A/N: Ahoy all! Sorry for the delay in getting this next installment up. I had a few things come up this week that took up a lot of my writing time, so it had to wait for the long weekend before I got a chance to revisit.

The support that continues to pour in for this story is amazing so a huge thank you goes out once again to those that have left reviews or added this one to their story alerts! You guys are so wonderful!

I hope you like this next update. I wanted to wrap up the game but still continue to focus on the backstory of Danny and Lindsay so fingers crossed that you enjoy what I have in store for you here!

Both teams converged on the field, shaking hands and congratulating one another on a game well played. Lindsay stood with Lucy in her arms and Stella by her side, watching as Danny made his way through the line of firefighters, many of whom took an extra moment to pat him on the back in a gesture of admiration for his play.

In the end, the game had gone into extra innings with the FDNY beating out the NYPD by a single run. But their supporters were anything but disappointed. It was a far cry from the pasting they'd taken the previous year and the fact that they'd been tied going into extra innings was as good as a victory for the players and fans alike.

Lindsay watched from the edge of the field as Danny broke away from the crowd and began to make his way toward her. Flack came up beside him, draping his arm over Danny's shoulders and ruffling his hair in a display of brotherly affection while they walked, Mac and Hawkes trailing close behind.

"Good game," Stella greeted the conquering heroes.

"Thanks," Flack replied, a smug grin on his face. "But I can't take all the credit. Actually," he paused, a smirk on his face, "I could. But I won't. I'm a real team player, you know?"

Hawkes rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Mr. Ball-hog over here who throws like a girl..." He ducked when Flack tried to swat at him with his baseball cap. "Ooh... he hits like a girl too!"

"Will you two stop horsing around?," Mac sighed, side-stepping Hawkes and Flack, the detective having found himself in an unexpected headlock, courtesy of the former ME. Mac rolled his eyes heavenward. "You would have thought they'd have worn themselves out by now."

"Well, boys will be boys," Stella chuckled, taking Mac by the arm and leading him off the field, leaving the small Messer family to meander on their own toward the area where the post-game barbecue had been set up. Danny smiled down at his daughter who was peeking out at him from under the brim of her little pink sunhat.

"Hey, squirt," he said, bending to blow a loud raspberry to her cheek and eliciting a peal of laughter from the little girl. "Did you have fun today? Were you a good girl for Mommy and Aunt Stella?"

Lucy nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yoo-see bay-bawl," she said.

"Stella and I were rolling a ball around with her on the grass," Lindsay said by way of an explanation when Danny shot her a questioning glance. "She saw you on the field and wanted to play too. I think she thought it was pretty cool to see her daddy out there playing ball. She wanted to be like you."

The pride on Danny's face was unmistakable and he beamed back at Lindsay. "You think so?"

"I know so. You were really great out there, honey," Lindsay assured him, garnering a bashful smile from her husband.

"Nah. I was just okay," Danny said. "I'll be better next year."

The smile on Lindsay's face at the mention of him playing again next year was almost blinding and her eyes were shining with unshed tears of happiness. It reminded him of the night he'd first told her that he was seriously considering joining in on the game. It had been a few days after their initial conversation over dinner...

-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-

Returning from a scene, Danny emerged from the elevator and turned down the hall toward the locker room. He pushed open the door and smiled, seeing his wife standing in front of her open locker in the process of exchanging her lab coat for her jacket.

"How perfect is my timing?" he said, walking up behind her and pressing a gentle kiss to the back of her neck. "You going for lunch?"

"Sorry babe," she said, reaching up to the top shelf to retrieve her gun and badge. "Hawkes and I are on our way to follow up on a lead from our case." She turned and offered him an apologetic smile. She slid her gun into her holster and clipped her badge onto her belt. "Maybe we can grab something when I get back. How does dinner sound?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that," Danny said, punching in the combination to his own locker and pulling it open. "I think I'm gonna be a little late tonight. I wanted to let you know so you weren't waiting for me."

