This is the city that never sleeps, never stops. Even when she is home alone in her dark apartment she can feel the constant thrum of unending movement. In her first few weeks in the city she'd had trouble sleeping, so different it was from the quiet stillness of her childhood home in Montana. She had learned to ignore it, but that stead hum was always there in the background.
It was Christmas Eve, just before 11pm. The lab was dark and the gentle hum of the machines was only occasionally broken by human voices. Lindsay was working the next day from eight am so Mac had let her go early. As Danny was nearby at the time he also gained an early mark.
She wasn't sure why she had stopped at the large windows near the entrance to the lab. She was examining the dark sky heavy with clouds, idly wondering if it would snow. The cynic in her said it would only happen the day after Christmas- just in time to mess up the roads for all of those trying to get back into- or out of- the city.
"Hey Montana."
She started slightly and turned to find Danny behind her, dressed warmly as she was in a long coat, gloves and a scarf.
"Hey Danny." Neither of them smiled. It had been a long day. It was more than that.
She tuned her back on the window and he joined her in walking down the stairs. He held the door open for her and they stepped out into the cold. On the sidewalk he paused and she did to, waiting. Her breath crystallised in front of her face in white clouds.
"Ah- what you doin' now?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Going home."
He paused, went to turn away, then turned back. "You wanna go do somethin'?"
She stepped back. "Danny…"
"Come on Montana, trust me," he said impatiently. A million unsaid words stretched between them. He sighed, held out his hand, and smiled. "You'll have fun I promise."
After a long moment, and without really knowing what she was doing, she reached out and placed her hand in his.
His smiled widened and her heart skipped a beat.
Nearly half an hour later she was giggling for the first time in months. She skated circles around Danny as he struggled to pull himself up off the ice.
"No fair," he called as he finally got his feet under him. "You tripped me."
"I did not. Maybe if you paid more attention to where you were going…"
Above them the 88 ft tree gleamed brightly down on the skaters. Despite the late hour and the date- or perhaps because of it- there were still quite a few people on the ice. Somewhere the mellow tones of Bing Crosby sang It's being to look a lot like Christmas. Lindsay had to agree.
"Com'on Montana, give me a hand wouldya?"
Relenting, she skated over and took his gloved hand in hers. Digging her toes into the ice for stability, she pulled him up. Once on his feet he wobbled and she grabbed onto his arm with her other hand to prevent him from falling again.
He steadied and suddenly Lindsay was so close to him she could barely fill her lungs with air. She felt his warm breath on her forehead. She struggled, tried to pull away, and he tightened his grip on her.
"Just a moment Linds, just a moment."
She caught the look in his eyes and stopped. She leaned forward and rested her head on his chest as his grip loosened. Breathing in and out, she tried to calm her heart. Her eyes focused on where her hand still held his.
"Danny…"
He pulled her closer and leaned down. When he spoke his words ruffled the hair near her ear.
"I know somethin' happened to you- somethin' worse than I can imagine," he said quietly. "And I know you don't wanna tell me about it. I'm good with that."
He pulled back and leaned down to look her in the eyes. "Hey, Lindsay, look at me?"
She glanced up, bitting down on her bottom lip. He had that expression in his eyes- the one that made it so damn hard for her to walk away from him the first time.
"What ever ya goin' though right now, you don't have to do it alone, Montana."
He slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead, and suddenly everything stopped.
Everything stopped.
The noise, the movement, that thrum of the city. She couldn't hear the music, or the sound of other skaters on the ice, laughing and talking to each other. She couldn't hear the cars on the roads, the horns, the sirens. All she could hear was her own breath. All she could see was Danny. All was calm and quiet.
Lindsay breathed out and truly relaxed, moving her arms to wrap around his neck as his slid around her waist. Danny was strong, she thought, and a good man. And she was pretty sure he cared for her with all of her faults as much has she had come to care for him with his.
Slowly she nodded.
"Merry Christmas Montana." He looked down at her and smiled.
"Merry Christmas Danny." She smiled tentatively back.
They drew apart and he took a hold of her hand again. With the other he wiped away at the tears that had escaped unbidden from her eyes. Lindsay laughed weakly and he chuckled.
He helped he out of the ice rink and over to where they had stored their shoes.
"You workin' tomorrow?" Danny asked as he pulled off his skates.
"Yeah, I didn't have anything planned so I volunteered."
He nodded as if this was expected. "I'll stop by around lunch. We can go eat," he said, concentrating on his shoelaces.
She shook her head. "Don't you have something planned with your family?" Especially now that Louie's gone, she thought.
He shrugged and looked up at her with serious eyes but a smile on his lips. "I'll see them at dinner. Wouldn't be Christmas without seein' you Montana."
She blushed bright red and counted her blessings as he laughed.
"You're on cowboy."
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AN- Turns out I can't leave this story alone. Expect more in this series- a lot more.