Chapter 5 – Anxiety

The morning was uneventful, and the atmosphere around the lab seemed to be more tense than usual. Everyone's was just a touch more fast-paced than normal, trying to finish up early in hopes of slipping out before their shifts officially ended. Buzz about the Gala could be heard all over the office… Lindsay kept catching wind of some 'challenge' talk, but was never around anyone long enough to figure out what they were talking about.

It was about mid-morning when Stella popped her head into Lindsay's office.

"Hey Lindsay, get your kit together, we've got a homicide a few blocks from here." She did a double-take. "Lindsay, is your jaw swollen!"

Lindsay reached up to her face, embarrassed. "Yeah, we were at Nik's last night, and as we were leaving this guy got really persistent in trying to pick me up. When Danny tried to get me out, it got a bit violent, and I accidentally moved into the crossfire of a fist."

Stella looked at her, wide-eyed. "Not Danny's, I hope!"

"No, no, it was the drunk guys, though Danny's got a few of his own battle scars. It's alright though – the swelling has already gone down since this morning, but I'm worried about how I'll look tonight."

"Oh don't even worry about it – if I didn't know you, I probably wouldn't've noticed that anything was different, but when you see someone as often as we see each other, it's a bit more noticeable." Stella smiled reassuringly – she hadn't been lying when she said that. "Let's get going."

Lindsay scooped up her kit and followed Stella down to the parking garage.

Twenty minutes later, they were at the scene. Both knowing that they didn't want to be held up any longer than they had to, they got to work quickly. Lindsay didn't mind the change from being in stuck inside the lab doing paperwork though – the change of environment gave her a chance to take her mind off of a certain someone, who seemed to persistently occupy her thoughts.

"Looking forward to tonight, Lindsay?" asked Stella.

"Hmm?" sounded Lindsay, looking up from her tape lift. "Oh for sure, from what I've heard from the past Galas it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm a bit nervous though – not entirely sure what to expect."

"Oh, don't even worry about it – it's pretty awesome being a woman at these events – the guy-to-girl ratio works wonderfully in our favour. Most of NYPD is male, so it's a great event to scope out the guys… and let's face it, police officers are hot!" Stella joked, making Lindsay laugh. "It's a pretty relaxed night… mostly just for socializing and to raise money. There's a silent auction, and you can get some pretty awesome stuff there, for way less than what you'd pay in the store. Two years ago, there was even a Mediterranean cruise… and you'll never guess who got it: Hammerback."

Lindsay burst out laughing. "Seriously! Hammerback! Definitely wouldn't've seen that as his sort of thing!"

"I know!" replied Stella, "but apparently he had a grand old time on it – came back with pictures showing way more than I was interested in seeing!"

Lindsay raised her eyebrows, still smiling. "There's something I don't need to picture…"

"Well, at least it's not permanently etched in your memory!" Stella mused. "But anyway, the night works nicely for us – plenty of guys to choose from."

Lindsay smiled, turning her attention back. It wouldn't surprise her if most of the women would have their sights set on Danny, but so what? Shethought to herself, it's not like I have any more claim on him than any of them anyway… She let out a heavy sigh. How Danny Messer was able to have this captivating hold on her, she'd never understand.

Danny's eyes wandered around the lab more than normal, as he searched for Mac. He hadn't seen Lindsay all morning – he figured that she was out in the field, but he still subconsciously looked around for her every chance he got. Down the hall, he spotted Flack and Mac looking over some files.

"Oh good, you're both here," he said as he approached. "I need to speak to both of you. First, Detective Flack," he pointed, "I got a bit of a bone to pick with you!"

"What are you going on about Mess---Jesus, Danny, what'd you do to your face!" replied Flack, examining Danny's swollen cheek.

"Yeah, about that," he said, wide-eyed. "After you and Hawkes left to help Mac at that scene, I got into a little altercation with someone who had one too many drinks." He decided to leave out that it happened because the guy was hitting on Lindsay… that'd spark questions that he just didn't feel like dealing with.

