Days that start this way usually end in more peaceful moments and warm nights in bed. For me it was pain.
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The crime scene was a small car in the middle of a desolate ally way. The body of 23 year old, Brendan Shutter sat slumped across the drivers seat with a 7-inch carving knife between his eyes. It was apparent by the blood that someone wanted Brendan to suffer greatly before he perished.
Walking slowly and reluctantly to the car, Danny Messer was too happy and unprepared to see such destruction. He reached slowly into his kit and pulled out his gloves and began to process the scene. Opening the door to the car made him choke on his own breath, the sick smell of rotting human flesh hit him like blunt force trauma.
"I thought you had thicker skin then that Messer?" came a familiar voice from the other side of the car. "Well excuse me. I was just getting used to the smell of coffee when dead civic boy here introduced himself." Danny said with a devilish grin on his face. Lindsay smiled back and opened the opposite car door to start her processing, "You left early?" she said calmly. "Ya sorry about that, its this whole thing about needed to wear clean clothes to work… and really you just looked too perfect to move you." He said as he looked up from the blood soaked car. She said nothing as she smiled into her kit and grabbed more swabs.
"What are we looking at?" sounded Stella as she walked up to Danny who was now checking the outside of the small black car.
"Well, Brendan Shutter, 23 years old. And it appears that he has some enemies. I found a carving knife at 2 o'clock in his skull. I have some prints from the blade and a bloody… possible palm print on the bumper. Ah nice find if I do say so myself Messer." Danny said in a cocky tone.
"Looks like someone woke up with an enlarged ego!" quickly retorting Danny's mark, it was obvious Stella did not share Danny's blissful mood.
"Long night, Stel?"
"Ha, more like long week. Do we know anything probative?"
Lindsay joined the conversation, "Hey Stella, Flack has been canvassing and no one knows or has ever seen this kid around here before. Thinking possible drug deal gone bad… very bad."
"Then lets see if we can find his family, friends, anyone that will talk." Danny said.
"Lindsay go with the body and see if Sid sees something we don't, Danny your with me… and stop smiling like a fool." Stella said as she starts to walk away,
"What? I'm not. Don't say a word." He says as he points to Lindsay and laughs in her direction. Lindsay says nothing but smiles in return.
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Brendan's Apartment
As Stella and Danny walked to the elevator, Stella took the opportunity to corner Danny.
"So is this stupid smile thing you've been doing all morning, have anything to do with a new squeeze?"
"What? No, how come every time I smile someone thinks its because I got laid?"
"Well… that's usually the case, Danny."
"Well when your right your right." He said as Stella started laughing.
"But in all seriousness, this new 'squeeze' as you so romantically put it, might be the real thing ya know? I think I might actually be falling in love."
"Well good then, who is she?"
"All in good time Stel. All in good time." Danny said giving her a wink.
As they approached the door something felt instantly wrong. Danny had a feeling like they were being watched, he put out his arm to stop Stella and she did. "What? What is it?"
"I don't know, some thing is… wrong. I just had that feeling you know? Like…" before he could finish the door exploded with gun shots. Danny pushed Stella hard and she hit the floor opposite the door. Danny took the full brunt of the shots.
He felt each bullet enter his body and he fell backwards towards the wall. One… two… three… the bullets stopped flying as Danny hit the wall and started to slowly slide down the wall. Blood stains following him to the ground.
"DANNY! JESUS…" Stella drew her gun and started yelling for EMS into her radio.
"THIS IS THE NYPD, DROP YOUR WEAPON. I NEED TO CHECK ON MY PARTNER!!!"
Danny lay on the ground struggling for every breath. There was a bullet for every part of his upper body. One in his lower abdomen, one in his chest that cause every gasp of air to be a job, and one in his shoulder that seem to be the source of the most blood.
The firing stopped and Stella heard someone running out the fire escape. Not caring about anything but Danny she got up and dragged Danny out of the way of the door.
"Danny, hey come on just breath. Ambulance is on the way. Shhh its okay, its okay." She tried to calm him and she pushed her hands against the wounds.
Danny, although struggling and being in unimagionable amounts of pain, reached for Stella's hand.
"Tell Lindsay…. that… it's okay. That… I… love her." Danny said between chocking on his own blood.
"You can tell her yourself Dan, you just have to stay with me ok?! Just keep your eyes open… hey no… Danny no… come on, look at me Danny!?" Danny was fading and fading fast. His eyelids were so heavy, he tried with everything he had to concentrate on Stella, to stay awake, but it was too much. The blood loss was becoming too great to keep up with. With his last thoughts of Lindsay, he succumbs to the darkness and closed his eyes.
"Danny… no… Come on!" Stella picks up her radio with tears in her eyes, "WHERE IS MY BUS? I HAVE AN OFFICER DOWN I NEED EMS NOW!!!"
