A/N: hi all! Hope you're all doing well! I come bearing new story gifts. Whilst I have literally about 10 different things I'm working on right now (honestly, I'm not joking!). I thought we'd post this one. It was inspired by Dan and Shay's song, Already Ready. If you haven't heard it, you should totally listen to it if that's your kind of jam!

Anyway I digress. Apparently inspiration hits in the gym nowadays and this came to me about two or three weeks ago. Maybe even longer. In fact, definitely longer! I couldn't work out how to end it as it was just turning into a monster. So I'm not. By no means will it be a new epic but I'm thinking three chapters. Maybe four depending. The first two are written and finished so yay!

Also. At the minute I'm alluding M rated moments but not going into too much detail. Hope that's ok!

Anyway. Enough rambling from me. Hope you enjoy!

—-

Took you 20 minutes just to find a dress. Do you like the dress, i say yes... Green, red, yellow, blue, yeah, they're all just right on you. Don't worry, you look beautiful. Hair up, hair down. Another 20 minutes to get out the house. Call a cab and we jump in. Finally walk in, I'm already thinkin' bout leavin'.

-Already Ready, Dan and Shay

—-

Set after Snow Day (3x24) and amongst the first couple episodes of season 4. Basically pre Child's Play.

—-

She could hear him flicking through the channels on her television out in the living room. She'd occasionally hear a sigh too and she couldn't help the little smirk that tugged at her lips. He hadn't ever seen this side to her before. Sure she wasn't high maintenance by any stretch of the imagination. Usually, if she could get away with it she'd do her hair nice and maybe apply some mascara. On the days where she was particularly tired she'd apply some concealer too. That was about it...

Normally, she would do anything to get out of these kind of events. She much preferred being a faceless person up in the crime lab, doing her thing. She wasn't a massive fan of the small talk with people she didn't know. Sure, she could do it, she could do it well in fact. She was charming, witty and loveable. Didn't mean she liked it though. She hadn't really paid much thought about going tonight. It hadn't been until Danny had asked her what time he should pick her up for that she realised she was going. That they were going... together.

If she was completely honest; she didn't even know what it was for. A benefit? Fundraiser maybe? She had no idea. What she did know was that she was excited to be going with Danny.

"Montana, seriously... what's takin' so long?" His voice was laced with frustration. He'd been at hers for at least a half an hour now and she could tell his patience was wearing thin.

"Two minutes!" She responded, hoping he knew to round it up to five... at least.

She spritzed her hair with a final douse of hairspray and took in her appearance in her bathroom mirror. She pursed her lips together and let out a breath. This is the best you're gonna get, Linds. She told herself. She glanced over her dress and nodded. Good choice. She bent down and collected her shoes from the corner of the room where she'd dumped them earlier and slipped the heels on. She usually stuck to her heeled boots or flats but tonight called for her favourites. They were ridiculously expensive and ridiculously high. They weren't anything like she owned and they'd been a complete impulse buy.. But she loved them. It wasn't often she got dressed up so it was a nice excuse to dig them out.

She took in one last look of her appearance and smiled. She was ready.

—

Danny was rapidly losing the last ounce of patience he had. What the hell was she doing?! She'd told him to pick her up at six thirty and he had. Except it was now five minutes to seven and he just couldn't understand what she was doing! How long did it take to brush her hair and get changed? Spray a bit of perfume maybe? Brush her teeth? He glanced down at his watch again and rolled his eyes, fighting the urge to call out to her.

He let out a frustrated sigh and settled against the couch, flicking through the channels on her TV as he waited. He'd been a little bit surprised by her reaction when he'd asked her what time he should pick her up. It had been like she'd assumed they weren't going. Which, he supposed he could understand why. He hadn't brought it up to her but he'd just assumed. Assumed she'd wanna go? Assumed she'd want to go with him. When she asked him if he was going to be wearing a tuxedo and he'd nodded, albeit unhappily, her whole demeanour changed. After that tidbit of information she was seemingly on board.

If he was totally honest, he forgot what the whole thing was for. A benefit? Fundraiser? Something like that. He didn't really care. Rumour had spread through the lab earlier that there was a free bar and Danny wasn't against the idea of some drinks with his Montana on someone else's dime.

Although, he was sure that defeated the object of a fundraiser... he was also fairly positive that a certain Adam Ross had started said rumour. But he wasn't going to question either and simply hope for the best.

He tugged on his tie and wished he could take it off already. How the hell Flack and Mac spent their days and nights dressed in suits he would never know. Give me a T-shirt any day of the week! He mused to himself.

Finally losing his last bit of patience, he rolled his eyes. "Montana, seriously... what's takin' so long?"

"Two minutes!" She responded and he couldn't help but think, two minutes? Try at least five!

He heard one last blast from the can of hairspray he'd heard going for the last ten minutes and got some relief as he heard it being placed on the bathroom counter. Hallelujah!

He heard her shuffling around and began to hear the quiet clip-clop sounds of her shoes. Was she wearing heels? That could be interesting he'd thought.

