Hi everybody! Thank you to everyone who read/read and reviewed my 2 short pieces from last week. Once again, you guys are all awesome!!

OK - so this takes place during 5.25, but before the last 5 minutes. When you read it, you'll see what I mean.

I'm not sure why I always write this because it's obvious, but just to cover my butt: I own nothing. All mistakes are mine.

Enjoy!

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As Danny Messer joined his team for the elevator ride back up to the crime lab, he felt like his emotions were pulling him in two separate directions. On the one hand, he was relieved that those responsible for Detective Jessica Angell's death that very morning were either in custody or on their way to the morgue. On the other hand, he was panicking about the thoughts that were now plaguing his mind, ones that he'd been trying to keep at bay all day long.

Desperate to reign his thoughts back in, Danny focused on the last time he had seen his wife.

As the team rushed out of the conference room, having finally put together enough evidence to pinpoint the mercenaries' hideout, Lindsay lingered behind and caught Danny's wrist before he could follow everyone to the locker room. He turned back to her and was quickly enveloped in a crushing hug.

"Go get the bastards."

Standing on her toes, she was just able to reach his lips for a loving kiss.

"Be safe. I love you," she whispered against his lips before releasing her hold on him. Grabbing one of her hands, he gave it a quick, yet firm squeeze before he kissed her forehead and hurried off to catch up with the team.

Danny had hoped that thinking about Lindsay would help him take his mind off everything else, but it only made him feel worse. He was now kicking himself for not telling Lindsay that he loved her too. What if that had been the last time I ever saw her, and I never got the chance to say…

Danny's disturbing thought was broken up by the ping of the elevator and the opening of the doors. As they filed into the lab hallway, they were greeted by the anxious looks on the faces of Adam, Sid and Lindsay. Mac's nod told all three what they needed to know, so they stood there with the rest of the team waiting for their leader to speak.

"The paperwork on this one can wait until the morning. I know it's been a long and trying day for all of us. We'll meet at the bar in about an hour." Nothing more needed to be said for everyone knew that they were going to honour Angell with a toast and by sharing stories of their fallen comrade.

The group dispersed, each going their separate ways, leaving Danny and Lindsay all alone. Looking at her husband, Lindsay could see that something was bothering him – more than just Angell's death – but she knew it was better not to push and to let him talk when he was ready. Gesturing his head toward the locker room, he started off in that direction. Lindsay quickly caught up to him and walked in silence with him, a little surprised when he reached for her hand, interlaced their fingers and continued on to their destination without a word.

Having already collected her things earlier on in the night, Lindsay retrieved her bag from her locker and sat on a bench, trying not to stare too intently at Danny. Vest in hand, he entered his password on the keypad and opened the door. He had to force himself to stay upright at the sight of the photos before him, which once again reminded him of the panic he'd been feeling.

The first, which he had taken, was of Lindsay and Lucy sitting on the couch the night they took their daughter home from the hospital. The second had been taken by a nurse not long after Lucy's birth, Danny and Lindsay with their foreheads pressed together as they both cradled the little bundle in their arms.

He quickly threw his bag together, slammed the locker shut and turned to speak to his wife, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. His mouth opened and shut again at the sound of 2 lab techs entering the locker room, carrying on a heated but friendly debate about the liberties taken by forensic crime dramas.

Lindsay considered her next move when Danny grabbed her hand and whiskered her off into the women's bathroom, both their bags left forgotten by the bench. Swiftly locking the door, he turned to Lindsay, who started to ask him what was going on. She was silenced by his lips crashing down on hers in a possessive kiss, one that he used to try to convey all his emotions. Lindsay caught on quickly, matching his intensity with her own and crushing her body to his. Danny's hands came up to frame Lindsay's face and the kiss became slower and more loving as Danny began to stroke her cheeks.

The need for air forced their lips apart, but neither seemed able to distance themselves any further. Lindsay stroked his back in small gesture of reassurance and stared at him as he continued to caress her face.

"I love you so much, you and Lucy both. I know I don't say that enough and there are so many things that I still screw up, but I don't want you to ever doubt or not know how I feel about you and our daughter."

