A/N: A/N: OMG ITS AN UPDATE!!!!!! It only took me six + months to get it done. So sorry about that. This is the final chapter for this story. I kind of hit a dead end with "little moments", so I figured it was time to close it out. Im not particularly proud of this chapter, but ... it is what it is. This chapter was actually the first chapter written for this story, but since writing the other chapters, Ive tweaked this. This is the final installment of this story. Hope everyone enjoys!! Any spelling/grammar errors are my own mistake.
Disclaimer: I own nada.
All this feels strange and untrue
And I won't waste a minute without you
My bones ache, my skin feels cold
And I'm getting so tired and so old
The anger swells in my guts
And I won't feel these slices and cuts
I want so much to open your eyes
'Cause I need you to look into mine
Tell me that you'll open your eyes
Tell me that you'll open your eyes
Tell me that you'll open your eyes
Tell me that you'll open your eyes
'What do we got Flack?' Danny asked as he strode up beside Detective Mac Taylor who was crouched beside a young blonde female laying face up in a puddle of blood.
'Kerri Walters, twenty-two, gun shot to the abdomen, right shoulder, and left thigh. Looks like this one to the thigh may have hit the artery' he stated to them as Lindsay Monroe began taking over-alls of the scene.
'Probably bled out pretty quick, looks like theres foot prints leading toward the building, and smaller ones leading away from the building' Danny added looking on while Lindsay took a few more pictures.
'Could be from our shooter, the smaller ones are definitely from our Vic' Danny said, processing the body slowly.
'Im going to follow these, see if maybe the shooter left us something inside this door' Lindsay said as she walked toward the large blue door that read - 'Employees Only'. Pushing the door open, she stepped inside carefully, her right hand hovering above her gun, her left shining her flashlight in and around the hall before entering. The building seemed un-occupied, many doors were locked, and 25 feet down the dark hallway, the bloody footprints stopped. She shone her flashlight further down the hallway, looking for any signs of which way the perp may have gone.
'Don't move…you hear me! Don't make a goddamn sound…' A hoarse, deep voice said from behind her. She froze, her hand now clenching her gun ready to pull it from its holster. She began to turn to look at the perp…
'HEY! ARE YOU DEAF? DID YOU NOT HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID?? I SAID, DON'T…MOVE…' he yelled, louder this time. She jumped at the intensity of his voice, freezing again.
'I'm a police officer, theres two other detectives outside, so don't do anything stupid, because they'll come in here, cuff you, and you'll be playing kissy kissy with a guy named Bruce behind bars for the rest of your life ok?'She tried to sound tuff, maybe to make herself feel a little more in control of the situation than she actually was…. Why couldn't Danny, or Mac just walk in here right now?
Outside Danny peered at the door Lindsay had passed through only minutes before, he shook off whatever unsettling feelings he was having, writing them off as, 'I'm just trying to protect my girlfriend' feelings, and continued looking over the victim. But the next thirty seconds seemed to go in slow motion, the world stopped turning for those thirty seconds and Danny couldn't feel his legs, let a lone move. He heard the all too familiar sound of a gun shot. Exchanging glances with Mac, somehow the feeling came back to his legs as he sprinted for the entrance to the building, Flack following close behind, guns drawn. Danny could never have prepared himself for the image now playing in front of him. Lindsay lay, crushed against the wall, her left hand over the gunshot to her chest, her right gripping her gun still. Crouching beside her he could hear Flack making a radio call for EMS and heard those words, 'OFFICER DOWN! I REPEAT OFFICER DOWN WE NEED EMS NOW!', but it all seemed fuzzy.
'Come'on Montana…Montana look at me' He said, taking her right hand in his as her once bright chocolate eyes stared blankly at him. 'Theres my girl, stay with me, EMS is going to be here and we'll get you to Bellevue, ok? Hang on' He said loudly, her eyes fluttering closed, but opening at the sound of his voice. The shrill sound of the Ambulance sirens entered Danny's ears as he heard the medics call down the corridor, racing beside him, pushing him out of the way and starting a work-up on Lindsay.
'We're losing her…' he heard one medic say.
He stood there helplessly, watching it all unfold before his very eyes. The love of his life, bleeding out and the life draining so quickly from her. He felt like he was suffocating, like someone had their hands wrapped so tightly around his neck that even the littlest amount of air couldn't get in to fill his lungs. He looked between her and the medics, his hand still gripping her now fast-becoming cold one and he closed his eyes willing every power and thing above that owed him a favor, to give him that favor now and let her pull through this. He felt his body being shook, softly at first, the pressure on one of his arms, then rapidly moving to both his shoulders and shaking a little more violently.