Flack shifted his focus awkwardly to Mac, who looked thoroughly confused. "I didn't call Flack and Hawkes to a scene last night," he said slowly.

"Yeah, you did," said Danny, not noticing the look of 'oh crap' on Flack's face. "You called Flack and said you needed help processing a simple scene, so he and Hawkes left."

"Uh, no I didn't," corrected Mac. "I called Flack last night, yes, but it was just to ask him where he left me a file."

Danny looked at Flack, who looked at Mac, avoiding Danny's gaze, as Danny was undoubtedly putting together what had actually happened the night before.

"Well!" said Flack quickly, cutting of Danny as he drew in a breath to speak. "Looks like you've got this under control Mac... I'm just... gonna... take off..." He pointed to the exit and stepped out quickly, narrowly avoiding Danny's attempt to grab his suit jacket.

Danny glared at the back of Flack's head as he awkwardly speed-walked down the hall, not daring to look over his shoulder. Mac spoke first, an extremely quizzical look on his face. "Did I miss something there?"

"Yeah," seethed Danny, though grinning on the inside. "Flack's a dead man."

Lindsay looked at her watch nervously – she had been slightly held up at the lab after a man came in claiming responsibility for the murder she and Stella had been processing earlier that day. They left over a half-hour later than they had planned; normally, this wouldn't've phased her, but today, Lindsay needed all the time she could get to ensure that she looked just right for the Gala.

She rushed into her apartment, first smiling at her couch, then glancing at the time on the DVD player – 4:12. She had to be in the cab by 5:10, if she hoped to get to the lab before 5:30. Deciding not to take the risk of the cab arriving late, she called in advance for a pick-up at 5:00. This gave her about an forty-five minutes to get completely ready. Doable, but definitely less time than she was hoping for.

By 4:50, she was almost ready, and very anxious. She had rushed all aspects of her preparation, but as she examined her hair and makeup in the mirror, she still thought she looked pretty good. She had chosen a flat brown eye shadow to compliment her dress, and wore her hair in loose, wavy curls. Her eyes traveled down her mirror, examining the dress. It was a thin-strapped, red-wine number, that was tastefully low-cut. It was fitted on top, then expanding to a subtle A-line, reaching to just above the floor. Only the toe of the matching strappy heels showed under the bottom of the dress. Lindsay selected a black wrap to go with the dress. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, impressed with her ability to get ready in such a short period of time. She looked out her window just in time to see her cab pull up in front of her building. With a final application of lip gloss, she was out her door, her heart pounding in her chest.

Danny stood with Mac, Flack, and Hawkes, just inside the main doors to the lab on the ground floor, waiting for the women to show up – naturally, they would be the last. Danny discretely glanced over his left shoulder at the front doors, waiting for a sign of Lindsay. He couldn't really peg why, but he was looking forward to seeing her dressed up for the gala. He looked down and examined himself, ensuring for the millionth time that he was presentable. He had selected a black suit with a black collared shirt underneath, accented by a royal blue tie. When he had been suit-shopping awhile back, the store clerk who had been helping him practically melted when he came out wearing this ensemble.

He turned his attention back to Flack, who was going on about a woman who had been brought in for questioning in relation to a string of petty thefts that had taken place in the past few days. Apparently, she had tried to get out of it by hitting on him, but in her inebriated state, it just came across as hilarious.

"So she walks around the table, or more accurately, stumbles around the table, then sits on it in front of me, putting her hands on my shoulders," he laughed, apparently enjoying the re-telling of his own story immensely, "She looks at me and goes, 'Are you religious, Detective Flack? Because I'm the answer to your prayers!'" The others burst out laughing at the absurdity of her pickup line.

"You're serious, she actually said that!" asked Hawkes, leaning on Danny for support as he doubled-over laughing.

