A.N. I tried to write a Flack/Danny scene and Flack just came off as goofy again. Why is he so hard for me to write?
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Freddy smiled at Lindsay wryly over the rim of his wine glass. Lindsay sent him a quelling look in return and glanced at Jen, who didn't seem to be paying them any attention at all. However, as if she felt Lindsay's eyes, Jen looked up and caught Lindsay staring.
Fork halfway to her mouth, Jen paused and raised her eyebrows questioningly. Lindsay shook her head and turned her attention back to the food. Jen shrugged and tried to fill the silence.
"Are you looking forward to the Galapagos trip, Freddy?"
Freddy picked up his fork again. "Of course."
Lindsay felt a bit of relief at the frustration in Jen's eyes. Freddy seemed to be losing his appeal for Jen. It hadn't helped that Freddy had been on his best behavior around Jen at all their previous meetings, no doubt sensing her early hostility. The fact that Jen was generally attracted to blonds, not dark and brooding types, seemed to have little or no impact on her crush.
Then Freddy smiled lazily into Jen's eyes as he reached for his wine glass again. Lindsay watched with resignation as Jen melted. Damn Freddy for looking like he belonged on the cover of a magazine.
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"Hey, Monroe!"
Glancing up as she closed the door to the lab vehicle, she saw Jen striding towards her from the house. "Hey," she called back, grinning into the sunlight.
Jen reached out and pushed Lindsay's shoulder gently. "Are you back in the field?"
Pulling a face, Lindsay sighed. "Unfortunately, no. Mac has temporarily lifted my exile since Stella had to call in sick, but tomorrow its back to the lab for me. I'm just meeting him to pick up the evidence from the last scene he and Danny processed."
"Stella's sick?" Jen asked as they started towards the house.
"Actually," Lindsay murmured, glancing around to make sure Mac hadn't arrived yet. "I think she had a date last night. And, apparently, it went well."
Jen lifted her sunglasses to the top of her head. "Really?"
The tension in Jen's voice made Lindsay want to sigh again. Jen was slowly becoming comfortable with the team now that Lindsay was back and it was clear there was no grudge. It helped that Danny had given up his banked hostility since Lindsay's safe return. But Jen still wasn't completely easy with Mac's team outside of work.
Just as Lindsay started to respond, the other vehicle pulled up and Mac started to climb out. Danny jumped out of the backseat and went around to the rear of the truck. Lindsay watched him as he disappeared to transfer evidence to her vehicle.
"Who's that?" Jen asked, gesturing with her chin at Adam, who'd climbed out of the truck with Mac. "He looks familiar."
"What? Oh, that's Adam, you've worked with him before. He's the lab guy Mac sometimes brings out."
"Oh, right. You told me about him," Jen murmured. Her head tilted to the side as she studied him. "Did he get a haircut or something? He looks different."
"Who we talkin' about?" Danny asked, appearing next to them.
"Adam," Lindsay told him, gesturing to where the man in question stood listening to Mac.
Danny frowned. "Why?"
"What's he doing out here?" Lindsay countered with a smile.
Shrugging to show he had no clue, Danny eyed Jen with a smirk. "You vibin' him?"
Jen rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I wanna do him against the car."
"He might be into that, actually," Danny said consideringly.
Exasperated, Jen stalked off. Lindsay tried to hide her smile, succeeding only marginally. "Nice. Real nice."
"What'd I say?" he asked innocently. She couldn't help but chuckle. "So, whaddya think? They gonna…"
She narrowed her eyes at him as he gestured crudely. "I guess that depends."
"On what?"
"Him," she said calmly, shrugging.
"So she is vibin him?" He sounded surprised.
"What's wrong with that?" Lindsay asked, pulling out the keys to the vehicle. "He's cute."
"He's a baby," Danny said disgustedly, crossing his arms over his chest and staring across the lot at Adam who was now setting up some sort of machine.
"He's older than I am," she protested, slightly offended.
"How cute?" Danny demanded turning back to her.
Her annoyance immediately dissipated. "Very cute," she murmured, just low enough that only he could hear. "Must be the facial hair. And the glasses."
"Adam doesn't wear glasses," Danny argued, looking confused.
"You don't say?" With a small smile, she turned and strode to the back of the truck.
