A/N: *Peeks out from under the bed*
Hi guys. So, I know I've been kind of MIA for a few days, and I apologize for that. Just a few things going on here that made real life take the front seat for a while. That, paired with the fact that I was suffering from a MAJOR case of writer's block. Thankfully, I made myself sit down and write, and once I started, the floodgates opened and things started coming to me left, right, and centre!
Thank you all for your patience, and for your lovely reviews! I'm so glad that you liked the last chapter! I had such a great time reading your predictions about what Flack was planning!
So, what now? Well, we see what Flack's up to, and then Danny, Lindsay and Lucy go to visit some old friends. Enjoy!
Flack was pleased with himself. He had made a few stops along the way, including a home and garden store and the lab, where he got some very strange looks as he wandered the halls with his wares.
"Um, hey Flack," Adam said as he passed Flack in the hallway. "There something we need to know?"
"Hmm?" Flack said. Adam nodded toward the item he was carrying in his arms and a wide grin spread across Flack's face. "Nah. Just a little something I gotta take care of."
"Ooookay," Adam replied, perplexed. "Does Mac know you're taking one of those?"
Flack wiggled his eyebrows at Adam. "No, and what he doesn't know won't hurt him, right Adam?" he said. "Besides, its all for the greater good."
"Oh. The greater... wait, what?"
Flack grinned, glancing at his watch. "Sorry, Adam. I can't explain right now," he said. "Don't want to be late!"
As Flack turned and continued down the hall toward the elevators, Adam shook his head, heading back into his lab. "Dude is losing his mind," he muttered.
"You guys gonna let me in, or what?"
Danny emerged into the living room with Lucy in his arms to hear the sound of his best friend's voice from the other side of the front door. He looked over and saw Lindsay still doubled over giggling, her face pink and tears streaming from her eyes as she laughed.
He smiled and shook his head.
"What's that idiot up to now?" he asked his wife as he handed Lucy over to her.
"Oh, my God," Lindsay sighed, wiping at her eyes before another bout of giggles erupted from her, rendering her speechless.
Danny moved to the door, peering through the peephole before a loud bark of laughter escaped him.
"You know, I can hear you guys in there. It's really rude to leave me hanging," Flack's voice came through the door. "Come on, let me in. I feel like an idiot standing out here like this."
"Well, you look like an idiot, if that helps," Danny said, pulling the door open to reveal Flack standing in the hall, dressed in a department-issue, bright yellow HazMat suit, complete with a plastic-fronted hood, gloves and breathing apparatus. In one hand he carried a mop and bucket, a folding lawn chair in the other. "Get your ass in here, you clown!" Danny said, chucking as Flack shuffled awkwardly into the apartment.
After shutting the door, Danny turned to his friend, a wide smile on his face as he took in the full force of Flack's appearance.
"So, I'm here. Ready to do your bidding, oh wise and benevolent mistress," Flack said to Lindsay, bowing as low as he could in the bulky suit.
"Bee bawd!" Lucy squealed, pointing at the strange, yellow figure standing in her living room. "Bee bawd!"
"Um, what?" Flack asked, turning to Danny and Lindsay for a translation.
"No, sweetie, that's not Big Bird," Lindsay explained, grinning at Flack.
"Dat?" Lucy asked, pointing at Flack.
"Who's that? That's your crazy Uncle Don," Danny explained. Turning to Flack, he continued. "So, you think we keep dangerous chemicals in our place or what?"
"Just taking every precaution," Flack said. "You can never be too careful. From what your missus tells me, I may have already been contaminated during previous visits."
Danny looked back and forth between Flack and Lindsay. He was clearly missing something here.
"Um, Dan? When I told Flack about... you know," Lindsay explained, nodding toward the cowboy hat that lay on the floor beside the couch where it had been discarded the night before, "I may have mentioned that we don't always contain our... adult activities to the bedroom."
"Yeah. And although I love you like a brother, Danno, I don't want any of your cooties. So I've come prepared."
"And the lawn chair?" Danny asked, pointing to the folding chair dangling from Flack's hand.
"Well, once I'm done cleaning and it's finally safe to remove the suit, I don't want to get re-contaminated by sitting on your funky couch," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "So, I brought my own, portable seat!"
