Please excuse the following OT rant: Stupid World Series Game 7! I want my new episode of CSI:NY!

And now back to what you're all interested in:

OK, so I realize that I'm a little behind, seeing as Officer Involved aired two weeks ago, but it's taken me this long to get these oneshots sorted out. The basic idea of where each of these scenes would fit into the episode was there, but trying to flesh them out proved to be difficult. But they're done now, and that's all you guys care about at the end of the day, isn't it? *winks*

So, this first one picks up right after Lindsay spirits Danny away from the IAB d-bag (like the actor, but seriously, the character was a jerk!) I hope you enjoy.

P.S. I haven't read anyone else's take on this episode, so if you see any similarities here with the work of others, it's purely coincidence – or just maybe great minds thinking alike?

P.P.S. Thank you to those of you who read my last post-ep, and special thanks to rhymenocerous, webdlfan, MesserFamilyFan100, SweetLILloz, and afrozenheart412 for their lovely reviews – all of you guys are awesome!

On with the show!

Glancing back over her shoulder as she led Danny away from the IAB lieutenant, a part of Lindsay thought that maybe she was overreacting and being too hasty in trying to spirit him away. That part of her was quickly silenced by the part that needed to protect him and which demanded to know what the hell had happened last night.

She thought back to how she'd come to be tangled up in all this…

Lindsay knew that Danny wouldn't be coming home after his shift tonight because he was planning on going out for drinks with a few of his rookies, an activity that she'd encouraged him to arrange. Though she regretted not being able to spend even a few minutes with him before she went to sleep, she fully expected him to accidentally wake her up in the middle of the night when he finally crawled into bed. Those were the types of moments in the day that she was now used to, and she was willing to take whatever she could get. Closing her eyes, she hoped that he would be home soon.

The buzzing of her phone on the nightstand startled Lindsay into wakefulness and as she reached for the offending item, she glanced at the alarm clock and saw that it was almost 4 o'clock in the morning. She didn't feel Danny's presence behind her, and her wandering hand confirmed that he wasn't there and that his side of the bed had not been disturbed. Before her sleep-addled brain could begin to process that fact, the phone buzzed again in her hand. Finally seeing who was calling her only confused Lindsay more.

"Mac?"

"Hi Lindsay."

"You know that I'm not on call tonight, right?" It was the only reason that Lindsay could think Mac would be calling her this late at night.

"That's not why I'm calling. It's Danny…"

"No…" The phone slipped from her hand and landed on her legs as her hand flew up to her mouth in shock. The tears came hard and fast down her cheeks and her breathing became laboured as she choked on the sobs that her hand was barely concealing. Somehow through the middle of her breakdown, she heard Mac's small and tinny voice saying "Danny's alive" over and over again. Those two words gave her enough hope and strength to pick up the phone and speak to Mac.

"Danny's alive?"

"Lindsay, thank god. Yes, Danny is alive. He's OK. Do you understand?"

It took Lindsay a few moments to respond as she struggled to bring her emotions back in check, but when she finally whispered "Yes" she heard Mac sigh in relief.

"I'm so sorry Lindsay. I should have started out by saying that." She heard him take a deep breath and then he was speaking again. "He is OK Lindsay, I promise you, but he won't be coming home tonight. He's part of an officer-involved shooting."

"What?"

"I don't know a lot of the details, I just got here, but Danny and his rookies were ambushed, Danny was knocked out, a gun was pulled on the rookies and the young woman Cooper shot and killed one of the assailants with Danny's back up."

"Oh my god." Lindsay stayed quiet for a moment, trying to process what she'd been told. When her brain finished catching up, she asked the next logical question. "Are you sure Danny's OK? Can I talk to him."

"I'm sorry Lindsay, they're not letting him speak to anyone until they figure out what the hell happened. They came after me for just checking to see if he was alright. And trust me, he's no worse for wear: when he shouted after me to call you and let you know that he was OK, the officer watching him tried to tell him to stop talking. Danny laid into the guy so bad I'm certain that kid was hoping the earth would open up and swallow him whole."

Lindsay smiled to herself for a second, feeling some of her panic ease after hearing about Danny's antics. Before she could ask anything else, Mac started talking again.

"Look Lindsay, I know you're not going to like this, but you can't work this case. It's a conflict of interest."

