Disclaimer: If I owned them, I would rent them out to the highest bidder and get really really rich. But since that isn't the case, don't sue me please.
Summary: Danny is seriously injured and has a conversation with Aiden, who helps him sort out whether he should fight to live, or just let go. My first fanfic, so please review and let me know what you think. Just so you know, I have the whole story written (3 chapters total) so the more reviews I get, the sooner I will post the remainder!
A/N: Special thanks and credit goes to Queen of Cliffies!! The scene you'll read with the badge was inspired and a few lines partially borrowed (with permission of course) from her fic "A Cop at Heart." Great story, highly recommend reading it. In mine though, Danny was unaware (like Danny being oblivious is a new concept, ha).
Thank God this day is finally over, Danny Messer thought as he kicked his apartment door closed behind him. After pulling three doubles in the past week exhaustion was starting to set in. Setting his pizza and six-pack on the counter, he removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting the headache that had been plaguing him for what seemed like weeks.
Well, it has been weeks since that…, that talk with Mont... no, Lindsay, he thought disgustedly, then picked up the pizza and headed into the living room. What a friggin joke that was. I probably coulda handled that better. Tellin' her I'm not interested in a relationship, just drinks and a few laughs, who was I kidding, and sighed audibly.
A soft noise broke the silence, and cop instinct made him freeze. Come on, don't tell me I didn't lock the friggin door. This is so not my week. He turned while reaching down to his side for his gun, but just then something heavy slammed into his head and the world went dark.
"Danny! Danny! Dammit, Messer, friggin pay attention, will you!"
"Aiden, why dontcha just leave me the hell alone to die in peace!" he threw himself into a chair.
"We both know that isn't gonna happen, cause you ain't supposed to be here now."
Great, I'm dying, and I get to sit here and be lectured by a dead chick. Of all the surreal …
Aiden poked him hard in the chest. "I heard that Messer, things work differently here. What are ya doin' anyways? Why ya givin up like this?"
"Aid, I'm done in. I'm tired of all this bullshit. I just wanna sit here, with my friend, and let it go. What's so wrong with that?"
"Yeah, like you really think the big man is gonna let you in here with your track record, Danny-boy? Not without your saving grace." she shook her head. "You've gotta make things right, you can't just leave it like that."
"And just why the hell not, Burn?! You friggin did! You tamper with evidence, get fired, and dropped of the face of the earth, no drinks, no calls, no nothin, and then ta find out ya really did drop of the face of the earth! You call that finishing things?" He snorted with disbelief and anger.
"But I did, Danny" she said softly. "We got him. That bastard Pratt ain't gonna be hurtin anyone else, now is he?"
"Yeah, but at what cost, Aiden? First you lost your badge and then you lost your life" he choked out.
"As much as you say you wouldn't have, I know you'd have done the same thing. I paid a price, but in the end, it was worth it. There can be no doubt in this."
Danny sat back and shook his head still not believing it.
"Besides," she added, smiling coyly. "I got my badge back in the end."
He looked up at her in surprise. "What are you talking 'bout? The department never reinstated you before you, well before you, you-know" he stumbled out. Man, am I ever articulate.
"Your Montana gave me back my badge."
He just gaped at her stupidly. "B-but, how? When?"
"She came to my funeral after the team left ya know…"
Lindsay walked up to the closed coffin after everyone had left; it would have been awkward to watch everyone else mourn someone she'd never known. Lindsay took the object she had in her pocket and gently ran a finger over Aiden's badge.
"You got him, Aiden," she whispered. Aiden never gave up on trying to get D.J. Pratt. She had given first her job, and then her life to make sure that he was caught. Even when she knew she was going to die, she thought fast enough to leave a clue, something to put him away. That was how a true cop thought, that their life didn't matter as long as the bad guy went away. Aiden was a cop at heart, a detective, and a CSI, but most of all, Aiden was a hero.
It surprised Lindsay to feel warm tears sliding down her cheeks, crying for someone she'd never met. She realized though, that the reason she was crying was she'd never had the chance to meet such a wonderful person.
She murmured "To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. (Isaiah 61:3). They'll always miss you, Aiden, but I'll see what I can do about having them celebrate your life, rather than mourn your death." With a deep breath she placed Aiden's badge on top of the coffin before walking away.
"She gave me my peace, Danny. Your Montana is the one who made it so I could let go."
Danny leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees, smiled with pride as his heart swelled. He shook his head. "Well, that Linds, she's somethin' else."
Aiden's eyes hardened and she gave him a look that had him leaning back away from her.
"Wha? What'd I say?"
"It's not what you said to me, it's what you said to her later. Do you remember how the team went out to the bar after the funeral? Everyone drinking and telling stories? You were well on your way to wasted when Lindsay showed up. She just sat there quietly listening to everyone's stories, and after one you told she told ya she wished she could have met me. Remember what happened next, Casanova?"
Danny ducked to avoid getting smacked upside the head and grimaced with the recollection.
"I wish I would have had a chance to meet Aiden, it sounds like she was a great person."
Danny stood, swayed slightly but steadied himself with his hands flat on the table top, then turned on her and said hotly "Aiden was the best. She was a great person, and she was the best damn CSI and partner I could have ever had. And don't think that you're every gonna replace her with the team, 'cause you can't." His voice got louder until he was almost yelling "You're not a part of this team. You can't replace Aiden!" He pushed away from the table and strode to the bar to get another drink and cool down.
Lindsay tried to hold back the tears that welled up in her eyes. She knew that he was grieving, but the words still hurt deeply. After having moved so far from home, she kept getting the feeling that she was never going to belong to this team. It was as if she was destined to be alone in a city of millions.
Stella looked concerned. She reached out and touched her arm, "Lindsay, he's just hurt right now, he doesn't mean it like it sounded."
Lindsay forced a smile at her. "I know, Stell. He's had a rough time of it lately. I don't want to stir anything else up, so I'm just going to head out."
Hawkes chimed in, "You don't have to go anywhere, Linds, Danny'll deal with it."
"Really guys, its okay, I'm tired anyhow." Lindsay tried to smile at them, with little success. "I've got shift tomorrow, so I'll just turn in and get some rest. I'll see you later." She grabbed her purse and gave them a small wave, avoiding looking over at Danny who was still at the bar. She made her way to the door, trying to keep her steps slow so she wouldn't give into the temptation to run out as fast as her legs could carry her.
A/N 2: Isaiah 61:3 in the Bible is actually more about freedom from oppression rather than mourning, when you read the chapter. However, I thought it was a beautiful verse, so I wanted to use it, even if it is a little out of context. I figured not too many people would recognize it right off the bat, so I could get away with it.