Disclaimer: I am not connected in any way with the creators of any of the CSI shows. (I wish I was though, so Danny and Lindsay would get together already.) These are just my mind's version of the events that transpire on the show.
For the people of the NYPD, a day-off was always a blessing.
But for Don Flack Jr. and Danny Messer, day-offs had of late become synonymous with moving day.
As Danny and Flack wrestled a chest of drawers from Lindsay's apartment into the elevator of Danny's apartment building, Flack let out an annoyed grunt and said, "Y'know, Messer, just for the record, I hate moving."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've told me that twenty-four times already since we started," Danny muttered, breathing heavily. "I know you hate moving, Flack. That's why I made it a point to make sure you got duped by Jordan into helping me and Lindsay move her stuff."
The elevator dinged as they reached Danny's floor. After several minutes of pulling the heavy piece of furniture into the hallway, Flack continued his whining. "Dammit, Messer. I thought we were friends."
Over the top of their load, Danny shot Flack a glare and said, "We are friends, Flack. That's why I spent my last day-off hauling boxes for your girlfriend instead of spending the day in bed with Lindsay." They moved quickly down the hallway despite their heavy load. "And that's why you're helping me and Montana move." He gritted his teeth and smiled at Flack, "Cause you're such a good friend."
Flack rolled his eyes and chose to remain silent. In truth, he was happy to help Danny and Lindsay with moving in together. There was the fact that Jordan was there too, so at least they were together. Well, sort of.
But the other thing was, he'd seen how hard it had been for Danny and Lindsay to get to this point in their relationship. While some might say they're moving too fast, since they decided to move in together after two weeks of dating, Flack would vehemently disagree.
See, he was one of the people who had sensed from the very beginning that the two would end up together. He'd seen how Danny changed, the way he'd gradually stopped dating too many women and had fallen in love, little by little, with Lindsay. Flack had witnessed the difficult journey they had made to find happiness with each other. So if you ask him, they deserved this and he was happy for them.
But that didn't mean he had to be happy that he was helping them move furniture.
After a few more minutes, he and Danny managed to wrestle the chest of drawers through the door of Danny's bedroom. He and Danny lowered it onto the floor and Danny asked, "Where do you want this, Montana?"
Lindsay pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes as she contemplated the question, looking around the room. Flack gritted his teeth in frustration. I really HATE moving!
As though sensing his impatience, Jordan caught his eye and flashed him a grin. She tipped her head to the side and Flack tried unsuccessfully to hold on to his annoyance.
Lindsay answered, "Next to yours is fine with me, if you don't mind. That way we each have our own space to put our stuff."
Danny nodded, "Okay." He called out, "Flack!"
Flack let out a sigh and picked up his end of the furniture, helping Danny push it into place.
After that, Danny walked over to the bed, where Lindsay and Jordan sat folding clothes to put in the cabinets. He dropped down next to Lindsay, lay down on the bed and said, "Okay, I'm tired now."
Lindsay laughed and said, "Danny, you two only moved the drawers. The rest of my furniture is going into storage, right? We hired movers to do that for us. The only things we need to move are the stuff that I use everyday."
Danny considered this for a moment, "Yeah, but the drawers were heavy and I'm tired." He yawned.
Lindsay laughed again and leaned down to kiss him. "There are only about eight more boxes that we need to lug from my apartment." Danny pulled her closer and she lay down by his side, snuggling her head on his chest and lacing his fingers in hers.
Flack dropped down on the bed to place his head on Jordan's lap and growled, "I hate moving!"
"Aww…" Jordan teased, before giving Flack a kiss as well. "Poor detectives." She lowered her head to his and started nuzzling his forehead, which Flack welcomed. He moved quickly so that she was wrapped in his arms and started kissing her.
Danny suddenly realized that Flack was making out with Jordan in his and Lindsay's bed and he quickly grabbed a pillow and started pummeling Flack with it.
"Hey!" Flack protested, jerking upwards while a giggling Jordan was sheltered protectively from the blows of the pillow. "What the hell, Messer?"
Danny glowered at him and said, "This is me and Lindsay's bed, Flack. You wanna make out with your girlfriend, go do it on the couch, not on our bed."
