Twelve Days of Christmas CSI:NY
Spoilers up to Season 4: "Child's Play."
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reading, reviewing, and following this story. I really appreciate all the support. We are half way through!
Disclaimer: The characters and the show CSI:NY are the intellectual property of their creators and CBS TV.
On the seventh day of Christmas: Dec 31
New Year's Eve
New York City. New Year's Eve. Two hours until the ball dropped in Times Square and the city was pulsing with excitement. Strangers smiled at each other, offering best wishes for the season, a little more open, a little friendlier than usual.
Lindsay Monroe stood on the corner, stamping her feet and blowing on her fingers to try and keep warm. Even the sub-zero temperatures hadn't kept the crowds in their nice, warm apartments, she thought, bemused. She couldn't quite get used to the way New Yorkers played in the streets of their city.
"Montana."
The nickname sent a curl of warmth to her heart, and she closed her eyes against it quickly before turning to greet her partner. "Over here. Two bodies: one looks to be a street person. The clothes, the shopping cart. This may be the place he was sleeping – no one is talking so far. The other one is better dressed…" She continued talking, laying out the scene for Flack and Danny as they ducked under the crime scene tape and began to process.
"You were on scene early, Linds," Flack commented as he took notes.
"I was here. Waiting for the ball to drop." She shrugged a little uncomfortably as the two men looked at her in surprise. Flack had a little smirk on his face, but Danny just looked blank. "What? This is the first year I've been in the city for New Year's. I thought I'd like to see it, you know? Times Square in New York City? But I was on call, so I caught the scene."
Danny opened his mouth to say something, but Flack stepped over to one body and said, "Hey, Messer? What do you think of this?" They all turned their attention to the scene and began gathering the evidence that would tell them what had happened between two men in the street on one of the busiest days of the year in New York.
Lindsay was so busy, she didn't even notice the passing of time. As always, the search, the chase, caught her up in its path, and she was completely focused on the tasks at hand. So much so, in fact that she was startled when Danny came up behind her and grabbed her hand.
"Hey, Montana. Come here a minute."
"What is it, Danny? We have to finish processing …" The words were left behind her as Danny pulled her into the crowd now gathered in the Square, swaying as it sang along with Velvet Revolver.
He stopped in the middle of the crowd, at a point where they had a good view of the ball.
It was 11:58 PM.
He turned to face Lindsay, pulling her in his arms.
"I guess you think it was pretty stupid, wanting to be here? Such a touristy thing to do." Lindsay looked down at her hand flattened against his chest, her finger idly tracing the NYPD crest on his jacket.
"No, I don't think it's stupid. I wish I'd thought of it. I wish I'd planned something for you. I wish … Lindsay, I wish I was better at this. I wish I was better at all of this." He gestured as well as he could in the press of the crowd around him.
It was 11:58:30.
"What do you mean? You are good at this." She looked up into blue eyes, trying to read in them what she needed to know.
He leaned his forehead against hers, and blew out a sigh, "No. No, I'm not. I've never done this before, you know? Never tried so hard not to screw up."
She cupped his face in her hands. "It's me that's no good at this. I want to be there for you, but I don't always know how to. I don't always know what to say or do."
It was 11:59, and the ball began to drop. The crowd was screaming and cheering.
His breath was coming a little ragged now, and he pulled her tighter, his mouth hovering over hers. "Lindsay Monroe …"
It was 11:59:30 and she could barely hear him for the noise as the crowd prepared for the countdown.
"I love you."
"10, 9, 8 …" the crowd was shouting out the numbers.
"What did you say?"
"6, 5, 4 …"
"Lindsay, I love you." He said it a little louder, and found it a little easier to say.
"3, 2, 1… Happy New Year!" The crowd went wild, kissing and crying and celebrating wildly.
"I didn't hear you, Danny." Lindsay started to say something else, but Danny took her mouth with his and poured everything he was feeling into that moment. She felt as if she had been bathed in fire, and opened her mouth to him eagerly.
When they finally were pushed apart slightly by the force of bodies against them, her eyes reflected the fireworks in the sky, and he smiled down at her, holding her against him as if she was the most precious thing in his life.
Flack was looking through the crowd, trying to find his two crime scene investigators, when a hoot of appreciation ran through the crowd he was currently pushing through. When he glanced up at the huge screen recording scenes from the crowd, a grin broke over his face. There were his missing detectives, NYPD CSI emblazoned across their jackets, wrapped in each other's arms for the whole world to see: for the whole world to read the young man's lips as he repeated those words one more time, to cheer as the young woman threw herself against him, joy bubbling out of her. The whole world stood witness to that one moment that changed everything.
Danny Messer never did anything by halves.
