Nothing Says I Love You Like A Felony
A/N I do not, I repeat, I do NOT own the hotness that is Danny Messer sob! In fact, I don't even own CSI: NY or any of the characters, plots, places, etc therein sob. I wish I did, I really do. Okay, I'm going to go weep bitterly and wish I owned Danny, now.
"I'm sure he's fine Lindsay." Detective Mac Taylor assured his rookie detective, to quell her fears for Danny.
"But it's been over eight hours. Why hasn't he called, come over, text messaged, something!" She insisted that this was very unlike Danny. Over the past year, he had gone out of his way at times to make certain that Lindsay could get a hold of him. However, this time, he had been so angry at what had happened to her that he just stormed out of the lab. That was at a little after 2pm, and now the clock was approaching 10pm.
"Lindsay, this is Danny we're talking about. Hot headed, possessive, over protective Danny. He's probably just blowing off some steam." Stella tried to reassure her young friend as she sat next to her on the couch.
"I know, he's all that. That's what worries me Stel. Danny's the kind to shoot first and ask questions later, remember?" Lindsay said, her lips curling in a slight smile as she thought about that first day they met at the zoo. She'd earned the nickname Montana that day, and it stuck.
"He's only like that when it comes to you honey." Stella told her, placing her arm around her friend. Hearing her words, Lindsay laughed, but quickly regretted it, when her bruised ribs protested painfully.
"Why don't you go take your medication and lay down for awhile? We'll tell you if we hear from him." Mac suggested.
"No, I want to be awake and lucid to yell at him when he resurfaces." Lindsay said with a smirk.
Just then, Mac's cell phone began to ring. He just smiled at her and walked across the room to take the call that the caller I.D. told him was from the county jail.
Given Danny's New York, rough around the edges manner and Lindsay's Midwestern charm, the two seemed to balance each other out, Mac thought as he opened his phone and spoke.
"Taylor" he answered. "Why are you calling from the jail?" Mac asked.
The word 'jail', immediately got the attention of both Stella and Lindsay as they listened to his end of the conversation intently.
"Jesus Danny. You didn't kill him, did you?" Mac asked, as he heard his detective tell him why he was in jail in the first place.
"I swear, I'm gonna kill him myself." Lindsay muttered when she heard that Danny was in jail.
"You want to talk to Lindsay? She's right here and it looks like she has something on her mind, especially for you." Mac said, with a glance at a smirking Stella, and pissed off Lindsay. Despite Danny's incarceration, he couldn't help but make fun of the married couple aspect of his and Lindsay's relationship.
"Oh, okay. No, no, I completely understand how you can easily put a 6'3" 180lb man in a body cast, yet be terrified of what a 5'3" 100lb girl is going to do to you." Mac said, not quite able to hold back his laughter.
Hearing this last comment, made Lindsay and Stella laugh aloud so that Danny could hear it on the other end of the phone.
"Okay, I'll be there to get you out soon, then." Mac said before ending the call and putting the phone back on his belt clip.
"Alright, I have to go get your 'boyfriend' out of jail now for assaulting your ex with a deadly weapon and breaking both his arms and left leg." Mac told Lindsay as he grabbed his jacket off the back of a chair and slung it over his shoulders.
"What was the deadly weapon?" Stella asked as he got ready to walk out the front door.
"A lead pipe" Mac answered before turning his attention to Lindsay for a brief moment.
"I'll be back with him in an hour. Take a pain pill while I'm gone and relax." He told her before he walked out the door.
"Thanks Mac." She replied sleepily.
As soon as Mac was gone, Stella gave Lindsay a knowing look. Lindsay gave her that completely innocent look that Stella had come to know so well.
"So, you're pissed, huh?" Stella asked a question she already knew the answer to.
"Well, I wouldn't so much call it 'pissed' as I would excessively aggravated with Danny Messer." Lindsay answered, knowing she was dancing around the real meaning of Stella's question.
Stella rolled her eyes dramatically at this answer. "Okay, we'll do this your way Linds. What caused this "excessive aggravation" towards Danny?" Stella asked, using the same exact wording as Lindsay.
"He's an idiot, that's what caused it." Lindsay blurted out, as she held a sage colored throw pillow on her lap.
"He was just angry Lindsay." Stella defended Danny's off the cuff reaction of the day.
"I remember when I started working at the lab; Danny was always so even tempered and charming. Now, he goes off and worries me by doing stuff like this. What in the world made him change like that?" Lindsay asked her friend, genuinely curious.
