DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE CSI FRANCHISE OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. I DO HOWEVER OWN SAMANTHA FLACK AND BABY DJ.

A/N: Almost there folks....just a couple more of the old chapters left!

Open arms, guarded hearts

"Young hearts, I believe that we are not that far
From becoming who we truly are
Love is on its way
Dreamers, you see everything in color
While the world is getting darker
Love is on its way
So hold on another day
Cause love is on its way
You'll find it's gonna be ok
Cause love is on its way
Its alright you'll find a brighter day
Cause love is on its way
Leaders, show us how to love each other
It could help us to recover
Love is on its way
Lonely, I believe that you will find me
And together we will truly see that love is on its way."
-Love Is On Its Way, Jonas Brothers

She stood at the kitchen sink. Up to her elbows in soap suds, her brow furrowed in concentration as she scrubbed furiously at the broiling pan she'd been letting soak for half an hour while neatly stacked plates and glasses in silverware dried in the rack on the counter. The sliding door that led out onto the back deck was open, allowing a refreshing, early morning breeze to filter into the kitchen. The radio was once again tuned in to the local country station, and she alternated between singing softly to herself and smiling down at her infant son as he bided his time in the battery operated swing that Danny had assembled just two hours before. It had sat in its box for months. Since the team had held a baby shower for her when she was seven months pregnant, and Danny had taken it upon himself to not only set the thing up, but tend to other things that needed attention around the house.

While he'd set to putting the swing together and then changing a worn light bulb in the basement and fixing a broken window lock in the baby's room, Sam had concentrated on preparing dinner. A fabulous meal of garden salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing, grilled eggplant, zucchini and squash marinated in olive oil and sirloin steak. They'd cracked open a bottle of sparkling cider and enjoyed their dinner outside at the wrought iron table and chairs on the deck. While DJ gurgled noisily and blew raspberries -his new found talent- and batted at toys in his playpen, Danny and Sam had chatted and laughed over their food. The light teasing that had always flowed easily between them since the day they first met had been in fine form.

Yet something more existed within the verbal jabs and the smart ass comments they tossed at each other. Something so much more. It was the new way in which they smiled at one another. The way their eyes focused solely and adoringly on each other. The way sexual tension hung heavily in the air and their stomachs fluttered each time they simply brushed hands across the table, or when, after kicking off her sandals, she'd let her foot travel up the leg of his jeans, her toes lightly brushing against his shin. The way in which his fingertips softly stroked the top and side of her foot when she'd placed it in his lap. It was in the soft, lingering and meaningful kisses that they had shared.

And it was the fact that while they were both nervous and terrified, they had officially embarked on starting a life together.

An hour and a half following their early dinner, Danny stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching his girlfriend as she busied herself at the sink. Girlfriend. It felt so strange to think of Samantha in that way. While there'd always been a physical connection between them from her first day at the lab (he would have had to have been a complete moron to not have noticed someone like her), she'd always been one of his best friends. One of the guys almost. She hung out at the bars with him and Flack. Doing shots of tequila mixed with JD with them and sharing their pitchers of beer. Shooting pool and playing darts with them. Through the laughs and good natured teasing, the three of them had confided things in each other that even their families didn't know. They were comfortable and at ease with one another.

It was the first time, since Aiden, that he and Flack had so willingly allowed a woman to enter into the fold. Aiden had been outgoing and boisterous and a hell of a lot of fun. She had taken her fair share of ribbing from the guys, but hadn't been afraid to knock them down a peg or two. She had been a stunningly beautiful, alluring woman. Who was a hundred percent off limits. Aiden didn't date or even fool around with anyone she worked with. She had strict personal rules that she followed and never once wavered from. Much to the dismay of both Danny and Flack who'd nearly tripped over themselves attempting to get her 'into' them.