"Dan, I never have doubted, nor have you given me any reason to doubt what you feel for me and Lucy. Frankly, it doesn't matter to me whether you never said it or if you said it every second sentence, I know how you feel about us. What's got you so upset?"

"This job, you never know what's gonna happen next. I mean, I walked into that hospital and saw Don and I…"

"…You were relieved that it wasn't you." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah, at first, however crazy that sounds. Then my mind started racing and I…I…"

Lindsay could tell that Danny was getting more and more upset as he spoke, and it suddenly dawned on her what was likely going through his mind.

"You've been seeing yourself in Don's position all day, haven't you? In a scenario where I die on the job and you're left to pick up the pieces?"

Having heard his worst fear finally vocalized, Danny could only nod his head before he broke down crying and held onto Lindsay for dear life. She tried to soothe him and get him to calm down, but she was having only limited success.

"Babe, we both know we can't promise each other that something won't happen to us on the job, but we can't live fearing that something will happen either. We just gotta take each day as it comes and live in the moment and forget all that other stuff."

She caught his attention with the last sentence and he pulled back to look at her once again.

"But how? After what happened today, how do we live like that?" His eyes searched hers, desperate for an answer to his query. In return, Lindsay leaned forward to capture his lips, pulling back almost as quickly, and said "Like this."

Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out her phone and hit one of the speed dial numbers. Watching her with confused eyes, Danny saw her put the call on speakerphone and waited through the two rings before a familiar voice answered.

"Hi Sophia, it's Lindsay. I've got Danny here with me so you're on speakerphone. How's Lucy doing?"

"She's great, but how are you guys?" Since Lindsay wasn't supposed to be on shift today, she had called Danny's mother after what had happened and Sophia told her not to worry, she would look after Lucy for as long as they needed.

"We're doing OK. We got the guys, so I think we're all gonna start crashing pretty soon. We're heading out to honour Jess, but we're coming home right after, we shouldn't be more than an hour."

Sophia knew more than enough cops to know how they honoured one of their own. "Don't worry, she's in safe hands. Go and honour your friend."

"We really appreciate you looking after Lucy for us, but before you start, I know it's no trouble to you to look after your first grandchild." They both heard Sophia chuckle on the line. "Listen, I was wondering if you could do us a favour and put Lucy on the line. We both could really just use the chance to hear her do anything, even scream her head off."

"Well, you're in luck because she hasn't quite gone back to sleep after her feeding." They heard shuffling in the background before Sophia's voice came back on the line, but further away. "Lucy, someone wants to say hi."

"Hi Lucy! How's my baby girl doing? Are you being good for Nonna?" Lindsay's questions were met with gurgles. "That's my girl. You go back to sleep now, Mommy will be back when you wake up. I love you sweetheart."

Lindsay pushed the phone closer to Danny and he finally spoke.

"Hi princess. Daddy loves you so much." The sound of her cooing forced Danny to choke out everything else. "Sweet dreams honey. I'll see you soon."

Sophia's voice came in clear over the line again. "Is everything OK Danny?"

"I'm fine, Ma, it's just that I'm really tired and want to go home and see Lucy, we both do."

"Well you guys head to the bar, do what you need to do and I'll see you here in no time. Now you two take care of each other and tell Don my thoughts are with him."

"OK, we love you Ma."

"I love you guys too. Bye."

"Bye."

Lindsay ended the call and put the phone away again. Danny looked down at his crying wife, whose tear-stained face likely mirrored his own. Wiping them away, he wrapped her tightly in his arms and whispered in her ear. "Thank you, I really needed that."

"Me too."

"OK, let's head out to the bar so we can get home all the sooner."

"Yeah, it's about time we let the women of the lab pee again."

Danny regarded her seriously. "They could use the guy's toilets." Based on the look Lindsay gave him, he quickly followed his previous statement with "Forget I even said that."

Grabbing her hand, he headed for the door and unlocked it. "Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you too."

They each gave the other a wide smile and exited the bathroom hand in hand, once again ready to face what life would throw at them.

Thanks for reading!!