AN They are so close to finally getting together...can't you just feel it:) I hope this chapter is good for ya...I plan to start the next one off with a bang. ;)
Disclaimer I unfortunately do not own Danny or Flack, if I did believe me I'd have to sensor the stuff I'd be writing. Since they belong to CBS you'll have to make due with what I've written. Mandy is mine, you can't have her, the other characters belong to Anthony Zuiker, I'm just borrowing them and will return them when I'm done.
Told my heart I didn't want you but I lied.
So it was done. At least that's what Danny kept telling himself. They'd just forget about the few weeks they'd even been together and get back to work. They were both professionals so they could do this. Hell he and Mac worked together and he was well aware of the tension there. He was old hat at this pretending stuff. Then why the hell was it impossible for him to get her off his mind?
Oh it wasn't over; Lindsay was on a mission now. He wasn't getting away with this closed off shit. He'd resign himself, she figured, he'd decide it was over and he'd breathe a sigh of relief because he hadn't had to take a risk. Well damn him, he was gonna take a risk, if only to prove that she could get him to do it. Besides, no one made her feel the way he did, she wasn't going to lose that just cause he was a moron.
"He's a moron!" Mandy fumed. She was pacing in Lindsay's apartment.
Lindsay was kind of amused, "Shouldn't I be the one ranting?"
"You don't rant Linds," Mandy said, "You say things like 'he's my co-worker don't talk about him' and leave the ranting up to me."
"I can't help it," Lindsay shrugged, "It's a defence mechanism."
Mandy stopped pacing to look at her sister, "So you aren't giving up?"
There was a fire in her eyes that hadn't been there in a long while, "Hell no."
"Oh big sister, this is gonna be fun." Mandy rubbed her hands together, "Can I talk to him?"
A week ago Lindsay would have emphatically said no, she would have in fact probably been totally pissed that Mandy had even asked. That was then, this was now and after a week of trying to forget him and simultaneously seeing him every day Lindsay had made a decision; this wasn't done.
She smiled at Mandy, "Yeah, you can talk to him."
Mandy rubbed her hands together with glee, "Watch out Messer, you ain't seen nothin' yet."
Danny looked through the microscope then sighed, everything was blurry he sat back and rubbed his eyes.
"You look exhausted." Stella observed, "I can't have my partner falling asleep on the job."
He tried to smile at her, "I'm not falling asleep, my eyes are tired."
"Your eyes are tired?" She crossed her arms, "Not the rest of you, just your eyes?"
"Okay maybe I'm a bit tired; I'm going into a triple here." He said standing to stretch out his tired muscles.
"Go home Danny, you need to sleep I can finish our case." Stella said.
"I'm fine, it's good, I just need more caffeine." He said more in way of convincing himself than her.
"You are no good to me half awake hun," She said kindly, "Go sleep and I'll leave you some paperwork for when you come back."
He grimaced, "I don't sleep."
"Why?"
He ducked his head in embarrassment, "Dreams."
"You know if you'd just face the fact that you're falling for the woman it'd be a hell of a lot easier." She said carefully and quietly so that the rest of the lab didn't hear her.
He wouldn't look at her just mumbled, "I don't fall."
"Tell that to your heart," She sighed and put a hand on his arm, "Now go home Danny."
Reluctantly he left the lab as he resigned himself to the fact that he was going him he could feel his body starting to shut down. "Come on, just let me get to my bed." He mumbled to himself.
She found him leaning against his locker with his eyes closed. Her heart did that thing it always did when she saw him and it felt good knowing she wasn't fighting it anymore. She was still confused about Cindy, she wanted it to be true that he hadn't been seeing her at the same time as Cindy but she didn't know. She smiled at the memory of what Mandy had said to her that morning, "Borrow my boyfriend for a meal; he's got intel I think you might wanna hear."
Lindsay put a hand to his arm, "Danny?" She whispered.
"Huh, uh, what?" He was slightly startled but more by her contact and closeness then the fact that he was caught sleeping against his locker.
She smiled, "Are you all right to go home?"
He blinked a couple of times and nodded, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine, thanks for, you know, waking me up."
"Any time," She said then left the locker room.
He watched her go and sighed then reached into his pocket for his keys. "Here come the dreams."
Hawkes and Marty were just about to start the prelim ona body when Lindsay showed up, "Sorry I'm late," She said, "Danny was sleeping against his locker."
Marty raised his eyebrow, "And you didn't take the chance to prank him?"
"I graduated grade eight a long time ago doctor," She said with a smile, "Now what's up with our John Doe here?"
Hawkes chuckled, "You guys are like a soap opera."
"As the Lab Turns, I know," Lindsay grinned at him, "Mandy's already given us a title."
"Flack's a bastard," Marty grumbled, "You sure you don't have any more sisters?"
"If I did I wouldn't want them anywhere you," She said pleasantly, "The body?" She pointed.
"I liked her better when she was morose and mopey." Marty said to Hawkes.
