DISCLAIMER: It's not mine. Not CSI New York, Not You've Got Mail, or anything else.
A/N: So I refuse to skip an episode, there may be a bit more interaction between the other characters, and I have to put a few episodes into the same chapter, just so I feel like I'm not wasting your time. Thanks to all who have been reading and reviewing. Thanks for sticking around. =)
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: : Hung Out To Dry : :
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"Edward 40 Hands." Flack muttered shaking his head. "Really?"
"Ah, Edward 40 hands. Great Halloween costume." Danny said coming up behind his friend and slapping him on the back.
"Messer, I expect more of you." Don said
"Yea, yea, but in my defense. The movie was relatively recent."
"It came out when we were what 14 when it came out."
"Even more reason to give me my dues...running around at 15 with that costume, I was lucky I didn't get a minor consumption." Danny smirked.
"So, ready to tackle the Greeks?"
"I've been called BRO twice already. Anymore, and you'll have another homicide to investigate."
"What investigate, I'm taking that as a confession."
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"Ey Monroe!" Danny called after Lindsay. They hadn't been on a case together or anything since they sort of confronted their feelings in the hallway a week ago. But it wasn't like they were avoiding each other either, and right now he needed a woman's opinion. "Wait up a sec."
Lindsay turned around. She really had to pee, so Danny holding her up, well it wasn't good. "Yea Danny." She said fidgeting a little on the spot. This better have something to do with the case.
"I need an opinion." He called as he reached her.
"Can't you get one of the guys or Stella…I need to…."
"Nah, you're the best one for the job." He smirked at her
"Okay, thanks I guess." She said eyeing it up and dancing on the spot. "What's up because I'm kinda…"
"Do I look like I shop at Barney's?" he said cutting her off. She was rather fidgety.
Lindsay let out a disbelieving laugh. "You're kidding me right?" She said staring him down. "I gotta go." She said backing towards the locker room.
"Awe, come on Montana. Just let me know."
"Honestly, maybe a little." She said patting his shoulders.
"Okay" Danny nodded taking in the information. "Where you off to in such a hurry anyway?"
"Danny." Lindsay whined dancing a little.
"Ooooooooooooooooo, well on that note. Stella needs to see you now." He grinned slinging an arm around her shoulders and trying to maneuver her towards the bull pen and away from the potty's. Lindsay, having grown up with 3 older siblings slipped out under his arm and jogged backwards towards the bathroom.
"Nice try Messer." She laughed.
"What comeon."
"Messer, you look like you shop at Bloomies."
"See now you just sound like my Aunt Edna." He laughed watching her slip into the locker room. At least they could still laugh with one another. Maybe whatever was haunting her would drop sooner rather than later. Hey a guy can hope.
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Danny made his way into the break room, took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and pushed himself up into one of the stools. "Danny, you okay?" Lindsay asked. She had watched him as she sipped at her tea at the table across the way.
"Yea Lindsay, I'm good." He groaned rubbing the side of his abdomen. Anyone could see he was in pain. She set down her tea and walked over.
"Pull up you shirt." She ordered.
"Whoa there Montana, what'd ya have in mind?" Danny tried to laugh. Oh the pain.
"Danny, come on." She laughed lightly, that was very reminiscent of the sex talk, she reached and began to pull up on his shirt.
"Okay, okay." He surrendered. Pulling up his shirt(s) he revealed a large, horizontal bruise. Lindsay reached out and grazed her fingers along it, inspecting it.
"How'd you do it?"
"I spiderman-ed across the alley after Casey." Danny grunted out, clenching his teeth.
"Really Messer?" Lindsay said in disgust, although a smile was poking through a little.
"Yea really." Danny groaned. "And Flack still got to him first." He watched as she turned and headed towards the break room refrigerator.
"You're an idiot, you know that?" She grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer and pressed it to Danny's bruised torso.
"Jesus! Holy!...Cold!" Danny yelped pulling at least the undershirt down and placing the ice pack on top. "And yea, I know."
"You okay?" Lindsay asked. Sure, he was in pain but this was more, Danny looked like he was deep in thought, and the case was closed. Something was bothering him, and yea she was mum on her issue, but that was her choice, may as well as give him the option, right?
"What? Yea, just on the ride to the precinct he got me thinking about my brother."
"Oh." Lindsay nodded. Yea, the Louie incident of last spring. The poor guy was beaten to a pulp and near dead to protect his baby brother, actually just about everyone did stuff to protect the youngest Messer that day. "How is he? Your brother." She asked and clarified.