"Oh," Lindsay said, her disappointment evident in her voice and on her face. "You catch a tough case this morning? Maybe I can pick something up and bring it to you here..."

"It's not that, Linds," he said, shrugging off his jacket and stuffing it into his locker. "I, um... I was thinking that I might go to the batting cages. You know, to kind of get a feel for playing again."

He was relieved to see Lindsay's disappointment fade as quickly as it had appeared, a delighted smile taking its place on her face. "Really?" she asked, her eyes aglow with excitement. "So, does that mean...?"

Danny shook his head. "It means that I'm thinking about it, okay?" he said, reaching out and cupping her cheek in his hand, his thumb gently caressing her cheek. "It all depends on how it goes over the next few days. I gotta make sure I can actually do this before I make up my mind."

Lindsay nodded. "That sounds like a great idea," she said. Her bottom lip began to tremble slightly and she blinked hard to hold back her tears . Stepping closer, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him into a tight hug, her head cradled in the crook of his neck. "I'm really proud of you for giving this a try, Dan," she whispered with a shaky voice.

"If I don't try I'll never know, will I?" Danny replied softly. He buried his face in her hair and let his hands skim lightly up and down her back in a soothing gesture while she sniffled quietly. "You got no one to thank but yourself for giving me the kick in the ass that I needed."

Lindsay chuckled and pressed a kiss to his neck before untangling herself from their embrace. "Any time your ass needs a kicking, I'm your girl." She smiled up at him before pursing her lips in a silent plea for a kiss. He obliged, letting his lips linger against hers for slightly longer than was appropriate given the fact that they were in the locker room and anyone could walk in at any time. But by the way Lindsay sighed contentedly, he was pretty sure she didn't mind, so why should he?

"I love you, sweetheart. I'll see you when I'm done tonight, okay?"

Lindsay nodded and Danny leaned in for one more quick kiss before they parted ways; him to the lab to begin processing and Lindsay off to meet with Hawkes and head out into the field.

-NY-NY-NY-NY-NY-

Click. Swoosh. Crack.

Click. Swoosh. Crack.

Click. Swoosh. Crack.

It was almost hypnotic, the metronomic sounds of the batting cages. It was just as Danny remembered it; the click of the ball leaving the pitching machine, the swoosh of his bat, and the satisfying crack of the two meeting in midair. He had already been through three cycles of the machine and as the last ball flew toward him, he swung, watching the ball fly off into the netting at the end of the cage. After raising the hem of his ratty NYPD t-shirt to wipe the sweat from his face, Danny took a moment to assess his body. He planted his feet, gingerly stretching his back this way and that, bending forward and touching his toes only to feel... nothing. Other than run-of-the-mill post-workout aches and pains his back felt fine. He couldn't help the ridiculous grin from spreading across his face as he turned to put his bat away and grab his bag. He couldn't wait to tell Lindsay... and he was in desperate need of a shower. It had been a long time since he'd worked up such a sweat and it was the one aspect of his beloved sport that he didn't really miss all that much.

Once again swiping his face with his shirt, he was startled by a familiar voice.

"Looking good, Messer."

Lowering his shirt, he found himself face-to-face with his wife who was standing on the outside of the cage with a wide smile on her face.

"Linds? What are you doing here?" Danny asked, striding up to the fence and hooking his fingers through the wire of the cage.

Lindsay shrugged her shoulders. "I missed you today," she said simply, reaching up and lacing her own fingers with Danny's. "I thought you might be hungry and I didn't feel like eating alone at home, so I brought a picnic."

"Where's Luce?"

"With her godfather," Lindsay informed him with a cheeky grin. "Mac mentioned the other day that he hadn't seen her in ages, so I tracked him down this afternoon and suggested that tonight would be a good night for them to spend some time together. He showed up about an hour ago and when I left, Lucy was trying to rope him into having a tea party with her."

