A Bullet for Danny: Homecoming is Fare Game
Stella tossed a mischievous grin as Lindsay strolled into the lab nearly glowing, "My Lindsay you look very chipper. Could that be because a certain CSI is being discharged today?"
Lindsay picked up her goggles and carefully slipped the strap over the back of her head, "Is Danny coming today? I really haven't paid any attention". She wasn't certain as why hearing Danny profess his love made her feel the need to retreat back into the defensive shell that she had cocooned around herself when she'd first come to the lab but for some reason it just felt safe.
"Liar" Stella pulled her own goggles over her face and started to work on pile of trash that Hawkes and Mac had retrieved from a 53rd street dumpster diver. "So we're all meeting at Danny's place around six right?"
"I don't know" Lindsay said coolly, "I signed up to pull a double tonight"
A double? Stella lifted her goggles off of her face, "you've got to be kidding?
Lindsay shrugged; with Danny out on convalescent leave the lab was one person short and who better than an ambitious rookie seeking a promotion to take his place.
Stella pushed her goggles back down and went back to her pile of debris, "Look Lindsay, you don't have to put on a tough face for me. We're all still shook up over what happened to Danny"
Lindsay reached for a pair of long handled tweezers and pulled up a long strand of blonde hair from the rubble, "I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for me"
"C'mon Messer, my Grandmother could move faster than that," Flack marched up the stairs of Danny's apartment building with a large cardboard box in hand. Inside the box lay several possessions that Danny had accumulated during his stay in the hospital.
"Don't listen to him. He's has a short term memory, " Stella called over her shoulder to a plodding Danny. She then whipped her head around to Flack with long her longs curls bouncing, "You know Flack it wasn't that long ago that you needed someone to carry you up the stairs"
"Don't remind me" Flack huffed setting the box down in front of Danny's doorstep. He then took a key from his pocket and unlocked the front door before disappearing inside. Holding the bitterroot, Stella politely stopped in the doorway and waited for Danny to finish his trek up the stairs.
"You gonna make it?" she asked listening to his labored breathing.
Danny wiped sweat from his brow and let out a long exhale. Nearly six-weeks of being flat on his back had taken a lot out him. He wasn't used to working up a sweat on the stairwell.
"Don't worry, you'll be back in shape in no time" Stella quipped, "especially once you get back into the lab and start processing again" She started inside, but then noticed Danny was hesitating.
Inside his mind, Danny saw a black and white vision of himself backing up while Curtis Mayer held a gun to his chest. A trickle of fear ran down his spine. He was on his knees now with the muzzle of the gun pressed sharply to his collarbone. Mayer pulled the trigger and an explosion sounded in his brain causing Danny to jump back slightly.
"Danny you okay?" Stella asked quickly. Better than anyone she knew what it was like to be attacked in your own home. The fear of it happening again was very real and would not quickly be forgotten.
"Yeah…"Danny's voice trailed as he kept his eyes fixed on the center of the floor where he'd been shot. "It's just…I…" He was hands were shaking so much so he had to make fist to control it. Stepping inside was going to be like stepping back into a nightmare.
"I'll get better" Stella promised motioning for him to step up beside her.
"When?"
"When you move," she grinned wrapping her free arm around his waist so that she could usher him into the living room. Once inside, Danny's fears quickly faded. On the table sat a large sheet cake with the words Welcome Home scrawled across the center in frilly handwriting. Balloons decorated the dining area. Mac, Peyton, Adam, Hawkes, Sid, Evan Zao, and a couple of lab techs were all gathered around applauding and whistling a cheerful greeting.
"We did our best to clean the place up but not even Merry Maids can do justice to your style of living, Messer" Flack said opening the refrigerator and helping himself to beer.
"The place looks great no thanks to you," Danny grinned fiercely and flicked his gaze to the hallway where he saw a figure exit from the guest bathroom. Slowly his grin sobered and he felt the need to catch his breath. It had to be Lindsay… he thought just as detective Angell emerged showing off her matching sling.