"But…"

"No exceptions. IAB is going to be all over this and because there are rookies involved, Danny's going to be the first one they look at. There is absolutely no room for error here. Danny's career may depend on it."

She let out a heavy sigh before answering. "I understand Mac." She certainly didn't agree, but there was nothing that she could do about it. She heard a voice in the background calling out to Mac.

"I'm sorry Lindsay, I've got to go. Are you going to be OK?"

"I'll be fine Mac. Go do what you need to do."

"Alright, I'll see you later at the lab."

"OK. Thanks Mac."

"You're welcome. Bye."

"Bye."

Looking at her phone after ending the call, Lindsay let out a sigh of frustration, feeling an overwhelming need to talk to Danny and make sure he was OK for herself. Resigning to the fact that they couldn't talk, she decided to take a gamble and sent him a short text.

Mac called. I know you can't call me, but I wanted you to know that I'm fine and that I love you.

Hitting the 'Send' button, she waited with baited breath for a response. She was just about to give up hope when her phone started buzzing in her hand and the screen lit up showing his short response:

XOXO

Letting the relief wash over her, she put the phone back on the nightstand and threw herself back onto her pillow, feeling tears in her eyes again as she stared at the ceiling.

She knew going back to sleep would basically be impossible, but she tried for a half-hour before finally giving up. Her mind couldn't stop coming up with possible scenarios for what had happened to Danny and his rookies tonight, and even worse, she couldn't stop imagining what the IAB would do to her husband. Tossing back the covers in frustration, Lindsay got out of bed and stalked into the living room to grab their laptop. Bringing it back to bed with her, she started researching all she could about IAB procedure and what could happen to Danny if they tried to pin what happened on him.

She must have dozed off at some point because the next thing she remembered was the alarm going off beside her letting her know it was 7:30 am. Shutting the computer off, she went to wake Lucy up, telling the little girl that Danny had gone off to work early when she's asked where he was. Lindsay pretended that nothing was wrong as she fed Lucy her breakfast and got her ready for preschool, and thankfully Lucy seemed none the wiser.

Not for the first time, Lindsay was grateful that Lucy's preschool was only 3 blocks from their apartment. After kissing her daughter goodbye and handing her off to one of her teachers, Lindsay hurried to the subway and caught a train that would take her to the bar Danny had told her they were heading to the previous night.

When she finally caught sight of him, she had to resist the urge to run over and throw her arms around him. She still planned on doing that, but she'd wait until they were alone. She'd finally started to calm down when Lt. Adler had come over and introduced himself, trying to get Danny to give his statement as quickly as possible. Lindsay panicked in that moment, all that information about the IAB still fresh in her mind, and she began to insist that Danny get himself checked out, pulling her husband away before either he or Adler could stop her…

Lindsay was so caught up in replaying the last 12 hours that she almost missed Danny speaking to her. "Babe, did you really hafta do that? I got nothing to hide from IAB, I did nothing wrong. I'd rather get this over with as soon as possible."

Finding her composure quickly, she responded. "C'mon Danny, you and I both know that IAB plays like this, trying to get cops to talk before they can seek counsel or even think straight. You've told me yourself that you fell into that trap after the subway shooting and it nearly cost you your badge. I remember you saying that you'd never make that mistake again, so why are you in such a hurry right now?"

Part of the reason was because he wasn't the only one involved this time, and because these were his rookies, but he soon realized that she was right. "OK, but I'm not going to the ER, my head is fine."

"No, I'm taking you." There was not an ounce of give in her tone. "You've still got glass in your head, you probably need stitches, and you were unconscious for a few minutes according to Mac. I want to make sure that you're completely fine before you let IAB talk to you. I don't want there to be any chance that they can try and use your injury to their advantage."

"I'm starting to think that you're the one who needs to have her head examined: I'm the one who's always bashing IAB or being suspicious of them. What gives?"

"I spent the night brushing up on IAB and on the regulations for officer-involved shootings."

Danny shook his head at her, hardly surprised by that revelation. "Linds, it's gonna be fine."

Lindsay looked like she was about to respond when she saw a cab coming towards them which she quickly flagged down. Giving the driver the name of the nearest hospital, she turned back to her husband as she opened the door. "Get in."

"Yes dear," he said mockingly as he did as he was told. She got in beside him and shut the door behind her, and when the cab pulled away from the curb, Lindsay curled herself into Danny's side, resting her head on his shoulder and breathing in his familiar scent.

