A/N: So, post-ep oneshot anyone? :)

"What the fuck was that?" Danny silently scolded himself as he pushed through the locker room door. "What the fuck were you thinking, Danny?"

He let out a breath as his fingers desperately fumbled to remove the bloodstained t-shirt from his body. It couldn't be on him. It shouldn't be on him. He shouldn't have been in that position. He should have just let the douche go. They would have got him. They never use their head. Suspects, that is. There would have been something that led them to Little Stevie's path, eventually.

He moved towards the sink and gazed down briefly at his wedding ring. If only she knew.

He blinked at his reflection. He was a husband. Lindsay's everything. He was going to be a father. A daddy. And there he was in shootouts – with no vest. Clearly, when Lindsay had taken off for Montana, she had taken his brain with her.

He desperately tried to take a deep enough breath, but couldn't. He felt suffocated. He was panicking. The adrenaline was finally slowing down and realisation was setting in. Had his reflexes been seconds – hell, milliseconds later; he may not had ever seen his baby. He wouldn't have met the life he and his wife had created. His new wife would have been a widow.

"Fantastic start to married life, Danny. Go get yourself killed. One of your best ideas, yet." His mind and conscious screamed at him.

He stared at his trembling blood stained hands and let out a shaky, ragged breath. The ring Lindsay had slipped onto his finger was bloodstained. Tainted. And it made him physically sick to his stomach that something so pure and represented his love, bond and union with Lindsay was covered in something so dirty and tainted.

He needed to get the blood off the ring.

He didn't care about the blood that was covering his hands, drying and staining them. He couldn't care less in fact. His main concern was getting that blood off of his wedding ring.

He thrust the faucet on, and shoved his hands underneath, all his attention focusing on getting that ring clean. He needed to cleanse it, and make sure that everything was back to how it was. His wedding ring soaked with blood was not something he was going to make a habit of. Although physically he had blood on it, when she had slipped it onto his finger in the city clerk's office, mentally, he had promised himself, his new wife and his unborn child that this ring, would never, ever be tainted with his mistakes and his haphazard ways. No longer was Danny Messer going to fuck with Lindsay Monroe. He loved her too much to lose her. Now he had her, he was never, ever going to let her go.

For as long as they both lived.

He scrubbed violently with his right hand, desperately ridding it of the blood. He didn't care about his hands. Beyond caring. Just that ring.

He could have taken it off. It would have made the job far easier and quicker. But, as immature as it seemed, he didn't want to take it off. He wanted to keep Lindsay with him all day every day, and with the physical representation of his wife sat there on his finger, it made the days that passed with her in Montana that much more easier.

And plus, if he took that off, he didn't know whether he would be able to hold it together.

His phone began bleeping and ringing. He took a deep breath, and glanced to the caller ID, before glancing back to his hand, letting it register who it was that was calling.

Lindsay

His fingers wouldn't move quickly enough. He couldn't get them motivated to move at the speed he wanted them to. He was terrified she was going to hang up.

Not that he couldn't call her back.

He glanced at his ring for a millisecond before removing it, and placing it on the side of the sink. Hearing her voice, right at that moment, would make cleansing that ring from the injustice that was Annabel Pino's death seem that much easier.

He quickly dried his hands, albeit not successfully and proceeded to wipe his, still bloodied hands on his jeans.

He smiled at the shrieking phone before pressing the answer button and holding it to his ear.

"Hey babe."

The angst and general terror that he had felt on the way back to the lab had instantly melted away at the sound of her musical voice. He stared into the mirror at his trembling hands as he held the phone to his ear and asked her how she was feeling. He smiled softly as he listened to her go on about how she was feeling fine, but her mom was slowly driving her insane. And told him to make a mental note of sedating her if their baby girl ever got pregnant – because there was no way in hell she was going to allow herself to be as giddy, yet protective about their daughter. She quickly moved onto ask him how things were going in the lab. He didn't even hesitate before he uttered the words,

"Same old, same old."

There was no way in hell that he was about to tell her that, "Oh well, actually I was just in a shoot out with no vest, and nearly ran out of rounds. Not to mention the guy had killed an innocent woman. And I had no back up. Right now, I'm currently scrubbing the wedding ring you slipped on my finger to rid it of the blood from the guy that tried to kill me. Who I managed to kill first."

