Title: Car Ride

Pairing: Stella/Danny

Summary: Stella and Danny on a car ride back to the precinct. Set after the latest episode, Trapped. So, there is a Warning for SPOILERS on the particular eppy.

A/N:Before anything else I'dlike to say a big thank you toASKessler for nominating my fic, Three in the Morning in the 2005 CSI Fanfic awards. And for those who voted for it, thanks also. To Igiveup, Chrli, emma, bigandcarrie chibigirl626 and everyone else, thanks for reading and reviewing Three in the Morning. Hope you enjoy this as well.

Car Ride

Danny stared out the car window uninterestingly and heaved a deep sigh as he recounted the day's events. It wasn't as if he did it on purpose, didn't know that there was a red button that would actually trap him in the room of doom along with the paranoid freak's dead body. Poor guy has had a stroke of bad luck for over twenty years. Problem was, he seemed to have pulled Danny in that cursed web of unlucky streaks with him even in his death.

He had been terrified as the doors had closed in on him and the last voice he had heard before it happened was Stella's frantic one, laced with concern. Moments later, his fear had quickly dissipated only to be replaced by his anger at himself and the people outside for not telling him that the room he was in was a panic room. He would have taken extra caution when it comes to pressing buttons in there had he known.

"You alright there, Danny?" came Stella's voice, startling Danny out of his reverie. They were driving back to the precinct in the department SUV, Stella on the wheel.

"Yeah. I'm fine." he told her with a weak smile accompanied by an uncertain nod as he averted his gaze from the cars speeding by on the opposite lane to face her. "Thanks again for getting me outta there, Stell." He told her in deep sincerity.

"You would have done the same for me." Stella replied, reaching out to lightly pat Danny's knee while she kept her eyes on the road.

The rest of the ride went silent, with Stella stealing concerned glances Danny's way. She had been worried about Danny since he'd been in that hellhole for who knows how long. It probably was at least ten hours but it had felt like an eternity. The moment she saw that door closing, she knew something had gone wrong and then, filtered by the fact that Danny appeared to have been locked inside the room only made her more worried. Only when Linda had moved aside the picture frame and activated the camera and speakers was she able to relax a little as she was able to see Danny on the other side.

After that she had put Danny to work, processing the dead body devoid of his kit, constantly telling him to improvise. It had helped not only Danny take his mind off the predicament he was in but had helped Stella lessen her anxiety as well. Knowing that Danny was there, able to work and not freaking out as much as she'd expected had been a relief to her. She knew Danny was struggling to keep calm, she could see it in his eyes; the way the blue orbs behind those glasses kept darting around the room as if willing for an exit he knew that was not there.

"Have you talked to your brother?" Stella asked, no longer able to withstand the uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah." Danny said with a sigh. "I'm meeting him for drinks in an hour." He told her witheringly. "I'm still not keen about it though. Knowing Lou, he'd probably gotten himself in some sort of trouble." He said some more, voicing out his reluctance. He had told Stella that his brother had been constantly trying to contact him and had told her of his bad feeling about Lou's intention for doing so. It was the same bad feeling he had when he had pushed that button in that panic room and then knowing right away that nothing good was going to come off it.

"I think it's good you called him back. Like I said, he is family." Stella told him encouragingly.

"Yeah." Danny replied with a hint of bitterness in his voice. Family shouldn't wait two years to keep touch. If Louie thinks of me as family, then why the hell would he just call now and out of the blue? Danny thought to himself. There's no backing out now, I've already said I'd meet him. I just hope he hasn't landed himself in deep shit and expect me to dig him out of it. He thought some more.

The uncomfortable silence was back and Stella had to stop the urge to yell at the slow moving car in front of them like a regular New York cabbie. When she had driven this SUV on the way to Hunter Hudson's mansion as soon as she found out that she and Flack had left Danny there with the suspect's accomplice, she had gotten there in no time. Owing to the fact that she had driven like a mad woman and knowing fully well that if Danny was hurt when she got there it would have been her fault.

She shouldn't have answered Linda's phone, it had tipped Jerry off that they already have his ringtone-sharing girlfriend in custody. Flack had held on tight to his seat as Stella drove. He had yelled a few warnings of 'watch out for that truck!' or 'stay on our lane!' and 'get us off the freaking sidewalk!' amidst the wailing of the sirens of the vehicle. Stella smiled at the memory of how Flack was utterly terrified she would get both of them in a vehicular accident before coming to Danny's rescue.

They had gotten there in record time only to hear Danny yelling disbelievingly at Jerry, screaming incredulously at how Jerry had the code to the door all along and how he deduced that he was the accomplice. They heard Jerry yelling back at a seething Danny to call his partner and Stella came forth yelling that the partner's right here, only to have Jerry turn around and shield his own body with Danny's but it was far too late for Jerry to figure out this was a bad move since Danny had the sense to throw the solution he'd been using straight at Jerry's face and it had bought Stella enough distraction to shoot the guy down.

"It's been a crazy day, huh?" Stella tried to break the silence in the vehicle once again.

