Chapter 15 – December 15, 2006
"Messer," Flack called, pushing the door to the break room open. "I need a drink, you up for it?"
"Can't," Danny answered from where he was concocting two cups of coffee. "Got plans."
"Cancel 'em," Flack suggested.
"Can't," Danny repeated. "I got about twenty people dependin' on me to be there. You picked a bad time."
"Twenty people," Lindsay asked, finally speaking up from the table. "I didn't know you had that many friends."
"Funny, Montana," Danny answered, setting the mug down by her elbow. "But seriously, I got plans tonight and I can't break 'em."
"What plans? You got a date?"
Lindsay's head shot up to meet Danny's eyes.
"Not with a girl, nah. Got my hands full on that end." He winked at her and she, as predicted, blushed.
"There a drinking party I don't know about, Messer?"
"Nah, not that either. I gotta be completely sober tonight."
Flack smacked his forehead. "The Night Before Christmas."
Danny smiled. "Yeah."
"What?" Lindsay asked in confusion. She was surprised when Danny blushed.
"I help out at a youth centre and they have a Christmas play every year. This year it's the Night Before Christmas," he explained.
"You're going to help kids with a play?"
"Some of them have stage fright," Danny replied, a subtle dig at her own background.
Lindsay simply laughed. "That's awesome."
"I totally forgot! I promised Sarah I'd be there," Flack groaned.
"Sarah?" Lindsay asked.
"She's the little girl playing the wife. Flack's her hero," Danny supplied.
"A hero, detective?" Lindsay teased. "That's a pretty big job."
Flack chuckled. "Yeah, but with those kids it's worth it."
"Good kids?" Lindsay inquired, looking between both men.
"Kids with good intentions," Danny subtly corrected. "A couple of them have seen the wrong side of our system."
Lindsay nodded, understanding without words what Danny was hinting at. He'd been a kid like that once, but that was all she knew about him. Now he'd do whatever he could to keep that from happening to someone else. "Where is this play?"
Lindsay stepped into the community centre feeling slightly nervous and more than a little bit out of place. Chairs were set up in rows about half way back and a makeshift stage had been constructed. Blankets were set in front of the chairs and Lindsay realized they were for the smaller children that wouldn't be able to see over an adult head.
"Can I help you?"
Lindsay spun to find a man behind her, offering a kind smile. "I just need to find a seat, that's all."
"One of these yours?" he asked, making small talk.
Lindsay laughed lightly. "No. I'm here for the big kids." She saw Flack off to one side with a hysterical looking girl and waved slightly. His eyes widened when he recognized her and he waved back.
"Your boyfriend?"
"Colleague. I work with him," she answered, watching as Flack made his way over, the girl still in his arms.
"Monroe, this is a surprise," he said.
Lindsay shrugged. "I figured I'd come see what the big deal was all about. That, and I had no other plans."
"Mr Flack, who is this?"
Lindsay smiled at the little girl and her curiosity. "I'm Lindsay. Who are you?"
"Sarah Grace," she said smartly, nodding her head in confirmation. "My mommy's not here yet."
From the look on Flack's face, Sarah's mother showing up would be a miracle in itself. Lindsay felt bad for the girl. "I'm sure you'll be fantastic," she promised. Then to Flack, "I should probably find a seat."
"I'll help," the stranger jumped in, but Flack was already shaking his head.
"You're VIP tonight. I'm sure Danny'd love to see you here." Shifting Sarah to one arm, he wrapped his other one around Lindsay's shoulders steering her to the front and the stage.
"What are you getting at?"
"Consider this a back stage pass," he decided. "We've got rooms roped off for the kids that aren't on through the whole thing."
She looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "So I come to enjoy what will most likely be an adorable play and you're saving me so I can be on glorified babysitting duty?"
"And risk the wrath of Messer, no thanks. We've got teenagers to handle that kind of stuff that need the money."
Lindsay laughed.
"Montana?"
"Hey," she answered, looking down at her feet. "Flack brought me back here."
"You came." There was an underlying awe in his voice as well as surprise, but the happiness in his eyes made it all worth it.
