Thank you guys for taking the time to read this, and I hope you enjoyed it. I hope to see you guys for my next Danny angsty epic.

This is the last chapter.

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"When I got shot, I didn't regret one moment of it. Even if it meant that I would be dead, I still would have done it. The bullet is still inside me, it's near my spine, and it grazed the aortic wall. I had lost a lot of blood, Danny. Timing was everything. It was then, in the OR that I found out that I was pregnant. I knew it was yours. Marie was fine, through all of that. The wonders of the human body.

Once I came to, I was in the ICU surrounded by FBI agents. They were investigating Tanglewood, they told me that they had become a menace in the drug ring across state. They were watching your case from the sidelines, quietly. They had no witnesses of any kind, they were either too scared or dead.

Danny, you weren't an option, in which you've got conflicting issues. So, they came to me after asking doctors to put me in a room where they put celebrities, out of publics eye.

"Detective Monroe, You're a brave woman, doing what you did. Your shooter, Lukas Pavrosa. Killed himself in lockup at Sing Sing this morning. He was our only connection to the case. Detective Messer, though involved, his ties were severed 15 years ago and his brother is dead. That leaves you."

She looks at the 4 agents flanking her hospital bed. Without thinking, she asks "What do you need from me?"

"We need you to testify, not in court obviously. We can set it up for you. You've had contact with Lukas, and maybe he has mentioned things to you that he shouldn't have. I normally hate this part of my job, but I have to do it. That's what they pay me for."

A long pause echoes throughout the room, as Mac Taylor enters the room.

"What? What is it?" she asks.

"Lindsay Monroe has to die. We need to make them think that you're dead."

"What? You want my Detective to go into Witness Protection?

"It's the only way Detective Taylor. You may think that you've put them all away, but in the past few years, a new division has given rise on the West Coast. Lukas Pavrosa was to become their so-called leader."

Just before Detective Taylor had a chance to say no, the word "YES" escapes from her mouth.

"Mac, Danny cannot know. Everybody cannot know. I have to do this."

"Wait? Mac knows? HE KNOWS?"

A fury of mixed emotions came forth, as I tried to make sense of those events. He knew the whole time?

"He helped me carry your casket!"

"Danny, don't get mad at him. It was my decision, and he was under orders. Nobody else knows."

The blood boiled to my face, as it became hard to contain my anger. "He knew. He could have told me"

"Danny. You have to realize, not only did I lose you, I lost my family, I lost my friends and my job. Marie's also lost a father."

Marie. My daughter. My flesh and my blood. Will she ever get to know me? Will I ever get to love her as my own?

"I knew I had to do it Danny, they had to be stopped."

She takes a long calculated breath.

"It was so hard for me Danny, watching you at my funeral. My brother, my parents. But I knew, to protect you, I had to do this. My faith in you never faltered, never came into question. I wanted to tell you so bad, that I was okay."

"You called me that night?"

"Yes. The agents kept reminding me, who I was doing this for. I'm looking at half of that reason right now. They stressed on the believeability, and it hurt Danny. It hurt that I had to put you through that. Nobody should have to go through that.

Danny. They need to make sure that they're all but a faded memory before they even think of bringing me back. Even till then, I'm not sure myself that I WILL get everything back."

"You have me, Lindsay. I will wait for you."

I pull her close, and I wrap my arms around her like there was no tomorrow. It was going to be a long wait, I sensed it. I knew that I could breathe again, knowing she was alive. I kiss her, and I kept telling her that I loved her. I savor the feel of her on my skin, the taste of her lips on mine.

I had to do this for my family.

Till then I'll wait.

--

Blue water, blue sky, not a smidge of land in in my sight. It was just Lindsay and I. My boat and I. The sun, warm on my New York skin.

Sailing here on the east coast waters became a weekly ritual, we'd even sail up to Newfoundland to buy salmon on occaision. They do taste better up there somehow, sweeter.

Ocean air, and ocean mist. Cooling my spirit, cooling my soul.

Indeed, it was Lindsay that had set me free. Free to live life as it was meant to be.

"Daddy look!" Marie points off the gunwale. 3 Dolphins, were racing with us, jumping in and out of the water.

"Marie, Honey, don't lean too far off the edge. You'll fall over"

"Marie, listen to your father"
She pouts and climbs down the rail, she looks to Lindsay and I, lets out a big 'humph' and storms away.

Inside me, I chuckle and marvel at how much she was like me when I was her age. She's going to be a heartbreaker when it comes time. And I'll be breaking kneecaps if any boy breaks her heart. The joys of being a father, I never knew how great a gift it was until now.

Bringing in the rope to change the mast, I notice Lindsay laying out a beach towel amidship. She takes off her robe to reveal one hot number.

I was reduced to a pimply faced teen, as I felt my face grow beet red. She notices me, as I puck up my tongue off the floor. Lindsay could only smirk.

I don't think I could ever get used to her, not one woman ever held that effect on me.

"Um, Danny"

"Yes?"

"Watch out"

Turning around, I see the outhaul flying towards me. Too late.

I see the world turn upside down, as water goes into my nose and mouth. Surfacing, I call out to Lindsay.

"Hey Montana, a little help?"

She walks over, and simply stands there with her arms hanging over the railing. A few seconds later, Marie rushes to her mother's side. Both of them, giggling.

"What do you think Hon? Should we help Daddy?"

Marie looks at me, then back at Lindsay. A slow smile forms on her face, ear to ear.

By now, I'm begging. "Come on, Honey. I'll make you your favorite triple chocolate rocket milkshake."

"I think you should stay where you are, Daddy."

Lindsay shrugs at me, "She called it."

Both Marie and Linds walk away, and all I see was an empty boat from my view.

"Guys? Sweetheart?"

The End.