A/N: Hello you lovely people. I'm so, so sorry this is extremely late. I was out of town from Friday until today and had no internet, so had no chance to watch the episode unfortunately. I don't think anyone has had the chance to do a post-ep yet, so here's mine... and I'll now wait with you guys for someone else to post up another lovely one :). Brilliant episode I thought. GO NY! How proud was I when the episode finished. Some good writing there... even if we got no specific DannyLindsay scenes... sometimes subtle is also nice! :D
Hope you like what I've come up with. I'm sure some of you will roll your eyes when you realise what I've done, but it had to be done, you know? (I do hope that makes sense!)
Huge thank you to every one of you lovely people who reviewed (and heck, read as well!) last post-ep, which seems like a long time ago now for some reason. I really appreciate all of the lovely comments and thoughts you took the time to leave! :) So, special mentions to: CTI-Jenn, MesserFamilyFan100, brendanakai, FoxPhile, NothatRose, egoofy34, alexindigo, webdlfan, Montana05-Cowboy16-Forever07, lauralynn87, afrozenheart412 and Meredith and Derek.
Hope you enjoy this one too! :)
Post ep, season 7, episode 20: Nothing for Something.
"Was that a sneaky second kiss?"
"Do we have the instant replay?"
"Look! Look! It was! It was a second kiss! Clearly the first one wasn't enough for him. Understandably of course; she's looks like quite princess today on her wedding day."
"Danny! Come here a second!"
"Are you seriously watching this again?" Danny Messer implored as he made his way from the kitchen into the living room. "You bitched and moaned for months in the lead up, complaining that it was a waste of time and nobody really cared..."
"Well, I just think it'll be nice to you know," she paused, trying to think of a reason, "to um... to tell Lucy we watched it."
"Bullshit," he smirked at her as she moved from her position on the couch to make room for him. As soon as he settled she laid back down and rested her head on his lap. "You're just a sucker for romance, that's all."
"Sue me," she smirked up at him, which earned her an upside down kiss from his smiling face.
The couple fell into a comfortable silence as they watched the Royal Wedding after TiVo'ing it days previous. Lindsay had been able to catch glimpses on the day from where she had situated herself in the lab; but at six o'clock in the morning, her mind had been really only set on one thing – and that was getting the hell out of work and home to bed.
"He looks a bit more dressed up than I did for our wedding, huh?" Danny mused as his eyes were drawn to their enlarged picture that sat proudly on a bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. "Leather jacket... you think Kate would have been as lenient as you were?"
"You're forgetting the fact that Kate Middleton was aware she was getting married," Lindsay attempted to elbow him playfully but missed completely. "I however missed that memo and wasn't that lucky."
"Hey, who said romance was dead?"
"Romance? A shot gun wedding in city hall was romantic?" she teased. "I think we need to educate you on what qualifies as romantic."
"It was romantic," he huffed. "Don't know what you're talkin' about. Those flowers I got you were romantic, and that ring you're wearin' right now was pretty romantic... and that candlelit dinner I made you afterwards was pretty romantic... Prince William's got nothin' on me."
"True... you both even have that balding patch, right at the back of your-" as Lindsay tried to reach for the slight bald patch at the back of Danny's head, he swatted her hand away and fused his fingers to her sides, tickling her to prevent her from going back for a second try of mortifying him.
"That's enough!" she cried. "Stop it! You're tickling me!"
"Which would be my intention, smarty pants!" he laughed over her giggles.
"Dan, knock it off," she cried, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Please?"
"Alright," he sighed. "Fine. Spoil sport."
Lindsay settled her head back onto Danny's lap and let out a contented sigh, despite the giggle-fit she'd had not moments previous. "Could you have imagined me in a dress like that?"
Although Danny sensed the content she had for their own wedding; he couldn't help the pang of guilt that struck his chest at her wondering what dress she could have worn for their big day. It was something that he'd ultimately taken from her by giving her the option of marrying him right then and there. It'd almost been like an ultimatum. He'd made it pretty hard for her to say no in that moment; and even though he knew that she had no regrets, he couldn't help but think what if.
"Hello? Earth to Messer..." she teased.
"Whatever dress you would have worn would have been absolutely beautiful."
She smiled up at him, content with his answer, but the guilt still surged through him.
"You know babe, one of these days if you wanted... we could do it properly. Have a ceremony and all that. A dress and a tux. You me, everyone we know... register for presents and all that. Do it right and proper like you deserve."
"Like I deserve?" she almost laughed at him. "What makes you think I deserve any of that?"