Danny's features softened at the mention of his daughter. She had the amazing ability to wind even the most hardened of people around her tiny fingers, winning them over with her disarming smile and wide baby blue eyes. He had no doubt that Lucy had gotten her way and that at this precise moment, Mac Taylor - former Marine and current head of the New York Crime Lab - was squashed into a child-sized pink chair sipping imaginary tea and eating make-believe cookies. And loving every minute of it.

"So Mac gets tea and I get dinner?" Danny chuckled. "That sounds pretty good to me. Thank you, sweetheart," he said, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze. "You didn't go to too much trouble, did you?" he asked, eyeing the tote bag she'd brought along with her.

"Just a couple of sandwiches," Lindsay said nonchalantly, shrugging off his thanks. She cast a critical eye up and down his body. "So? How did it go?"

"I think it went pretty good," he said. "I'm not hitting as hard as I used to, but after a few more nights of practice I think I might do okay come game day."

"You're gonna be amazing, babe. I know you are," Lindsay said without a hint of doubt in her voice.

Danny was touched beyond words by her show of confidence in his abilities and he found himself wondering - not for the first time - how he'd gotten so lucky as to have someone in his life that never hesitated to offer her undying support; who believed in him even when the odds seemed stacked against him. Danny knew without a shadow of a doubt that if he hadn't had Lindsay in his life he most assuredly wouldn't have had the strength to keep fighting, to keep trying, to push himself past the boundaries of his capabilities. It never failed to astound him just what an amazing woman he'd married.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "It means a lot to hear you say that."

"Well, it means a lot to me that you're giving this your best shot," Lindsay said. "You have no idea how excited I am to see you play. If what I saw tonight is anything to go by, you're going to give those smug firefighters a run for their money."

"We'll see," Danny chuckled. "Don't get your hopes up too high, babe. I'm only one man."

"But what a man you are," Lindsay murmured appreciatively, her eyes dropping to unabashedly admire his body through the sweat drenched t-shirt that clung to his chest. She chewed coyly on her lower lip, looking up at him through her lashes. "You think you have it in you to show me how to hit like a pro?"

"I think I can manage that," Danny smiled, stepping back from the cage and pulling open the gate for her to join him inside. "Although you'll have to settle for hitting like a former minor-leaguer. I hope that's okay."

"It's better than okay, baby," Lindsay said, starting to wrap her arms around Danny's neck. He grimaced and tried to pry her off of him.

"Don't... I'm all gross," he pleaded. "I don't want to get you all sweaty."

Lindsay swatted his hands away and gripped the front of his shirt, pulling him close and pressing a firm kiss to his lips. Pulling back, she flashed him a devilish smile. "You never had any problems getting me all sweaty before now," she teased.

"That's only fun when we both get sweaty," Danny chuckled, loosening Lindsay's grasp on him and stepping back to keep his distance. "And there's no way we're doing that here. So quit messing around and grab a bat."

Lindsay grinned at him, taking one of the bats from the stand. "Okay. Now what?" she asked.

"Stand with your feet apart, like this," Danny said, demonstrating the proper positioning. Lindsay followed suit. "And hold the bat with both hands like this." Again he demonstrated, holding his bat out in front of him with his hands gripping the tape around the base. "Good. Now, when you're ready to hit, you bring the bat over your shoulder like this... no, babe. Try and keep your elbows together... no, see? Like I'm doing."

"Like this?" Lindsay asked, her eyes dancing with mischief as she wielded the bat in the air, brandishing it over her shoulder in a wildly exaggerated batter's stance.

"Linds, come on," Danny sighed, although he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from laughing at her comical pose. "I thought you wanted to learn how to do this."

"I really do," Lindsay assured him. "Maybe if you came over here and helped me..." she suggested, batting her eyelashes at him.

Danny chuckled. He was on to her game and he was only too willing to play along. Returning his bat to the stand, he slowly closed the distance between himself and his wife until he was standing behind her. He reached around her waist, taking her elbows in his hands and sliding his fingers along her forearm until he had a gentle grip on her wrists.