"Good, last I heard, he relocated." Danny smiled sadly. He and his brother had had a strained relationship, and the events of last year had thawed the relationship, slightly.
"To where….." an alert from the radio interrupted her. **be boop bee boop Buzz buzz**: Alert Shane Casey has escaped custody, repeat Shane Casey has escaped.
Danny and Lindsay shot glances at each other. Danny went to get up but Lindsay pushed him back into the spot and placed his hand on top of the ice pack. "I'll tell Mac and Stella, you just sit there."
"Yes mom-tana." He corrected himself when she shot him a dirty look. Before disappearing at a sprint to find the higher-ups. This was not good, so very not good: the man had a few too many screws loose to be on the loose.
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: : Oedipus Hex : :
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Danny stepped out of observation and leaned against the wall across from the interrogation room door. He had finished with his suspects, and was waiting on Lindsay to finish up with the last of hers. The door opened and a Suicide Girl sashayed past he acknowledged her with a nod. Lindsay followed and with an "Ugh." Tried to shake off the willies from the interview. "Thank God that's over with." She said plunking the suicide girls pumps in with the rest of the evidence.
"That bad Monroe?" Danny asked, his voice laced with amusement. Lindsay shot him a dirty look. Oh he knew how bad it was, he had experienced it too.
"How many times were you hit on Messer?"
Danny thought threw it, started ticking them off on his fingers. "Five. You?"
"Eight." Danny let out a long wow-za whistle.
"No wonder you stood me up, with prospects like that." Danny joked. But stopped his chuckling at the deadly look Lindsay gave him.
"Danny."
"What Montana, it's all in good fun. Just doing our jobs."
"Danny, please, you know it's not like that." Lindsay sighed. She sounded so downhearted.
"I know that." Danny nodded giving her a warm smile, and truly he did know that, her issues weren't with him, but with something that she didn't want to pull him down with, hell it had only been 2 weeks since the failed date, and he could see whatever she was keeping to herself was starting to get the better of her. "but something is bugging you."
"It's nothing to do with this case." She informed him. If it was all business then why was this coming up.
"So it does have to do with a case."
"I never said that."
"You never not said that, so far all I know is it's something to do with mothers."
"Danny, stop prying."
"Aright, but remember, I'm still here, if ya need me…"
"Yea, I got it, and, um, thanks for earlier."
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"Feel like a couple cocktails, knock back a few see where the night takes us." Nixon Suicide offered.
"Well, I gotta say, that's pretty tempting but I don't think that's a good idea, maybe next time." He was uncomfortable to put it plainly. She was interesting, and he was intrigued, but for some reason he really only had the taste for a more wholesome girl.
Nixon grinned and plucked his nose with her finger. "Be with a suicide girl, you don't know what you're missing."
Lindsay watched as Danny watched the Suicide girls leave. She had overheard the one ask him out. And a little tug of guilt pulled in her stomach. She wasn't jealous, that wasn't it at all, she didn't want him to stop living his life because she was trapped in her past. It was just an awful limbo to be in, he shouldn't have to be stuck here too.
"See something you like Messer?" Lindsay entertained with a smile.
"Nah, not my type, intriguing, a good way to get back at a parent for something, but not my type." Danny admitted, his eyes never parting from hers. "So…How'd it go with the mother?"
"Well, I didn't get slapped." She half laughed
"Yea, after that, I can see why you don't like giving news to mothers."
"It's more than that." Lindsay sighed, her eyes lost focus and dazed. Danny gave her a knock in the shoulder and smiled.
"How bout some coffee?" He offered and nodded towards the door.
"Dan it's a little late for coffee." Lindsay smiled
"Then decaf."
"That's not coffee." Lindsay chuckled lightly and truely if it wasn't leaded it wasn't coffee.
"Okay, hot chocolate." Danny smiled, her dimples were showing, that was a good sign.
"To go, I need to make a call tonight." Lindsay thought chewing on her bottom lip. It felt good to joke, and it felt good to smile, and it felt good to be with Danny, but she did have to call Bozeman to check in tonight.
"I'll take it." He said letting her lead the way out of the precinct and into the semi busy New York street. The block walk from the lab to the coffee place was walked in quiet. Danny ordered 2 hot chocolates and handed Lindsay hers before a word was spoken again between the two.
"Thanks." Lindsay smiled softly then took a sip. Danny took a sip as well, his eyes staying on Lindsay. "You know Danny…" She started slowly taking another sip.
"Know what Montana?" Danny asked his eyes crinkling when he saw the familiar flash in her features at the mention of the nickname.
"You don't have to wait around for…me." She said timidly.
