A/N: Hello ladies! Here's another chapter and as you can see I bumped down the rating on this story. If I decide to write an M rated chapter I will label the chapter specifically. Thank you to everyone reading this story and everyone who has added the story/me to their favorites/alerts. Special thanks to BlueEyedAuthor and Brinchen86 for your sweet reviews. Enjoy! =]
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI:NY or any of the characters and/or storylines seen on the show.[haha I WISH!] This is done purely for the entertainment of myself and hopefully my readers; I gain no other profit from it. =]
Warning: spoilers for 6.01 EpilogueChapter 9
Reading People
The next morning Danny was awakened by the feeling of a half-empty bed and a soft knock at the door of his hospital room.
"Come in." he said. "Hey Mac. How's it goin'?"
"Good. I brought a couple visitors." Mac said stepping through the door with Stella right behind him holding Lucy. Stella walked over handing Lucy to Danny and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Hey baby girl. Did Auntie Stella and Uncle Mac steal you from Uncle Don?" Danny cooed to his daughter.
"No. We went over to see how he was doing and he asked if we could bring her over here. Said he had some stuff to do. So here we are." Stella explained, "Not that we weren't going to come see you anyway."
"Oh, a'right. You guys see Lindsay on your way in?" Danny asked, trying to forget about the possibilities of what Don could have to do.
Stella answered, "Yeah, she said to tell you she went to get breakfast and she'll be back in a few."
"Cool. Hospital food is horrible."
"So how are you feeling?" Stella asked.
"Not pushing yourself too hard, I hope." Mac added.
"I'm doin' good, actually. Therapy went good yesterday, and I have another session in a couple hours then they're releasin' me around one. Then, it's into the lab. Speakin' of..."
Mac cut him off, "We got 'em. So you're not needed into work until tomorrow."
"Ah, Mac. I swear you speeded things along just so there would be nothin' for me to do when I get outta here today." Danny teasingly complained. "So, what was the deal? Was that bastard targetin' us?"
"No, we had a woman come forward on the tip line and she said that her brother and his friends didn't know what they were getting into. It was some scheme to get the city to pay them. She tried to stop them; she was in the bar. But her brother wasn't in the car and his friends didn't recognize her." Mac explained.
"So, it was just a bunch of kids in over their heads, tryin' to make a quick buck. They had the bad luck of pickin' a bar full of cops." Danny thought about it, and he was angry, but he was also thankful. He was thankful because this meant no one was targeting him or his family. They were just caught in the cross fire of a couple of kids who didn't realize the trouble they were getting themselves into.
"Yeah, stupid, huh?" Stella said. "But then again, I'm glad it wasn't a personal attack."
"Exactly."
The door to Danny's room opened then, and Lindsay walked in carrying a tray of coffee and a brown paper bag.
"Breakfast is here. I got you guys some, too." Lindsay said to Mac and Stella.
"Thanks, Linds." Mac said.
"Hey, baby. They got the people who shot up the bar. Just some confused kids. No ones out to get us." Danny told his wife.
"Oh, wow. Am I allowed to be happy about that?" she asked
"Yes, kiddo. We all are." Stella replied.
"So what happened?" Lindsay asked.
Mac explained everything to Lindsay. While he and Lindsay were talking Stella noticed that Danny got really quiet. She thought about saying something to him, but decided not to put him on the spot. Danny had always been reluctant to talk about his feelings. Luckily, that seemed to change somewhat during his relationship with Lindsay. Sure, he was still a private person, and didn't talk to her much, but Stella could see that he was at least talking to someone. She was sure he would talk to his wife about whatever was bothering him.
Danny had always been the type to hold stuff in, which made him a very emotional person. When you never completely talk about your emotions, they build up. Stella had seen it multiple times with him. He would hold everything in, then when something big would happen, he exploded and did something he would regret. The explosion would suppress the emotions for a while, but since he never talked about it, it was just a matter of time until the next explosion.
It had happened with the Minhas shooting. Then there was a straight month or two when the explosions just kept coming, when Louie was beaten up and Aiden was murdered. In that same month, Stella was attacked and Flack and Mac were blown up. When Stella thought about the fact that Danny hadn't really exploded when she was attacked or when Flack was severely injured, she realized that there was only one reason. Lindsay. Danny had once told her that Lindsay was extremely effected by what happened to Stella, and that he had to calm her down. And when Flack and Mac had been inside that building, Lindsay had been outside and was slightly injured. Danny hadn't exploded in either situation because he wanted, he needed, to be there for Lindsay.
