in knowing. "The whole caught-red-handed look is priceless."
"Regardless of how many times you see it on their face. It just develops with them."
Lindsay chuckled before turning her attention back to the screen.
"We wrapped the case." Jo informed her.
"I heard," Lindsay nodded. "It's just so sad, not what I expected at all."
"No?" Jo asked. "How come?"
Lindsay shrugged in response. "I don't know, it just... I never thought suicide would have come into it, but I suppose come to think of it now, the bed sores Sid and I found make sense."
"It gets your emotions going, doesn't it?"
"Definitely," Lindsay nodded, making brief eye-contact with Jo as her fingers flew over the keys of the keyboard.
There was an extended pause between the both of them before Jo's voice finally broke the silence. "I know you're busy and I keep distracting you, but could I ask you a question?"
"Sure," Lindsay offered a smile, but barely looked up from her computer screen. "Go ahead."
"It's kind of personal." Jo added.
"Oh yeah?" She paused, looking up from her paperwork. "Well, I mean, we're friends right?"
"Hell yes," Jo nodded. "We've got to stick together you and me when it comes to the knuckleheads we work with."
"Exactly," Lindsay giggled. "So yeah, sure. Go ahead."
"What would you do if Lucy was... well, suffering from depression?"
"What would I do?" Lindsay repeated, ensuring she'd understood correctly. "Well, when I was pregnant I had visions of myself, Danny and Lucy sat in a therapist's office ten years in the future, working through a truck load of issues..."
"So therapy would be your route to helping her?"
"When I didn't have a clue, therapy would have been my suggestion. But now? Now that I know my daughter, I'd just hug her and never let go."
Shaking her head, Jo Danville smiled.
"I must admit, I didn't expect a smile." Lindsay nudged Jo into letting her into whatever had brought a smile to her face. "Care to share?"
"Well, I just... Miguel's mother just asked me the same thing down in interrogation when Mac was speaking to Natalia, and I said the exact same thing. I guess I wanted to see whether it was a unanimous thing or whether it was just me."
"I couldn't imagine doing anything else. Hell, if Lucy slips up and bumps herself on the floor, I have to fight with myself so I don't drop everything, run to her and love all over her trying to kiss everything better. The whole letting them cry it out thing kills me; Danny's forever making fun of me."
"He makes fun of you? Why?"
Lindsay simply blinked at her co-worker.
"Did I miss something?" Jo chuckled to herself. "You seem a little... unimpressed with that statement?"
Lindsay's serious face broke into a smile and she shook her head. "No, I'm just shocked I think. One of the main things that drew my attention to Danny in the beginning was how he used to make fun of me."
"What?" Jo laughed, "When?"
"When I first started; I was the brunt of his jokes and the target of his affections. And not just for the first month or so; we're talking years here. He started off calling me Montana, you know trying to wind me up, and he succeeded for a good while. But then when he stopped calling me Montana, I guess I realised that the teasing wasn't that bad. He's toned it down a lot over the past few years; my guess is he doesn't have to find ways to get me to notice him anymore... but it resurfaces every now and then."
"I never knew that," Jo smiled. "I just figured you and him... well I don't know what I figured actually. Mac didn't write any of that in your employee files." She added a wink.
"Well, no one can say you're not proactive in trying to get information, can they?" Lindsay laughed. "Between you and I, I think Mac tries really hard to turn a blind eye."
"Well if I'm honest Lindsay, the both of you hide your marriage well. Well, no, you don't hide it, but you're professional about it. It's really admirable. When I used to work with my ex-"
"The beautiful, beautiful man you introduced me to last week?"
"Beautiful?" Jo raised her eyebrows. "When you have a husband that looks like Danny? Lindsay, come on, I thought you had a bit more sense about you."
"Jo, face it; he's beautiful... Danny's forbidden me from mentioning him... someone's a little jealous I think." She finished with a wink. "You were saying anyway."
"Oh, well when Russ and I worked together, it was just, well for one we were too alike, so that was always fun. And then of course he was territorial. He would have been less obvious had he cocked his leg and-"
"I get the picture!" Lindsay cried. "See, I find working with Danny the complete opposite... most days at least. I love having him near. It's just – I don't know how many jobs there are out there that would let me work so closely with my best friend."