"Lindsay please don't do this to me! Stay with me! Stay with me baby!" He yelled out, eyes still closed, afraid to look at the scene before him.
The shaking persisted, a little more violent.
"Danny …" He heard her voice softly, "Danny … open your eyes. Danny!" Her voice was becoming a little more aggressive, and his eyes flew open.
He blinked once, twice, and again, eyes hazy, body in a full out sweat. This couldn't be happening.
"Lindsay?" He choked out. His hand reached to touch her face, and he gasped, flying up in bed. "I … what … I … " he couldn't form a single sentence and instead threw his arms around her pulling her to him.
"What is wrong with you? You're acting like you haven't seen me in months. Are you okay?" She pulled back from the hug but his lips pressing to hers, and then all over her face repeatedly silenced her and she moved her hands to squeeze his biceps gently. He finally pulled back to look at her, her chocolate brown eyes, her perfect ringlet curls, that cute little button nose, it was all there, she was all there. He shook his head again.
"I had this, oh god Lindsay" He hugged her again, pulling her head in to rest between his neck and shoulder.
"It was just a bad dream Danny. But we gotta get going, Mac needs us both at a scene" She said gently, hand brushing along his cheek and smiling sweetly at him.
"Daddy!!!" He heard his daughter thundering down the hallway and counted five seconds before their bedroom door flew open and Emily barreled into the room, launching her little body on the bed. "Are you and mommy going to catch bad guys?" She asked, eyes boring into his.
"We, yea we are Bug" He said to her, eyes watching as she grabbed his shield. "Wear this Daddy, it'll tell every body you're a hero. Right mommy?" She asked, handing Danny his shield.
"That's right. I have mine, Daddy has his,"
"And Uncle Flack, and Uncle Mac, and Auntie Stella and Uncle Adam and Uncle Sheldon, and" Emily interrupted moving to jump on the bed. Lindsay reached out and swiped her little legs out from under her, scooping her into her arms and blowing raspberries on her cheek as she giggled.
"Yes, yes, everyone in the Police Department is a hero and has one. Come'on lets go make breakfast and then Daddy and I have to go bye bye and YOU get to spend the day with Jillian and Lucy".
"Yay!" Emily threw her arms up in the air as she squirmed out of Lindsays arms and padded along the floor and towards the living room. Lindsay made her way to Danny as he sat in bed, still shaking the thoughts from his head.
"You okay Cowboy?" She asked, sitting beside him on the bed.
"Yea, Yea Im good. Just, just a bad dream I guess" He said, reaching to take her hand and kiss the wedding band that graced her ring finger. "I love you. More than anything." He kissed her knuckles and squeezed her hand once more.
"I love you too." She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips before standing up and reaching for the dirty clothes that they'd both discarded the night before. "Go shower, clear your head. Breakfast will be up in about ten minutes." She said gently, taking the laundry basket with her as she left the bedroom.
He couldn't bring his body to move off the bed, he sat in stunned silence, hands shaking a bit as he squeezed his shield and moved to place it on the dresser. After a few minutes he willed his body to move and head to the bathroom.
Lindsay looked up from her spot at the stove, hearing him shuffle into the living room.
"Daddy, mommy and I cookeded eggs and toast for you!" Emily smiled, pointing to a plate that was set at his usual place setting on the table.
"Why thank you baby girl" He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the toddlers head, ruffling her curls as he moved to his seat.
The family ate their breakfast, casual conversation going on between Lindsay and Danny. After dropping Emily off with the sitter, they made their way to work. The drive quiet.
"Danny, what is wrong with you?" She broke the silence.
"Nothin" His grip on the steering wheel tightened. "Where we going again?"
She pulled out her cell phone, pulling up the text Mac had sent her. "Old warehouse down on Seventh. Shooting."
He put the car in park, spotting Mac and Flack standing above the victim. Jumping out of the car Lindsay grabbed her kit and camera, walking ahead of him and beginning over alls of the scene as he grabbed his kit from the back.
"What do we got Flack?' Danny asked as he strode up beside Mac who was crouched beside a young blonde female laying face up in a puddle of blood.
'Kerri Walters, twenty-two, gun shot to the abdomen, right shoulder, and left thigh. Looks like this one to the thigh may have hit the artery' he stated to them as Lindsay moved around them, taking pictures. He froze. Throat going dry, heart beginning to pound, dropping his case beside him causing the group to jump.