Yeah. With a pregnant, hormonal Lindsay in Montana, he could really see that go down a treat.

"Are you sure?" she asked down the phone. "You sound out of breath."

"I had to run to my phone." He said as he took a deep breath. "I was just getting into the shower."

"Dumpster dive?" she giggled.

"Somethin' like that." He sighed as he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "How's your case coming along? Any leads? What about autopsy? Anything back on that?" he teased.

"Deemed it an accidental overdose. Wood bark." She informed him dramatically. "It was very unfortunate. Flack's currently chasing down the family. And I'm finishing up the paperwork."

Danny chuckled as he grabbed the ring with his left hand and moved to sit on the bench in the locker room. "I miss you."

"I miss you too." She sighed, "I'm really bored. I never realised how there is only so many walks you can go on when you're nearly eight months pregnant, before you realise you're actually not wonder woman and can't withhold the weight on your little ankles."

"Hows your mom and dad?"

"Fine." she sing-songed, "Daddy's out back doing somethin' and mom is making cookies, I think. I stupidly told her I was craving peanut butter cookies. I have had about seventeen in the last thirty five minutes."

"Seventeen?" Danny laughed, highly amused. "Think your exaggerating there, Montana."

"I swear to god, it's a true story. I counted. I'm that bored."

"Well, I'm glad you're eating." Danny smiled, "Your OB said to…"

"Listen to my cravings. Yes Danny, I know. I was there too, remember?"

"Just looking out for you and the kid." He informed her as he rubbed the ring on his jeans.

"Hows everyone back at the lab?"

"Fine. They miss you like crazy. I told Mac about your little case you had going on."

"Oh yeah?" she giggled down the phone, "What he say?"

"Just that he misses you." Danny told her. "I think the little beaver story made his day."

"Glad to be of assistance." She chirped. "I gotta go, honey… Mom wants me to do something with something. I think she wants to teach me how to be a domesticated wife."

"Hows that working out for you?"

"I escaped to talk to you." She deadpanned. "How do you think it's going?"

Danny chuckled as he slipped the ring back onto his finger, and despite the bloodstained hand, he admired it. "I really miss you, Linds."

"I know… I miss you too."

Danny nodded as he took a deep breath, "I love you."

He could almost hear her smiling down the other end of the line, but got no answer.

"Linds, you good?"

"Yeah…" She almost whispered down the line before clearing her throat. "It just never gets old when I hear you tell me you love me." she admitted.

"It's true." He assured her. "I love you more than I can say. Even if I don't know how to say it."

"You cant reuse lines," she teased him. "You were doing so well with your, 'we make sense' and 'I wanna be with you' and 'you're all I've ever wanted',"

"Actually, I think you will find it was 'We make sense,' 'you're everything I've always wanted' and 'I wanna be with you'. If you are going to try and tease me, at least make sure you get it right, babe."

"Sorry." She giggled down the phone, "I will study my Danny quotes and get back to you on that. Sound good?"

"Yeah. Sounds perfect." He smiled.

"I'll let you go… I can smell you from here. Go get in the shower and don't miss me too much."

"I won't." Danny assured her. "Well, I will, but I will just have to live with it, till I pick you up from the airport."

"Gallatin County airport, or La Guardia. You know, just so that I'm prepared. I know what you're like… getting your frequent flyer miles up with random trips to Montana."

"That was one time!" Danny laughed as he defended himself. "One time, and you needed me. So really…"

"It was the nicest thing you had ever done for me."

"Was?" Danny asked.

"That was before you were the guy for me." she smiled. "Now everything you do is nice…"

Danny laughed.

"I love you, Danny."

"I'll see you, Linds." He merely whispered down the phone as he heard her disconnect her cellphone.

He stared down at the cellphone in his hands for a second until the backlight faded significantly.

Even though the old Danny Messer was still somewhere inside of him, he was still going to fight to be the man that Lindsay and their baby deserved. He was going to be the best husband and father.

He just needed to get his kinks and lapses out of his system beforehand.

And after that…

They'd go from there.

R&R? :)