It took him a moment, but then she saw him grin through the rear and side windows. She heard him take a breath like he was going to speak, but then he closed his mouth and shook his head.
"You wanna help me move this evidence?" Lindsay asked sweetly, peeking out from around the back of the truck.
He appeared at her side and pulled the back open for her, still smug. But he didn't gloat, so she let the smirk slide.
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Another week in the lab and she was no closer to getting back out in the field. Sighing silently, Lindsay straightened and resisted the urge to rub at her shoulders.
"I've gotta go," she said, stripping off her gloves. Both Hawkes and Danny looked up from the reconstruction table.
"Where you goin?" Danny asked, sounding disgruntled as he braced himself against the table, watching her.
"I'm meeting Jen for lunch." She glanced at her watch and sighed. "Five minutes ago."
Hawkes merely smiled at her and bent back over the evidence. "See you later."
"Oh, so you're leaving us with all of this?" Danny gestured at the pictures and clothes scattered across the table as if he was irritated.
Frowning, she slid her arms out of her lab coat. "No, I'll help you when I get back."
Something was definitely wrong with him today. "This is a case, Monroe. You can't just walk away when you want and come back to it."
Her eyes narrowed and she vaguely sensed Hawkes glancing between them nervously. "Correction. This is your case, Messer. I was helping you as a favor. And, yes, it's important. And yes, I will help you when I get back. But I'm also on three other cases right now. So you can bite me."
With that, she whirled, leaving him slack jawed and strode from the room. Muttering to herself, she turned a corner and spotted Jen waiting for her. Angell was staring through the glass wall into one of the labs. Confused by the intent stance, Lindsay eyed her as she stepped closer.
"What's up?" Lindsay asked.
"What's he doing?"
Glancing through the glass, Lindsay saw Adam bent over a row of test tubes, earbuds in his ears. "DNA, I assume."
"And he listens to his iPod?"
"Sure, why not? It's not like he has to talk to anybody."
Jen nodded but her eyes remained glued to Adam through the wall. Lindsay felt her lips curve up into a confused half-smile. "Unless, of courses, you want to talk to him."
Jen rolled her eyes. "We've barely spoken, Linds."
"Okay," she said, shrugging casually and filing the conversation away. "You ready for lunch?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Let me just grab my purse. I'll meet you at the elevators."
Once she was far enough away not to be distracted by Jen's interesting behavior, she remembered Danny. What was his problem? She rarely even took lunch, especially when he was the one asking for her help. The anger swept through her again and she banged her locker shut with more energy than strictly necessary.
Swinging her purse onto her shoulder, she automatically went back over the events of the morning, hoping there was something there to explain his irritation other than whimsy. Or, worse, her.
The only time she'd seen him was when he'd brought back the evidence. He'd seemed tired but he'd smiled at her as he asked for help so she'd assumed he was okay. Maybe she'd been wrong.
She caught up with Jen just as the elevator was opening and grinned. "What're you in the mood for, Angell?"
Jen smirked. "Anywhere but here."
"You all right?" Lindsay asked in surprise at the tone.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just a long week. And Thanksgiving's tomorrow. You're still coming right?" she pressed with exaggerated worry, as if she were afraid to confront her family alone.
Lindsay laughed and nodded. "Yes, I'm still coming. What time should I be there?"
A thought flitted across her mind, and she frowned, trying to chase it. But Jen spoke again, distracting her. "Two o'clock sounds about right. I'll send you an email with directions when we get back."
"Sounds good," Lindsay murmured. It was right there in the corner of her mind. Something about family. And Danny. And Thanksgiving. Oh God.
She gasped in the full elevator car, and Jen turned to her with real worry. "Linds? What's wrong?"
"Oh, I have to go. Back. I have to go back up," she babbled as the car came to a stop on the fifteenth floor. Before Jen could say anything, Lindsay stepped off the elevator and turned to wave. "I'm sorry. I'll call you later. Explain."
The doors shut as Jen opened her mouth to respond, the rest of the group in the elevator staring out in wonder. Immediately forgetting about them, Lindsay pressed the button for another car and waited impatiently.
By the time she made it back to the lab, she wasn't quite as frantic. But she wasn't surprised to find Danny standing stiffly on one side of the table, Hawkes silently working on the other.
