Go West, Young Man

I'm only borrowing these characters for my own nefarious purposes…

DL – Season 3, Episode 18 spoiler – Danny has to risk losing her for good – DL

This is my first attempt at a multi-chapter fic. I think I know where this is going. My stories usually get away from me, and that's scary. We'll see what happens…

"Got onboard a Westbound 747

Didn't think before deciding what to do"

Albert Hammond – "It Never Rains In Southern California"

CSI:NY Rejo CSI:NY Rejo CSI:NY Rejo CSI:NY Rejo CSI:NY Rejo

Danny stared at his computer screen, entranced in his thoughts. He was brought back to earth when his phone vibrated and chimed. He looked at the phone's display. Mac. 'What did I do now?' he thought as he flipped open his phone.

"Messer."

"My office. Now."

Danny sighed heavily as he leaned back in his chair to gather the momentum to lift himself to his feet. He wasn't rushing. In the past month he realized that it didn't matter how fast he moved or how much he did, time seemed to be at a standstill. He gave a half-hearted smile to anyone who spoke to him along the way. He wanted to be polite. He also wanted to be happy. One out of two ain't bad. He stopped in the doorway of Mac's office, where he found Mac on the phone. Without words, he asked Mac if he could enter, and Mac waved him in. He sat for a couple of minutes twiddling his thumbs. Go figure, people really DO twiddle their thumbs.

Mac hung up the phone, and set his hands on his desk, with his fingers intertwined. He exhaled heavily and looked his subordinate in the eye.

"Danny…I'm taking you off the Runsen case."

Danny suddenly came to life, straightened from his slouching position, and moved to the edge of his seat. "Mac, I've done everything by the book. What's going on? Who's bad-mouthing me…"

Mac held his hands in front of himself, gesturing for Danny to calm down. "Danny, Danny, no one is bad-mouthing you. You've been doing your job and you've kept your nose clean. No complaints here." Mac paused to find the right words. "I called you in here as a friend, not as a boss. It has nothing to do with your performance…"

"Mac, I need to finish this case, we're so close…"

"You don't have a choice in the matter. You're off the case."

Danny lowered his head and closed his eyes.

"For the past month you've been pulling doubles and triples and you're on the fast track to burning out. I can't lose any of my people. I'd rather you take some time off now and come back refreshed than to have you burn out and leave for good."

Now it was Danny's turn to gather his thoughts before speaking very deliberately, "Mac, this job is the only thing I have."

Mac leaned further into his desk, his voice rising a bit. "That's exactly what concerns me, Danny. Even I have a life outside the lab now. Six months ago, you couldn't peel me out of this office and now I realize that I used it as a replacement for a life - for five years. I've lost five years mourning someone I can't get back. You've wasted a month mourning someone you can get back." Mac broke eye contact and began shuffling the papers on his desk while he continued to speak. "You have two weeks off. I can't tell you what to do or where to go, but I can tell you that there's only one place you can go that will make things right in your life." He paused momentarily before proceeding. "Danny, you know what they say: Anything worth having is worth fighting for."

Danny nodded and slowly rose from his chair. Before turning his back to Mac he said, "Guess I'll see you in two weeks."

Danny trudged out of Mac's office knowing what he had to do. He hadn't pressed Lindsay to get into a relationship with him because he knew that would push her away, possibly for good. But he knew that he had to risk driving her away because things could not continue as they were. Also, there was no way he was going to sit around his apartment for two weeks pining away for her. He was afraid that pushing the issue would signal the final end to their 'relationship.' As it stood, they didn't have anything resembling a relationship, so he didn't really have anything to lose.