"She thinks she's your partner in crime, Danno" Flack circled back around slapping Danny's good shoulder. "The two of you make a really cute couple. You're both perfect for the rubber gun squad"
"Nice try but my heart is already taken," Danny shot-back watching Flack pick up the television remote
"Ah yes, by the love of the game" pressing down on the appropriate button, baseball sprang to life in the form of the Danny's favorite team, the NY Mets. "There's nothing like the Mets on the road in wide screen"
"Yeah nothing," Danny sighed with a hint of disappointment before forcing himself to take an interest in the game.
It was nearly nine p.m when most of the guests started to file out the door. Stella was in the kitchen cleaning up the last of dishes leaving Flack to tend to the trash.
"That should be the last of it," Flack breathed hefting a thirteen gallon glad-lock over his shoulder.
"Hey Danny you need anything before we go?" Stella reached past the handsome detective to retrieve her purse and slung it over her shoulder
"No I'm good just lock up for me will ya?" Danny nodded from his position on the couch.
"Okay don't hesitate to call if you need anything"
"I won't" Danny gave his friends a half grin
For the next hour and half, Danny did nothing but root around his apartment looking for excuses not to have to go to sleep. If he went to bed, the doorbell would ring the nightmare would start over again.
Sure, he'd felt relatively safe in the hospital but now that he was home he couldn't shake the idea of being shot again. Everywhere he looked he saw a blood pool on the floor along with the grim face of his attacker.
He made a mental note to talk to Stella some more the next time he saw her and tried to abide his time with several rounds of online poker and solitaire. When that didn't work he opted for a dose of the sleeping pills that had been prescribed by doctor Brady and still found no relief that is until the doorbell rang.
Eleven pm he shook his head and tried to ignore the knot that was forming in his stomach. Moving gingerly he shuffled his way to the door and put a hand against it. "Who is it?"
"Danny it's me"
Danny glared through the peep hole and saw a distorted looking Lindsay standing on the other side of the door. He couldn't see what she was holding in her hands, but it was something: Something that resembled a take-out container.
"You're a little late Montana," Danny returned trying to sound half angry as his hands twisted the deadbolt open.
There, before him stood Lindsay. She looked beautiful he thought as she came into the light. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a thin purple sweater with her shoulder length locks hanging free over her shoulders.
Their eyes met and Lindsay smiled easily at him before he attempted to ease himself back down on the couch. Sitting seemed to be a chore she thought watching him wince slightly.
"Sorry, I'm late" Lindsay apologized and closed the door behind her. "I got caught up at the lab"
"Right" Stella had told him that Lindsay had opted to work a double.
"I stopped off and picked up something to eat," Lindsay felt her palms begin to sweat. She hadn't meant to make it seem like she didn't care but the truth was now that things were out in the open she was scared. She didn't know how to handle it. It was their big moment of truth and now after several days of agonizing over his phone message Lindsay was finally going to be alone with Danny. Finally she would be able to explore the feelings she'd been keeping pent up inside of her since her arrival in New York.
"I really haven't had much of an appetite," Danny shrugged as she sat beside him and set the take out container on the coffee table.
"I bet I can fix that, what can I get you? Some fried spiders and centipedes maybe?" a little grin swept across her face revealing the contents of the bag. A mixture of fried insects and other delicacies.
"You've got to be kidding," he shook his head trying to bite back a laugh. He couldn't believe that Lindsay had actually brought him a plate of bugs.
"Danny you need to eat," Lindsay protested clicking her cheek.
"Fine how about a milkshake then? Swallowing is still kind of a chore, I don't think I could get that centipede down" Danny admitted clearing his throat. Not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings he'd painfully managed to choked down a couple of mouthfuls of cake but had regretted every moment of it. Dr. Brady had told him it would be a while before eating solid foods felt normal again.
