Disclaimer: I only wish I owned them, but sadly I don't.

III

Danny stretched as he sat upright on the couch and ran a hand wearily across his jaw line. Wincing as his palm encountered the sand papery texture of stubble, he briefly closed his eyes. God she loved our mornings together, teasing me about needing to shave, arguing over who'd make the bed…

Roughly jerking his eyes open against the agonizing memory, he accepted the cup of hot coffee Mac offered him gratefully. Day one without Lindsay stretched before him like a black abyss of misery waiting to swallow him whole. With her flame of life extinguished, his wavered and flickered, fighting to burn.

Sipping his coffee, Danny finally turned his attention to Mac. "Thanks for this." He lifted the steaming mug in acknowledgement. "I guess now…" He stopped glancing towards the window where the pale, faint dusky pinks and golds of sunrise mingled with the fading gray of night. It would be a sunny day full of blue skies. Angrily he slammed his mug down on a granite end table, sloshing the brew over the sides.

"It's not supposed to be pretty today. It shouldn't be beautiful out there," Danny gestured to the rising sun. "Not when I'm left here alone. She's gone and the damned sun still rises like nothing changed!"

Mac paused a moment allowing Danny his anger. Keeping the information he held from Danny toyed with his sense of duty and morality. He only wished there was a clear path for him to choose, one that would cause Danny the least amount of pain considering the circumstances. Mac opened his mouth to speak, but another emotional outburst from Danny caught him off guard.

"You know that I thought about maybe proposing to her a few weeks back? I didn't because I wanted to wait until the perfect time, the perfect moment to prove how special she is…was…in my life." His voice wavered, "I thought I had time. Now she's gone. I never got the chance to give her that moment. Oh God Mac, I never go to ask her to spend the rest of her life with me, to hear her say 'yes', to see her eyes fill with tears when I slipped the ring on her finger! I let it all just glide away!" Danny leaned his forehead against the cool glass of the window pane. Closing his eyes he fought a losing battle with tears he didn't know that he had left.

Eyeing the broken, half-shell of the man in front of him, Mac suddenly knew where his sense of compassion, loyalty and friendship would take him. Rising he moved to stand next to Danny, placing a comforting hand between his shoulders. "Wait here for a moment. As soon as I come back down we need to talk." After Danny made a low guttural sound of acceptance, Mac turned heading up the stairs.

As he reached the master bedroom where he now slept as a widower instead of a married man, he could almost feel Claire's presence guiding his steps. She had inspired him to strive to be a better man during their time together. Now as he slowly opened the top dresser drawer reaching inside to remove a rectangular box, he knew she was encouraging him still.

Mac closed the drawer leaning against the wall for support. With unsteady hands he lifted the black velvet lid revealing a flawless oval diamond flanked by clusters of sapphires. It was the engagement ring he'd presented to Claire the night he proposed. He still remembered the night…

Yes, yes, YES! Of course I'll marry you!' Her eyes alight with laughter, excitement and the knowledge of being loved absolutely, Claire held out her hand. 'So are you going to just sit there grinning like a fool all night Mac, or are you going to slip this ring on my finger before I change my mind,' she'd teased him, loving the way her usually unflappable man seemed to have lost all composure. 'I love you Claire, always, until the stars fall from the sky.' With that sentiment he'd slipped the ring on her finger, vowing never to forget the way the most beautiful woman in the world looked at that moment…

And he had never forgotten. While some memories had started to fade around the edges, that night was imprinted on his heart until the day he drew his final breath. Running his thumb across the smooth surface of the center diamond, Mac knew that his intentions would have made Claire proud and happy. Closing the box with a 'snap' Mac headed downstairs to find Danny.

With his body still facing the window, watching signs of life creep into the city streets below, Danny turned as he heard Mac approach.

"Sit with me a while," Mac suggested settling into an armchair, while Danny chose the sofa. "There's news from the recovery team."

"They were able to identify her," Danny exclaimed. "Thank God."

"No…Danny they employed search and rescue a few hours ago because they believe there may be possible survivors. After all the bodies were recovered, they were still missing some residents." Unsure of how Danny might react, Mac braced his hands on the arms of the chair.

"What? Mac I was there last night and saw the building…it was gone! Destroyed! A shell of charred debris. You saw it too! You're telling me there might've been people who survived? How? Mac…oh my God…Mac…." Eyes that burned too bright, in a face three shades beyond pale bore into Mac begging him for answers to questions yet unasked.

Sensing Danny's barely contained instinct to head over to the burned out apartment building Mac spoke quickly. "The building used to be a factory. It wasn't turned into apartments until sometime in the 80's. It had numerous purposes and renovations before that, but there is a chance that the original storage containers built to store bolts of fabric, had never been changed. Those containers, when they were constructed, were at the cutting edge of building techniques in terms of keeping resources safe and protected from water damage—," Mac 's flow of words abruptly ended as Danny took over.

"—and fire! They think there could be survivors that sought shelter in the containers when they couldn't get out! Mac we gotta go there! Lindsay might be alive!" Danny stood, his eyes darting around the room unsure of where to focus. He ran his hands through his hair like a man possessed. His stomach jumped. His heart thudded in sporadic bursts of nerves and excitement. All nerve endings tingled with possibility.

Mac rose placing a hand around his shoulder. "We'll go, but Danny remember that this is speculation on the part of the rescuers. Nothing is for certain or for sure…all we can do is," Mac hesitated afraid the word would catch in his throat, "…hope… and pray."