"You" Came Stella's simple answer.
"Me? What did I have to do with it?" Lindsay asked the appropriate amount of bewilderment in her voice.
"You came to work in the lab and made him fall in love with you" Stella answered her question, no longer able to hide her smile as what she had just said, registered in Lindsay's head.
Upon her words registering in her pain-fogged brain, Lindsay's eyes popped open, and her jaw dropped with shock as she stared at Stella. "I…I…He…" Lindsay fumbled with her words to speak.
"Lindsay Monroe, you did the impossible and made Danny Messer, New York's most notorious player, fall in love with you." Stella repeated in more detail for her, laughing at the smaller woman's obvious shock at what she knew to be true being spoken aloud.
"But…he never...I can't…we're just…he is not!" Lindsay finally spat out when she had regained her ability to speak.
Again, Stella laughed as she watched the young, talented CSI try and regain her composure enough to deny what every person in the New York City Crime Lab could see. "Lindsay, it's so obvious you guys are in to each other. Even the blind man on the corner notices it!" Stella said with a satisfied grin at the young woman's embarrassment with this subject. "But that's a topic for another day. You had better go take your medication and maybe even change before Mac gets back. I don't want him to think we've been gossiping about Danny while he was gone." Stella said with a laugh.
Lindsay stared at Stella with a look of contemplation on her face. Was it true? Could Danny Messer actually be in love with her? Could she actually be in love with him? Deciding to give it some thought, she smiled at her curly haired friend before heading into her bedroom to change into something more comfortable. "Thanks Stel" the short brown-haired woman tossed over her shoulder as she closed the door to the small room.
At the police station, Mac had finally posted the bail for Danny and was just waiting for the paperwork and processing to be finished for his release. He sat in a chair and waited. As he waited, his mind began to wonder to topics of fishing, a paperless office, and what in the world would possess Danny Messer to do such a thing to someone.
'I know the kid is entirely too fond of her for things to be strictly work related, but I didn't think he cared about Lindsay this much. Oh sure, I heard a random story about him carrying her across a rooftop, but surely she couldn't have gotten those results by any other means.' Mac told himself; even though he was sure, she had other methods at her disposal for her little 'experiment'. As he thought, he came to several strange things that led him to believe this feeling, whatever it is, may be a mutual one. First, he thought about how whenever they were in the lab together, Danny always seemed to stand much closer to her than necessary. And then there was the way he always seemed to be surreptitiously checking her out, even when he was really supposed to be doing something else.
Before Mac's thoughts could get any further, the door for the release of the prisoners opened and Danny emerged. Mac stood up, signed the necessary release forms, collected any documents needed and led the young man to his SUV.
Once they were on the road, Danny finally spoke more words than just 'fine' and 'okay', as he had done when he was asked if he was alright and if he was ready to go.
"How's Montana doing?" Danny asked as soon as he realized Mac wasn't going to kill him for what he had done. Hearing Danny's cutesy term of endearment for the petite woman, Mac held back his smile and answered the question. "She's in a bit of pain, but otherwise she's okay, physically. She was worried about you, Danny." The older man threw in after a short pause and glancing at the roughed up man sitting next to him.
Hearing that she was in pain and he'd caused her to worry on top of that, made Danny wince noticeably before he spoke. "I didn't mean to worry her. I was just so angry that anyone would even consider hurting her. I didn't know what else to do." Danny explained.
"You could have stayed around to be with her in the emergency room." Mac said flatly.
"Emergency room? But I thought you said she was okay!" Danny exclaimed, the concern evident in his voice.
"She is okay Danny. Her back is all bruised up, as is her neck and her cheek and a couple bruised ribs, but with some rest and taking the medication they gave her for pain, she'll be fine in a few weeks." Mac explained what the doctor had told them, once they had finally convinced her to go and be checked out.
"Bruised ribs? She didn't mention him hitting her there." Danny thought aloud, his lips in a tight thin line and his hand clenched into a fist around the handle of the door as his anger rose again and he wished he could go back and beat that jerk down again.
"I think there's a lot she hasn't mentioned to us." Mac answered his thought.
"About Kevin." The young detective inferred what Mac meant.
"About Kevin. About her past. Life in general. She's not the most forthcoming person I've ever met." Mac clarified for him.
"Well, maybe she just hasn't found someone she can feel comfortable opening up to." Danny threw out the possibility as to why Lindsay stayed so quiet about her past.
"Maybe you can be that person she'll feel comfortable enough with to actually talk about things." Mac suggested.