Lindsay smiled brightly as she rose to her feet, "All right, one chocolate shake ala Lindsay comin' right up"
"Yeah make sure you add a shot of Kailua in it"
"Not a chance, you're still on meds," Lindsay quipped from her position at the refrigerator.
Once he had eaten and she had him settled, Lindsay helped Danny remove his blue button up. "You want to slip into your jammies?" She watched Danny's head dip as he scratched his cheek, grinning from ear to ear, "I don't wear jammies"
Lindsay felt her face flush slightly, "Yeah, right of course you don't . . ." Embarrassed she reached for the afghan at the end of the couch and pulled it up over his waist.
"It's kind of chilly in here, isn't it?"
Sensing her apprehension, Danny latched onto her wrist, "you don't have to do all of this"
She looked at him quizzically, "all of what?" Carefully she sat beside him.
"All this doting, Montana" Danny returned, "No offense but it's really not you" He was remembering the old Lindsay, the one who used to compete with him in the lab to see who could get their evidence processed the fastest. The girl who always had the snappy comebacks.
"Danny you almost died," she said shuddering, the fear in her eyes evident.
"Almost doesn't count," he replied taking her hand and drawing it to his lips.
"It does to me," Lindsay admitted lifting her lashes so that he could see the tears starting to gather "Danny, I'm sorry if I hurt you before, I wasn't ready"
"It's okay, I've got problems of my own to deal with" Danny closed his eyes nodding giving her hand a squeeze. Louie was on his mind again. It was a thought that never left in fact. The fate of his brother was now resting in the hands of some judge.
"Maybe I should just go-" Lindsay whispered trying to pull away.
"I meant what I said on the phone the other night," he said quickly. "I love you Miss Monroe."
"I know" Lindsay smiled letting him to continue to hold her fingertips. She known it since the night they'd wrapped up the Holly case. Being there in his arms after the flash grenade had gone off was like magic spark that had started to sizzle between them.
"C'mere" he whispered pulling his head back with a come hither grin.
Lindsay shook her head in protest. Although they'd both confessed their love for another, taking the next step scared the hell out of her. What if things changed between them? They'd never be able to go back to the way they were before.
"I'm not going to bite you, Montana"
"Are you sure you want this?" Lindsay stalled knowing that the last time he'd been the one to balk at her advances.
Danny just grinned and gave her hand another tug. In all of his life he couldn't remember another time when he had to work so hard just to kiss a girl.
Reacting to his touch Lindsay wet her lips and allowed Danny to make his next move. Slowly he reeled her to him pulling her into his arms.
Mindful of her weight, Lindsay shifted to her side when his arms started to shake so that she laying more on the couch instead of on top of Danny.
"Is this really going to happen this time?" Lindsay's chocolate eyes beaded back and forth meeting his blue ones.
"Baring you putting an another elbow into my wound and trying to bust all my teeth? Maybe" Lindsay giggled and Danny titled his chin a little higher and lightly brushed his mouth over hers. Lindsay felt her jaw begin to tremble at the sensation of his lips covering hers. A moan escaped from her lips as his hands caught her face allowing the kiss to deepen.
Reacting naturally, Lindsay started to fist his hair. Damn if she didn't want the moment to go further but she knew it couldn't, not until Danny was completely well. Luckily for Lindsay the decision was taken out of her hands. Feeling the vibration of the pager at her waist Lindsay pulled out of the kiss.
"The code for homicide," she said looking at a digital set of numbers, "I have to go". Danny didn't try to stop her as she pushed off the couch and reached for her purse that was resting on the coffee table.
"We're not finished with this Montana!" he called craning his neck so he could see her backside sway out the door.
"We are for tonight, cowboy." Whatever case she was about to work on would make certain of that she'd be busy for a least a good twelve hours, maybe more: she only hoped she'd be finished by the start of Louie's sentencing hearing that was due to start the day after tomorrow.
"You're killin' me here!" Danny whined at the slam of the door.