Like Aiden, Sam had come to the lab with the same moral standards. She wasn't going to hook up with a co-worker. Or a cop for that matter. She had made that very clear when Flack tossed out his offer of Irish Coffee. She'd seen right through it and him. Catching on immediately that his Irish Coffee was actually code language for something else. Danny had been there, observing from several feet away in the employee parking lot as Flack attempted to make his move on her. They'd been returning from questioning a suspect in the Bronx and while Danny had offered to stay behind and gather their things from the Avalanche, he'd watched as Flack had hurried to catch up to Sam as she headed for the elevators. And then had bit back hysterics as his best friend had sprung the whole Irish coffee line on her. He'd been expecting the new girl to fall for it. Danny had never, ever seen a woman turn Flack down.

Until that day. She'd been nice about it. She had flashed that dazzling smile, her golden brown eyes sparkling up at the man that towered over her by a whole foot, then had stood on her tiptoes and taken the lapels of his jacket in both her hands.

"Look Don…" she said, her tone serious but gentle. "You're a really, really nice guy. And you're extremely attractive. And any girl would be happy to go out with you. But…"

"But?" Flack asked. "How can there be a but?"

"Because there just is," Sam replied. "I don't date co-workers. Or mess around with them. I just don't do it. Sorry."

"But we're not exactly co-workers!" Flack argued, as she let go of his jacket and turned on her heel and continued on her way to the elevator. "I mean, we are. But you're employed by Mac and I'm employed by homicide and I just work in conjuncture with the lab."

She turned and grinned at him as she walked backwards. "You don't take no for an answer, do you." It was more a statement then a question.

Flack returned the grin with one of his own and shook his head. "It's just coffee," he said. "I'm not asking you to marry me or anything."

"I don't do coffee," she responded.

"Okay…so how about tea? A latte? A café mocha? Hot chocolate?"

"Nice try, blue eyes. Maybe if it was another place, another time. But it's not. So…"

"You'll change your mind!" Flack called out to her, oozing confidence despite the fact he was genuinely hurt and surprised at being shot down.

She laughed and shook her head and turned her back to him. "You're an arrogant shit, Donald Flack Jr," she yelled.

Danny, who'd been trying so hard to control his hysterics as he stalled at the back of the SUV, could no longer hold his laughter in when his best friend appeared beside him, shaking his head, a dejected look on his face.

"What?" Flack asked irritably.

"Nice try blue eyes," Danny shook his head and wiped amused tears from his eyes. "Talk about crashing and burning."

"She's just playing hard to get," Flack reasoned. "She'll come around. I'll give her a week or two and ask again. Maybe I'll even wear her down a bit. Have flowers delivered to her desk, show up with lunch. Conveniently end up taking her out to dinner while we're working a case."

"You're pathetic," Danny declared and slammed the tailgate of the SUV closed. "Girl has turned you down how many times now?"

Flack shrugged. "I don't know…couple times I guess."

"Four," Danny told him matter of factly. "She's shot you down four times and yet you still keep persisting. Move on already. Accept the fact that she isn't into you and just turn your attention elsewhere. What's so special about her that you just can't stop making a jack ass out of yourself?"

"What's so special about Monroe that you'd actually keep going after her even though she stood you up? What was so special about her that you lew your ass all the way to Montana to sit in a court room and hold her hand? What's so special about her that no matter how many times she pushes you away and shuts you out, you can't stay away from her?"

"I don't know…there's just something about her, I guess. She just has this way about her that captured me from the first moment I looked at her. I can't explain it. I just know that I feel it."

"And I just know that I feel it about Samantha. I've never met anyone like her. And I just think that…" he sighed heavily. "I don't think…I think if she'd just give me a chance…give us a chance…that me and her could have something amazing."

Danny blinked and stared at his best friend. Taken back by the sincerity oozing out of Flack's blue eyes and the tenderness in which he spoke. And then he'd smirked and burst into laughter once again.

A slow grin spread across Flack's face and he shook his head and clapped Danny on the shoulder as they headed towards the elevators side by side.

"We are pathetic bastards," the detective declared.