"Yeah." Danny replied. "Who would have thought our boy, Jerry was the accomplice?" he went on in disbelief.

"I shouldn't have left you in there with him." Stella told him morosely. "Or I should have left Flack or a uniform in that house with you."

"Nah." Danny said with a shrug. "You did what you had to. You and Flack had to focus more on our prime suspect."

"Yeah, but that doesn't eliminate the fact that we did leave you with another criminal. I mean - "

"Forget about it, Stel" Danny cut her off. "It wasn't like I couldn't handle it. That bastard should have seen it comin'. He shouldn't have messed with us." He told her indignantly. "Did you know that I actually thought he was a genuinely good guy? We made small talk and all and he kept asking me how I was doin' and I fell for the concerned-guy-just-doin'-his-job stint." He continued, his temper rising a bit.

"Danny, you couldn't have known. Even I didn't know 'til that girl's phone rang."

"And then the godforsaken door opens and I thought I was home free but then, damn! Jerry the locksmith has a gun in his hand." Danny went on, ignoring Stella's last remark. "And you know what pisses me more, Stel. . . .." He said seriously, turning towards Stella to face her with an intent look on his face. ". . . it wasn't because he had a gun pointing at me. It was because the SOB can open the door all along and he let me fry in there for god knows how many freakin' hours." Danny's voice was loud this time and he was talking animatedly. Stella didn't know if she should be scared or amused. Danny was either whining or blowing off steam. Maybe a bit of both, come to think of it.

"Is that why you were yelling when we got there? You were angry that he knew the code all along and he didn't get you out of there. You do know why he did it, don't you? He'd have blown his cover had he opened the door with the code the moment he got there." Stella explained to him now that he was done yapping.

"Yeah, I know. He was buying some time, hoping we'd lose evidence." Danny said softly in defeat. "And it almost worked. Good thing we knew how to improvise."

"Ah! Improvise. The word of the day." Stella said thoughtfully with a playful smirk on her face as she let go of the wheel and made a solemn gesture with her arms, making Danny laugh at her antics.

"If I knew this would be the day you'd unleash the only ounce of physical comedy in your body, I would have brought a video camera with me." Danny told her with a chuckle, amused that Stella could actually say a joke with the accompaniment of silly actions.

"If you're hinting that I have no sense of humor, I would smack you upside the head." Stella quipped back.

"If you do that, I would tell Mac."

"If you tell Mac, I would tell him you were the one who rigged Lindsay's desk drawer and stuffed it with that purple muck you've concocted from the lab." Stella said in triumph as Danny's eyes widened at what she just said.

"It was your idea to stuff it in Lindsay's desk drawer." Danny wailed defensively. "If you do that I'm definitely telling Mac it was your idea and that you also threatened to smack me upside the head." He said some more in a panicky voice.

"It may be my idea but I didn't know you would get through with it."

"I went through with it because I thought it was a good idea. Besides, if I tell Mac you're gonna have to answer to him, too. Because it was still your idea and that would make you an accessory to 'pranking'." Danny said and Stella looked at him incredulously.

"Pranking? Is that even a word?" Stella mocked at him. "You can tell Mac what you want. I'd just tell him I have nothing to do with it. I can prove my innocence. The question is, can you?" She turned to Danny with a smirk on her face and he can't help but give out a sigh of defeat.

"If you weren't Mac's favorite person, I'd be running towards him as soon as we get there to tell on you." Danny muttered with a slight pout and Stella thought it was cute.

"Luckily, you're my favorite person so I won't tell him anything." Stella assured him as the car slowed down and pulled in on their building's parking lot.

"Nice." Danny muttered with a chuckle, flushing a little at being called Stella's favorite person. "So, what privileges do I get for being your favorite person?"

"Well, the usual privileges Mac used to get. Like, Irish coffee in the morning. A muffin from Starbucks every now and then. Advice on women (Danny snorted at this). A pat on the back for a job well done. A playful nudge on the ribs if you ever decide to make fun of me . . ."

"A kiss on the cheek if excitement gets the best of you?" Danny cut off her enumerations with a playful smile, remembering seeing an excited Stella kissing a shocked Mac back at their old lab.

"Ah. So you saw that, huh? Stella said not at all perturbed. "Yeah, sure. I'd probably do that if the situation calls for it. In fact, if you weren't reeking of death and sweat I would have given you a kiss as soon as you got out of that panic room." Stella said as she found a parking spot.

Danny turned silent at that and it took a moment for Stella to register what she just said. She put the car in park and faced him to explain but he had grabbed his kit and quickly got out of the vehicle and closed the door behind him. Then, he poked his head in the open window and said with a sheepish look on his handsome face:

"Well, if you give me five minutes to shower, I just might let you do that." And with that he strode towards the precinct, leaving Stella mouth agape. Then, Stella's face broke into a smile and she stepped out of the car. She just might take Danny up on that one. She slammed the door and locked the department SUV with a press of a button, thinking that this was the most interesting car ride she's ever had in a while.

End.