A/N: I know it's a little early for Christmas time, but I saw some commercial the other day for some Christmas layaway card thing, and this story just came to my head. So, enjoy!

Christmas Wishes

Danny had to be crazy. It was the only logical explanation for why he would be in a crowded toy store on Christmas Eve, standing in line with hundreds of kids for an hour, waiting to see Santa. The old Danny Messer would never had been caught dead doing that, but he wasn't that Danny anymore. He was the Danny who would do anything his four year old daughter asked. Oh yes, he was crazy alright. Crazy for that blue eyed angel he called Lucy.

He hadn't even thought his daughter was that interested in seeing Santa until that morning during breakfast. At first he said no, but after she begged for an hour, he finally gave in.

"Why's seein' Santa so important to you now?" he had asked.

"'Cuz Daddy, I forgot to ask for a present, and I've just gotta ask him or else I won't get it!"

Danny had thought it was a little strange that she thought she had to ask Santa. Normally she'd just tell him or Lindsay, and they'd tell her that they would pass the memo off to Santa. This time was different, but Danny wasn't sure why.

"Come on, Daddy! The line's moving," Lucy said. She pulled at his arm, causing him to cringe in pain. Upon seeing this, Lucy jumped back in fear. "Did I hurt ya?" she asked.

Danny shook his head.

"No, no, I'm fine," he lied.

The truth was, the arm that she pulled was the arm that had been shot only two weeks before, and it still hurt like hell, but there was no way he was letting Lucy know this. He didn't want to make her worry so since the shooting, he had acted like his arm never hurt. As far as Danny could tell, she believed him, and he wanted it to stay that way.

Deciding to leave the topic of his injured arm alone, he chose to talk about something that could always distract Lucy.

"So baby, you excited about Christmas?"

The little girl looked up at him and grinned.

"Yup! I can't wait to see what Santa brings me. Do you think he brought me the dollhouse I've been wanting?" she asked.

Danny shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess we'll find out tomorrow," he said, thinking to himself that he wished Santa actually would bring her that dollhouse. Then maybe he wouldn't have to stay up til three in the morning trying to set the damn thing up.

"So what time does Mommy get off work?" Lucy asked, causing Danny to sigh.

"Luce, I've told you about a hundred times today. She gets off at three. Now ask me again and I'll be sure Santa doesn't come at all tonight," he said, smirking at the look of fear in his daughter's eyes.

"Okay, I'll remember...three. I'm just excited for tonight!"

Danny smiled at Lucy's enthusiasim, but honestly, he felt the same way. He loved Christmas Eve almost as much as he loved Christmas day. Since Lucy had been born, it had been their tradition to bake Christmas cookies, order in Chinese food, and watch Christmas movies. This year they'd be watching Home Alone. Not exactly a classic Christmas movie, but Lucy loved it.

"Daddy, the line's moving!" Lucy exclaimed, this time tugging at his leg instead of his arm. Danny smiled and nodded, then walked forward. They continued that routine for the next five minutes until they were at the front of the line. Just as they were about to go see Santa, a man dressed as an elf stepped in their way.

"Sorry, Santa has to leave," he said casually, more to Danny than to Lucy.

"Wait, what?" Danny asked.

"He's gotta go. He can't see anymore kids," he said, looking down at Lucy. "Sorry," he said again in an unsympathetic voice. He then turned and walked away, leaving Danny and the other parents who had heard to explain to their children that they wouldn't be seeing Santa after all.

When Danny glanced at his daughter, he saw the tears beginning to form in her eyes. He looked back at the man, maybe thinking he could convince him to let just one more person see Santa, but there was no chance of that. He was already gone. Although it was probably a good thing he had left on his own, because after the way he acted like he didn't care about the kids, Danny had wanted to kick his little elf ass back to the North Pole.

Danny looked back down at Lucy when he heard her sobbing.

"I...really...wanted to...see Santa," she said inbetween sobs. Danny sighed and bent down so he was eye level with her.

"But he's really gotta go. How else will you get your presents tonight? He's gotta deliver them," he said, praying she'd stop sobbing.

"But I won't get the one present I really want!" she said, sniffling.