Danny could remember that moment in the underground garage as if it were yesterday. He could still hear Flack's voice and see that boyish, dimply grin that always seemed so out of place on his best friend. The aggressive and assertive and surly homicide detective who smirked and snarled and frowned far more than he smiled. Danny had been one of the fortunate ones to witness Flack's softer side. Not that the man himself had been soft. Far from it. He would have kicked anyone's ass that even suggested he was. But Flack had proven that he wasn't just capable of roughing up suspects or tossing out nasty comments or dolling out the sarcasm. He wasn't just a gun and a badge and brawn. He had been capable of extreme tenderness and love towards the woman who had, thanks to his unwavering persistence, eventually became his wife. He'd transformed from a carefree bachelor into a devoted and adoring husband.

And it was shame he hadn't been given longer to relish his new roles. Or that he hadn't had the chance to ever see the baby that he had been so excited about. He'd only known for less then a week, but in that time he'd made a lifetime of plans. He'd talked about taking a son fishing and camping and teaching him how to skate and play hockey and throw a football. He talked about having a daughter that would be as beautiful as her mother and would have her old man wrapped tightly around her baby finger from day one. A little Princess that he'd keep all the boys away from. Boy or girl, it hadn't mattered to Flack. He had gotten the one thing that he wanted more then anything else. A chance to be a father. To prove to himself that he was capable of being a better man and a better dad than his old man had ever been. Danny could still see that almost goofy grin that had crossed Flack's face when he was asked if he was excited about having a baby. He was…proud. There was no other word to describe the look on Flack's face. He was proud of what he had done. Of what he had helped to create.

And you should be proud, Danny thought, emotion choking him as he stood in that kitchen doorway and watched Samantha as she bent down in front of the swing and talked to her son. Telling him what a big boy he was getting to be. How he was so big and so handsome. Just like his daddy.

You should be proud, Flack. And I hope you are. I hope you're watching right now and realizing what an amazing job you did. That you created a beautiful, healthy boy and that your wife is doing such an incredible job with him. You should be proud of her for how far she's come despite all the cards she's been dealt.

And you should be happy for her. No matter what she chooses to do.

Danny cleared his throat noisily, composing himself as he entered the kitchen. "What is it with the girls in my life and their country music?" he asked, buttoning a pale yellow long sleeve shirt over his wife beater.

"Country music has emotion to it," Sam replied, smiling at him before turning back to the sink. "The songs tell stories. You can relate to them. There's always something in the lyrics that you have lived through and dealt with. Not to mention you can actually make out what the artist is singing. There's no yelling or shrieking. No calling women bitches and hoes or talking about blunts and forties or popping a cap in someone's ass. I mean, who's actually done that?"

"You mean other then me and you?" he asked, as he snaked his arms around her slender waist from behind. "And other then Flack, Mac, Stella…"

"Okay…so other than cops," Sam laughed. "Regular, normal people. Country music is about real life. You've been through the stuff they're talking about."

"Yeah? How many times have you had to sleep in your pick up truck 'cause your wife left you and took your loyal hound dog with her?"

She laughed even harder at that. "I think you're definition of country music is slightly warped, Daniel."

He grinned and pressed a kiss to her temple. "I'm just playing with ya, Brooklyn. I know how much you love your Kenny and your Keith."

"I'll have you know that country music isn't the only music I like."

"I know…you also like what's her name? Beyonce. And that Ne-Yo guy."

"I like a whole bunch of music," she said. "I mean, what's that band you were playing for me in the car yesterday? That CD that you ordered on line?"

"Ceesau," Danny told her. "They've got a post-grunge, Indie rock, Nirvana-esque thing going on with them. Why? You liked them?"

"They're alright. I like the lead singer. He' cute. Isn't he on some crime show on CBS?"

"I think so. I don't know. I don't watch that unrealistic, poorly written shit."

"Oh I forgot. You'd rather watch the Pulitzer winning writers of South Park and the Simpsons."

"Smart ass," he said with a grin and kissed her cheek.

She smiled, and then shivered and felt herself flush as he nuzzled the sensitive spot below her ear with her nose. She would have been lying to herself if she said she didn't want him. If she didn't want to feel his hands and his lips and tongue caressing and toying with her quivering body. If she didn't want to experience that level of intense intimacy with him. If she didn't want to give herself completely to him and cling to him and kiss him as he did the same in return. And she was fooling herself if she didn't admit she didn't long to be pressed up against him in the aftermath. Sweat travelling down their bodies and their limbs entwined. Their hearts pounding in unison and the hair on his chest tickling her bare breasts. Danny was an attractive, sexy man. Both in looks and personality. He possessed an outward confidence that successfully masked that wounded little boy quality he had about him. He had suffered and survived emotional torment time and time again and hid his pain and his insecurities well. But it was when he opened up to her, laid his emotions and his agony on the table, that she felt the closest to him.

