SA/N: Now, I can't recall the names of the characters this oneshot was supposed to be based on. Denny and Linda? I'm totally kidding :P ... And to be fair to TPTB I actually think they're trying really hard to get us to know Jo (and for me, they're succeeding epically. I mean high-fives? I LOVE HIGH FIVES!) So basically what I'm trying to say is I'm attempting to pull this out of nowhere because of how very little DL we got - and I'm tired... and I'm going out for a family day in 4 hours and I haven't been to sleep yet hahah... so I hope it's okay! LOL

Not to give too much away, but I have no clue on how old Lucy is nowadays... she might be in college next season for all I know, so I've just gone with Fred and what he wanted to do, rather than try to think about how old she should be, so if you could just overlook that bit, I'd much appreciate it hehe :)

Huge, huge, HUGE epic high-fives to everyone who reviewed last post-ep! (and those who read of course!) You guys are actually amazing! And it was so lovely and humbling to see some of you guys review even though you're not that comfortable with it or just have really busy schedules - it means a lot when you guys let me know what you think (and really, you had me squeeing like a fangirl! :P) So, mentions to: MEGAN, Lindsay1234, MesserFamilyFan100, rapidtetv, piper maru duchovny, Aveo amacus, xxCrimexObsessedxPrincessxx, brendanakai, webdlfan, egoofy34, Stupid Lil Fairy, Jennifer32485, Meredith and Derek, saderia, afrozenheart412, 18lzytwner & Hope06! Thanks girls - (and guys?) it's very much appreciated - and I'm glad you all like what I come up with! :) Hope you guys like this one too!

Post-ep oneshot, season 7, episode 6: Do Not Pass Go

"Daddy!" A little voice sniffled from somewhere within the apartment.

"What baby?"

"Daddy!"

"Baby, what?"

"Daddy!"

"Lucy, come to Daddy... what's the matter sweetheart?"

"Daddy!"

Setting the dishcloth that he'd slung over his shoulder down on the counter, he turned and narrowed his eyes as he tried to spy his baby girl. "Lucy, where are you?"

"Daddy," she sniffled finally coming into view. "Daddy look."

Casting his gaze down to her little hands, his eyes widened as she held her favourite plush horse's head in one tiny hand, and his body in the other. "Oh no! Lulu, what happened?"

"I don't know!" she wailed as the horse's body fell to the floor. She threw herself across the kitchen and launched herself at Danny's calves, griping as equally tight to them as she was to her horse's head.

He carefully extracted her death grip on his jeans and bent down to her level, looking her in the eyes, his heart breaking as the tears spilled down her cheek. "Were you playin' a little too hard sweetie?"

She shook her head adamantly, her blonde curls whipping her cheeks as she did. "No!"

"It's okay if you were," Danny chuckled as he scooped her up and held her close and tight, "Daddy had lots of Army men that suffered war wounds when he was a little boy."

"Did you cry?"

"Sometimes," he lied as he picked up the horse's body and made his way into the living room. He dropped her playfully on the couch before getting Lindsay's sewing kit out from it's rightful place.

"Daddy," she sniffled as she snuggled the horse's head to her chest. "Daddy, Chester is dead."

"Chester isn't dead at all," Danny shook his head as he took a seat on the couch and opened up the kit. "Daddy's goin' ta fix Chester up real good."

"Daddy how?" Lucy whimpered. "His head his here, and you has his body there!"

"Well," Danny began as he slowly and carefully thread his needle. "You know how Mommy does lots of sewing."

Lucy nodded. "Like buttons!"

"Yep," Danny nodded. "Well, Daddy's been watchin' Mommy, and I think now is a good time to try my handy skills in sewin' don't you sweetie?"

Lucy nodded. "Can you save Chester, Daddy?"

"I'm gonna give it my best shot." He smiled as he held out his palm, waiting for Lucy to place Chester's head in his hand.

"Daddy, please save him. Daddy please!"

"I'm gonna try Luce, k? You've gotta give me a second here..."

"Okies," she nodded as she slowly backed off. "Daddy, fix him. Fix him Daddy."

"Okay Lucy, okay."

"Daddy-"

"Lucy!" Danny cried, "Enough. Daddy's going to do his very best in trying to fix Chester for you okay? And if Daddy can't Mommy can try."

"Daddy, please fix him."

"Lucy, what did I just say?" Danny growled as he looked up from the Horse. "I'm tryin', k? Give me a few minutes."

"Okay," she sighed.

Deciding he needed to occupy her while he attempted to stitch the horse back together, he quickly thought of some form of topic to keep her engaged and talking. "How was pre-school today, sweetpea?"

"It was lots of fun!" she cried enthusiastically. "We played on the puters."

"Computers?"

Lucy nodded. "Puters."

"Lovely." He commented, trying not to let his distaste for his daughter playing on computers shine through in his voice. "What did you do on the computers?"