The women burst out laughing as Flack stood up and reached for Jordan's hand, pulling her out of the room as he stalked out.
Danny muttered, "Disgusting!"
Lindsay was smiling gently at him. "What?" Danny asked defensively. "They were making out on our bed."
Lindsay pushed him back down on the bed and curled up against his side. Danny immediately quieted, running his hand through her soft brown curls.
"I like the sound of that," she said softly after a while.
"Sound of what?" Danny asked, looking down at her.
"Our bed," Lindsay replied, tilting her head upwards, to look into his blue eyes.
Danny's mouth curled up at the corners. "Does sound good, doesn't it?" He tightened his arms around her. "Our bed, our apartment. But you know what sounds better?"
Lindsay asked, "What?"
Danny smiled tenderly into her eyes, "My Montana." Then he bent his head and kissed her.
Outside, Flack was hatching a plan to get Jordan out of the apartment.
Flack was explaining eagerly, "They've been in there for a while and it's been quiet. For all we know, they're having sex in there and we're intruding so we should just go."
Jordan was laughing at him. "Okay, first of all, I don't think that they're having sex in there. Me and Lindsay were roommates for years remember? We have a system. If she wanted me to leave, she'd let me know."
Flack's eyes widened speculatively, "System? What system?"
Jordan laughed, "I'm not telling. Just trust me when I tell you that they're not having sex in there okay?" Before he could protest, she clamped her hand across his mouth and said, "Second of all, they helped us move me into my apartment, so we're helping them and that's the end of it." She removed her hand from his mouth.
Flack immediately started talking, "But I hate moving! And Danny already kicked me out and they have eight more boxes to go…"
Jordan rolled her eyes and said, "Damn! Now I'm going to have to shut you up again." She grasped Flack's head firmly in her small hands and pulled his head back down, stopping the torrent of words by kissing Flack squarely on the lips.
There was immediate silence as Flack took the hint and focused his energies on kissing his girlfriend. They sat there for long minutes, until they finally needed to pull back to breathe.
Flack grumbled, "Okay, but you have to rub my back after this."
Jordan nodded and kissed him one more time. "Deal."
"Ahem," a voice said from behind them.
Jordan and Flack turned around to find Danny and Lindsay leaning on the doorway of the bedroom. Lindsay's arms were crossed and Danny was smirking.
Danny spoke, "Seeing as how you two are done there," he waved his hands to indicate the couch, "Lindsay and I are going to her apartment to grab the boxes that are left. You two should come with us so that we can get some lunch on the way back."
Jordan stood up and reached behind her to pull Flack up. "Let's go."
Lindsay walked over to her and the girls held a whispered conference. All Danny and Flack could make out from the conversation were the words, 'yeah, the system still works'.
Danny turned to Flack in confusion, "What system?"
Flack smiled wryly at his friend, "Apparently, when they were roommates, they had some kind of a system to let the other know if the other one was having sex with someone in the room or not."
Danny's eyes narrowed, "So how does it work?"
Flack shrugged, "Don't know, man. Jordan wouldn't tell me"
Danny let out an annoyed grunt. "You're useless, Flack. You can make criminals talk, but you're no match against one small woman."
Flack retorted, "Yeah, like you'd have better luck making Lindsay talk if she doesn't want to."
Danny considered that and said, "Guess you're right." He slapped Flack on the back and said, "But you gotta try harder to get them to crack."
Outside the apartment, Lindsay and Jordan rolled their eyes. Danny and Flack were arguing about something again.
Lindsay called out, "You ladies done there?" Jordan smothered a laugh.
Danny answered, "Yeah, yeah, yeah… We'll be right there." He and Flack stepped out of the doorway in a few seconds.
Danny asked Lindsay before locking the door, "You got our keys, Montana?"
Lindsay nodded and jangled the key ring and Danny turned back to lock the apartment behind them.
At the lab, Mac entered the break room, carrying a piece of paper in his hand.
Stella came up behind him just as he was posting the paper on the break room bulletin board. "Whatcha got there, Mac?"