And she was worried about hurting him. He made no attempt to disguise how he felt about her or what he wanted. And she was concerned that once they took that next step, that she'd discover it hadn't been him that she wanted. That it had been the act of sex that she'd been craving. That she had needed to fill that empty pit in her heart and stomach with someone. Anyone. She wanted to make sure it was Danny that she wanted. That she was truly falling in love with him and not with the idea of falling in love.

It was confusing. And scary. But being with him felt so good. His kisses and his touches awakened a part of her that she had thought was long dead.

Now if only the nagging guilt of who he was and what he had meant to both her deceased husband and dead best friend would begin to ease up on her a little.

Her heart sped up and goose bumps took over her body as his fingertips gently pushed loose tendrils of hair away from the back of her neck. Her eyes closed, her chin dropped to her chest and a soft sigh emitting from her lips as his warm, moist lips made contact with her skin.

"You got a sunburn," Danny commented, as he pressed feathery kisses across her shoulder.

"I burn easily 'cause I'm so pale," she reasoned, then wanted to kick her own ass for sounding so lame. She was a thirty-five year old woman. Yet every time he touched her she turned into a flustered and horny high schooler.

"Brings out all your freckles," he said, and trailed a fingertip along the edge of the strap of her tank top. Her skin, although bright red from too much sun, was silky and felt and tasted so good. And the more he touched her, the more he essentially tortured himself. Sex wasn't even on the radar at the moment. While he wanted it -with her- desperately, he knew that she wasn't prepared for that step. He knew she might not be for a long time. He accepted that, even though he didn't know if he could cope with it. "What was it Flack called them again?" he asked.

"Angel kisses," Sam replied, smiling in recollection. "He could be a sappy bastard when he wanted to be."

"I don't think it was a much sap as it was being wildly, crazily in love with you," Danny told her.

"You're starting to get just as sappy," Sam teased, and removing her hand from the water, flicked soap over her shoulder at him. "Danny Messer and his inner romantic."

"Shhh…don't go saying that too loud. That stays between me and you, a'right? People find out about that side of me and I'll never live it down. I've got a reputation to uphold."

"And what reputation would that be?" she asked.

"I don't know…how about that I'm a high tech geek who has a penchant for committing felonies?"

She snorted at that. "Okay, Gerrard…you should have beat his ass into the middle of next week for saying that to you. I remember standing in the doorway with Donnie and hearing you say, 'How about we step outside grandpa and I'll show you how much of a geek I am?'. I was about ready to cheer you on and tell you to beat his ass and then Donnie put his hand over my mouth to shut me up."

"You would have just gotten yourself into shit. It was only your second case. You didn't need to be facing the wrath of Gerrard yet. Flack was just protecting you. Although I think it would have been kinda cool if both me and you took the boots to the old man."

"He was a pompous ass," Sam declared. "He was always on Donnie's ass about something. Donnie could never do anything right it seemed. And he was always so worried about proving himself to Gerrard and Sinclair and his father. It was like an obsession with him and I dared to even comment on it he…" she sighed heavily. "It was just really important to him to live up to all the expectations," she said. "And he did. He shattered them in fact. But it was this on going thing. Nothing was ever enough. He pushed himself and pushed himself until he…"

"Go on," Danny urged gently when she abruptly stopped talking.

"It's not important," she said quietly. "It doesn't matter anymore. He just tried really hard and I was really proud of him for everything that he achieved. I just wished that sometimes…I don't know. I guess I wished that the time would come when he wouldn't do that to himself anymore. That he would just see that he didn't have to prove himself to the people that mattered most. He was so worried about what Gerrard and Sinclair and his father thought about him that he couldn't….he couldn't get past that and no matter how many times I tried to tell him that he shouldn't do that to himself, that he didn't need to do it, he just…"

Danny waited patiently and quietly, knowing there was more she wanted to say. That she needed to say. But was struggling to.