He hadn't really thought much about what she'd be wearing. It was a black tie event so he guessed she was gonna dress up. Maybe, if he was lucky, she'd wear that dress again. The one she wore when she got called out on her night off. She'd come from somewhere. The opera maybe!? He couldn't remember; he just knew she looked gorgeous.

"I'm ready," he heard her voice before he saw her. He turned his head over the back of the couch and glanced into the direction of her hallway where her bedroom was. He could see her in the shadows of the dark apartment and began to stand. Finally! He thought.

He bent down to the coffee table and grabbed his keys and wallet, shoving them into his pocket. As he turned; he started laughing to himself "I got no idea why you told me to come over at six thirty Montana. What the hell were you-" His eyes finally registered on her. It wasn't a regular occurrence where he was lost for words. But right now? He was lost for words, thoughts and just about everything else inbetween.

Lindsay had caught his eye on her very first day. Something about her accent, her charm, her buck knife... whatever it had been, he'd noticed her: he'd seen her. Admired her. Could feel himself falling for her. He'd seen her in all sorts of different ways... tired, angry, heartbroken, elated; michehievious; sassy...

He had never seen her like this before.

"What do you think?" She asked as she slowly turned; letting him take in the view.

"I uh-" he rubbed his neck with his hand as he grappled to find something to say. "I uh, wow."

Her eyes widened in amusement as she let a little giggle bubble out of her. "Is that all you've got?" She questioned. "Wow?"

"For now?" He licked his lips, "yeah. I'll let you know when I come up with somethin' better."

"I suppose wow isn't that bad." She mused.

"Uh huh," He has his hand pressed to his chest and licked his lips,

She rolled her eyes as she grabbed her clutch bag, that had been resting on the edge of the couch. "What's the matter with you?!" She chastised him. "You've seen me in dresses before." She moved towards him, dropped her beg back onto the couch and placed her hands on his tie. She grabbed the knot and the length of it, readjusting it. She then patted it affectionately and smiled.

His eyes met hers and she giggled. "Earth to Messer... What the hell is wrong with you? You've seen me dressed up before, Danny."

"Nah," Danny silently shook his head slowly. "Not like this."

It was true, he had seen her in dresses before. He'd seen her in summer dresses... hell, she occasionally wore dresses to work. But she wore those with leggings. Those dresses were different. He hadn't seen her in a dress like this before. His eyes didn't even know where to start in terms of taking her all in.

Her hair, as short as it now was, was styled in loose waves, framing her face. She'd done something with her eye makeup that meant her eyes were even more beautiful than usual. Darker too. Her cheeks were flushed with a soft hue and when the light hit her cheeks in a certain way, Danny was almost convinced that she was sparkling. Or maybe glowing? Glowing was a better way to describe her. She never really needed makeup and Danny was glad she didn't cake it on usually. However today? This? He made a mental note of filling their social calendar with black tie events because this? He could get used to it...

And that was just her face.

He hadn't really let his eyes explore other parts of her body yet as he didn't think he'd be able to keep himself in line. His eyes slowly made their way down from her face to her chest. First of all, it was strapless; something he'd never seen on her before. He had to say, he was a massive fan. It accentuated all of her assets perfectly. Yes, this dress? He was a big, big fan. It was black. She wasn't usually a black dress kind of girl, but damn did it work for her. And then... well, it left nothing to the imagination. It was fitted to her body perfectly. He could see every curve which he wasn't mad about. And it was short. If he himself could have designed a dress for her; he wouldn't have even thought of this. It was essentially all of his fantasies, rolled into a small piece of material, wrapped around his girlfriend's body.

As his eyes eventually got to her legs, they kept going and he felt a breath hitch in his throat when he finally saw those heels. They were black and had some red underneath. He wasn't really a shoe person... but these? He could get on board with them. They made her st least the same height as him and while he usually enjoyed being the tall, strong one... he quite liked the height on her. It was different:

Although, he had to stop himself laughing, the last time he'd seen heels that tall before, they'd been buried deep into someone's cranium; they'd literally been a murder weapon. He paused for a moment. That's it, he thought to himself, she wants to kill me! Why else would she be dressed like this?

He took a minute to take in the image of his girlfriend stood in front of him. He held a hand to his chest and let out a sigh.

Noticing his actions, Lindsay smiled to herself. Usually, she had to stand on her tiptoes to capture his lips in a kiss. Not tonight.

"This is dangerous." Danny whispered against her lips. "I uh, I don't think we can go."

She furrowed her brow in amusement as she checked her purse for her keys, wallet, lipstick and phone. "Dangerous? What the hell are you talking about! We're going to a fundraiser with the rest of the NYPD. I can't think of anywhere safer."

"Not what I meant." He shook his head as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him. "You dressed like that is dangerous."

"Oh," She said simply. If he looked closely, he felt like he could spot the signs of a smirk tugging at her lips. She knew exactly what she was doing!

"Come on," She said, "we better go or we'll be late."

Danny nodded silently, following her out of her apartment and shut the door behind him. He checked the door a couple of times before turning and placing a hand on the small of her back as he led her down the hallway.

