A/N: Zamboni Rodeo is the work of Jason Cohen, and is the story of the 1996-97 Austin Ice Bats, a minor league hockey team in Austin, Texas. It's one of my favorite books, hilarious and real, and a great read—it kept me from going totally crazy when I was student teaching a few years ago, so this is my way of saying thank you for that (not that Jason Cohen is reading this, but hey, who knows…).

The movie ended and Danny and Maddie cuddled together as best they could without worsening his injury, watching the credits roll across the screen.

"Wanna watch another one?" he asked, nuzzling her cheek.

She smiled blissfully, still not sure if she really was lying in Danny's arms or if she was dreaming. "What time is it?" she asked in reply.

He peeked over her head at the clock sitting on the nightstand beside the hospital bed. "Seven o'clock."

"You're going to have company in little bit," she told him, patting his chest and sitting up reluctantly. "I talked to Aiden earlier on my way home, and she said they'd be dropping by to see you…"

"…and to process me," he frowned. He didn't like thinking of himself as a victim.

"And to process you," she confirmed.

She ran a hand over his face, smiling tenderly down at him. He reached up and gently touched the scar on her neck, smiling back as he shared her thought: Thank god you're alive.

"I love you," he told her softly.

"I love you, too," she smiled as she leaned down and kissed him.

It took them a minute to hear the man clearing his throat in the doorway.

Danny saw him first. "Mac…"

Maddie turned around and tried to be nonchalant. "Oh hey Mac…" She swung her legs over the side of the bed and hopped down as he stepped into the room.

He glanced from Maddie to Danny, noting the silly grin plastered on his face and the dreamy look in her eyes. "Am I interrupting?"

"Of course not," Maddie replied.

"No no no, Mac, come on in," Danny added.

Mac suppressed a smile, giving Maddie a quick hug on his way to Danny's bedside. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm doin' okay," Danny replied, trying to temper his giddy expression.

"I guess so," Mac said dryly.

Maddie piped up from the foot of the bed. "I'm gonna go grab a cup of coffee," she said, wanting to give the two friends some time alone. "Can I bring you anything from the cafeteria, Mac?"

"You don't have to go," Danny told her quickly.

"It's okay," she reassured him. "You two have things to discuss." She smiled at him, a version of her smile that only he seemed to be able to coax from her lips. "I'll be back later."

The dopey grin returned as his eyes followed her out of the room.

Mac concealed another smile. "So what was that all about?" he asked, sitting in the chair beside the bed.

"What was what?"

The senior detective allowed his smothered smile to show. "You don't need to be a highly-observant criminalist to notice the looks you two were trading…"

Danny felt his face growing warm. "You know when we were processing that bride…"

"Yes," Mac nodded.

"You asked me if Maddie and I had ever considered dating, and I told you I wasn't good enough for her."

Mac nodded again. "And I told you you should ask Maddie what she thought."

Danny looked down at the IV in his free hand, his smile stretching from ear to ear. "Well, I asked."

Mac chuckled. "Congratulations, Danny. It finally happened."

"Yeah," Danny grinned. "Hell froze over." Then his expression changed, becoming serious. "Listen, Mac, I know you and Maddie are good friends, and I want you to know that I would never do anything to hurt her. I'm not playin' around, here—this is not some little fling. I love her, more than anything else in the world…"

"I know you do," Mac told him, "and I know you'll take good care of her."

Danny beamed at his mentor's approval, and the two sat in silence for a few moments before he spoke. "Mac, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"I, uh, never felt this way about someone before, ya know? You think it'd be okay if, uh…if I…sometimes…asked you for advice?" Danny asked self-consciously. "I don't want to screw this up…"

Mac grinned. "Anytime," he promised, patting Danny's good shoulder. His wedding band caught the light and he chuckled again, lifting his hand to get a better look at it. "You know, before too long you'll be wearing one of these, too…" he teased.

"Let's not get crazy, now," Danny cautioned. "I just figured out I'm in love with her. Baby steps, Mac…"

"Okay, okay," Mac agreed, his eyes twinkling, "one thing at a time. There's certainly no hurry." He reached over and picked up his kit from beside the chair he'd been sitting in. "But we do need to get you processed…"

Stella found Maddie sitting at an empty table in the nearly empty cafeteria, sipping a can of coke and reading a book. "What book is that?"

Maddie looked up and smiled ruefully as Stella sat down. "It's called Zamboni Rodeo but I'm not really reading it much—my concentration is shot."

Stella nodded sympathetically. "I bet it is. But Danny seems to be doing okay…I stopped by his room and he had this big dopey grin on his face…"

Maddie laughed delightedly. "Still? You'd think he'd never been kissed before."

Stella grinned. "Well, he'd never been kissed by you before…"

Maddie smiled happily. "He has now."

"And I lost the pool," Stella replied, laughing. "My money was on Eastside's graduation ceremony. But I'm glad you two finally got together. I'm just sorry it took a shooting to do it."

Maddie's smiled faded. "How's the case going?"

"Actually, that's why I'm here," Stella told her. "You were a witness, and I need to ask you a few questions."

"All right."