"Made pretty pictures." Lucy smiled brightly. "I made one for Mommy."

"You did?" Danny exclaimed.

"Yep, and I makes you one tomorrow."

"Oh my gosh," Danny smirked, "I'm so excited."

"You should be, Daddy." Lucy nodded. "Daddy..."

"I'm not done yet," Danny quickly informed her. "What did you eat for lunch?"

"I forgot."

"Did you eat it?"

Lucy shook her head.

"Lucy Messer..."

"It was yucky!" she cried. "I traded it for crackers and cheeeeese."

"Mommy asked you if you wanted crackers and cheese and you told her no, Lu..."

"Daddy, I learned how to count to ten today."

"Oh you did?" he tried to suppress his laugh at his daughter changing the subject. "Can you show me?"

She nodded and stood up from the couch, confidently placing herself in front of Danny. "You has to look at me Daddy."

"I'm listenin',"

"No Daddy," she insisted as she hooked her little finger under his chin and made him face her. "Look; you have to look."

"I'm lookin'," he laughed as he continued on stitching the horse's head together carefully. "Go ahead."

Clearing her throat dramatically, Lucy smiled a toothy little smile. "One, two... buckle my shoe."

Danny tried to hold back his laugh at how cute his daughter's antics were.

"Three, four... shut the door! Five, six... pick up sticks."

"Seven, eight... lay them straight." Danny threw in.

Gasping, Lucy stopped with her mouth wide open. "You... you know this?"

He nodded. "You'd be surprised about what Daddy knows Lu... c'mon, last one. Let's do it together."

She smiled, "Nine, ten... BIG FAT HEN!"

"Very good!" Danny exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "You counted to ten, Lu! That's amazing, baby girl! Daddy's so proud!"

"How old were you when you counted to ten, Daddy?"

"Um... six." He blushed. "So you're far smarter than me, baby girl."

"I smarter than you?" she cried. "But Daddy, you's so clever!"

"Well, you have your Mommy's brains too, so you're a lucky girly... and looky here," he smiled as he made Chester canter across his lap. "Daddy put Chester-dumpty back together again."

Lucy blinked as she took in Chester's appearance – back to his usual state – head fully attached to his neck and the rest of his body.

"Daddy, you're my hero!" Lucy cried as she flung her arms around Danny's neck. "I love you Daddy!"

"You're welcome baby girl. And I love you too."

"I love you more! And Chester loves you even more than that."

"I doubt that... no one could love me more than what you do," he smirked as he prodded Lucy's little button nose.

"Except for me," A voice sounded as the apartment door shut. "Am I missin' out on Messer love?"

"MOMMY!" Lucy cried as she flung herself over the arm of the couch and raced towards her mother. "Mommy! MOMMY!"

"Hey, hi... hi baby girl," Lindsay laughed as Lucy tangled herself in her mother's legs. "How... how are you?"

"Mommy, Daddy saved Chester!" Lucy cried as she shoved Chester up to Lindsay, letting her take the plush toy. "Look!"

"What was wrong with Chester?" Lindsay asked her daughter.

"His head was here," she nodded her head towards her right hand, "and his body was here," she finished, pointing to her left. "And now they're back together again!"

"How did Daddy-" Lindsay glanced up just in time to see Danny put her sewing basket away. "Did you stitch him up?"

"Who me?" Danny tried to confirm nonchalantly. "Oh yeah, I kind of did."

"Seriously?" Lindsay implored as she looked at the stitching around the neck of the horse. "Danny, this is amazing, baby."

"He's my hero, Mommy!" Lucy cried. "Did you knows that Daddy cried."

"When did Daddy cry? When you broke Chester? You cried?" she directed her question at Danny.

"No," Lucy shook her head quickly. "When he broked his army men when he was a baby."

"He did?" Lindsay exclaimed in a high-pitched voice. "Did you cry Lu?"

"No!"

"Ahem..."

Blushing after her father's prompt, she reconsidered her answer, "Maybe I cried a little... but Daddy made it better!"

"He did?" Lindsay smiled softly at her husband. "I hope you gave him the biggest hug in the world."

"I gave him two!" Lucy cried, holding three little fingers up.

Lindsay bent down to her daughter's level and carefully folded down one of her fingers. "Two."

"Oh yeah, two." She nodded before turning on her heel and running through the living room. "Thanks Daddy! I love you!"

"I love you too, princess." He smiled as he knelt on the couch and craned his neck so that his lips met Lindsay's. "I missed you."

Lindsay blushed as she collapsed on the couch next to Danny, "How was she?"

"Good as gold... barely heard a peep out of her until we had our traumatic emergency... how was work?"

"Meh," she sighed. "Remember the cold case?"

"Oh yeah, the cold case." Danny nodded adamantly before smirking and dropping his gaze. "I'm awesome babe, but I need more than that. How many cold cases are there?"