Then, the explosion of all explosions. Ruben Sandoval. The explosion wasn't manifested in anger, as it had with the Minhas shooting, or tears as it had with Louie, or even a mixture like with Aiden. It had happened as one colossal mistake. Danny had shut himself off from every person except one, and sadly it wasn't Lindsay. Stella knew what had happened with Rikki because both Lindsay and Danny had each come to her to talk. Danny and Lindsay's relationship was one that made you believe in fate, true love, soulmates, all of it, because somehow they managed to get past it all. After Danny faced the idea of losing Lindsay, he'd changed. And there hadn't been an explosion since.
Stella couldn't help but think that Lindsay had made a lot of things better ever since she joined their team.
"Uh, Stella... hello..." came the voice of the exact woman she had just been thinking about.
"Oh, sorry."
"It's fine. What're you thinking about over there?" Lindsay asked curiously.
Stella instantly began to stammer and Mac took that as his cue, "Probably about all the paperwork we still have to do on the case. We should probably head out."
"Uh, yeah. Thanks for breakfast, kiddo." Stella said standing up.
"Oh, I wanted to ask you guys. We're goin' out to watch Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday. You in?" Danny asked.
"I'm in." Stella said. "And I'll see if I can get him there, too. Just let me know where." she pointed to Mac, "Take care of yourself. We'll see you tomorrow." she said, bending down to give Danny a hug and kiss on the cheek.
"Yeah, bye."
"Bye, Lucy." Mac kissed his goddaughter before he turned to leave.
"Oh, and Mac?" Danny called as Lindsay said bye to Stella. "Did Flack say what it was he had to do?"
"No, but he said he would be here before you were discharged. Why?"
"Oh, just wonderin'. See ya later."
"Bye, Danny."
After Mac closed the door behind him Lindsay walked over to Danny's bed and sat down next to him.
"You worrying about Don?" she asked.
"Kinda."
"Why?"
"I have this feelin' that he's goin' to his apartment. I told him we could send Adam and Hawkes to get some of his stuff. I just think that if he didn't want Lucy with him, it's got something to do with Jess." Danny explained.
"Did he say something to make you think that?" Lindsay asked.
"He told me there were a lot of things she never knew, that he wanted her to. And there were things he regretted."
"But that doesn't mean he was going to do something having to do with Jess today. Maybe he just wanted to run some errands and figured it would be easier if Lucy was here."
"Then why didn't he drop her off?"
"Because Mac and Stella were on their way. Why do you think?"
"I think that he knew I would see what he wanted to do and try to talk him out of it. Don's my best friend, he's like a brother. I don't think he's ready to go back to his place. And I kinda wanted to be there for him when he did that."
"I know, hon, but what can you do? If he wants to go back, he's going back." Lindsay said, trying to comfort her husband. "And you wanting to be there may be why he wanted to go today."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sorry to say this, but maybe he doesn't want you there. You know Don doesn't like showing emotion just as much as you, and you already saw him cry a few days ago."
"Who cares if I see him cry? We're best friends."
"But has he seen you cry?" she asked.
"I don't understand why that matters." Danny replied.
"I'm not going to pretend this makes a whole lot of sense but here it goes. In Don's eyes, you've been through just as much as he has in the past few days. But the difference is, you were injured and he wasn't. And yet, he's falling apart and here you are, strong as ever, fighting your way through."
"But I haven't been through as much as him. This injury doesn't even factor into the equation for me. And sure, I loved Jess, we all did. But he was in love with her. I'd be fallin' apart, too, if I lost you."
"I understand that. But in Don's mind, because of how much of a family we all are, his love doesn't outweigh ours. So, again, he feels that you've been through just as much, and yet, he hasn't seen you cry. So, he can't bear to let you see him being, as he sees it, weak."
"Don Flack is in no way weak."
"I know that. I'm just telling you what he feels."
"And how do you know all of this, Montana. Are you a mind reader?" Danny asked.
"Nope, a people reader. How else was I supposed to get through to you? I needed to know what you were thinking. You know, back when you wouldn't talk to me."
"I get it. But, so what am I supposed to do? Cry in front of him?" Danny asked.
"No, not unless you need a good cry. Just talk to him. Explain to him how you see the situation, and how it's perfectly fine for him to be falling apart. As long as he lets us help put him back together. Because that's what family's for." Lindsay said poking Lucy's belly for emphasis. The baby giggled.
Danny pulled Lindsay down for a kiss, then just held her in his arms, with their daughter in his lap.
"You're a wise woman, Lindsay Messer. I love you."
"And you're a good friend, Danny Messer. I love you, too."
A/N: I hope you liked it. Please review! =]