Danny just looked over at his boss, as Mac kept his eyes on the road and waited for the younger man to respond to what he said. They were getting closer to Lindsay's apartment, so he needed to get it out now.
"Nah. I don't think we're close enough with each other for that. We're just casual friends." Danny said as Mac pulled up outside the apartment.
"Danny, you just beat up her ex-boyfriend with a lead pipe. I think that pushes the two of you WAY over the 'casual friend' line. Now the question is; what are you going to do about that?" Mac said as he and Danny walked up to the front door and Mac pushed the button for Lindsay to buzz them in.
Once they had been buzzed in, they made the walk up the three flights of stairs to Lindsay's apartment. Danny was quiet for the first flight when he pulled himself out of his quiet contemplation and thought of something to say. "Well walking up and down these stairs everyday hurt her ribs anymore?" He asked for no particular reason outside of small talk, but once he had and saw Mac's facial expression change, he knew it had been a bad idea.
Mac looked at the man lagging behind him with a hint of amusement in his eyes before he spoke. "What if it will? Are you offering to carry her up and down the stairs? It might be a bit harder than carrying her across a roof, Danny."
Before Danny could respond, they were there in front of Lindsay's apartment and Mac knocked on the door. When no one answered, Mac knocked again, and Danny started to get nervous.
'Why isn't she answering? What if something is wrong and she can't get to the door?' Danny wondered to himself.
Just then, the sound of Stella and Lindsay laughing echoed through the door and Mac called out, "Come one Stella! Would you girls quiet gabbing and let me and jail bird in already?" he said referring to himself and Danny, respectively.
At the sound of him calling Danny, 'jail bird', there were two final shrieks of laughter as Stella unlocked and opened the door to let the men enter the apartment.
When they saw Stella, Danny smiled sheepishly at the big grin on her face and tears glistening in her eyes. After studying her face intently for a moment, Mac turned to Danny and spoke, "You're gonna catch hell for this. I can tell" he told the young detective. Danny just nodded his head in agreement, as he followed Mac into the apartment.
The trio walked into the apartment and stood in the middle of the living room. When Danny looked towards the right, in the direction of Lindsay's room, there she was. She was dressed comfortably in an over sized NYPD t-shirt and grey sweat pants. Even wearing sweats, she was still a vision in Danny's eyes and he couldn't help but stare. He took in her disheveled hair, tired eyes and thoughtful expression on her face.
Danny was the first to break the awkward silence by saying "Hi". He kept his hands stuck in his pockets the entire time.
"Hi" Lindsay barely mumbled back, flicking her gaze from his face to the floor in front of him and back.
After another couple minutes of awkward silence, Lindsay spoke again. "You okay?" She half-mumbled this time.
"Yeah, I'm fine" Danny answered, surprised that she was more concerned about how he was doing than with telling him off for scaring her. "Are you okay?" he asked, hoping she would give him an answer to assuage the guilt her felt welling up inside his chest every time he looked into her sad, puppy dog eyes.
"Yeah, I'm…uh…I guess so." She finally settled on saying after stumbling with the right words to use. In reality, Lindsay wanted to yell and scream at him. She wanted to tell him that she was not okay, that she was in pain and injured. She wanted to scream that she, Detective Lindsay Monroe, a cop; had gotten the crap beaten out of her by some guy. She wanted to fall against Danny's chest and cry as he wrapped her in a safe, warm hug.
As if sensing that Lindsay had something she wanted to tell Danny in private, Stella spoke up.
"Well, now that everyone is present and accounted for, we're gonna go ahead and get out of here so you both can talk and get some rest. Come on Mac, I'll buy you a late dinner." Stella said slapping his arm to get him out of his trance as she walked over to Danny and Lindsay.
First Stella gave a hug to Danny and whispered in his ear, "she's had a really traumatic day. Try and be understanding." Danny hugged her back and said, "Bye Stella."
Next, Stella moved to Lindsay. She gently wrapped her arms around the young woman, being careful to not hurt her, and drew her into a hug. As she pulled away, she whispered to Lindsay, "he just committed a felony for you, try not to be too hard on him." Hearing this, Lindsay giggled as she nodded her agreement with Stella's statement.
For his part, Mac shook Danny's hand and gave him the following day off to tend to Lindsay, before turning to her and giving her a gentle hug and telling her that the lab won't be the same without her for the next week, but everyone would be checking up on her often.