With a brusque nod Danny shrugged off Mac's hand, barreling towards the door. "Danny wait! There's one more thing," Mac called, halting his bolt to the nearest exit.

"What Mac! What? I need to be there….no matter what the outcome. I need to be there for her!" The desperation in Danny's voice rocked Mac to his soul, reassuring him of his next decision.

"I know you do, but I need to give you something before we walk out of here." Mac pulled the velvet box from his pocket, ignoring Danny's impatient shifting from foot to foot.

"When I married Claire, for our one year anniversary I bought her a diamond with emerald studded wedding band she'd been eyeing. She loved it. Once she put it on she never took it off. Her original engagement ring and wedding band we placed in a safety deposit box to one day pass on to a son we might've had. That never happened. After her death I brought the ring home with me so I could look at it, remembering the day I proposed."

Mac cleared his throat as it tightened with emotion. Taking Danny's hand he placed the box in his palm, closing his friend's fingers around the soft velvet. "If….The…I want you to have this," he finally managed to get out. "The second you see her I want you to slip it on her finger. You love her. She loves you. That love is powerful, deserving of a lifetime of happiness. I wish that for you Danny, I wish it for you both."

Danny felt the weight of the box in his hand. Understanding the emotion behind the gift in a way he never possibly could've before the previous night, he didn't open the box. There was no need. It was what the ring symbolized, not what its appearance was that made it unique. Raising his eyes to meet Mac's he grasped his hand. "Thank you, for more than you can possibly imagine…" Too choked up to continue Danny swallowed, trying to push the tears away.

Feeling ready to break down as well, Mac guided Danny outside.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The drive to Lindsay's apartment building should've taken twenty minutes, but Mac made it in ten. Slamming the vehicle into park, the two men joined a group a people watching rescuers drag piles of debris away. They didn't speak, just watched, afraid that any action or sound they made could tip the hand of fate against them.

Time crept by, minutes stretching into hours, hours feeling like days. Coffee was sipped, left to get stale on the curb, the crowd of onlooker grew, but there was still no sign that they had found anyone alive.

After four hours Danny and Mac noticed the major commotion stop. Rescuers came running from all areas to help remove debris from a specific location. Paramedics straightened, looking instantly alert. Without thinking Danny's hand reached in his pocket to close a vice like grip around the ring. Mac held his breath; doing something he hadn't done since Claire's death, he prayed that Lindsay would be a survivor.

A sudden cheer arose from the crowd as a man was pulled from the rubble. Immediately paramedics helped hoist him onto a stretcher, assessing his injuries, applying oxygen and preparing to transport to the nearest hospital.

Next two children came out, and the thankful cries of their mother echoed through the street. They too were whisked away for medical treatment. A fourth person emerged, again male, but then the rescuers seemed to pause as the man was taken away.

Danny's heart hovered close to beating out of his chest. His mind screamed Lindsay's name, but he pressed his lips into a determined grim line, waiting.

Peyton's voice reverberated in Mac's brain, five…five people…..five people unaccounted for…. He knew the information she had could've been wrong, or that something had happened while trapped to reduce the number of survivors.

Suddenly a petite female figure was hoisted from the space. Gingerly the rescuers handed her over to paramedics who gently adjusted her weight onto a stretcher. Even though the police tape kept them a good distance back, Danny knew it was Lindsay. His body jolted to life. Without a thought to protocol he raced under the yellow tape. Mac trailed frantically behind, flashing his badge to keep anyone from pushing them back.

Danny reached her just as the paramedics rolled her towards the ambulance. Her right arm appeared broken; she was covered in soot with an oxygen mask over her face. He thought she'd never looked more beautiful. He took a step forward, reaching for her uninjured left hand when he turned to Mac who'd stopped a few paces behind him.

"Mac when you asked Claire to marry you, what'd you say? Anything special?"

Comprehension dawned on Mac as he nodded. "I told her I loved always…and that I would until the stars fell from the sky." Mac gave Danny a half-smile, which broadened as he watched Danny take the ring out of the box.

Lindsay tried to speak, but Danny soothed her. "Shhhh…it's alright. I'm here. Lindsay I was waiting for the perfect time to do this, but frankly I can't think of any better moment than now!" As the paramedics readied to place her in the back of the ambulance he took her left hand. "Lindsay, I love you, always, until the stars fall from the sky. Will you marry me?"

Lindsay's red rimmed and smoke irritated eyes filled with tears as she nodded. Danny glided the ring on her finger, climbing in to ride with her to the hospital. With a look back at Mac he mouthed 'thank you'. Mac smiled, raising a hand in farewell as the engine started and the vehicle pulled away.

Mac watched until the final ambulance pulled out of sight. It had come full circle, both the ring and the words. Mac glanced at the charred building, somehow it all seemed fitting that Claire would be a part of this event with him, in spirit if not in flesh.

Mac knew that as people aged they looked back on life as lasting just a moment, but now he understood that only the lucky people grasped what a gift it was to have a moment that lasted a lifetime. He wished many such moments for Danny and Lindsay, and with a silent message of love lifted to Claire, knew it was time to make some additional ones for him.

As he headed towards his car, Mac felt an easiness that'd been missing since his wife's passing. With a look up at the stunning blue sky, he realized he'd finally been able to let go of his heartbreak. With those echoes gone, he could clasp the good memories near to his heart, and finally move on with his life.

The End.

A/N: Thank you so much to all who read and reviewed this story! I appreciated all your comments! Thanks again!