*raises right hand*
I, unlikelyRLshipper, do solemnly swear that there are NO MORE CLIFFHANGERS IN THIS STORY.
I think you guys have had to put up with enough, and I thank you for continuing to come back, even if you want to rough me up a little (or a lot, because that's OK too!!) I really do appreciate that people are reading this and are interested in seeing where I'm going with this, so I don't want to push my luck with you guys and drive you away by being excessively mean (which I really hope that I haven't done already!).
It's time to be straight forward: Lindsay's fate WILL be revealed in this chapter.
Let's go straight into it. I hope everybody likes this!
Danny had absolutely no idea what had just happened.
He had dove for his gun but before he could even reach it, he heard 2 shots ring out and several loud crashes.
Not wanting to look up but knowing he had to, Danny saw Lindsay's chair tipped on the floor, her eyes closed, and he didn't see any signs of movement from her.
A scream of anguish escaped Danny's throat and he started sobbing.
Suddenly, Lindsay's eyes flew open and locked on his, her head emphatically shaking from side to side. Not completely understanding, Danny looked over at Shane Casey and saw him on the ground completely still, with what appeared to be a blood pool growing around him.
"Danny, get up. It's over." He remembered that Mac was still there with him and he looked back, seeing Mac approach Casey with his gun still trained on him.
"What just happened?"
"Go untie Lindsay, make sure she's OK and I'll tell you."
Danny got up quickly and rushed over to her, righting the chair before first ungagging her. "I wasn't hit, it's OK Danny." He quickly finished untying her before pulling her up into his arms and crushing her against him, managing to choke out "I love you" before dissolving into sobs. Whispering "I love you too" into his ear, Lindsay grabbed onto Danny just as tightly as her own tears started. The couple stood like this for several minutes before daring to pull back from one another in order to fuse their lips together.
The combination of the need for air and the sound of Mac clearing his throat caused Lindsay and Danny to break apart at the mouth while they stayed wrapped up in each other's arms. Turning their attention to Mac, Lindsay spoke first. "Is he…"
"Yes."
From his new vantage point, Danny could now see the hole in Shane Casey's chest where Mac had shot him through the heart. Taking in the rest of the scene, Danny noticed that Mac's gun was still on the ground, not far from his own, but before he could ask, Mac supplied him with the details.
"I had another gun concealed under my vest. I took the chance that Casey wasn't going to search us."
"But how did you get it out, and how did nobody else get shot?" Danny's confusion came through in the question.
"You were the one who helped with both of those. Casey was so focused on you that he wasn't really paying all that much attention to me, especially after you set him off. I started to turn toward you to pretend to try and calm you down, but by turning my right side away from him, I had an easier time of getting the gun out from under my vest so I could get at it when I needed it. As to how nobody else got shot, you asking him to take the blindfold off gave me an idea…"
"Leave her out of this, I'm the one you want, not her."
"But if I kill you…"
Once again, Shane Casey was so absorbed with Danny that he was paying almost no attention to Mac. Seizing the opportunity, Mac looked over at Lindsay and locked eyes with her, quickly motioning with his eyes in the direction away from Casey. Lindsay very so slightly nodded her head to let Mac know that she understood.
"Say goodbye Danny."
"NO!!!!"
Mac looked at Lindsay again and nodded his head very subtly, and she sent herself tumbling to the floor.
"…Casey was too busy between Lindsay hitting the floor and you diving for your gun to see me get my backup gun. He caught me at the last second and started to aim for me. I shot him and he fired, but he wasn't aiming at anything. The other bullet is somewhere in the wall over there," Mac said, pointing the direction away from where Lindsay had been.
Danny glanced down at his wife and saw her shake her head, verifying what Mac had just told him. Danny was about to speak again when the sound of sirens filled the quiet bar.
"You two sit down in a booth, I'll deal with this." Danny and Lindsay did as they were told and collapsed together in the nearest booth while Mac exited the bar to head off the police.
"I'm so sorry Lindsay, this was all my fault."
The torment that Lindsay saw on Danny's face nearly broke her. "Danny, this was not your fault. I was on my way home when I walked by an alley and heard a young woman scream for help. I went to investigate and as I reached for my gun, a hand came over my eyes and a cloth filled with chloroform was shoved over my nose and mouth. When I woke up again, I was tied down to a chair here with Shane Casey standing over me. As soon as I was awake, he called you."
Unsure of whether he wanted this question answered, Danny pressed on. "What happened while Mac and I were trying to figure out where you were?"
"Well, he blindfolded and gagged me after getting off the phone with you and just kept telling me that killing me was nothing personal against me – he wanted me to understand that I had to die so he could get back at you. He said the same thing that he told you: you took the person that he cared about the most and he was gonna do the same thing to you…" Lindsay's voice trailed off as a look of sheer panic and horror overtook her features. "Oh my God, where's Lucy? Did he get her too?"
Danny immediately pulled Lindsay into his arms and tried to calm her down. "I should have told you right away: She's safe, I promise. When I was on the phone with Casey, Mac called Stella and Hawkes and they went to our place and got her and were bringing her back to the lab."
Lindsay let out the breath she had been holding in and continued to cling to Danny, relieved that her entire family was safe.
Mac re-entered the bar with Flack hot on his heels, who was obviously relieved to see that his two best friends were alright. "Danny, Lindsay, Flack's going to stay here and wait for the CSIs to come and process. I'm taking you back to the lab. IAB will want to talk to all of us."
"Shouldn't Lindsay go to the hospital and get checked out?" Danny asked, clearly concerned for his wife.
Mac looked to Lindsay and waited for her to make her own decision. "I'm fine Danny. He only slapped me across the face when I told you not to come. He didn't do anything else to hurt me, I promise. I want to get this over with so I can see Lucy and we can go home."
Danny didn't want to push her, so he scooted out of the booth, waited for her to join him and then led them to the door. Passing Flack, they paused long enough for the detective to throw his arms around the couple. "I'm so glad that you guys are OK. Go be with your daughter, I've got this." They both nodded and followed Mac out to the truck.
Danny opened the back door for her and quickly removed his vest, tossing it in the front seat before climbing in beside her. Lindsay waited until Danny had his seatbelt one before she wrapped herself around him and held on tight as he did the same to her.
Mac, finally done at the back of the truck, climbed into the cab and looked in the mirror at the young couple. Danny's eyes opened for a moment and locked with Mac's in the mirror. He nodded and started the car. As he pulled out into traffic, he looked in the mirror again and noticed that they were still clinging to each other, eyes closed.
Mac had never been so happy to see them having their hands all other each another.
I'd like to state for the record that there never was any plan to seriously hurt/kill Lindsay – I honestly could not have written that type of story. The cliffhangers were my way of building up suspense in the short term and tricking you into thinking that something really bad was gonna happen to Lindsay.
The next chapter is probably coming out sometime this weekend. It's time to reunite the Messer family and have Lindsay and Danny start to talk about what happened, but not with each other quite yet *enter Mac*
Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll be back!!!!!