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Trace has turned up nothing. Sid had found nothing surprising on the body, except evidence of struggle and a strange bruise on the inside of his left thigh. Other then the finger print on the knife and the bloody palm print, it seemed like nothing was adding up. Lindsay was getting frustrated when nothing came up on either. She sat back in her chair and took a sip of her coffee, and smiled. All she could think about was Danny, his smell, his taste; she began to daydream and drift off into another world.
The knocking at the door was insanely persistent, almost urgent.
"I'm coming, keep your pants on!" Danny said as he answered the door. "Oh never mind, you can take your pants off." He said smiling as Lindsay stepped through his apartment door placing a sweet kiss on his cheek.
"All I want is something to drink and for YOU to rubbed my aching feet!"
"Is that all I am to you, a bar and massage stop?"
"Oh don't be silly… you also make a great maid." She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
"Mmmm… as long as there is more of this involved… Ill even be your dry cleaner."
Lindsay laughed and deepened the kiss. "In that case…" she said in a more seductive tone and pressed her body into his. Danny pushed her hair out of her face and began to kiss along her jaw line and down to her collarbone. "Now that I think about it… I really… um… oh… don't need a drink so much." She said as Danny started to slowly nibble on her neck and earlobe.
Lindsay kissed his face and dragged her fingers across his back. In one smooth motion Danny picked her up by her butt and she wrapped her legs around him. Danny moved toward the bedroom and lay her down upon the bed.
He lay above her and started slowly kissing his way down her body as he worked the buttons of her shirt. Once it was undone he went up to face her again and kissed her deep and passionately. Lindsay whimpered against his stubble, she never realized until now how happy this man made her.
"Danny, I want you inside me. I need to feel you." Danny paused and looked into her eyes, he moved the hair from her eyes and said softly, "I'm glad you came here tonight, I was really missing the feeling of you… near me, with me… Lindsay you're a part of me."
With that Lindsay grabbed Danny's face and kissed him harder then she has ever kissed him and if felt like it lasted forever, if only for a minute or two. It wasn't long before they were naked and one. Danny was gentle but made sure that she was taken care of, Lindsay came harder then she ever has in her life. Danny looked into her eyes when he finished, and kissed her forehead. They lay together, breathing and holding each other, when he finally left her body Lindsay rolled over on top of Danny and fell asleep. They woke in the same position the next morning, it all seemed so perfect.
Beep, beep, beep, beep… Lindsay snapped out of it. She giggled and looked for the sound that ruined a perfectly good daydream. It was a text from Mac telling her to report to his office ASAP. Lindsay got up and walked toward Mac's office, when she got close enough, she could tell by the look on Mac, Hawke's, and Flack's faces that something was off.
"Mac, what's going on?" She asked confused.
"Lindsay… Danny's been shot. He's on route to hospital with Ste…"
"WHAT HOSPITAL?" Lindsay injected cutting off her boss reaching for her car keys.
"Lindsay I need you at the crime scene, Stella is with Danny."
"Mac I don't think you understand. I'm going to the hospital… fire me if you have to." Lindsay said, as she left the office on her way to the truck.
When Lindsay got to the truck, the guilt kicked in. 'here you are daydreaming while the love of your life is bleeding to death… no shut up, he'll be fine. He's Danny. I don't even know how bad it is… Stop crying.' Lindsay started the truck for a longest drive, possibly, in her entire life.
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Stella was sitting in an extremely uncomfortable yellow chair holding her head in her hands. It didn't matter that the blood from Danny's wounds was dry and cracking on her hands. It didn't matter that the blood on her shirt was going to stain and that she was never going to get it out. It didn't matter that she had left the crime scene before any of her fellow C.S.I. had arrived. It just didn't matter. Any of it.
Stella sat with her thoughts, until the sound of clicking heals caught her off guard.
"STELLA!" Lindsay's voice filled the small uncomfortable room.
"Lindsay, thank god. He's in surgery. It's… Oh god." Stella suddenly realized how awful it must look having Danny's blood covering most of her body. The very site of Stella caused every tear she had suppressed in her lifetime of a drive to the hospital to fall freely from her eyes.
"This is bad isn't it? I shouldn't have left; I should have gone with you… What Happened? Stella? Are you? What?" It was then that Stella understood how much these two people meant to each other. Stella motioned for Lindsay to sit down; she started swaying on her feet.
"Linds, calm down. Danny lost a lot of blood; he was hot 3 or 4 times. He told me to tell you that it's going to be okay and that he loves you." I think it was obvious from the look on Lindsay's face that he had never said that before.
"What?"
"He said that he loves you. I didn't even know that you were… well… I think everyone thought it, but… it doesn't matter. He loves you, and that should be enough for him to fight. Danny is a tough kid. He's never given up and you know how Danny loves to impress." With that Stella realize that she was talking just for the sake of talking. It wasn't what Lindsay needed to hear.
"The doctor said when the surgery is over he'd come find us. There is a lot of damage, but he was hopeful." The truth was Lindsay was in shock. Shock from learning of her boyfriend getting shot 3 or 4 times, unknown at this point, and to know that he must have thought he was going to die to want Stella to tell her that he loved her. Her really loved her.
To be continued…