Danny cracked a smile at that, so she'd caught on, had she? "Maybe I want to." He smiled taking a sip. He took pleasure in the fact that the comment made her slightly uncomfortable.
"Danny, I wish I….." She started but was cut off by Danny who had held a hand to her lips.
"Look Linds" he lowered his hand knowing he had her full attention. "I know I don't have to, and if you don't want me to-I won't. But right now, I know something is bugging you, haunting you, and I would like it—a lot—to at least be considered a friend."
Lindsay blushed a little before speaking in a soft voice "You are a friend Danny."
"Good," he grinned at her. "Then don't be afraid to come to me if you need…Look Linds, you were there for me with my brother, and Aiden, just give me the chance to, at the least, return the favor." Lindsay nodded in understanding. She would do her very best to try. "Okay."
"Okay." She smiled then chanced a glance at her watch.
"You gotta go?" Danny asked, she had said she had to make a call, but she did have a cell.
"Yea, I have to call Bozeman in about half an hour, my home phone has a better long distance plan." She laughed.
"Gotta call Mommy and Daddy." He teased.
"Says the man that still calls his mother mommy on occasion." Lindsay shot back.
"Ouch, okay, you got me there, so what's this call for?"
"An old cold case." Lindsay paused to take a sip, he said he'd be there for her, but she couldn't unload it all on him at once. She took her time with the sip while she pulled her thoughts together. "Some new information has come into play, just going over it."
"Ah, this case what's been haunting you?" he asked sincerely, he wasn't prying, he wasn't asking for more information, he was just inquiring. She couldn't turn in on herself again, she just couldn't, so…
"Yea, it's been a long time coming." She admitted.
"Well I hope you get some closure. And remember…"
"Yea I can come to you if I need anything." Lindsay smiled
"Want me to take you home?"
"No Messer, that's okay, It's still early." She waved then disappeared towards the subway. Danny watched her leave then head in the opposite direction towards his place sipping coffee and thinking. Yea he didn't have to wait for her, but something told him he'd be doing it unconsciously anyway.
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: : Open and Shut : :
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"Ey Montana….Lindsay, you okay?" Danny asked and jogged to catch up to her. She had past him quickly, she looked utterly pissed off.
"Not now Danny." She snapped.
"Hold up Monroe." He said grabbing her arm with enough force to pull her back to him. "What's up?"
Lindsay took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I love Stella, I do, but she is taking this case way to personally."
"Let it out Monroe." Danny laughed but cut it short. "Yea, just keep doing you're thing, if you're right, the evidence will prove it." Danny said giving her a pat on the back.
"Am I interrupting something here?" Hawkes asked as he approached the couple.
"Nah, just talking Monroe off a ledge." Danny joked
"I was not on a ledge, I'd go postal before I hit a ledge."
"Well," Hawkes said amusement oozing from his voice. "Don't get on the wrong side of you."
"Stella has." Danny put his two cents in.
"Yea, there are inconsistencies in the wife's story." Hawkes admitted. "What do ya say we out them right, the shirt, could use a blood spatter expert in there."
"I'm not an expert." She said modestly
"That article got you the job." Danny encouraged her.
"You read it?" Lindsay asked skeptically.
"Yea, so." Danny said trying to brush it off but the neither Hawkes nor Lindsay's gaze let up. "What, I had to size up the competition."
"And." Lindsay pushed.
"And, it was good." Danny said not being shy about it. Lindsay shot a look over at Hawkes who nodded in agreement.
"Okay, fine call me an expert, but I don't like it." Lindsay warned.
"Sure." Hawkes smiled. "So how about we analyze a bloody t-shirt."
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Lindsay came home to see her roommate comfy and curled up on the couch, You've Got Mail, just starting to play. "Gonna just stand there, or are you going to change into you most comfy MSU sweats and join me?"
"What's the bribe?" Lindsay asked, of course she was going to join, a good night in was just what the psych ordered, or at least that's how it felt.
"Two words." Jenna seduced "Chunky. Monkey."
"Give me two minutes." Lindsay said sprinting towards her room, she pulled on the sweats grabbed two spoons yanked open the freezer and grabbed two of the 4 pints of Chunky Monkey. "Okay go." She laughed plopping down on the couch next to her friend and handed over a tub of ice cream and a spoon. They were then transported into the New York of Fox Books and the Shop Around the Corner, and best of all: Dial up internet.
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Joe Fox: You know, sometimes I wonder...
Kathleen Kelly: What?
Joe Fox: Well... if I hadn't been Fox Books and you hadn't been The Shop Around the Corner, and you and I had just, well... met...