"He got angry. Very angry. And it made me the enemy. Like I didn't want him climbing the ladder or making himself better. When all I was trying to do was protect him from getting hurt."

"And instead you got hurt," Danny concluded.

"I guess…" she sighed. "I mean, he was never abusive or anything," she quickly said, realizing that her confession of her husband's personal shortcomings had painted him in an extremely bad light. "He never hit me or anything. He never would have done that. Donnie wasn't that type of person. But he had a temper. You know that."

Danny nodded.

"And sometimes his temper…he could be really mean. Verbally. Half the time he didn't even realize what he was saying until the words were already out and he couldn't take them back. And the angrier and nastier he got, the more mean I became. And I hated us being that way. I hated when we did that to each other. Because I was always so worried I'd say something and never get the chance to take it back. To say I was sorry. And then one day he walked out of the house and he…" she paused, biting her bottom lip as emotion tugged at her. "…and he never came back."

"Sammie…" Danny laid his hands on her shoulders and pressed a kiss to the back of her head. "You have to remember that Don didn't leave the house under bad circumstances. You two weren't fighting. By your own words you'd had an amazing morning with him. He walked out of here and went to the airport and stepped on that plane knowing that you loved him. Knowing that he had an incredible woman waiting back home for him. That you guys were having a baby. And he died with a clear conscience. He hadn't left you without telling you that he loved you. And I know, without hesitation, that you and his baby were on his mind in those final moments. So don't ever doubt in your mind how he felt about you. Or if he knew how you felt about him."

"I just…I don't want to talk about this anymore. I can't talk about him anymore."

Danny nodded in understanding. "You don't have to," he assured her and resting his chin on her shoulder, pecked her cheek. "No one is making you talk about anything, okay? But I want you to know that if you ever do want to talk about stuff, whether it be things that happened between you and Don or how sad you're feeling…"

"It's weird," she declared.

"What is, babe?"

She wiped tears from her cheek with her shoulder. "Talking about Don with you."

He frowned. "Why's it weird? I knew him for years. He was my best friend."

"Which is why it's so weird," she said. "Because you were his best friend. The two of you were close. Like brothers. And me standing here telling you stuff about our marriage and about him, stuff that only husband and wives know about each other, it just seems…wrong. It seems wrong. Because I don't want you thinking he was a bad person. Because he wasn't. He was a great husband and he…and I loved him and I miss him."

"I know you do. I wouldn't expect you not to love him and miss him still. You don't expect me to not love Linds and miss her still."

"Of course not," Sam scoffed. "She was an important part of your life. She was going to be your wife. You have every right to miss her and love her."

"Just like you have every right to miss and love Flack. And just like me and you have every right to have something with each other. No one is judging anyone here. No one is perfect, Sammie. You and Flack had your issues and trust me, Linds and I definitely had ours. We're all human. And if you ever feel the need to tell me things, well I'm not going to think anyone is a bad person. Okay? You can talk to me. About anything. A'right?"

She nodded and sniffled noisily. Finally finished with her aggressive scrubbing of the broiling pan, she dropped it into the rinse water and unplugged the side of the sink with the soap and dirty water in it. Reaching for a dish towel sitting on the counter beside her, she dried her hands and turned to face him.

"A'right…" he said, and ran a gentle hand over her face and hair. "You need me to do anything else before I take off?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I think we're okay. DJ's happy with his swing and I'm happy I can now see where I'm going down in the basement. Thank you. For doing all of that."

"No problem. I figure I use up all of your hot water and eat all of your food, I might as well pay my way by doing things for you," he chided.

"Oh…I can think of a few things you can do for me to pay your way," Sam told him, then blushed when she realized what she had just said. Embarrassed that she had spoken such brazen words when she was fighting so hard to keep her self control.

Danny grinned broadly. "Oh don't worry," he said, and laying his hands on her hips, drew his bottom lip between his teeth as he eyed her appreciatively from head to toe. "When the time is right, I plan on earning my keep around here."

Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson and she backed away from him, flustered under his heavy stare and the sexual innuendo that not hung between them. Save for her husband, she had never had a man so openly desire her before. With Flack, she had quickly and easily -once she'd actually put her fears and doubts aside and actually dove into a relationship with him- not only fallen head over heels in love with him, but tumbled into bed with him. She had held out for as long as humanly possible, until one night, following weeks of heavy make out sessions and cold showers, she just couldn't take it anymore. And now the same thing was happening all over again. And the more she fought it, the more she wanted it.

"Where you goin'?" Danny asked, amused by her embarrassment. He pulled her into him and circled her waist with his arms and held her tightly against him. "Don't get like that," he said, his blue eyes penetrating deep into her soul. "No reason to get like that around me. Never around me. Don't be nervous."

"I'm not nervous," she argued feebly. "I'm just…I don't know…I'm scared."

"Of what?" he asked.

"This…us…what we both know is coming quicker then we're actually prepared for."

"You're talking in riddles, Brooklyn. I'm a simple guy. I need things literally spelt out for me.'

Sam sighed and closed her eyes and rested her forehead on his shoulder. "This, Danny. Us. What is happening between us. What is going to happen between us."

"Sex you mean?"

She nodded.

"What are you so scared about?" he asked, running a hand up her back to the nape of her neck and then onto the back of her head. "What scares you about it?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I just don't know. I just know that I'm scared of it. I'm not scared of you, but I'm scared of it. I'm thirty-five years old. I shouldn't be afraid of being intimate with someone. It's not like I'm a virgin or anything. But something just terrifies me about it."

"I'm not going to hurt you if that's what it is," he said, stroking her hair. "I'm not going to fuck you and take off of that's what's freaking you out."

"It's not that," she assured him. "I'm not worried about that. I know that you'd never do that to me. Besides, if you did, I'd hunt you down and kill you."

He chuckled at that.

"It's just…sex is powerful. It's intense and emotional and the last time I was with someone in that way was a year ago. Three hundred and sixty six days to be exact. Donnie was the last man I was with and I'd been with him intimately nearly every night for two and a half years. And now all of a sudden you're here and wanting you as bad as I do…it's scary. Because it means I'm letting my guard down and opening my heart and my soul to you, Danny. And I never thought I'd ever feel that way about someone again."

"But you do?" he asked. "Feel that way?"

She nodded and raised her head from his shoulder and smiled up at him. "Do you?" she inquired.

"I've taken three cold showers today alone. What does that tell you?"

She giggled slightly and he covered her mouth with his in a slow, soft kiss.

"It doesn't have to happen until you're ready," Danny told her. "We went through this this morning, Sammie. I told you that we were taking this at your pace. You're in charge here. I don't want you thinking or feeling that you're being pressured into it. Okay?"

"Okay…" she said.

Twisting her ponytail around his hand as she gripped tightly onto the front of his shirt, he captured her lips once again with his. What he wouldn't have given to stay there all evening with her. Feeling the touch of her hands and tasting her mouth. Unfortunately, duty called in the form of the night shift. Much to his dismay.

"I…have…to…get…going…." he told her in between kisses.

"Then…go…" she said, smiling against his lips.

"You're…making…it…really…really hard…" he informed her, and then forced himself to break away from her. "How you expect me to be able to concentrate at work kissing me like that?"

She shrugged and smiled innocently.

"You don't believe in making things easy do ya?" he teased. "You really do like torturing us guys."

"Just a little bit," she said, holding her forefinger and thumb half an inch apart.

"At least it's the good kind of torture," Danny declared, and moved to the fridge, snagging his wallet and car keys from the top of it. "I was thinking, seeing as I'm stopping off at home first to get what I need for work, I'll toss a change of clothes into a bag. Come right here when my shift is done. If that's alright with you."

"Why wouldn't it be?" Sam asked, as she went to the swing and turning it off, unbuckled DJ and lifted him into her arms.

"I don't know….maybe you were thinking of having your other boyfriend over."

"I only have one boyfriend," she said. And then held her smiling son out at arms length. "Well two…if you count the cheeky monkey here."