Mac answered and said, "It's a memo from the Mayor's office. It's an official invitation to all the CSIs of the Crime Lab for the NYPD Christmas Ball. Goes without saying that we're on call on that night, of course."
Stella nodded, "What's the policy on dates?"
Mac shrugged, "None, as far as I know. Letter only said that each CSI is allowed to bring a date."
Stella said, "Sounds good. I guess you'll be bringing Peyton, huh?" No one would know how much Stella was anticipating the answer to that question.
Mac's eyes clouded over and he tried to avoid Stella's penetrating gaze. But something in him made him answer honestly. "Actually, we've decided to stop seeing each other."
Other people would have offered the standard words of sympathy, but Stella and Mac had been friends for too long and they both knew that pity, sincere or otherwise, would not be appreciated. So Stella merely asked, "Why?"
Mac avoided her gaze again, but answered her question. "It just didn't work out, I guess."
Stella patted his shoulder, while sparks of hope started shooting up inside her. "It'll work out for the best I guess."
Then sensing that the moment might have become too heavy, she changed the subject with a bright smile. "Can I be the one to tell the guys that it's formal tie?"
Mac's lips curled reluctantly into a smile, "Okay."
Stella added, "Oh, and I'm requesting that me and Lindsay and Cassie have a day off together so we can go shopping."
Mac had to laugh at that. "Why?"
Stella answered matter-of-factly, "Well, obviously, Lindsay's going and Hawkes is bound to take Cassie, so we need to find something to wear."
Mac chuckled again. "All right, I'll try, but I'm not making any promises."
Stella beamed at him, "Thanks, Mac. You're the best." With that, she sauntered out of the break room, curls bouncing behind her head.
Mac breathed out slowly, watching her walk out.
At the end of the day, the four exhausted detectives were slumped on Danny's couch, the remains of a demolished pizza on the coffee table in front of them.
"I never knew I had so much stuff," Lindsay moaned, turning to Danny in consternation. "I've only been in New York for a year and a half. How could I have accumulated so many things?"
Danny chuckled at her woebegone expression and explained, "It happens, Linds." He patted her shoulder and kissed her temple. "Don't worry, we made good time today and we managed to sort your things and just take those that you need. The rest of it will go into storage with your furniture." He looked around them, "As a matter of fact, we better pack up some of my useless junk also to make room for your stuff outside the bedroom."
When Lindsay groaned, Danny took mercy on her and said, "Don't worry, we'll save that for another day."
Flack interjected at that point. "Just so you know, Messer, you're on your own for that one." That made Jordan laugh.
Danny smirked at his friend, "Don't worry, Flack. I don't hate you that much." He lowered his head to Lindsay's ear and whispered, "Besides, he'll be doing some moving of his own, soon," which made Lindsay giggle.
Flack narrowed his eyes, "What are you two lab rats whispering about?"
Lindsay waved her hand, "Nothing, nothing."
At that Jordan stretched and said, "Well, we better get going you guys." She turned to give Lindsay a hug.
Lindsay said, "Thanks again, Jordan." She turned to Flack to give him a hug as well, which he returned affectionately. "Thanks, Flack."
The four detectives exchanged their goodbyes, and Danny gave Flack the standard one-armed 'man-hug' in gratitude. "Thanks, man. I really appreciate this."
Flack returned the 'man-hug' and said, "No worries, Messer." He turned and pulled Jordan out of the apartment "We'll see you tomorrow."
After the door closed behind Flack and Jordan, Danny wordlessly tugged Lindsay to the window that overlooked the city. They stood together, his front warm against her back, his arm strong and steady across her waist, watching the city lights flicker in the night.
Danny pushed Lindsay's curls aside to nibble on her ear and whisper, "I love you, Montana."
Lindsay sighed in contentment and leaned her head back on Danny's shoulder. "I love you too, Danny."
This is it for tonight. Thanks for all the reviews:D I hope you liked this one as well.
I hope this is enough F/J for everyone, and of course, I can't leave D/L out. Some M/S is ahead as well, especially with the NYPD Christmas Ball coming up.
Stay tuned and don't forget to review:D