"See, that gives me butterflies. It's lovely that you refer to him as your best friend."
"Well he is," Lindsay smiled. "Was Russ not-" she trailed off, not really knowing how to finish the sentence without pulling up too much of Jo's past.
"Well, it wasn't that. We were just more of an old married couple than friends. We were too alike to be compatible, whereas with you and Danny, you balance each other out and compliment each other really well."
"You think?"
"I know," Jo nodded slowly with a smile on her face. "In fact, I'm positive. It's lovely to work around the both of you. Especially when you're together; between the two of you, you're like machines when it comes to saving the day."
"Well, me more than him," Lindsay smirked. "He's got an ongoing joke with Flack that whenever I'm bounding down the halls with a file in my hand they're going to get to catch SportsCenter because I've 'done it again'."
"The place would fall apart without you," Jo smiled.
"That it would." Lindsay nodded. "I keep saying this but no-one listens, I get the impression I get humoured a lot."
"I'm sure it's because they really know deep down what the deal is."
"Yeah," Lindsay laughed unconvincingly.
"How on earth do you keep your desk so tidy?" Jo questioned as she exasperatedly glanced over the chaos on her desk.
Leaning down, Lindsay grabbed something and sat upright, holding it in the air. "It's misleading," she giggled as she showed Jo the stack of files in a box before placing it back on the floor.
"Does it work though?" Jo asked as Lindsay repositioned herself at her desk.
"So-so," Lindsay nodded. "Once you get a hang of it, it works pretty good. It's just arranging all of your to-do files in the right order first."
"Well anything would be better than this organised mess on here," she said gesturing to her desk. "I swear..." She slid from her desk chair onto the floor. "I'll be down here, organising, if you need me."
"Roger that," Lindsay laughed as her attention now focused itself back on the screen.
Within seconds of her fingers reconnecting with the keyboard, she heard the office door swing open. "Hey babe," Danny smiled, making his presence known in their office. "Look at this."
"What is it?" she peered up from behind her computer screen at the small thing in Danny's hand.
"See, I was telling Flack about you speakin' Spanish, and as much as I hated it in high school, I've decided it sounds freakin' hot."
"Did old Ms Martinez not have the same effect on you then?" she teased.
"Old being the key word there, Montana," he drawled.
"So explain to me, what's that in your hand there then?"
"Well, you see it's a translator-"
Licking her lips, Lindsay turned to see Jo, still crouched on the floor, now realising she was overhearing what was about to turn into a very private conversation. "Danny," Lindsay attempted.
"No babe, just listen, it's awesome... I recorded this earlier... tell me if you can figure it out."
As Danny pressed play, Lindsay listened to the translation and blushed feverishly, both at the content and from the knowledge that Jo had just heard every single word (regardless of it being in Spanish) that Danny had wanted to say to her. Or more specifically do to her.
"Go on, what did it say?" He smirked as he perched himself on the edge of her desk.
"Um Danny-" She nodded to the other side of the office.
"What? Mac won't know Linds, come on... I'll play it again if you didn't catch it. Did you know it can translate from English to Spanish, or Spanish to English. Flack told me Angell used to use it all the time when she spoke French to him... I think that's how he knew about it."
"That's nice Danny," she said, glancing down to where Jo now sat on the floor, biting her lip and trying to stay undetected by Danny.
"What's the matter with you Montana? Cat got your tongue?"
"No, no not quite," she blushed, realising that it was pretty much inevitable that either she, or Danny (quite possibly both) was going to be embarrassed. "It's just Jo is-"
"Somewhere off doing her own thing." Danny finished. "Babe, come on. You were all for bilingual stuff earlier, now you're like whatever. Flack had this and never gave it back earlier, so you know the department won't know if-"
"Danny please don't finish that sentence baby." She practically begged him. The last thing she wanted was him incriminating himself.
"But baby, imagine how hot sex would be with this..."