She let out a nervous breath and then swung the door open. Their shocked expressions didn't faze her as she dropped her purse under the table and picked up her lab coat.
"Move over, Messer."
And he moved, still blinking at her. Hawkes wisely didn't say anything, merely returning his attention to the evidence in front of him. Stepping next to Danny, feeling the energy thrumming through him despite the stone-like stillness of his body, she was certain she'd been right. For once, he was the one who needed her.
As she moved behind him to pick up tools from the containers lined up next to him, she slid a hand over his back, feeling the muscles tense even more then relax. He let out an audible breath and she bit her lip, returning to the evidence.
Another holiday without Louie and she hadn't even thought about it.
"Hey, guys?"
Lindsay looked up, stiff from being bent in the same position for over an hour. "What's up?" Danny asked from her side.
"I found a hair," Hawkes told them, carefully lifting it for them to see. "And I think it has a tag."
A small grin spread over Danny's face. "That's what I'm talking about," he muttered, meeting Hawkes's eyes in silent shared triumph.
Slipping the fragile strand into its evidence bag, Hawkes picked up a manilla envelope and quickly wrote on the side. "I'll take this down to DNA."
Lindsay and Danny nodded, her stomach flipping as she watched the other man leave. When the door swung shut behind him, she felt inexplicably trapped. She wanted to help Danny, but she wasn't sure how, and, consequently, she wasn't sure she wanted to be alone with him quite yet.
The silence built between them and she desperately tried to think of a way to break it. But her mind was like mush.
"Lindsay."
Jerking at the sound of his voice, she blinked rapidly up at him. "Yeah?"
"I'm sorry. About before," he said, seeming unable to look at her.
The red tinge to his cheeks made her heart melt and she wanted to hold him, kiss him. Instead, she shuffled a few inches closer; far enough away to still be work place acceptable, but close enough to feel the heat radiating off of him.
"Me, too."
She felt him glance down at her but didn't look up from the shoe she was inspecting. Not even a speck of trace. "What do you have to be sorry about?" he asked, his voice warm and smooth now.
She shrugged and set the shoe down. "You were upset, and I left." Finally, she raised her eyes to his. "I shouldn't have done that."
His eyes went soft and a small smile tugged on the corner of his lips. He looked relaxed now and it was her turn to feel triumphant. He opened his mouth to say something then seemed to think better of it because he just smiled again and looked away.
"You missed lunch," he eventually said, beginning to pack away the evidence.
She mirrored his movements. "Yeah."
"Was Jen all right with that?"
Handing him the bagged shoes, she watched him carefully set them inside the box. "I'm going to her place tomorrow for Thanksgiving," she said.
Tapping the lid of the box in place, he nodded as if she'd answered his question. The light was gone from his eyes again. Swallowing, she cleared her throat nervously. "You could come." His head swiveled to face her. "I mean, if you want."
She met his gaze as he searched her eyes with his. His tense expression didn't change. "I'm going to my parents' place."
Stripping her gloves off, Lindsay tried to make her voice bright and cheerful since he obviously didn't want to share what was bothering him. "You know Jen's from Brooklyn, too? You guys must have practically been neighbors growing up. Did you know her?" She blinked. Had she actually just asked that?
Surprise flickered across Danny's face then he was laughing. "This ain't Montana, Lindsay. I didn't know all the people on my block growing up let alone in Brooklyn." She smiled wanly and shook her head with embarrassment. "Besides, she's a few years younger than I am," he added, picking up the evidence box.
"Well, have a happy Thanksgiving anyway," she said, her peppy tone an attempt to cover up her acute mortification over the bungled conversation.
He paused in adjusting the box's weight as he met her gaze. "Happy Thanksgiving, Montana," he murmured, smiling down into her eyes.
Lindsay watched him leave the lab and felt a goofy smile cross her face. And it suddenly hit her: she was going to have to make a move. Or she'd go insane. She was completely head over feet for the guy and wanted to give them a shot.
She knew she was ready; the only thing left to figure out was whether or not he was still interested. She knew that he had been, but it seemed like he'd toned down the flirting a bit since her return to the lab. Then again she could be over-analyzing or hypersensitive. She usually was when it came to Danny.
Somehow, she had to show him she was ready and see what he did with it.