"Isn't that what every woman wants? A wedding day?"
"I had my wedding day."
"No," he sighed. "A proper wedding day."
"That was our proper wedding day," she mimicked his emphasis on 'proper'.
"But Linds," he sighed. "You know what I mean... a day that you get to be..." he paused and looked to their television screen. "The day that you get to be like a princess..."
"I'd much rather have you."
"And you have me, but wouldn't you like a proper chance to lay it all out again. Renew our vows or something?"
"Why?" she shrugged.
"Well, so everyone can be there... you know, your parents, my parents, Lucy."
"Lucy was there the first time." Lucy pointed out to him.
"There in person, smart ass."
"You're not going to win on this," Lindsay giggled. "Our wedding was just as special as this one here," she gestured to the screen, "it fit for us, and that's all we could ask for. I mean, I had a scarf around my neck and you were wearing a leather jacket... it doesn't get more us than that."
"In my defence," Danny paused. "I was more caught up in convincing you to marry me rather than what jacket I shoved on as we went out the door, otherwise I would have worn something a little bit more... wedding material. I mean, I made sure you had a white top on; at least I managed that right?"
"No kidding," Lindsay mused as she felt his fingers slide themselves through her short tendrils affectionately. "In all seriousness Danny, I would much prefer a happy marriage and the ceremony we had, in comparison to an extravagant wedding and an unhappy marriage. I got married to you, Danny... I didn't want a wedding, I wanted a lifetime with you, and that's what I have."
"There's not one tiny bit of you that wants a whole day to us to show off to everyone how much we love each other?"
"Not one bit." She shook her head. "Sorry."
"Sorry? Hell, it saves me money... I just don't wanna let you down."
"Well, I'll let you know when you start letting me down; so far, you've been quite the husband, so don't be worrying."
Silence fell between them after Lindsay's brutally honest admission with Danny, giving him a moment or two to reflect on what he'd thought she had wanted through their entire marriage. He'd always assumed that there would be a part of her, deep down perhaps, that wanted to have that day with them as a couple, celebrating and flaunting their relationship like what was expected of couples when the word marriage and wedding was put onto the table. But then again, he should have known. Lindsay wasn't just another girl. She was his girl. And there was a reason why he married her.
"Anyway, do I see some little mini curls here, Montana?" he asked, following the pattern of one curl in particular. "We bringin' that back into fashion?"
"I felt like a change when I was getting ready. Do you like?"
"I do," he nodded as he continued to run his fingers through her hair. "It's like a new take on them. It's the mom version of your trademark curly hair."
"Cute," she giggled as her own hand went to the other side of her head, where Danny wasn't playing with her locks. "And are you sure it looked okay at work? It wasn't too different?"
"It looks pretty like this. Really pretty; but you're just so gorgeous anyway..." he trailed off and directed a wink towards her.
She shook her head playfully and rolled her eyes. "Ever a way with words, eh?"
"You got it," he teased.
"You know," Lindsay paused. "The past few days have been like a blast from the past."
"How so?"
"Well, me carrying around hairspray again." She began flicking her hair playfully. "You always used to tease me over that."
"C'mon though babe, in my defence the hairspray you used to take around with you was like the biggest freaking canister I'd ever seen."
"Yes well, contrary to what you seem to think, Danny, this look isn't easy to maintain, hence the hairspray."
"That amount of it though?" he smirked. "Surely not."
"Jerk." She smirked.
"Yeah yeah, you were saying..." He prompted, trying to steer her back onto her intended topic.
"Well, the past few days were nostalgic almost... us both being out in the field; going to scenes together. I liked it. It was nice to just work alongside of each other without having special treatment."
"Or being separated as it seems the deal is nowadays," Danny huffed.
"You know that isn't on purpose though," she reminded him. "Mac doesn't do that on purpose. You're better in the field, I'm better in the lab. It's practical to have us where we're most skilled."
"We're just as skilled as the other. Your speciality is freakin' blood splatter... that's the definition of field investigation. You can't help us with the blood splatter if you're scraping trace off of clothes in the lab across town."
"And your speciality is how street smart you are, Danny. You and Flack are like the dream team when it comes to take downs. Why have me there when you're better?"
"Still don't agree with arrangements, nowadays." he huffed. "It was nice you being there yesterday. Turnin' around and seein' you stood there was... it was..."
"Nice?" she smirked.
"Yeah smartass... it was nice." He tugged on one of her curls lightly.
"Working the case these past few days has made me feel..." she let out a sigh. "I'm not quite sure."
