Title: Naughty Boys, Too Tight Ties and a Teddy Bear.

Author: Miss Capitaine/deliciouslycrzy

Rating: K+

Genre: Romance

Pairings: Ross/Rodgers, past Ross/Nichols

Summary: "So who's the lucky guy?"

Warnings: Nothing, really.

Spoilers: Not really.

Note: This was really hard to write. Little angst, almost entirely fluff. It's like cotton candy, really.

Disclaimer: If I owned L&O CI, Danny and Liz would have gotten more screen time and Danny wouldn't be dead; he would be in Witness Protection with Liz.

Danny wasn't sure that Zach was going to come, at first.

He had accepted the invitation gracefully enough, even offering congratulations, but Danny could have sworn he had seen something in the lanky detective's eyes that looked suspiciously familiar to pain. It had disappeared as soon as it had appeared, and Zach hadn't stuck around long enough for Danny to ask about it.

That had been six months ago.

Now, as Danny said his "I do's" to the slightly blushing, yet still smirking, bride (As if she was imagining him naked, which was likely, knowing her) in front of him, he had caught, out of the corner of his eye, sight of a very familiar face, standing at the back of the crowd full of wedding guests. Zach waved at him cheerfully, ignoring the odd looks he got from the people around him, and Danny had to restrain a smile.

Liz looked quite stunning in white, Danny realized that night, as they waltzed their way through the reception hall. It wasn't so surprising a realization; he usually thought she could look absolutely gorgeous in anything.

There was just something about white. Whoever had thought of white for weddings had certainly been a genius.

The song changed; the band began to play at a slower tempo, and Danny and Liz's pace slowed considerably as they came to a near stop in the middle of the dance floor. Danny wrapped his arms around Liz's waist, a hand lightly resting on her hip; he felt her shiver at the contact. Liz, in turn, had her arms linked around his broad shoulders, and she leaned against him, their foreheads almost touching as they swayed together to the music.

"Danny." Liz whispered; her breath felt warm against his skin, and something in him sparked as she watched him with soft eyes. "What are you thinking about?"

"You." He answered truthfully, and his eyes sparkled darkly as she continued looking at him. He drew her closer, and whispered in her ear, "Our honeymoon. How much of a relief it will be to finally get you out of this." He emphasized his point by first touching his hand to the fabric of her dress, and then to her bare, exposed back.

Liz smirked, her eyes lit, which contrasted drastically with the blush spread across her features. "Very naughty, Danny. What if someone hears you?"

It was his turn to smirk; with a quick, gentle tug, he pulled Liz flush against him, enjoying her small gasp at the simple action. "That's the thing about being the happy couple at a lavish wedding," he whispered huskily in her ear, "It's almost required." He kissed her, and true to his theory, the only reaction to their display of affection was an "Aww..." from a more than slightly tipsy Megan Wheeler.

The end of the song came almost too quickly, and with it, an unexpected, though not entirely unwelcome party guest.

"May I cut in?"

Danny and Liz turned; Zach had appeared out of seemingly nowhere, a strangely subdued smile on his face; something about him appeared different, but Danny couldn't put his finger on it. He held his hand out, and for a quick, crazy second, Danny wondered why exactly Zach would want to dance with Liz. He had never shown that much interest in her, beyond the amount generally required.

So Danny was more than slightly surprised when Zach grabbed his hand. He blinked, looking quite similar to a rabbit caught in the headlights.

Liz, apparently, wasn't as confused as he was. She smiled, and pulled away from Danny. she touched his hand briefly, kissing him softly on the cheek. "I'm going to talk to Logan." She excused, and moved away, to where a very drunk Mike Logan was slumped by a particularly large ficus.

Danny raised an eyebrow, and Zach smirked. "Got you all to myself," he murmured, and then without warning pulled Danny from the center of the dance floor, towards a more secluded section of the ball room.

They didn't dance.

Instead, Zach managed to procure a bottle of champagne (Danny didn't ask,) and the two of them shared it whilst sitting at an empty table far from the rest of the festivities. Danny was sitting, rather stiffly and awkwardly because he still didn't know what Zach wanted, across the table from Zach, who had already discarded his black blazer and was in the process of loosening his tie from around the neck of his dark purple dress shirt. Once he had freed himself, Zach picked up his glass of champagne. "To weddings," he toasted, taking a sip, and Danny could have sworn that Zach sounded genuine. He lifted his glass in response, murmuring 'to weddings' before drinking.

He felt slightly less awkward now, the champagne doing a lot to help, and so he leaned back in his chair. "I wasn't sure you were going to show." He admitted, tugging slightly on his tie.

"Yee of little faith." Zach said quietly, smiling mutely from behind his wineglass. "Wouldn't miss your wedding, Danny." He put his glass down, his eyes suddenly somber. "Didn't know if I was coming, at first."

That didn't surprise Danny. "What made you change your mind?"

Zach smirked again. "More like who." He corrected, and swigged the rest of his champagne. He poured himself another glass of wine, pointedly ignoring the confused look that Danny was shooting his way.

"So I heard you used the plus one on the wedding invitation." He said, trying another angle, hoping that Zach wouldn't call his bluff; He actually had no idea whether or not Zach had brought a date.

Zach knew it, too. He snorted, and took a sip of champagne. Instead of calling him out on it, however, he just looked up at him and answered, "Yep" in a slightly mysterious tone. His eyes were bright, though, so Danny knew he wanted him to keep asking.

"So who's the lucky guy?"

"Oh, big fellow, sulking by the bar over there. Does that a lot. Sweetheart, though. Big teddy bear." Zach said cheerfully, gesturing towards the other side of the room, where the bar was set up. There was only one occupant, and he was more than slightly familiar to Danny.

He looked back at Zach, a slightly incredulous, shocked look on his face. "Zach, that's Goren."

"Oh yeah. Look at that. It is." Zach stood, and Danny suddenly realized what it was that seemed so different about him; he was happy, in a way that Danny hadn't seen in nine years. He stood as Zach made his way around the table.

"Zach-" He began, but he was cut off as the bigger man hugged him. Danny stiffened for a second, but then relaxed and hugged him back.

"I'm happy for you, Danny." And then Zach was gone, already loping over to the bar where Bobby Goren was sitting. Danny turned just as Zach reached the other man, seeing only briefly as Zach greeted Goren with a light kiss.

It was Danny's turn to snort; teddy bear, indeed. He smiled slightly, and then turned to start looking for Liz.