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Over the next two weeks, she couldn't decide if he was the one who erected the wall between them or if she'd done it. However, she was fully willing to take the blame if she could just figure out a way to break through it.
She tried the usual tactics to get his attention, touching his arm when they were talking, his back when she walked past. Then she realized she'd been doing that for months.
So, she tried getting very close when they spoke, brushing against him, showing him that personal space wasn't an issue between them. But he didn't seem to notice, possibly because he'd been doing the same to her for almost two years. He probably thought he was still the one doing it.
She invited him over every time she was sure they both had the night off, but he would show up so often on his own that she doubted he was keeping track of who initiated their dinners or movie nights.
She knew the obvious solution was to ask him out. Yet, somehow, whenever she tried, the words came out all wrong. Once, while trying to ask him to dinner, she'd accidentally sparked a debate over which curry was better, Thai or Indian. Flack even appeared halfway into it and offered his own opinion on the subject.
The only way she could get through on invitation without embarrassing herself into silence was to joke about it, which just cemented its casual nature.
So, she took a step back and analyzed the situation, like any good scientist. She knew he was attracted to her, she'd witnessed the affect she had on him nearly every time they were together. It seemed inexplicable to her—Danny Messer, the man every woman wanted wanting her—but she wasn't about to argue with her good fortune. She just wasn't sure if he wanted more than that.
Though the fact that he hadn't made a move on her suggested that he didn't just want sex. Which was good, she reminded herself whenever she felt discouraged.
Really, it was.
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Danny glanced over his shoulder as he followed Mac down the hall and saw Lindsay bent over her microscope. His stomach tingled in memory of having her pressed against him.
Since Thanksgiving—or, as he liked to refer to it, the holiday from hell— she'd been a bit more flirtatious, more relaxed in general, and Danny was beginning to let himself hope again. Maybe someday soon she'd be ready to give a relationship a chance.
But not yet. He was giving her time to adjust back to being at work. At least, that's what he kept telling himself. She seemed ready to give him a shot, more flirtatious, touching him gently at any provocation. It was definitely encouraging.
The problem, the reason he hadn't been able to make a move, was that she'd been encouraging before. So, he figured he'd wait awhile, just to be sure. This time, he wanted it to work out right.
"So our vic was most likely shot out of jealousy," Mac said, drawing Danny's attention. Thinking about the case, Danny made a noise in the back of his throat.
"Why would someone do that?" Danny asked. "I mean, if you love her, why hurt her? Don't you just want her to be happy?"
Mac was quiet for a minute. "Some things just don't make sense, Danny."
"Yeah," Danny said with a scoff. "I'll never get that."
Mac chuckled and slapped Danny on the shoulder. "And you said it couldn't happen to you."
It took Danny several moments to place the reference, and Mac was already halfway down the hall when he did. Considering the violent blush he felt suffusing his face, Danny was glad Mac was gone.
Turning, he quickly headed in the opposite direction. He had fingerprints to run.
Passing by the labs again, he glanced inside to catch a glimpse of Lindsay's curly head. He smiled when he saw her frowning up at Hawkes with her usual intense concentration. That frown had broken many a suspect.
But as intimidating as she was on a daily basis, she was also the only woman he knew with a cookie jar. Sometimes it was hard to reconcile the two images.
Fighting the warmth that thought brought, he ran a hand over the back of his neck and moved towards the elevators. Maybe Flack wanted to grab a late lunch. Stepping inside the miraculously empty elevator, his mind busy with thoughts of Lindsay, Danny admitted to himself that despite all his excuses the problem was actually with him.
Lindsay had been very clear about her attraction to him. He would have to be an idiot not to recognize the signs of arousal whenever he got close enough to touch her. He knew she wanted him.
And with any other woman, that was fine. He could work with that, seducing them into a relationship despite his faults. And he could do that with Lindsay, but he didn't want to.
He needed more from her than just sexual release. Though just the thought of Lindsay lying under him made a light sweat break out on his forehead in the middle of the precinct. He smiled nervously as he passed Jen and another detective in the hall near the elevator banks. They were on fairly good terms now, but there was no way in hell he wanted her seeing what he was thinking at that moment.
Reining in his thoughts, he craned his neck in the search for Flack, relieved to find the other man at his desk. Flack spotted him and jerked his head in greeting, pointing at the phone attached to his ear. Danny nodded and leaned casually against the wall, left alone to his brooding for the time being.