"Can't you just tell me what it is you want?" Danny asked.

Lucy shook her head.

"Nope, I can only tell Santa."

Danny sighed again and thought of what to do. Finally, he got an idea. Smiling, he stood back up and took Lucy's hand.

"Come on, I think I might just know where Santa is going first."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"But Daddy, why would Santa go to where you and Mommy work?" Lucy asked, following Danny through the halls of the lab.

"What, you don't think the people who work here deserve presents, too? Besides, I think he's just visiting," he said, grinning when he turned the corner.

Standing in the middle of the hall was Lindsay and 'Santa'. Danny couldn't help but grin even wider when he saw Lucy's eyes get brighter.

"Santa!" she yelled, running towards the man. Once she reached him, she practically knocked him over by jumping in his arms.

"Oh, why hello! You wouldn't happen to be Lucy now, would you?" he asked. Lucy just nodded, shocked at the fact that not only was Santa holding her, but he also knew her name. "I heard you were looking for me. It seems you forgot to tell me something that you wanted for Christmas. What would that be?"

Lucy glanced back at her parents, who were standing close to her, smiling. She then turned her head back to Santa and leaned in closer so she could whisper what she wanted.

"My daddy was hurt and I just want him to be safe. I don't want him comin' home hurt no more. You can take back all my toys, and I won't even get mad, 'cuz the only thing I want for Christmas is for him to be okay. Can ya please give me that? I promise I'll be good, I really will. I just want him to still be here to tuck me in at night and read me stories and all do all that stuff that only he can do."

Lucy had tears in her eyes, and when Danny looked at Lindsay, he saw that she did, too. He felt his own tears escape from his eyes, and he quickly brushed them away. He hadn't realized how much the shooting had actually affected Lucy, since she never mentioned it. It broke his heart knowing she felt this way, that she had this fear of him dying deep inside of her. He wanted to just take her in his arms now and never let her go, but he decided that he'd wait to do that after Santa was done talking.

"Well Lucy, as much as I'd love to tell you that your daddy will never get hurt, I can't. There's always that chance that something can happen to him, but I will let you know this. He loves you more than you'll ever know, and no matter what happens to him, he'll always love you, even if he's not here. Now, since he is still here, I suggest that you go and spend as much time with him as you can. Can you do that for me?" he asked, and Lucy nodded, wiping the tears off her cheeks. "Okay, good. Now before I leave, I want you to have this," he said, reaching into his pocket with his hand that wasn't holding Lucy. He pulled something out, and Lucy smiled. It was an ornament with a picture of her and Danny, taken sometime in the last couple of weeks. Danny was suprised when he saw it, not realizing that 'Santa' actually had a gift for her.

"Now I've got to go. Those presents won't get delivered by themselves," Santa said, winking as he put Lucy back on the ground. "You have a very merry Christmas."

Lucy stood watching as Santa walked away, a huge smile on her face. She then turned to face her parents.

"Look, Santa gave me a present!"

"That's great, sweetie. Why don't we go and show Aunt Stella," Lindsay said, taking Lucy's hand to take her to the break room. As they walked away, Lindsay turned her head and gave Danny a smile. Danny smiled back, silently thanking her for taking Lucy away for a moment. He needed a minute to collect himself so he didn't totally break down in front of his daughter.

"Danny, where's Lucy?"

Danny turned around and laughed.

"Mac, you can change out of that Santa costume now. By the way, where'd you get that ornament from?"

Mac stood before Danny, dressed in his costume, a confused look on his face.

"What are you talking about? What ornament?" he asked.

Danny rolled his eyes.

"What ornament? The one you gave Luce, that ornament," Danny replied.

"Danny, I don't know what you're talking about. I just changed into this costume. I haven't even seen Lucy yet."

The smile on Danny's face faded. He knew his boss, and he could tell that right now, he wasn't joking around. He shook his head in disbelief. There had to be a logical explanation for what had just happened.

After all, Santa wasn't real, right?

By the way, the 'tradition' that I wrote about in the story is actually my family Christmas tradition. Just thought I'd add that in the story :)

Review please? They are very appreciated!