"Like I told Flack, I thought I'd see what the big deal was about it all."
"It's no big deal. The kids inevitably make a mistake somewhere and someone starts cryin'…"
"That's the appeal of it all, Danny. They're just kids."
"Dan! We've got a problem here," someone called from down the hall.
"Come on," he said, grabbing her hand. A girl, no older than twelve, sat against a wall, knees at her chest, shaking her head empathetically.
"Jordan, come on. We've practiced this a thousand times. You'll be fantastic." A young woman was crouched in front, trying to encourage her.
"I can't do it. The butterflies are too bad," Jordan protested.
"Becky?"
The young woman breathed out a sigh of relief turning to talk to Danny. Lindsay looked at the frightened girl. "Hi there."
"Who are you?"
"Lindsay. I'm a friend of Danny's."
"A friend?"
"I work with him. What's your name?"
"Jordan."
"And what are you supposed to be doing tonight?"
"Singing. But I won't do it."
"Why not?" But Lindsay already knew why.
"I'm too nervous. I know I'm going to screw up."
Lindsay sympathized with Jordan. "What makes you think that?"
"I just am. There's so many people out there and I know my parents can't make it tonight."
"That's too bad."
"It's what they have to do to pay the rent every month," Jordan answered.
Lindsay was surprised, not only at the candidness but at the knowledge. "Do you have any siblings?"
"A brother and a sister, but who knows what they're doing. They don't have time to spend with me."
That almost shot Lindsay's idea to hell. "I have an idea."
"Does it involve me singing?"
"Yes."
"Then no."
"The first time I went to sing I threw up my dinner," Lindsay stated bluntly. "It was a school pageant and I was singing with two other girls. I begged my parents to let me stay home, to say I was sick, but they wouldn't let me. I was so nervous."
"You really did that?"
"I didn't sing unless it was a big group for six years after that," Lindsay affirmed. "I learned that it was easiest to focus on one person instead of looking at the whole crowd. It helped to find my parents or one of my brothers or sisters."
Jordan's face fell. "I don't have anybody out there."
"No, but you have me."
"What?"
"I'll go sit out there. You can focus on me while you're singing. What do you say?"
"You'd do that for me? You don't even know me."
"No, but Danny does. That's enough for me."
Jordan threw her arms around Lindsay's neck and she shifted to accommodate the weight, hugging back.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Lindsay laughed. "Are you going to sing now?"
"I'll try," Jordan agreed. "Where are you going to be?"
"Front row. I'm sure I can figure something out with Danny."
Jordan scrambled back, getting to her feet and smoothing down the dress she wore. "Thank you, Miss Lindsay."
Lindsay stood too, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "It's Lindsay and you are more than welcome."
Jordan moved out of her embrace and tapped on Becky's shoulder. "I'll do it."
Becky turned. "What?"
"I'll do it," Jordan repeated.
Becky pulled her into a hug. "Thank God. Come on, let's get you set up on stage."
Danny looked on in confusion as Lindsay stepped up beside him.
"She's up first?" Lindsay asked, watching Jordan look over her shoulder with a fearful smile. She sent an encouraging one back.
"Yeah. She's good."
"I'm glad. Listen, can you do me a favour."
"Uh oh, Montana."
"It's nothing big, I promise. I told her I'd sit in the front row."
Danny raised an eyebrow. "But you're going to be back here."
"Stage fright trick, Danny. She didn't just decide on her own that she was going to do this."
"You convinced her?"
"You were the one teasing me about my stage fright earlier. It's a trick I learned to keep the butterflies down. You find someone in the audience and focus on them, pretend there's no one else in the room," she explained. "Now about that seat."
"Lindsay I did it!" Jordan exclaimed, racing towards her when the intermission started. The first half had been singing and carolling by some of the more talented and older kids. The second half, she found out, was the play.
"You were awesome," Lindsay agreed, catching her in a hug. "I told you it wouldn't be so bad." She shot Danny a wink over Jordan's head.
"Everybody clapped!"