He wanted Lindsay's nights, and thoughts of the things he wanted to do to her sometimes made it hard for him to sleep, but he also wanted her mornings. And the fear that desire brought paralyzed him. If Lindsay turned him down this time, he knew he couldn't ask her again. He couldn't just be her bed buddy. So all he could do was wait, give her time, and hope she knew that because, otherwise, things were going to get even messier than they already were.
Hanging his head and taking a deep breath, he tried to force the fear from his mind. Seeing Flack's jovial expression as he sauntered across the room, Danny tried to force his usual smirk onto his face. God he wanted a beer.
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Lindsay eyed Jen and Adam from around a corner as they waited for her in the break room. It could possibly be the worst idea she'd ever had, but they'd both agreed to do lunch, despite their days off, and she couldn't let all the effort she'd already expended be for nothing. Taking a deep breath, she pasted a harried expression on her face and jogged around the corner.
"Sorry guys," Lindsay said breathlessly, hurrying into the break room. "I can't make lunch. Mac just called a meeting about my case."
"Do I need to be there?" Adam asked, beginning to stand.
"No, just Danny and I. Why don't you two still go, though? The reservation's for three, but they won't mind."
Jen frowned. "Why don't we just reschedule?"
"Please go," Lindsay begged. "I feel awful for dragging you both down here for nothing."
Jen looked suspicious, but glanced at Adam and shrugged. "I could eat," she told him.
"Uh, sure," he said, his eyes shooting to the couch across the room.
"Good. Have fun. Tell me all about it," Lindsay called over her shoulder, already halfway out the door.
She rounded the corner as quickly as she could, nearly mowing Danny down. He caught her as she bounced off his chest. "Whoa. You all right?"
Taking his arm, she started dragging him down the hall. "Weren't we supposed to meet Mac?" she asked with a tense smile.
He let her drag him, eyeing her warily. "Yeah, but not for a while. He got held up at Hawkes's scene. I was just comin' to tell you."
Her eyes widened and she glanced through the glass walls of the labs to see Jen and Adam standing at the elevators. Not speaking, not even looking at each other. Her beautiful plan was falling down around her ears.
"You wanna grab some lunch?"
Her gaze flew back to Danny. "We can't," she blurted out, panicked that Jen and Adam would turn and see them.
Eyebrows flying upwards, Danny stared at her. "You all right?" he asked again though his voice was still calm.
"I'm fine."
"You don't look fine," he pointed out. He was starting to sound amused.
She gave him a dazzling smile. "But I am. I'm just not hungry."
"Okay. I'm just gonna go grab—"
Panicked again, she whirled to face him completely. "No! You can't." At his disbelieving expression, she felt her face crumple. "I'm sorry, but could you wait? Please?"
His eyes narrowed suspiciously and he crossed his arms over his chest, staring her down. "What'd you do, Monroe?"
"I…I didn't do anything," she tried to deny, but her voice sounded small and weak.
"Lindsay."
"I set Jen and Adam up."
He blinked at her for a moment then dropped his arms and spread his hands wide in front of him. "How does that translate into me having to starve?"
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, trying to channel the inner strength and stoicism she'd been using to get through the day for over ten years. "I used the meeting with Mac as an excuse to back out of a lunch date. Neither of them is on today, so I thought it would be perfect. I made reservations at this new restaurant down the street…"
Danny did not look amused. "You're kidding me." Rubbing a hand over his face, he sighed in irritation. "Can I at least go grab a slice?"
"Danny," she said calmly, though she could feel the fire in her eyes. "If you wait ten minutes, I will buy you a filet mignon. But you're not leaving this building until they are safely in that restaurant."
A flicker of heated interest crossed his face at her demanding tone and he crossed his arms once again over his chest. "Is that a challenge, Monroe?"
She took a step closer to him and crossed her own arms over her chest. "Just try it, Messer."
His eyes were hot on hers and she could feel herself starting to flush. A smirk appeared on his lips as he watched her and when hers parted, he swayed towards her. Then a door opening jerked them apart.
At work. She couldn't believe she had almost torn his clothes off at work. Danny eyed her, calm now and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "I'll go order a pizza."
She nodded and licked her dry lips. His eyes followed the motion and she nearly groaned as his gaze heated again. "And call Flack," he muttered, turning away.