"Ask me, you're both cheeky monkies," Danny told her, and placed a kiss to her cheek before taking the baby from her. "Uncle D's gotta take off for a little while, buddy," he said to DJ, as he laid his godson along his arm. "You be good. Take care of your mom. You're in charge, alright? You keep her safe and sound and out of trouble, you hear me?"

The baby smiled and gurgled noisily.

"Now don't go getting mouthy with me," Danny said. "Just 'cause you're sleeping through the night now doesn't mean you get the right to be a smart butt, okay? And I'm telling you right now, you get too big for your britches when you're sixteen and I won't think twice about tanning your behind. Just 'cause your cute doesn't mean you can be a little shit."

"You just know he's going to have an attitude," Sam sighed, as she followed Danny out of the kitchen and through the living room to the front foyer. "He's going to be a sarcastic, mouthy, assertive brat."

"In other words he's going to be just like you," Danny teased.

She rolled her eyes and unlocked the front door and pulled it open. They stepped out onto the front porch, where he handed her the baby.

"You be good," he told his godson once more, and took hold of one of the baby's wrist. "Give me a high five…" he smacked his palm lightly against DJ's. "Down low…to the side…."

Sam grinned, watching the exchange taking place.

"A'right…don't be givin' your mom a hard time," Danny ordered and pressed his lips to the baby's head. "And you be good too," he said, and kissed Samantha lightly. "Call if you need anything."

"I will," she promised. "Be safe okay?"

"I will," he assured her and pecked her cheek. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Get some sleep, okay?"

She nodded and watched as he headed down the front steps and journeyed to the SUV parked in the driveway. Suddenly felt with the utmost feeling of terror and anxiety as déjà vu swept through her. Standing on the porch, watching as the man in her life walked away from her, towards that same vehicle that had been situated in the exact same place a year ago. She fought back the fear and the dread. The irrational thoughts of how the last person who'd walked away from her and gotten into that SUV never came back.

"Danny!" she called to him.

He looked towards the front of the house, his key in the lock of the driver's side door.

"I…I just wanted to tell you that…that I l…" she bit her lip, scared to let the word escape from her mouth. "I'll see you get back."

He gave a soft smile and unlocked his door. "You don't have to say it Sammie," he said. "It's okay. Just know that…I don't know….just let me say me too, okay?"

She beamed and nodded.

"I'll call you later," he told her and climbed in behind the wheel of the SUV.

She gave a small wave, then held up one of DJ's tiny hands and waved it in Danny's direction.

He grinned at the sight and started up the ignition. Switching the SUV into reverse, he took one last, long look at the two of them standing there on the front porch. Neither nervous or terrified by the realization that they were quickly becoming the most important people in his life.

Hawkes, a take out cup of steaming black coffee at his feet as he worked on rolling up the sleeves on his burgundy dress shirt, glanced up from where he sat on a bench in front of his open locker as the door to the change room swung open. He opened his mouth to offer a greeting to Danny as he came strolling in. But all words escaped him and a frown took over his lips as Hawkes noticed that Danny, for the first time in nearly two years, had his glasses perched upon his face.

"What's up, Doc?" Danny asked, ignoring the other man's furrowed brow and curious eyes as Danny passed by him on the way to his own locker three doors away.

"Not much…" Hawkes replied, his head swivelling to the right as he watched his colleague. "What's up with you?" he asked.

"What you mean?" Danny inquired, as he punched the security code into the keypad on the locker, waiting for a dull click before swinging the door open.

"I mean what is up with you and the glasses," Hawkes replied. "You haven't worn them in nearly two years."

"Contacts were getting on my nerves," Danny told him, as he tossed his back pack into his locker. "Started bugging my eyes, drying them out. So I scoured my apartment this afternoon and found my glasses. I'm resurrecting the old Danny Messer."

"Why?" Hawkes asked.

"Why not?" Danny countered. "They're just glasses. No big deal."

Hawkes stared at him pointedly.

"What?" Danny asked. "What? What is it you're trying to ask me?"

"I'm just trying to get to the bottom of the resurrgence of the glasses."