Stella and Mac headed for the door with Danny following to lock up when Stella turned to look at Lindsay and speak once more. "Remember what I told you earlier, Lindsay. Nothing says I love you like a felony". With that, Lindsay burst out laughing, with the memory that she and Stella had been talking about that very thing when the guys showed up.
Danny said goodbye to Mac once more, while giving Stella a dirty look. Once they were down the hall, Danny closed the door and turned his attention back to a bruised and battered Lindsay.
"Well, she seems to be doing okay" Mac said, referring to Lindsay.
"Of course she seems to be okay Mac. It's only been 24 hours. Give her some time and we'll see how this is really affecting her." Stella told him.
"What do you mean?" Mac asked, not exactly sure what Stella was talking about.
"The psychological aspect, Mac. She might seem fine now, but in a day or so, she'll probably start to experience anxiety over being left alone, flashbacks, nightmares, and maybe even some depression. I speak from experience." Stella told him what might lay ahead for Lindsay.
"You had that happen with Frankie, huh?" Mac asked and Stella nodded her response as she got into the truck. "So, what do we do to help her?" Mac asked. He was truly proud of Lindsay, and would hate to see the fire in her personality disappear from her work and life because of some scumbag.
"We'll be there for her. Listen when she wants to talk. Be there when she needs to cry. And always be ready with a sense of humor when she needs distraction. Don't push her. She'll work through this at her own pace with the proper support." Stella told him as they drove off.
Back inside the apartment, Danny locked the door and walked back into the living room to notice that Lindsay hadn't moved from her original spot. She looked a bit nervous to him, as if she was contemplating something. Her eyes were focused on the floor in front of her as she chewed on her bottom lip quietly and fidgeted with her shirt nervously.
"Lindsay" he said quietly to get her attention.
Hearing her name, Lindsay jumped nervously, and her head snapped up to see who was there. Seeing that it was only Danny, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Danny was taken aback by her overreaction to his presence, but decided to keep talking to her to help her feel more at ease. After all, she was in her own home now. It's not as if she was at Kevin's apartment where the assault had taken place. "Whatcha thinking about?" he asked watching her closely.
"You could have been killed." She muttered, trading in her nervousness for being ticked off at Danny. Her eyes slowly met his, and she could feel the fear of those eight hours where she had no idea where he was, or if he was okay, welling back up inside her.
Danny could see the telltale signs that she was upset with him. The fire in her eyes, stiffening of her jaw and return of her Midwestern accent, that she'd almost totally lost since moving to New York, where the classic symptoms of a ticked off Montana.
"But I'm okay. He didn't kill me and I'm fine. He's not gonna hurt you again and I'm here with you." Danny said, hoping to avoid the shit fit she was about to have.
"Like hell you're okay! Look at you, Messer!" Lindsay said, taking in the bruised cheek, busted lip, and large contusion on his forehead. "Obviously he got his hands on you, and yet you have the balls to tell me you're okay?!" She yelled, masking her feelings of fear about what could have happened with anger.
"Okay, you're pissed. I get it. I'm sorry I worried you." Danny said, hoping that would be enough to get her to drop the subject entirely.
"You get it and you're sorry? Do you honestly think that's going to help?! I was worried sick about you! I didn't know if you were just out getting shit faced, or wandering the streets or had really gone to hurt Kevin. I had no clue if you were okay or if he had hurt you! What if he had killed you Danny? What would I have done then!?" Lindsay yelled back, finally allowing her release to come in the form of tears as she stopped yelling and began to cry.
Danny was shocked by this turn of events. First off, Lindsay never swore; ever. Secondly, yelling was just out of character for her. And crying? He couldn't think of a time, other than the Holly case where he'd seen her do that. It pained him to see her upset, and even worse, it pained him to know that it was at least partially due to him. As he looked at her in shock, Danny realized just how fragile Lindsay was right now. With all her bruises and the downtrodden look on her face, he could hardly stand it. It didn't help that he knew there wasn't a damn thing he could do to make this right for her. All Danny could do was be there for her if she needed him. With that thought, he crossed the room to envelope her in a comforting hug.
"Shhh. Shhh. Its okay, Linds." He said softly as he held his arms out to her. Even with Danny offering his arms to her, Lindsay stood in place and continued to cry. Finally, he put his hands on her shoulders and gently drew her towards his chest. After a moment of trepidation, Lindsay decided it was safe and allowed herself to sob into his chest as her hands gripped his shirt desperately, and his arms wrapped around her.