"It looks like you've thought of everything, Don," Lindsay giggled.
"Always be prepared, Linds," Flack said, nodding sagely. "Millions of Boy Scouts can't be wrong."
"You're not seriously going to clean our place wearing that thing, are you?" Danny asked. "You'll die of heat stroke."
"That's a risk I'm willing to take in order to keep myself cootie-free," Flack said.
Danny rolled his eyes, chuckling to himself as he watched Flack struggle to unfold the lawn chair, the large and cumbersome gloves attached to the suit causing him to fumble and drop the chair.
"So, what do you want me to do, boss-lady?" Flack asked Lindsay, deciding to give up on the chair for the time being.
Lindsay raised her eyebrows, looking over at Danny. "Well, um, honestly? I didn't really think you'd show up, so..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Flack said, holding up his hand. "You thought I wouldn't show up? After I promised that I would?" He shook his head sadly. "Wow. That hurts, Linds. That hurts me deep."
"Oh, knock it off, Flack," Danny said. "She means we figured you'd be too hung over this morning to even think about getting out of bed, let alone trudge across town to do housework. And to be honest, I kind of doubted that you'd even remember the bet that you lost last night."
"What? Oh, thanks a lot, Dan. Just rub salt in my wounds, why don't you?" Flack protested. "Come on! I wasn't that drunk! And for your information, there isn't enough alcohol in the entire world to make me forget about... The Baby Maker," he said, shuddering as the words left his mouth. "And besides, like I said last night, I'm Irish. I can handle my liquor."
"Uh huh. Sure you can," Lindsay said, patting Flack consolingly on the arm. "So, if you really are here to get started on day one of your week of servitude, then I guess you can start in the kitchen. Danny and Lucy made breakfast, so I imagine there's a bit of a mess in there."
Flack nodded his head. "Alright. Then that's where I'll start," he said.
Lindsay watched as Flack shuffled toward the kitchen, turning to catch Danny's eye just as Flack rounded the corner.
"Did you guys make a mess this morning?" she whispered. "Please... please say that you made a mess!"
"Holy shit, Messer! What the hell were you doing in here?" came Flack's voice from the kitchen. "It looks like a fucking bomb went off in your kitchen!"
"Hey! Language, man! There's an impressionable little girl in the room out here," Danny said, grinning at Lucy.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize you were trying to break Linds of her potty mouth," Flack said peering around the kitchen door and winking at Lindsay. "But seriously man, what the hell?"
"What? Luce and I were making pancakes... and I may or may not have dropped a few on the floor when I was trying to flip them in the air," Danny said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Danny! You threw pancakes on the floor and didn't clean them up?" Lindsay admonished her husband. "That's gross."
"Yeah, Danny. That's gross," Flack said, smirking at his friend though his plastic-fronted hood before disappearing back into the kitchen.
"What? But... I... the bacon was done and... Linds, you were sleeping... and Lucy... oh forget it," Danny said, huffing as he threw his arms in the air. "I was gonna clean them up after breakfast," he grumbled.
"Oooh, Danny's in trouble!" Flack sing-songed from the kitchen.
"Hey! You be quiet in there!" Danny said. "Come on, Linds, you know I wouldn't leave a mess like that for you to clean up. I was gonna do it. I really was."
Lindsay looked at Danny's pained expression and burst out laughing.
"Oh, baby, I know," she said, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. "And normally I would gladly help you clean up your mess, seeing as you were so thoughtful this morning. But thankfully, we have our slave-for-a-week here to do that for us!"
A loud groan came from the kitchen and Danny and Lindsay turned to one another and grinned. "What?" Danny asked.
"Man, you mean I really have to clean this crap up?" Flack whined. "I bet you made this mess on purpose, just for me."
"Yeah, that's right, Flack," Danny said, rolling his eyes. "It's all about you. I decided to do something nice for my wife this morning just to piss you off!"
"Wouldn't put it past you, man. You are truly diabolical sometimes."
"Shut up and start cleaning, Cinder-fella," Danny shot back. He grinned as he heard a resigned sigh coming from the direction of the kitchen. "So, what do my two favourite girls want to do today while Mr. Clean in there works his magic?"
"I don't know. Lucy, what do you want to do, baby?"
"Tider!" Lucy squealed. "Tider p'ease!"