An hour later, they were still waiting on Mac, who was now stuck in traffic coming back with Hawkes. But the pizza had arrived and Lindsay was laughing over the playful banter Flack and Danny flung back and forth.
So it was a bit of a shock when Jen threw open the door and marched inside, causing Lindsay, Danny and Flack to abruptly stop laughing. She came to rest with her hands on her hips next to Lindsay, obviously fuming.
"Hey, Jen," Lindsay tried as the men watched warily.
"How did you know?" Jen demanded.
"About what?"
Hopping off the high stool, Lindsay headed over to the sink and poured the rest of the coffee down the drain. Jen threw her hip out and folded her arms across her chest.
"About Adam."
Lindsay glanced at her. "Know what about—" Seeing the anger deepen behind Jen's eyes, she frowned. "Oh."
"What 'oh'?" Flack muttered to Danny who gave him a confused look.
"You think I know?"
Lindsay shrugged. "It seemed like you'd suit."
Eyes widening, Jen scoffed. "You practically ordered us on a date. You must have had more than that."
"Not really," Lindsay muttered, trying to get out the door. Jen stepped in front of her and stood her ground.
"So does she like him or hate him?"
"Seriously, you're asking me?" Danny muttered incredulously.
"How?" Jen insisted.
"You really want to know?"
Exasperation made Lindsay's tone sharp and Jen narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, I really want to know."
"Because. You're pig-headed, have a neurotic need for authority, are more likely to yell than say 'hi' and have an unhealthy addiction to bad boys."
Jen's jaw dropped. "Excuse me—"
"You're also one of the kindest women I've ever met, you're a total sap for flowers—though you'd rather yell at the delivery guy than admit it—and prefer staying home with a movie to hitting the bars."
Swallowing, Jen shifted uncomfortably, apparently rethinking her need to confront Lindsay as soon as possible. She glanced at their rapt audience, but Lindsay wasn't done.
"Adam needs someone who'll test him, remind him he's strong enough to deal, but he needs someone soft, too. He can make you laugh and he'd probably bring you flowers on a just-because basis often enough that you'd need to buy new vases."
Lindsay shrugged. "You think you need someone with an edge because you have one, but that's not what you want. You want someone who'll hold you after a tough case and won't tell you to quit your job because it sometimes makes you feel bad."
Jen and Lindsay stared at each other for a while, Danny and Flack silent beside them. Then Jen shifted her weight uneasily. "What do I do now?" she asked.
Lindsay's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"I've never been out with someone like Adam," Jen explained, muttering in her embarrassment.
"Well, what do you usually do? You don't exactly have trouble finding guys," Lindsay teased.
Jen looked away. "All I have to do is bare a little skin, and they're all over me. It's never gone past that."
"Never?" Lindsay repeated, surprised.
"Well, a couple times, but it just happened. It wasn't something I was looking for." She paused. "You think the skin thing would work?"
"I think the skin thing would scare him."
Jen nodded glumly. "That's what I thought."
"Please. He dated a Suicide Girl," Danny interrupted. "A little skin is not going to scare him."
Lindsay rolled her eyes. "Just because they're selling, doesn't mean the milk's free."
"What does that even mean?" Flack asked, shaking his head.
"It means that a Suicide Girl might bare a little skin, but it doesn't mean she's kinky or a nymphomaniac. This alleged Suicide Girl might have been a perfectly nice girl and they might have had a perfectly normal relationship."
"He dated a Suicide Girl?" Jen asked, staring from Danny to Lindsay. Panic was rising visibly behind her eyes.
Danny just shrugged and Lindsay sighed. "So he says. Forget about that. What did he say when he asked you out?"
Jen fidgeted. "He didn't."
"Didn't what?" Lindsay looked blankly at her friend.
"Ask me out," Jen hissed, slumping back against the counter.
"Then why are we having this discussion?" Flack asked, looking at Danny again who rolled his eyes with some exasperation.
"Seriously? Me?"
"Because she wants him to," Lindsay snapped at them both before gentling her tone for her friend. "Jen, I'm not really the person to talk to about this. I've never been good with the whole dating thing." Jen rubbed her forehead and Lindsay softened. "Try what you usually do. That'll probably work."