"It was pretty brutal."
"No," Lindsay shook her head against him. "Well yeah, but not that exactly. It made me miss Stella."
"Did something happen?"
"No," Lindsay shook her head again. "Nothing happened... Jo settled in so well and so quickly, it's like it's never been any different, you know? I mean, I have a real connection with Jo being a mother and she's been a wife... we have a lot to talk about. We've got a lot of values that are similar too..."
Danny nodded. "But..."
"But with Stella, it's just the history. She was there for us through everything, you know? She was there when we first got together. She was there when things were really bad, and when they were really, really good. She was the one I went to when I was scared about working in the lab and being pregnant. She was the first one out of the team to hold Lucy, and I mean she was one of the two witnesses that we had when we got married," Lindsay gestured towards the screen where the recorded Royal Wedding was still playing. "She saw our first kiss as a married couple and took photographs of us when we were too busy trying to wrap our heads around what had just happened... and now we hardly even speak to her."
"Things are just so hectic for the both of us though, Lindsay; I'm sure she understands just like you do."
"I understand that Danny, but that doesn't mean I like it."
"True," Danny nodded. "Well, rather than talking this out, how about you call her?"
"Noooo." Lindsay shook her head. "She's way too busy."
"And there is your problem right there," he pointed out to her; "Excuses."
"That isn't an excuse!" she snapped. "It's true. We both know that she's most likely at work."
"So? You can't check in with her real quick and tell her we're thinking about her? Tell her we made a break in the case with Macy? There's no harm there; it was one of the last cases she worked on after all. She'd appreciate you callin'. Hell, you could even ask if you can call back at a better time if she is busy."
"But what if she's moved on."
"From you?" Danny implored. "No way, she regarded you too highly as a friend to just shove you in the past. You were her kiddo, Linds. You guys might have never seen eye to eye on things all the time, but she was there when you needed her, and she'll always be there."
"What if you're wrong?" she asked quietly.
"What if I'm right?" he countered as he passed her his cell phone. "You'll never know if you don't try."
Lindsay paused as she considered it. She then unlocked her husband's phone and scrolled through his contact list to find Stella's New Orleans' cell number. Finding it, she took a deep breath before pressing the green button, beginning the process of connecting the two phones together. As Lindsay held the phone to her ear, Danny could tell she was nervous; but nervous she couldn't be for very long, as he heard the phone line connect with Stella's phone as she answered. He heard the usual greeting of "Bonasera," down the line, which instantly brought a smile to both of their faces.
"Stella, it's Lindsay." There was a pause. "I know it's been way too long."
Danny smiled, his eyes telling Lindsay that she had nothing to worry about. And soon after, he could see her settle into the conversation, wondering why she'd been apprehensive in the first place.
"I miss you too, Stella... How's New Orleans' treating you? Tell me everything."
There was a pause from Lindsay and a giggle. "Lucy? Well, she's beautiful, she's happy... healthy as anything. All that we want and could ask for. She looks more and more like Danny with each day that passes. Yeah!" Lindsay giggled. "It is a good job he's pretty."
Danny quietly got up and muted the television before exiting the living room; deciding that now was probably the best time to shower and get himself ready for a night of rest and relaxation with his wife. By the time he was out of the shower and done any ironing needed for the next day, Lindsay would be wrapping up her conversation and he'd be able to jump in with a quick hello and catch up on anything important Stella might want to share with him. He'd probably even share the obvious Lucy stories, ones that Lindsay will have just explained, but he'd tell regardless and knew Stella would sit through it again, just because.
"Stella, one second... Danny?"
Turning just before he made his way into their bedroom, he acknowledged her and smiled – indicating to her that he was listening.
Except, she didn't actually say anything to him; she just smiled. But her smile wasn't one that was just conveying the fact that she was happy, or that she was thankful for his insistence in calling an old friend. She was happy and she was thankful, but her smile carried more weight than just that. As they had a silent conversation with their eyes, Danny smiled. Without saying it, she was telling him she loved him. Over the years, he'd been able to converse with Lindsay simply through gestures and eye contact, and this was no different.
With Lindsay, she didn't need to say it. He could tell by the way that she looked at him. And he hoped that she looked at him in the same way every day until the day he died... because if she did, he'd be one hell of a lucky guy.
And there we have it I guess. I hope you liked it! When the mention of Stella came up, I was like BOOM! And knew that if we didn't get a legit DL scene, this was the oneshot... so oneshot it is. :) Thanks for reading. Any thoughts/comments are, as always, highly and muchly appreciated :)