Danny was completely surprised that she didn't go after him for his comment and more than a little surprised by the uncharacteristic PDA, but he said nothing about it. He had his suspicions about what was fuelling her over-protectiveness, but he knew better than to push her into talking about it. She would tell him when she was ready, so he leaned down to graze his lips against her temple as he wrapped an arm around her, more than happy to let her draw whatever comfort she needed from him.

Thankfully for them both, they didn't have to wait long in the ER because of the nature of Danny's injury and also because the on-duty nurse recognized Danny as a cop. The ER doctor checked him over first, asking him a series of questions while examining Danny's ears and eyes. Seemingly satisfied with Danny's answers, the doctor turned his attention to Danny's wound, plucking the rest of the glass out before giving him 4 small stitches.

Just as Danny was about to hop off the bed and get ready to leave, the doctor informed him that between the head injury, the falling down and the loss of consciousness, he suspected that Danny had a mild concussion. Given his alertness, the doctor believed that Danny was OK, but just to be sure, he was going to keep Danny for observation for the next two hours. A protest was forming on the tip of Danny's tongue when he felt Lindsay's hand close over his like a vice. He quickly glanced over at her and saw the frightened look in her eyes, which immediately silenced any thoughts he had of leaving. Giving his assent to the doctor, Danny shifted himself back on the bed and made himself as comfortable as possible. The doctor promised that in 2 hour's time, he'd be back ready to sign the discharge papers if Danny's condition remained the same. With that, the doctor left and drew the curtain behind him, giving the couple some much needed privacy.

Getting comfortable in the chair, Lindsay finally unleashed the one question that had been dying to get out since she'd seen him. "What happened last night, Danny?"

Lindsay listened with rapt attention while Danny described how the victim wouldn't take a hint about Cooper's lack of interest, how he threw the guy out of the bar, how he remembered exiting the bar but then only remembered waking up on the ground, looking over at Cooper and seeing her crouched over a body, his off-duty piece clutched in her hand. He went on to tell her what Cates and Foley, the other two rookies, said had happened and then quickly caught her up on everything that had happened once the police and the crime lab arrived, right up until the moment Lindsay found him standing on the street corner.

"Did you see the gun the victim was holding?"

"That's the thing: when I took my gun back, I looked for it and didn't see it. I was catching bits of conversation the whole time from the first-on-scene guys, and they said that there was no sign of a gun."

Lindsay hesitated for a moment before asking her next question, unsure of how Danny would react. "Do you think your rookies are lying?"

Without hesitating, he said, "No, no way. They got no reason to. Yeah, they're green, but the 3 of them are some of my best. They know what they're doing, I trust them." Danny paused for a second before continuing. "I think that we'll probably find the gun when the other two guys are found."

"Alright." Lindsay didn't have as much faith in these rookies as Danny did, but he knew them best so if he believed them, that was enough for her. She just prayed that that faith was not misplaced, because she knew how badly Danny would take that revelation. Looking over at him, she noticed just how exhausted he looked now that he was away from all the action. "You should probably try and get some rest, you've been up all night."

He gave her a funny look. "Ummm, babe, head injuries and sleep don't exactly mix."

"I know that, I meant for you to relax, to try and think about something else for a little while."

"And what about you?" He asked sceptically. "You're not looking so hot yourself. I wasn't the only one up last night."

"Always the charmer, I see. I'm not the one who got knocked out, so you need it more than I do." She saw the unbelieving look he gave her, so she tried to deflect him again. "I'm fine Danny, really."

"No you're not. You're putting up a front just like I am." He knew that he was about to go against his better judgement, but he decided to push her into telling him what was wrong with her because he knew that he wouldn't be able to relax while she was so obviously tense. "What's the matter Linds, what's got you so upset that you're going all 'Mama Bear' on everyone, including me?"

The minute Danny asked the question, Lindsay's mind flashed back to the phone call she received from Mac and those few moments of terror when she thought something had happened to Danny. The mere thought of such a thing brought tears to her eyes and she screwed them shut, trying to will the tears away.

"Lindsay?"

The concern in his voice only made the tears fall harder and she was now helpless against them. Though she wanted to move closer to him, she found herself unable to move from the chair, paralyzed by the memory of thinking Mac had called to tell her Danny was dead. She felt two hands come up and frame her face and when she finally forced her eyes open again, she found herself staring directly into Danny's eyes. Crouched down before her, he used his thumbs to wipe her tears away and said nothing, waiting for her to speak.