Flack gave a wide smile, and replied, "Oh yeah, it was great. It took all of my self control not to burst out laughing in her face, though the officer in the room with us didn't even try to control himself. She looked like she could have castrated him right there." He breathed deeply in between bursts of laughter, trying to compose himself long enough to continue with his story. "Anyhow, I just looked at her and gave her a sort of 'yeah, right' look, then stood up. Of course, she was leaning forward so far that when I did stand up, she fell flat on her face. I guess she didn't want me to realize that she had fallen though, because she then started doing this extremely odd groveling sort of maneuver at my feet."

"Oh and I bet you just loved that – women worshipping you!" Danny managed to get out.

"Yeah, not quite in that scenario though, Messer! Anyway, as I walked out, she starts doing this writhing motion that I guess she thought was sexy… oh it was definitely one of the strangest questioning experiences I've ever had, let me tell you! I'll be laughing about that experience for the next three weeks, oh man!" Flack wiped tears from his eyes – it was true that his job came with its quirky moments, but rarely did something as bizarre as this happen.

Danny looked over his shoulder towards the door again, standing perfectly still as the world around him seemed to disappear. Lindsay had just gotten out of her cab and was walking towards the door – he found himself shocked at how stunning she looked. Her red dress draped smoothly over her, showing just enough to be tastefully sexy. Flack's words snapped him out of his trance as she walked towards them.

"And here I thought a country girl's idea was dressing up was more plaid!" he quipped, still laughing partially at his story, and partially at his own comment.

"Oh you shut it," Lindsay replied, a smirk on her face. She joined them, standing beside Danny, who was still just looking at her, still in shock. She quickly glanced up at him, blushing slightly – apparently she got the reaction she was hoping for. She turned back to the rest of the group. "So it's just Stella that we're waiting for then?"

"Nope, I'm here," said Stella, as if on cue, walking through the doors. She was outfitted in a simple navy blue number complimented by a matching lightweight cardigan. Danny pulled his gaze away from Lindsay, muttering an only-slightly coherent 'hello' in her direction.

"Ready to go then?" asked Mac, gesturing to the limo that had just pulled up in front of the lab.

"Sure," replied Hawkes, grinning, "as long as neither Lindsay nor Stella start writhing around on the floor." Flack and Hawkes just stared at each other for a moment, before doubling over with laughter. Mac just shook his head.

Both Lindsay and Stella just stared at them, thoroughly confused. "Don't worry about it," gasped Flack, between breaths. "We'll explain it in the limo."

The interior of the limo oozed a classy ambiance – the minibar was stocked with a large, classy bottle of champagne. Tiny lights on the ceiling replicated stars, changing colour in time with the soft music playing. The soft, black leather was extremely comfortable, and there was plenty of room for everyone to fit comfortably. Lindsay was impressed with Danny's choice in limo service, and she told him so, as she settled into a seat towards the front of the cabin.

"I did a lot of searching – have to arrive in style," he smiled, claiming the seat next to her. She closed her eyes briefly, as the scent of his cologne encircled her as he passed.

The kind sentiments about Danny's choice of limo were repeated through the rest of the group as they entered, impressed. Even Mac shared his approval, opening the bottle of champagne, while Flack passed around the tall glasses.

Mac offered the toast. "To Danny's choice of transportation, and to another great year," he smiled, holding up his glass. The others smiled and clinked their glasses together. Lindsay smiled at Danny as their glasses met, letting her gaze hold his for just an extra second. He looked great in his suit, everything perfectly coordinated in such a way that only Danny could pull off. If she thought he looked unbelievably attractive, even the worst of days, then tonight, that made him downright irresistible. She smiled inwardly, taking a sip of her champagne. Everything about him was just driving her further towards the edge, but no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to take the plunge. It was, after all, Danny Messer.

She turned her attention to the others, as Flack began to re-tell his story about the crazy woman. She took another sip of her champagne, hoping it would help take the edge off, the smell of Danny's cologne still saturating the air around her.

AN: As usual, please R&R. They make me feel warm and fuzzy. Chapter 6 is on the way! Special thanks to Nikita for beta-ing. :)