"Hold the bat out in front of you," he repeated his previous instructions, his lips brushing against the soft shell of her ear. "Now draw it back over your shoulder," he continued, guiding Lindsay with his hands. "And when the ball comes, you swing like this; nice and smooth... think you got it now?"

"Almost," Lindsay replied, and a shiver ran up Danny's spine at the tense, breathless tone to her voice. "Show me again?"

"Slow learner, Montana?" Danny teased, earning himself an elbow to the gut. "Ow! Kidding! I'm kidding!"

"Just shut up and show me again," Lindsay shot back. "You behave yourself and I might let you get to second base tonight."

"Just second?" Danny asked, twisting out of the path of another elbow from Lindsay. He released his grip on her wrists and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back flush against his body and pressing his lips to her ear. "I was hoping for at least third, and if you let me hit a home run I promise to make it worth your while."

Lindsay dropped her bat, turning in his arms and sliding her hands up around his neck. She pulled him toward her, their lips meeting in a series of light, exploratory kisses which would have quickly escalated to something far more desperate had they not been standing in so public a place.

"Hey! You guys!"

Their intimate moment was interrupted and they broke apart, looking around for the source of the voice. A couple of lanky, freckle-faced teenagers were standing outside of the cage, their expressions a mixture of fascination and impatience with the cage's current occupants.

"If you guys are just gonna make out, can we use this cage?" asked the taller of the two kids. "Me and my brother wanna practice and all the other ones are taken."

Danny turned to Lindsay who shrugged her shoulders. "I'd rather make out," she said with a wink. She turned to the teenagers and smiled. "It's all yours boys."

-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-

A wide smile spread across Danny's face as he recalled the events of that night. He and Lindsay had enjoyed their dinner, exchanging flirtatious touches and kisses while lying on a picnic blanket in a park near the batting cages before they'd headed home. He'd been a little stiff and sore after the adrenaline had left his body and Lindsay had insisted that he take a long, hot shower to relax his aching muscles. After, Lindsay had laid him down on their bed and gently worked on his back, her nimble fingers patiently massaging away each and every knot. Then he'd made love to her; slow, tender love that he hoped expressed just how much he worshipped and adored her.

"What are you smiling about?" Lindsay asked, bringing Danny back from his thoughts.

Embarrassed at having been caught in a daydream, Danny grinned somewhat shyly at his wife. "Um... well... you, actually."

"Me?" Lindsay blushed. "Well, it must have been a good thought if it had you smiling like that. Care to elaborate?" she asked, then she wiggled her eyebrows at him. "Or is it not the kind of thought you can share with little ears around?" She nodded down at Lucy.

Danny smiled and stroked his wife's cheek affectionately. "I was just thinking that I couldn't have done this without you, Linds. And I don't know if there's any way that I can thank you for... well, for this." He gestured between himself and the ball field. "It was a part of who I am that I thought I might never get to share with you."

Lindsay reached up and cupped his face in her hand, drawing him down to her for a kiss. When she pulled back her eyes were flickering with emotion and she graced him with a smile. "You would have done it eventually," she said, running the pad of her thumb over his cheek. "You just needed a little kick start to get the ball rolling, as it were. You would have done the same thing for me, Dan. I know you would."

He lowered his head and kissed her again.

"Love you, babe."

"I love you too," she replied.

"An' me too! Dada yuv Yoo-see too!"

Danny grinned down at the little girl squirming in her mother's arms. "And you too?" he asked, scooping her up and buzzing her cheeks with kisses. "Yeah, you're right. Daddy loves you too, sweetpea."

With Lucy settled on his hip, he slid his other arm around Lindsay's shoulders, pulling her snugly into his side and leading his little family over to where everyone was lining up for the barbecue. As he pressed a kiss to his wife's temple he vowed to himself that he would find a way to show her exactly how much he appreciated her unwavering and steadfast support.

So? What did we think?

For those of you who are itching for the smut, fear not - I haven't forgotten about it ;) Patience, my friends. All good things to those who wait.

Reviews are most welcome, so please feel free to leave a review!