Danny grinned at Lindsay. "What do you say, babe? You wanna go see some tigers too?"
The Messer family made their way through the early afternoon crowds at the New York Zoo, with Lindsay pushing Lucy in her stroller. As they meandered along the path toward the tiger enclosure, Lindsay smiled when she felt Danny rest his hand on the small of her back. The familiarity and comfort of this simple gesture still managed to make her heart beat just that little bit faster.
"Tider! Tider!" Lucy shouted excitedly, pointing a chubby finger as they stopped in front of the tigers. Lindsay smiled as she watched Lucy lean forward in anticipation of seeing her favourite animal.
"She really loves the tigers, huh?"
Lindsay turned and smiled at Danny. "Yeah, she gets that from me."
"Oh yeah? Tigers are your favourite animal?" Danny said. "I didn't know that, Linds. I would have thought it would be something more... Montana-ish," he finished lamely, shrugging his shoulders.
"Yeah, well. Tigers have been my favourite for a few years now," she said, blushing lightly. "I didn't really like them at first, but let's just say that they've grown on me."
"Oh yeah?" Danny asked, cocking his eyebrow at his wife. "Any particular reason?"
"Danny!" Lindsay protested. "Come on, you know why!"
"What, because you got to hold a tiger's jaw open while Mac poked around inside? Or because you got to dig through piles of tiger crap looking for body parts?" he said, winking at her.
Lindsay grimaced at the memory. "Ugh. Don't remind me. That was disgusting," she shuddered. "No, I didn't start to realize how much I liked tigers until after that."
"Care to enlighten me?"
Lindsay turned to look up at Danny, her fingers gently caressing his cheek. She felt his hand slide up from the small of her back as he gently stroked the back of her neck.
"I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Dan. It's a good thing you're pretty, because sometimes you are so dense," Lindsay teased. She leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to Danny's chin. "I love tigers - these tigers in particular - because they are the reason that I met you."
She felt her heart swell at the lopsided grin that spread across Danny's face at her words. She sighed as he leaned forward, capturing her lips in a soft and loving kiss, his fingers tangling in her hair. As he pulled away, he smiled down at her, and she could see the love he had for her reflected in his eyes.
"I never knew that, babe," he whispered, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "If anything, I thought you would like tigers even less because of our first case together. I thought you hated me back then."
Lindsay shook her head. "I never hated you, Danny," she said. "Were you a royal pain in my ass? Yes you were. Did you drive me insane with your teasing and your pranks? Yes you did. But eventually, I came to enjoy it... even look forward to it. And I still do." She stroked Danny's stubbled cheek with the pad of her thumb. "And, just look at where we are now, baby. We have a beautiful baby girl and a happy marriage. So, why are tigers my favourite? Because thanks to these tigers, I found the love of my life."
Danny leaned forward, placing a chaste kiss to his wife's forehead before moving to stand behind her and wrap his arms around her slender frame from behind. He rested his chin on her shoulder and nuzzled into her neck. They stood there, Lindsay safely enveloped in Danny's cocoon, watching the massive creatures as they paced around their enclosure. They listened as Lucy giggled and chatted to no one in particular, turning every once in a while to smile up at her parents and point to the tigers.
After a while, it was clear that Lucy's interest in the tigers was waning, and she wanted to move on to see the penguins next. As Lindsay began to move from their spot in front of the enclosure, she felt Danny's arms tighten around her waist as he pulled her flush against his chest. He leaned in and she could feel his breath on the shell of her ear as he whispered to her.
"You know, come to think of it, tigers are my favourite too, Montana."
She smiled, turning her head, her lips meeting his in a quick, loving kiss.
"Love you, Dan."
"Love you too, Linds."
Leaving the tigers behind, they began to make their way on to see the other animals, Lindsay once again pushing Lucy in her stroller, with Danny's arm slung around her shoulders, holding her tightly to his side.
So? Thoughts? I hope that Flack's little get-up didn't disappoint! And I hope you enjoyed the scene with the tigers as much as I enjoyed writing it! (Was it too fluffy? I have no idea. My fluff-o-meter appears to be broken LOL). Anyways, I plan on letting you all see more of their day together in the next chapter.
As always, reviews and comments are welcome. I'd love to hear from you!