"My girl likes them, okay?" Danny blurted out. "My girl like me in my glasses so I went looking for them. I found them and now I'm wearing them. What's the issue?"

"No issue…except for the fact that you just let it slip you have a girl."

Danny sighed heavily and grabbed his badge off the top shelf of his locker and clipped it to the waist of his jeans. "Yeah…I have a girl…" he said and closed his locker. "What's wrong with it?" he asked, as he headed for the door.

"Nothing's wrong with it," Hawkes assured him, as he scooped up his coffee and hurried after his partner. "I'm just a little surprised."

"I'm not allowed to have a girl?" Danny asked, as he pulled the door to the locker room open and stepped out into the hall. "I'm not suppose to ever go on with my life?"

"I never said that," Hawkes told him. "Don't get so defensive."

"I'm not defensive," Danny argued. "I'm…slightly guarded, a'right?"

"That's cool…that's cool. But you can't just drop news like that on someone. You can't just tell me you have a girlfriend and not expect me to ask questions."

Danny sighed heavily and shook his head. "What's there to know? I have a girlfriend. I'm seeing someone. That's the deal right there."

"Well how did the two of you meet?" Hawkes asked. "How long has this been going on for?"

"It's just a new thing. Brand new. We met…" Danny paused, unsure of what to say next. "Through a friend. We met through a friend."

"Someone I know?"

"Maybe….what's the big deal? It's a new relationship. We're testing the waters. Why does it matter how we met?"

"I'm just curious," Hawkes told him. "What does she do for a living?"

"She's self employed," Danny responded.

"How old is she?"

"Same age as me. What is this? Twenty questions? An interrogation. Fuck…"

"Well does she have a name?" Hawkes inquired.

"She does. First and last. And that's all you're getting out of me. Let me just…let me and her get our feet wet before I bear my soul to ya about it, okay?"

Hawkes held his hands up in surrender. The two men lapsed into a comfortable silence as they continued their journey towards Mac's office.

"Is she cute?" Hawkes asked suddenly.

"Doc…come on…."

"That's my last question, I swear. Is she cute or what?"

Danny grinned. "Or what," he said. "She's hot. Smoking hot in fact. And before you ask, no I don't have a picture of her and no I'm not describing her. When the time is right, you'll meet her. And the time is not right. Now take it easy and lay off, okay?"

"Okay…okay….if it means anything, I'm happy for you, Danny. And I hope you're happy."

"Thank you. And I am. Happy. Disgustingly happy. I just hope she is too."

"Well it's up to you to make sure of that," Hawkes told him.

"I'm going to try my best. It's what she deserves. The best and I…." Danny's voice trailed off as he caught sight off the lights in Samantha and Lindsay's shared office blazing brightly and movement coming from inside. Mac had never even let the temps work in there, and the sight of human life coming from within startled him.

"And you what?" Hawkes asked, then frowned as Danny abruptly stopped walking and doubled back and headed for Lindsay's old office. "Danny….what…?"

Danny paused in the doorway, watching as a complete stranger stood behind Lindsay's desk an open cardboard box in front of him. He was no older then Danny. About the same height, but powerfully built. He had thick neck and a braod chest and his light blue dress shirt was tight around his biceps. He wore his hair in a buzz cut and had soulful dark eyes as he studied a photo, nestled in a silver frame, that he held in his strong hands. The picture, taken of Lindsay and Samantha at the department Christmas party two years before, had been sitting, untouched and collecting a dust, on that desk for a year now.

"Can I help you?" Danny asked, irritated at the sight of someone touching Lindsay's personal effects.

"Howdy…" the other man greeted, giving a warm smile as he sat the photo back down on the desk and journeyed to the door with his hand outstretched. "You must be Danny. I've heard a lot about you. From Detective Taylor and Doctor Hawkes."

"You have, have you," Danny stared at the hand offered to him before shaking it. "And you would be?" he asked coolly.

"Nick," the newcomer replied. "Nick Stokes."

Thanks to everyone that is reading and reviewing! I appreciate each and every one of you and thank you for all of your support and great feedback! Please R and R folks!