"Everybody loved you," Danny said with a smile.
"You have to come hear me sing more often," Jordan decided.
Lindsay widened her eyes in surprise. "I can try," she managed. "But my job keeps me pretty busy."
"Are you a police officer like Danny?"
"That I am."
"So is Don," Jordan said frankly. "He doesn't come around that often."
"Sometimes it happens, kiddo. Why don't you get back stage and change?" Danny suggested.
"Okay," Jordan happily agreed. "Are you driving me home tonight?"
"Your parents asked me when they dropped you off. Maybe we can get Lindsay to come with us," Danny suggested.
Jordan turned pleading eyes on Lindsay and she knew there was no way she would be saying anything other than 'yes'. "Please?"
"I did take the subway here and I guess it wouldn't be a good idea for me to take it home all by myself…" Lindsay said.
"Definitely not," Danny agreed with more conviction than she'd expected. Then again, he was a cop. He saw what happened to women sometimes when they went places by themselves.
"Then it's decided," Lindsay nodded. "Danny can drive us both home."
"Yay!" Jordan exclaimed, skipping off to change her clothes.
Danny took her hand, using it to pull her closer to his side. "You're really somethin' you know that?"
"I think you've told me that once or twice," Lindsay replied with a smile.
"Well believe it. Becky and I couldn't come up with a way to get her to sing and you stepped in without a second thought."
"I remember those days," she answered with a shrug. "It was no big deal."
"Maybe to you, Linds, but it meant the world to Jordan."
Lindsay blushed. "I'm glad she got to do something she wanted. She said her parents were working and her siblings don't have time for her."
"That's life around here. You're parents work three jobs to pay for the necessities and can't always take care of you the way they want to. That's why the kids have the centre."
"It's a great thing, Danny, really," she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I'm glad I came."
"It's only half over. You ready to watch from the wings this time?"
She smiled. "Sure thing."
Contrary to Danny's belief, the whole thing went off without a hitch. The play was adorable, as Lindsay expected it to be and all of the children played their roles flawlessly. Or from what she could remember. Her mind had been otherwise preoccupied with the way Danny multi-tasked, getting kids ready to go out on stage and still sticking close to her side through the whole thing.
"Have you seen Jordan?" Danny asked, catching up to her at the front doors after the show.
"She just ran to the bathroom," Lindsay replied, keeping her eye over his shoulder on said bathroom doors. "She promised me she'd be okay by herself."
Danny shrugged. "There's not many people here who would be willing to kidnap someone else's kid. Most of the time they've got their hands full with their own," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.
She went willingly, wrapping her arm around his waist. "That's a good thing."
"I'm done," Jordan called from a few feet away, stopping when she saw the position Lindsay and Danny were in. "You don't just work together do you?" she asked suspiciously.
It was Lindsay that answered the question. "You know what, sweetheart, we're not entirely sure what that means to either of us."
Danny was impressed at her diplomatic answer.
Jordan just shrugged. "Okay. Can we go now?"
Danny chuckled. "Come on. I promised your parents I'd have you home by ten. Maybe we can stop for hot chocolate on the way home."
Jordan's eyes lit up as she all but skipped out of the community centre.
Danny pulled up outside Lindsay's apartment building after dropping Jordan off and parked the car. "This is your stop."
She smiled, a cup of cocoa still snugly held in her bare hands. "I'm glad you let me stay tonight."
"I wasn't about to kick you out of a community centre, Montana," he quipped back.
"That's not what I mean, Dan," she said softly. "It's always nice to see the side of you that interacts so well with kids."
"Don't tell. I can't ruin my tough guy reputation," he told her solemnly, though his eyes twinkled with thanks and appreciation.
So sorry this took so long. When I was at school my stupid internet wasn't working so I couldn't post, though I really really really wanted to. This includes replying to reviews and PMs that kind of stuff. I kind of did get a chance to read anything that was posted though! That was exciting. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!
This one got screwed up when I was writing it, and not in the way you think. I had different plans for this chappy, but it developed this way, so this is the way its going to stay! Hope you like it this way!