"Tell me exactly what happened, as best as you can remember."

Maddie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Danny and I were walking down the street when we heard noises inside the jewelry story. The front door was broken, and there were people moving around inside."

"How many?"

Maddie shook her head. "I don't know. More than one is all I can tell you."

Stella made a note in her memo book. "Then what happened."

"Danny decided to go in and unholstered his gun…"

"He was carrying while you guys were on a date?"

"It wasn't really a date," Maddie smiled softly, "but he very often carries his gun when we're out, partly for protection and partly because, well, you know Danny. He's never really off duty."

Stella nodded. "I know they type. Okay, so Danny draws his gun…then what?"

"He went into the store, very slowly, and identified himself. I heard noises, people running, and he went further into the store…I couldn't see him very well in the dark—just his outline—but I heard the gunshot and saw him fall. After that, I was only concerned with Danny…"

Stella reached into her pocked and pulled out a cell phone and handed it to Maddie. "We found this at the scene. It's yours isn't it?"

Maddie nodded and took it from her. "Yeah. I must've dropped it when I ran to Danny…"

"Anything else you remember?"

Maddie shook her head. "Right after I got to Danny, Don and Aiden showed up and called the ambulance. That's about it."

"I'm gonna need the clothes you were wearing," Stella told her.

Maddie nodded. "They're lying on my bathroom floor. I stopped home for a minute this afternoon to take a shower." She laughed a little. "I was just going to stay here for a while longer, but Danny told me I looked like hell…"

Stella smiled. "Never one to beat around the bush, is he? You haven't washed the clothes or done anything to them?"

"No. Everything I wore I peeled off before I got in the shower and left in my apartment, except for the sweater I was wearing. I used it to try and stop the bleeding in Danny's shoulder, and it got left at the jewelry store."

Stella made a few more notes in her memo book. "Yeah, we have that at the lab."

Maddie's cell phone rang, and she glanced down at the Caller ID display. It was an NYPD number. "'Scuse me a minute, Stella, I gotta get this." She flipped open the phone as she rose from her seat and walked to a corner of the cafeteria. "Hello?"

"Miss Parrish? It's Luis Romero…from fifth period?"

"Luis," she smiled into the phone. He was one of her brightest students and she always enjoyed hearing from him.

"Miss Parrish, I'm in trouble…I need your help…"

Mac stood behind his desk, having returned to his office after his visit with Danny, looking at a picture he kept in his wallet. She was standing in the sunlight, her eyes sparkling, smiling up at him the way only she could. He remembered the day well—they had eaten lunch together at Battery Park, not far from the World Trade Center, and he had his kit and camera in the back of his car. He'd pulled out the camera when she wasn't looking and snapped the picture of her, knowing it was against regulations, but somehow not really worried about it. She looked so beautiful, his Claire, and something in the back of his mind had whispered how many more chances do you think you'll have?

A week later, the Twin Towers fell and took his Claire away from him. Shortly after, he'd gotten rid of everything that reminded him of her, trying to make the pain go away. But he had forgotten about the picture until he went through the stack of photos from the scene he'd been working that day. He'd cried when he found it, long and hard, until Stella had found him and taken him home.

Stella. She had known Claire, had been friends with her, and knew how much he'd loved her. She was there when Claire died, doing her best to comfort him and help him grieve. She was there for him now, always looking out for him, making sure he didn't retreat too far inside himself, away from those who cared about him, away from her.

He set the wallet down on the desk and shifted his gaze to the wedding band on his left hand, twisting it they way he sometimes did when he was thinking. Stella had asked him once why he still wore it. All he had managed to tell her was that he didn't want to take it off. What he couldn't tell her was that he wasn't ready to. Taking off his wedding band meant letting go of Claire forever, admitting that she was no longer his, and he had been unable to do that.

His thoughts drifted to Danny and Maddie. He'd only seen them together briefly today, but he knew how much they loved each other. He and the other CSIs had known before they themselves had, and he was sure they would be together as long as they lived. He had even teased Danny about it, knowing what a big deal it was for his protégé to admit that he was in love. And what had Danny said to him? Baby steps, Mac…

He frowned at his wedding band, turning a thought over in his mind. He had loved Claire, and always would, but he knew she wouldn't want him to wallow the way he did. She would want him to be happy. He didn't have to take the plunge all at once and go out and get married right away—that isn't how he did things anyway. But little bit by little bit, he should try and find someone who made him happy. Baby steps…

He knew who made him happy. Stella made him happy. He knew he was in love with her. Maddie knew it too, had figured it out the night of his birthday party. She had seemed fairly certain then that someday, when he was ready, love would find him again, perhaps in the form of a curly-haired Greek-Italian CSI.

He looked down at the picture in his wallet again. It was time. He was ready for his first step.

"I love you," he whispered softly, sliding the wedding band off his finger. He slipped it into the plastic holder with picture and sealed the open side with tape so as not to lose it. He let his eyes linger on the photo and the ring for a moment more, then closed the wallet and placed it back in his pocket. When he looked up, he saw her there on the floor below, smiling up at him.

Stella.

He smiled back gently. Baby steps…