"I don't want to seduce him," Jen argued, sounding pathetic. "I want to go out with him."
Lindsay bit her lip and glanced at Danny. He watched her carefully. "Okay. How about trying to be his friend?"
Jen stared at her. "I do not want to enter the Friend Zone with this guy, Monroe."
"Look. He didn't ask you out, which means he's either not interested or he's intimidated. Since he's Adam, I'm gonna go with the latter. Get him comfortable and then swoop in with your long legs and bare skin."
Danny's eyes were locked on her as she turned. Catching his gaze, she froze. She'd basically just outlined his original plan to seduce her, though he'd used bulging biceps and flirting rather than the more feminine version.
It had definitely worked. She considered commenting that the plan was foolproof, but with Danny and Flack in the room she didn't think Jen would appreciate the sentiment.
"I need a drink," Jen muttered behind Lindsay. Then she was grabbing Lindsay's arm. "You owe me. Sullivan's. Tonight. What time do you get off?"
Wincing at the thought of drinking after her double shift, she met Jen's irritated gaze. "Eight. I'll meet you there."
"Aren't you going to be a little tired?" Danny asked calmly, picking up another slice of pizza.
Sighing, Lindsay climbed back onto her stool. "Yeah, but I threw her to the wolves earlier. I definitely owe her."
"At least it worked out for the best," he said with a shrug. Flack nodded encouragingly.
Lindsay bit her lip. "We'll see." Thinking about Jen's panicked expression, so unfamiliar on confident, sexy Detective Angell, she wanted to groan. "Did Adam really date a Suicide Girl?" she asked worriedly.
Danny lowered the pizza from his mouth and blinked at her. Then he started laughing. "Shut up, Messer," she muttered, tearing off another slice.
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qt4good: Thankfully, Adam seems to have nipped that crush in the bud. I don't think Lindsay wants to call Jen "Auntie."
scoj: Danny seems to be on the track to opening up. At least, a little bit, though he does seem to be a bit reticent. Hopefully that will change.
Murgy31: Thanks! I'm really loving writing this story. I'm almost sad that it's just about done.
chili-peppers: I figured she deserved some sort of recognition for taking a bullet for Jen. Her coworkers seem to agree though Lindsay's doesn't seem to be so sure. :-p
daytimedrama: Thanks for the review! Poor Lindsay. I personally can't imagine asking my surgeon for permission to have sex with my pseudo-boyfriend. She has way more guts than I do. Or maybe just more incentive.
ReJo: I hope you like Jen's new crush. I'm a little nervous about the reaction people will have. But I love Adam's character, so I just had to use him.
Kaoli: Fluff is on its way. Major fluff. So fluffy I can't believe I'm the one writing it. :-p
Od: Hehe. I'm glad!
Tenley: Yes, Jen's crush is a one-sided thing. I think Freddy finds it amusing, but he's not the world's most patient man. So, if Adam doesn't work out and Jen turns back to Freddy, she's in for a world of hurt. Oh, Danny and Lindsay will go farther (Barry White starts playing in the background).
Devilla: Aw, I'm so glad you like the story that much! It's become one of my favorite things I've written. But that might just be because I love D/L so much. And I give Lindsay major props for asking the doc about sex with Danny. Especially since he knows who she's talking about. I'd never be able to do that.
mercy4vr: Jen now officially has a love interest in Adam. We'll see how it plays out. The medal won't be popping up again until the next story, but it'll be there. And, yes, Lindsay is definitely being tortured just like Danny.
berta: Oh, Danny and Lindsay will be hooking up soon. Nearly there now! Hehe.
The Little Corinthian: Greg is such a cutie. I love nerds. Their brains are so intense you just want to jump them. Of course, I, too, am a nerd, so that might be the place my penchant for them stems. Speaking of nerds, how come Lindsay didn't get a single scene with Danny tonight? Why? So frustrating. My generic Costco brand is joining your Charmin's decorating mission. I'd say use the good stuff, but we're going for quantity, not quality here.
Muzzy-Olorea: Seriously, when Danny's on a mission to seduce you, how could you resist? Heck, even when he's not. And their progress will come to a head soon. Very soon.
Aromaticity: Thanks for reviewing! Action is coming up soon, no worries.
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A.N. I'll try to have the next chapter up by Friday!