After several minutes of crying and Danny silently calms her, Lindsay readjusts her position in Danny's arms, but doesn't move out of them. Danny rests his cheek against the top of her head and inhales the mango/kumquat scent of her shampoo. As they stand there, Danny finds himself silently thanking God that she is okay and he still has his Montana to hold on to.
A couple minutes later, Danny breaks the hugs and looks down at Lindsay. "You hungry?" He asks her. "A little." She answers him with a slight yawn. "Tell ya what. Why don't you go and get settled on the couch and I'll make us both something to eat since I'm hungry too." He says flashing her, that cocky smile she's loves to hate so much. Lindsay gave him the first real smile he'd seen on her face all day and nodded her agreement before going to relax on the couch.
Once in her kitchen, Danny rummages around in the fridge and cupboards until he finds something they can eat. "Good lord, Montana. Don't you keep any food in this house?" He asks her exasperated, but not expecting an answer. After another minute of rummaging, Danny finds a loaf of white bread, some cheddar cheese, butter, milk and a can of tomato soup. Suddenly, from behind him he hears a soft chuckle. Quickly, he turned around and found Lindsay standing against the counter, watching him with a smile on her face.
"Is this all you have in this place?" Danny asked, glad that she was in a better mood.
"Pretty much." Came her matter of fact reply. "I haven't had a chance to go to the store lately. Besides, I'm not here to really cook all that often, so I don't keep cooking stuff on hand. Mainly its jus soups, sandwiches and salads." She finished off, seeing the surprised expression on his face.
"I figured country girls liked to cook" Danny teased in his thick Staten Island accent as he put the soup in a pot to heat up and began to assemble the sandwiches.
"I never said I don't like to cook. I just don't cook." She corrected, as she watched the handsome detective flip the sandwiches so they could brown on the other side. "Can I help?" she asked, wanting to busy herself so that she wouldn't have to concentrate on having Danny in such close quarters.
"You can get the drinks and go take it easy, like you're supposed to be doing anyway." Danny answered, turning around just in time to catch her checking him out. Quickly Lindsay averted her gaze as her cheeks flushed bright pink. "Why Miss Monroe! I'm shocked at your forwardness." Danny said in mock shock, with a teasing smirk on his face.
"Don't be a jackass" Lindsay muttered as she grabbed two beers from the fridge and left Danny at the stove laughing, as he plated their food.
Five minutes later, the pair was seated in front of the television watching a Mets game and chatting as they ate. This was the first time the pair had been able to just sit and enjoy each others company since Lindsay had stood Danny up on that lunch date, a few months earlier. Lindsay had forgotten how nice it was just to be in Danny's company and not have to worry about the wrath or jealousy of anyone else For his part, Danny relished in the time he was able to spend with her. He'd always liked spending time with her, but lately, it had only been at work and their relationship had been strained since that date. It was only in the past three or four weeks that things seemed to be getting back on track with them as friends.
"Maybe this is a turning point, Messer" Danny thought to himself as he sat his dishes on the coffee table in front of them and unconsciously draped his arm across the back of the couch and Lindsay's shoulders.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Lindsay asked tentatively brushing her fingers over Danny's bruised cheek, concern present on her face.
At the feeling of her soft, warm touch, Danny's cheek electrified. She'd always had this effect on him and he liked it very much. His only regret was that he couldn't act on it; at least not yet. She was still to vulnerable. "I'm fine, Montana." He replied. Still, she didn't seemed convinced as she continued to study his injuries and stroke his face gently. 'Oh my god. She has no idea what affect she's having on me right now.' Danny thought to himself as he felt that familiar feeling of desire begin to churn up in his body again. "Really." He said and took her hand in his before he took her empty plate and bowl and sat them next to his along with both empty beer bottles.
Seeing her yawn, Danny readjusted his position on the couch so that he was reclining and motioned for her to lay down next to him. Nervously, Lindsay laid down and fidgeted until she was in a comfortable position. The pair laid there watching the television silently, until Danny spoke. "I'm glad you're okay. You don't have to worry about Kevin anymore. I promise you that much, Lindsay." He whispered as he brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her face. Lindsay mumbled something incoherent and her right hand came to rest on his left shoulder and she let out a soft, contended sigh. Within minutes, she was sound asleep. It was then, that Danny was able to carry her to her bed and tuck her in for a good nights sleep.
A/N-Well, that's it! You all know what to do! Click the little purple button on the bottom left of your screen and tell me what you think. C'mon, you know you want to!
I just want to thank all of you that reviewed and left me a little note. It gives me encouragement to write to know what you think!
A special thanks to DKM for being my beta! You rock! Luv ya chica!