Who shook his head, "No way, this firecracker is much better, you're hittin' him with something aren't you?"
Lindsay feigned ignorance, "I have no idea what you are talking about, now can we stop gossiping about me and mine and talk about the body decomposing in front of us?"
Reluctantly Mary started with his findings, "Asphyxiation, he was strangled with what looks to me like a strong rope, mostly likely found on a dock…"
Was that a knock on his door? He couldn't be sure; he pulled himself up and shook the fog out of his head. Yup, there it was again, it was a patterned knock. He groaned, it had the distinct signature ofa Mandy Monroe. He'd wondered how long it would take her to talk to him. He knew her well enough to know she couldn't keep her fingers out of Lindsay's business.
"I'm coming!" He grumbled loudly as he trudged to the door. He pulled it open and turned around while running his fingers through his hair.
"Damn hottie, look at you." Mandy observed as she shut the door behind her, "You look kinda sexy all rumpled like that."
He sighed and raised an eyebrow at her completely used to this treatment at this point, "Is that all you came here for? Cause if it is you can leave the way you came."
"I wonder if there is stages people go through to fall for someone," She mused, "Cause you're bordering on denial and anger."
"Could we not psychoanalyze me and how I deal with relationships?" He asked as he rummaged through his kitchen for something to eat.
"Here's the thing Messer, you don't deal with them." She pulled herself up on one of his kitchen counters, "You avoid them."
He stood up with a box of crackers and tried to eat them nonchalantly in an effort to show her that her observation hadn't fazed him, "You say that like it's supposed to be a revelation to me."
"Listen buddy I could give two flying shits about your commitment issues, except when it involves my sister."
"She's tough, she'll get over it." He said opening his fridge to grab a beer.
"That's just it she doesn't want to get over it," Mandy said, "I personally think she's an idiot cause while you are walking sex you're a bit more of a project for lil ol me."
"Is that so?" He leaned against his counter and regarded her. This was her thing, he figured he would just let the woman talk and eventually she'd realize he was a lost cause and leave.
"Yeah it's so," Mandy shook her head, "She's the best thing that's ever happened to you and that scares you shitless doesn't it?"
Ouch, she hit a guy where it hurt. He pursed his lips and pretended to brush her comment off, "I'm not scared."
"That's right you're petrified."
"Is there a point to this visit Mandy? I appreciate that you want to look out for your sister, but has it ever occurred to you that I'm not the best thing for her?"
"Are you kidding me?" She laughed, "I wish to high heaven that you WEREN'T then she wouldn't have to put so much work into something so gawd damn simple." She jumped off the counter, "Not ever in your life are you gonna find anyone like her and you know it, grow up already Messer."
He clenched his teeth, nobody talked to him like that, save probably Aiden. He finally sighed and looked down; Aiden had said pretty much the exact same thing to him on the phone the other night.
"Are you about done?" He asked.
She shook her head and walked toward the door, "Almost, she's not asking for a lifetime here you know, she just wants to know you."
"No she really doesn't." He said firmly.
Mandy sighed and took his hand to squeeze it she looked into his eyes and smiled, "Yes she does." She said even firmer then kissed his cheek and left.
He put a hand to his cheek, "What is it with these Montana women?" He asked himself.
Flack pulled out Lindsay's chair before sitting in his own. She smiled at him, "I had no idea you were a gentleman."
"Can't be tough all the time," He smiled back, "Besides Mandy threatened me with treating you nicely."
"She's really not that violent." Lindsay said with a laugh.
He smirked, "Uh yeah she kinda is."
"Whoa and that is getting into too much information territory." She held her hand up.
With a laugh he nodded, "I wasn't gonna go further, besides we aren't here to talk about me."
"Mandy has informed me that you might have some intel on Danny." She said taking a sip of her water.
"Yeah something like that, he's being a moron."
"Oh hunny I didn't need you to tell me that."
"I know, just figured I'd start with something you know." He said.
"Did you ever meet Cindy?" Lindsay cut to the chase.
Flack sighed, "No, which is actually a good thing; if he's keeping her hidden it's not that serious."
"But he said they were dating up to two days before we went on our first date." She said.
"They were, but he hardly remembered who she was after you." Flack explained, "I'm not saying it was right."
"A couple of the lab girls have told me stuff," Lindsay said.
"Like?"
"He's a player, never stays long with one woman…" She ticked the list off on her fingers.
Flack chuckled, "Well that's kind of true, but I'm sure gossip has blown it out of proportion. Listen Lindsay I'm not going to sit here and tell you the guy is a saint."
"What are you gonna tell me then?"
"That he's worth fighting for, he'll come around, he's just a bit slow on the uptake."
Lindsay sighed and looked at her drink, "You sure he'll come around."
"Well if Mandy hasn't killed him, then yeah."
AN Okay, okay so the suspense is gonna be over SO very soon...next chapter in fact. I promise...I hope it's worth the wait...and I hope you enjoyed this... :)