"Listen, just so you know, the wait-" he trailed off for a minute as she turned to face him as they walked in sync to one another. "It was worth every second. You look...gorgeous."

A blush rose to Lindsay's cheeks as she smiled at his compliment. "You don't look too bad yourself, Messer."

He licked his lips as he pressed the button to the elevator. They hadn't even got there yet and he was already thinking about leaving. The elevator dinged and she headed on in front of him, giving him a view of her ass. Danny took a deep braatb as he followed her onto the lift. Oh yeah, he thought. Worth every second of the wait.

The only problem now... was trying to survive the evening.

—

The drive over had been torture. They'd stopped to pick up Adam on the way and he'd done nothing but blather on about some nonsensical crap that Danny had been desperately uninterested in. Lindsay, however, had taken great interest in what Adam had been saying. She'd essentially ignored Danny the whole way there.

Except, her hand. That hand was the root cause of Danny's tightening pants. She'd placed her hand on his knee initially. Fine, cool; whatever. However... the more Adam got enthralled with his story, the less attention he paid to what Danny and Lindsay were doing and so was completely oblivious when Lindsay's hand moved from Danny's knee to his thigh.

It had been ever so gradual but by the time they'd got to the venue, her hand was so high up on his thigh, she had nowhere else to go.

At one point he'd even leant over and whispered "minx" in her ear. That hadn't helped. At his words, she'd wiggled closer to him and he could feel every single part of her pressed against him.

Fortunately, or unfortunately in this case; it had been then that he'd managed to work out that she wasn't wearing a bra.

Or any underwear for that matter.

Which led him to his current predicament. Despite the fact that they'd only just arrived. he glanced down at his watch and smirked. It was seven thirty two and he was already ready to go.

Adam had paid for the cab and had led the way up the stairs of the venue. Lindsay was following behind Adam, her hand encased tightly in Danny's. As she was mid way up the stairs, he squeezed her hand and pulled her back slightly, creating distance between her and Adam. He joined her on her step and brushed some hair from her face so he could get easy access to her ear.

"You let me know when you wanna go" His voice was gruff. "Cause right now, followin' you up these stairs and seein' you like this.. I'm ready to go."

Lindsay wiggled her eyebrows and squeezed his hand. "I didn't get al dressed up for no reason Messer, unfortunately for you, you're just going to have to watch me walk around, knowing I don't have any underwear on."

"I knew it!" He growled in her ear. "What gave me away?" He laughed nibbling her neck as they headed up the stairs together, him behind her, holding her close. "How did you know I'd worked it out?"

"Oh I don't know," her voice was playful, flirty. "Perhaps it was the look in your eyes, or the way you keep looking at me." She trailed off for a moment as she snaked one of her hands behind her. "Or maybe it was this." She said. Sneakily laying her hand over his bulge in his trousers. "Yeah I think it might have been this that gave you away."

"You need to be careful here Montana. I'm pretty sure I could get us both a written warning for what I wanna do to you right now."

Lindsay licked her lips as they flashed their invites at the door to the security guard. The room was full already. They absorbed their surroundings for a moment before Danny took her hand and led them to their assigned table. Mac had ensured they were all sat together and had "bought" a table for the team. Adam had already made it to the table and was joined by Hawkes. Flack and Stella

it wasn't lost on Danny how the eyes of his friends and coworkers were glued to both him and Lindsay. Sure they were holding hands and she was walking very close to him as he weaved in and out of the plumes of people. Surely it couldn't have been a surprise to them? Especially after they'd all found out about him going to Montana, courtesy of Flack They'd been flirting around the issue of them for years. And quite frankly, if none of them had realised that this would eventually happen, then he had to question their abilities as trained detectives.

As they approached the table; Flack folded his arms over his chest and shook his head. "What?" Danny instantly barked. He was in no mood for his bullshit banter tonight. He just wanted to be at his or Lindsay's apartment... with her and only her.

"He... I'm sorry... Messer actually let you leave the house like that Monroe?" Flack smirked. "Bet you thought all your christmasses had come at once, huh, Danno. Montana is lookin' fine. Didn't know you had it in you. Monroe."

"You're a real asshole, you know that?" Danny snapped. "Don't talk to her like that. Show a little respect Flack! She ain't a piece of ass." He grabbed Lindsay's hand and marched away from their coworkers. He led them to the bar and ordered Lindsay a large glass of wine and himself a beer. He'd positioned her at the bar so she was against it and he was stood behind her, protectively encasing her in a little bubble between himself and the counter. He learnt forward and brushed her hair out of his way. "I swear to god Lindsay: I'm dyin' right now. You're killin' me."

She craned her neck slightly and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Good." She smirked. "Means I'll get it good later." She then somehow slipped away from him and sauntered back to their friends with her wine. He watched her walk away from him initially before licking his lips.

Lindsay Monroe was going to be his cause of death, he was certain about it.

—

And so; chapter 1. Hope you enjoyed. I don't know about you guys, but what I would have done to see even something remotely like that. And hey, it wouldn't have been that out there. How many times did Stella go to these kind of things?!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed! I also hope you return for the other chapters!

Thanks for reading - all thoughts are appreciated!