"Woah, Woah, Woah Mess. Easy there" Flack snorted as Lindsay and Mac looked on with raised brows. "Little jumpy there Dan" Lindsay smiled, snapping a few more pictures.
'Looks like she bled out pretty quick, theres foot prints leading toward the building, and smaller ones leading away from the building' Mac said looking over the vic.
'Could be from our shooter, the smaller ones are definitely from our Vic' Danny said, crouching down beside the body.
'Im going to follow these, see if maybe the shooter left us something inside' Lindsay said, handing her camera over to Mac and grabbing her kit. Everything in Danny's body screamed at him, and as she turned to leave he grabbed her arm. "No".
"What do you mean 'NO'?" She asked, trying to pull her arm out of his grasp, which, was fairly tight she was sure she'd have little red marks from it.
"We need to get SWAT in there, our shooters in there Mac I saw him, I saw it … Just don't send any officers in there." He said in one breath, eyes darting back and forth and meeting Lindsays.
"Danny just let me go in and process there could be vital evidence in there."
"No, NO! You get shot Linds, I saw it … I saw it, and then you leave me, us … me and Em, I saw the entire thing. Please baby, please just trust me on this. Mac! Im telling you he's in there" His body was shaking as his eyes bore into hers.
He could hear the faint sounds of Mac calling for back up and a SWAT team, and moments … maybe it was hours, he didn't know, his eyes never leaving hers, he heard the sound of gunshots, first one, then two, then three and for each one, his body tensed. On the third shot he pulled her to him, arms encasing her, lips pressing to her temple as he held her and let his tears fall.
Get up, get out, get away from these liars
'Cause they don't get your soul or your fire
Take my hand, knot your fingers through mine
And we'll walk from this dark room for the last time
Every minute from this minute now
We can do what we like anywhere
I want so much to open your eyes
'Cause I need you to look into mine
Tell me that you'll open your eyes
Tell me that you'll open your eyes
Tell me that you'll open your eyes
"How did you know? How did you know he was in there?" Lindsay asked that night as they drove through the city and towards their apartment.
"I told you. I saw it. I saw the whole thing Lindsay. You went in to process and you just … god baby. I watched you leave me, and there was nothing I could do to help you. All the things I saw. I saw Em and I, and things we all did together, and I tried to be a daddy to her but I couldn't do it without you. I cant do this without you Lindsay" He blurted out, eyes squinting shut, then opening and focusing on the road. He pulled the SUV into the parking garage and after putting it in park she grabbed his hand, pulling him to face her in the passenger seat, her hands moving to cup his face.
"You don't have to do this without me. Because of you, Im alive. You did do something to help me. If you hadn't have stepped in today … Im not going anywhere Dan. We're going to grow old together, we're going to watch our kids grow up and have their own kids and we're going to do everything we've always wanted to do, together." She leaned in, forehead resting against his.
"Kids?" He said, "You want more?" He smiled, pressing a kiss to her nose.
"Im pregnant Danny" She said in just above a whisper. He snapped his head up, looking at her, and pulling her to him in a kiss, deepening it as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I love you so much, my Montana"
She sighed, smiling against his lips, "Are you EVER going to stop calling me that?" She asked, getting out of the car and grabbing her purse, waiting for him to meet her and head to the elevator together, hands entwined.
"Nope, not planning on it." He laughed.
They promptly picked up their daughter, heading to their third floor apartment. Lindsay had gone off to give Emily a bath and get her ready for bed while he changed and cleaned up around the apartment. When he walked down the small hallway between the kitchen and his daughters room he looked in, seeing his wife asleep in the rocking chair, Emily cuddled against her chest. He smiled, kissing his girls on the forehead as he picked Emily up, placing her in her bed gently so as not to wake her up, turning back to the rocking chair and scooping Lindsay into his arms walking the short distance to their bedroom as he placed her on the bed. She instantly rolled onto her side, and as he slid in behind her they molded to each other. A perfect fit. His hand moving down the smooth skin of her arm, and eventually settling on her still flat belly. His eyes fluttered closed as he felt her hand run along the top of his, and link her fingers with his.
Pressing his lips one last time into the soft skin of her neck, he squeezed her to him. His whole family, wrapped safely in his arms.
All this feels strange and untrue
And I won't waste a minute without you ...
FIN
A/N: Im not insanely proud of the way this chapter panned, especially at the end. But, it is what it is. Let me know what you guys think.