She cocked an eyebrow at him, for a moment completely forgetting the presence of her co-worker and friend. "Danny, how the hell would that thing," she pointed to the Dictaphone like technology piece, "enhance our sex life? That I feel is pretty good anyway, thank you very much."
"I'm not sayin' we're not amazin' together... but with this you can talk Spanish to me, and I'd know exactly what you were sayin'!" He exclaimed excitedly. "I mean Flack goes on and on and on about how Jess could just talk him into bed-"
"Danny-"
"No, he said that one time when Jess was talking to him-"
"Found it!" Jo exclaimed, jumping up from by the side of her desk, holding a pen in her hand. "Oh, hey Danny." She said lamely.
"Jo..." Danny said, nervously, glancing to Lindsay whom was now wearing a 'I-told-you-so' smirk. "Hey... did you uh – did you hear much of you know, what I was saying?"
"You were talking?" She asked. "Oh no, no I... I need to just go speak with Adam. Excuse me."
Watching her as she left the room, Lindsay smiled at her and Danny shook his head. "You know, Adam brings out some weird stuff in people. Geek chic or whatever you call it."
"Yeah because that's what it is," Lindsay muttered to herself before turning her attention, once again, back to her task at hand.
"Moving the conversation back to Spanish... what is it that you taught Lucy then?"
"Just a few things," Lindsay shrugged, her fingers still trying to finish the report. "I thought it'd be cool for her to be able to speak a bit of Spanish."
"Yeah, babe... I got that. What have you taught her?"
"Um," she blushed. "Well, not much, just little phrases here and there."
"Like what?"
Lindsay shrugged. "Just day-to-day things."
"Like..." Danny sighed.
"Te amo, papi," Lindsay blushed. "That was the first thing I taught her."
"Te amo... I've heard of that before." Danny narrowed his eyes. "And Papi? That sounds like papa, which is basically Daddy, right?"
Lindsay smiled. "I taught her how to say I love you Dad."
"You did?" Danny exclaimed, a huge smile stretched across his face. "And can she say it?"
"She's pretty good. We practice when it's just us and you're at work. We were going to surprise you with it."
"Linds, that's adorable," he smiled at her as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Why'd you do that?"
"'Cause I thought you'd like it... and it'd be cute. They say it's easier for kids when they start a language when they're little. Not to mention I know how you hated how good she is with technology, so I figured we'd attempt a language."
"You know I was only kiddin' with the whole technology thing. To be honest I quite like the fact she's a smart cookie. It reminds me that she can take after her Ma too."
"Hey, what do you mean by that?" Lindsay growled.
"Well babe, it's not as if she's the spitting image of you, is she?"
"She has features that are clearly mine, thanks very much." Lindsay huffed. "You know it's just typical. I'm the one that carries her, the one that protects her, helps her grow... and then the world revolves around you and she forgets all about little old me."
"Oh please, what's that got to do with anything?"
"I'm not sure," Lindsay admitted, giggling. "I'm sure it relates somehow."
"Yeah." Danny rolled his eyes as he grabbed his desk chair and rolled it towards Lindsay. "So come on, if you can teach Lu, how about you try teach me a few words."
"Yeah?" she asked, scoping out his answer to see if he was genuinely interested.
"Definitely." He nodded adamantly.
"Alright," she let out a sigh, saving her work and forgetting about it for a minute. The translator also sat forgotten on the desk as Lindsay tried to teach Danny a few phrases in Spanish.
The key word being 'tried'... so their daughter as a little more advanced than her father – no big! It was no big that fifty seconds after he'd asked her to teach him, he'd given up and settled with pressing a series of kisses to her hand instead.
Danny Messer was perfectly capable in being romantic without expressing his love for his wife in a different language. And maybe, just maybe he could coax her into helping him with some extra-curricular activities when they got home... si él era afortunado.
So there we have it. Hope you guys liked it. I didn't want to focus on the Spanish part because I took French in school, and know Hola, numbers and... that's probably about it in Spanish... so the one translation I did, was thanks to google/yahoo... whichever it was! So I hope it was correct. I cross referenced it, so it seems right, I'll cross my fingers though. Brownie points will go to those who think they knew what the last sentence means :p
Thanks for reading guys! :)