Kathleen Kelly: I know.
Joe Fox: Yeah. I would have asked for your number, and I wouldn't have been able to wait twenty-four hours before calling you and saying, "Hey, how about... oh, how about some coffee or, you know, drinks or dinner or a movie... for as long as we both shall live?"
Kathleen Kelly: Joe...
Joe Fox: And you and I would have never been at war. And the only thing we'd fight about would be which video to rent on a Saturday night.
Kathleen Kelly: Well, who fights about that?
Joe Fox: Well, some people. Not us.
Kathleen Kelly: We would never.
Joe Fox: If only.
[pause]
Kathleen Kelly: I gotta go...
Joe Fox: Well, let me ask you something. How can you forgive this guy for standing you up and not forgive me for this tiny little thing of... of putting you out of business?
[Kathleen starts to cry]
Joe Fox: Oh, how I wish you would.
Kathleen Kelly: I really have to go.
Joe Fox: Yeah, well... you don't wanna be late.
"That's what pretty much what Danny said to me." Lindsay confessed. She had to get this off her chest, and Jenna seemed like the best outlet. Especially in this overly gooey mushy chick flick state the two of them were in.
"What do you mean Linds?" Jenna asked her attention peaked. "About what?"
"When I stood him up." Lindsay admitted sheepishly
"You said you called."
"I didn't."
"Lindsay." Jenna spoke with such sincere sympathy for her friend. "What's going on with you?"
"That night you gave me my phone to get in touch with Danny, and I just stared at it. I couldn't call Danny."
Shocked Jenna asked "Why?"
Lindsay took a deep shakey breath as the credits rolled on the movie. "Because I was numb, and the guy that killed my friends, the one that shattered my world 10 years ago, his name was Danny."
"Oh Linds, so what happened? With Messer I mean." Jenna pushed, Lindsay had been bottling this up.
"We worked the same case that night. Everything was off, I avoided anything that wasn't case related until he cornered me in the precinct hallway."
"He cornered you?"
"Okay, maybe that's not the best way to describe it, he approached me. And just….'He needed to know what was going on with me.'" Lindsay quoted.
"Well, that's not unheard of, he's into you Linds, you stood him up which is very uncharacteristic of you, and well…."
"Well What?" Lindsay asked skeptically.
"You look haunted." Jenna began slowly.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you are good at hiding your feelings Linds, but this is too big, even for you. People who love you, and I'm including Danny and the rest of your team on this, they'll notice. They may let it slide, but honey, you're holding too much in."
"I can't help it. I told you, and you took it fine, but even you got spooked."
"I was a sophomore in college and found out my best friend had witnessed her best friends getting murdered. Yea I got a little spooked. But I stayed didn't I?"
"You're one of the few."
"If you are talking about those tools you dated that found out…"
Lindsay let out a trailing "Well….."
"Well, I doubt Danny Messer would be like that." Jenna laid out.
"How do you know?"
"I don't, but I've seen the way that man looks at you and it's not like he's looking at a piece of meat or a conquest or whatever, he truly likes you. So says Joe Fox, now what did Danny say?"
"About?"
"About? Lindsay? Really? About why this conversation began." Jenna laughed gesturing to the TV with the main menu to You've Got Mail DVD.
"Oh, okay, yea." Lindsay giggled, back on topic, or back to the original purpose anyway. "I told him I couldn't be in a relationship with him."
"A relationship? Linds, you haven't even been on one date with the guy."
"Yea I know, but with him, it could only be a relationship, we work together, we're friends, fuck buddies would get messy too fast, and honestly, dating…"
"Yea it would be a relationship." Jenna agreed, "So what did he say?"
"Joe Fox, in a less elegant New York Cop sort of way, dinner, drinks, some laughs…"
"For as long as you both shall live, I get it." Jenna nodded, "So now what?"
"Honestly, I think he's waiting for me."
"No way, Linds you got this guy on the hook." Jenna said gob smocked, Danny Messer did not seem like the kind of guy to get hooked.
"I told him not to wait around for me." Lindsay admitted.
"Why, Linds, maybe you should open up to him, cause honestly, we need more people to help carry around this baggage."
"What?"
"Lindsay, out here, it's you and me carrying around your baggage over this, as well as the baggage of those girls, we need help."
"So you want me to unload on Danny."
"If he's willing."
"Oh, he's willing, I just don't want to add to the baggage and guilt by bringing him down with me."
"Maybe he'll be the one to pull you back up."
"It's a risk, one I'm not sure I can make just yet."
"Okay, but do me a favor and think about it."
"Will do."
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