"When Mac called me last night, the first thing I thought was that he needed me to come in to work. I noticed that you weren't in bed, but I was still half asleep so I didn't even think that he was calling about you. When he said your name, my mind jumped to the worst case scenario and I lost it. I thought…" Lindsay grabbed onto Danny's wrists to steady her mind, to remind herself that he was really there in front of her. "I thought that you weren't coming home ever again. It took me a while to understand that Mac was still speaking and when I finally heard that you were alive, I had to struggle to get my emotions under control to hear the rest of what Mac knew. For a moment there, it was like I was back as the foot of the lighthouse with no idea what was happening to you."

That was a memory that he tried to never think about, so for her to be reminded of that needlessly tore him to pieces. "I'm sorry babe, I'm sorry that you had to go through that on your own."

"You have nothing to apologize for, it's not your fault Danny."

"I know, I just wish that I'd been able to call you myself. Then you wouldn't have had to go through that."

"You're here now Dan and that's all that matters. I'm OK now, but I can think of something that will make me feel even better."

"Name it."

"Can you just hold me for a little while?"

"You never gotta ask me for that." Leaning forward to quickly kiss her forehead, Danny dropped his hands from her face as he stood up, grabbing her hands to pull her up with him. With them both on their feet, they moved into each other, Danny wrapping his arms tightly around her small frame as she buried her face once more in his neck and wrapped her arms around his waist. Neither was sure how long they stood there, but eventually Danny pulled away slightly. "C'mon."

Lindsay let him lead her to the bed, where after climbing on himself he pulled her up to join him on the narrow object. With some minor adjustment, they were comfortably situated, Danny on his back and Lindsay on her side half draped over his body. About 45 minutes later, Lindsay fell asleep from the exhaustion caused by the last 12 hours and the comfort she found in Danny's arms. He let her sleep and took the time to just watch her, feeling himself relax the longer he focused on her.

True to his word, the doctor showed up after two hours and seeing that Danny was still fine, he signed the discharge papers. Danny didn't want to wake Lindsay, but he knew that he needed to. As her eyes fluttered open and she figured out that she'd been asleep, she blushed slightly. "Sorry for falling asleep on you, Danny."

"You don't gotta apologize for that. You needed the rest, and watching you helped me relax. I feel better now, even if I still haven't slept yet.

They exited the hospital hand in hand and opted to take the subway this time rather than a cab. They rode in silence, but as they got closer and closer to the lab and the precinct, Lindsay could feel Danny becoming more tense. Some of her earlier panic was returning as well, knowing that once he went to talk to IAB, he'd be on his own. She quieted those fears by reminding herself that he could take care of himself and she focused her attention on trying to keep him calm. The entire walk from the subway to the precinct, she kept her hand in his, using her thumb to stroke the back of his hand in soothing circles. It seemed to be helping him, but the spell was broken by the sound of her ringing cellphone. Without looking at the caller ID, she answered. "Messer."

"Hi Lindsay. Are you still with Danny?"

"Yes Mac. The ER doctor kept him at the hospital for a couple of hours to make sure he was alright, but he was released about a half-hour ago. Right now, we're about half a block from the precinct."

"That's great news. Look, I know you want to stay with him, but another body just dropped. I need you to go work the scene with Hawkes, Jo's just gone to drop him off there."

"What's the address?"

"I'm sending you a text right now."

"Alright. I'll go grab my kit and a truck and I'll meet Hawkes there."

"Thanks. Tell Danny that we're all thinking about him."

"Will do. Bye Mac."

"Bye."

"Mac says that they're all thinking about you," Lindsay commented as she checked the message Mac had sent her. Though she didn't want to leave Danny, she knew that she had to. Looking him in the eyes, she saw only understanding there, which made her feel a bit better.

"I'll be fine Lindsay. Go."

She nodded as she leaned up to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "No matter what happens, we're gonna figure it out, right Danny?"

"Just like we always do babe." Stealing one more kiss from her, he let go of her hand as he turned towards the precinct. "Bye Linds, I love you."

"I love you too Danny."

With a quick smile he left her behind, walking as if nothing was wrong. As Lindsay made her way across the street to the lab, she once again hoped that his instincts were right.

Now onto part II…

Thanks for reading!