"Well, I'm not sure you were at work... I think it was when you were on leave."

"Still not gettin' anywhere closer to me figuring out who it is."

"Okay, well do you remember me tellin' you about the bartender being shot in the back?" Lindsay began, "His fiancée worked there too... he died in her arms."

"I briefly remember... you were all torn up about it."

"Yeah," she nodded. "Yeah, that one."

"What about that?"

"She did it. It was her."

"What? The fiancée?"

Lindsay nodded. "She was convinced it was the boys and tried to kill them both."

"Tried?"

"On my way home Mac called to tell me they'd found him and he was responding to the anti-venom."

"He who? He Jeremy?"

"Yep, they found him on Staten Island, on some abandoned boat, I think..." Lindsay smiled. "He should be okay... Some stories have happy endings."

"I guess," Danny shrugged. "I couldn't imagine it though. I don't want to imagine it... but it's all I can think of. Is that bad?"

"Is what bad?" Lindsay asked.

"Seein' us in that type of position... just look at what those two parents were going through; it killed me Linds. Flack told me Mr. Harris was so helpless; and I just, I hate to think of us in that situation... that it was Lucy missing. It crushes me... especially when she's just... she's so little and God, can we just keep her at this age forever?"

"I wanted to keep her at one forever, but look at what happened there," Lindsay smiled.

"You only wanted to keep her as a baby so that one, you didn't have to have any more because you wouldn't be gettin' broody again, and two, you got a shitload of time off work... I'm onto you, Montana."

"Not the fact she's my baby girl?" Lindsay teased, sticking her tongue out.

"Not that at all." He shook his head adamantly.

"Jerk," she smiled as she laid her head on his shoulder. "Baby, how on earth did you manage to sew up Chester – under all that pressure too. She must have been on you like a ton of bricks."

"Distractions... they're the best things ever."

"Nice," Lindsay smiled. "So... what's for dinner?"

"Um..."

"You didn't make dinner?" Lindsay sighed. "Slacker."

"Wasn't aware I had to, babe. Where was my list?"

"I was testing you. You failed. Epically." She teased before turning away from him slightly, "Lucy!" she called. "Come here to Mommy for a minute."

Within seconds, Lucy came sliding down the hardwood floors in her tights and skidded into the living room. "Hi."

"Hi," Lindsay smiled as she shuffled forwards on the couch, ushering for Lucy to come closer. "I have a proposition."

"Okies." Lucy smiled before her face dropped. "What's that?"

"An idea... how does Lucy feel about eating out tonight? Because personally, Mommy thinks that we need to celebrate Daddy saving Chester's life, don't you?"

The little girl's eyes widened and she stood silently. "Eat...out?"

"Yeah. Think that could be on the cards?"

Looking between her parents, Lucy gasped before squealing and jumping on the spot. "Yes, yes, YES! Can Chester come?"

"He needs to stay home to get better." Danny cut in. "Don't you think?"

"Barbie can play nurse and look after him!"

"Not sure how Ken's gonna like that," Danny quipped, smirking at Lindsay.

"Watch it," Lindsay replied, before offering Lucy a bright smile. "Where do we want to go, Lucy-lu?"

"Beeeeees."

"Applebees?" Lindsay sighed. "Again?"

"Beeeees!" Lucy cried excitedly. "Beeeeees!"

"Go get your shoes... not your pretty girl ones, your pink Daddy shoes." Danny said. "Bring them to Daddy."

"Will you wear your Lucy shoes, Daddy?"

"I'll wear my Lucy shoes if you wear your Daddy shoes."

"Okies." She giggled as she sped off to her room.

"I find it absolutely adorable you guys call them that." Lindsay smiled as she made an attempt to stand up off the couch.

"What – converse?" He asked, laughing as he tugged her back down onto the couch.

With a dramatic sigh, she replied: "Yeah."

"Well, what can I say?" he smirked as he took her hand and pressed a kiss to her wedding ring. "We made a pretty adorable little girl... she brings out the adorableness in me."

"You can say that again,"

"She brings out the adorableness in me."

"Maybe the dork." Lindsay teased. "I'll be quick..." She said as she made a move off the couch once again. "I'm just going to get changed, k?"

"You look pretty just the way you are."

"I've been at work all day. I feel all yucky."

"You look beautiful Mommy," A little voice piped up from the doorway; "Daddy's right!"

"Lucy's spoken." Danny teased. "Right Lucy..."

"Yep," Lucy giggled. "I spoked, and Daddy's always right Mommy."

"Well if Daddy's right, that must mean Lucy's right, and if Lucy's right... then I must be pretty."

"Beautiful," Danny corrected, whispering the word into her ear before turning his attention to their eager daughter. "C'mere pumpkin, you know the drill."

Laying down on her back, Lucy stuck her feet on her father's lap as he placed each shoe on her little foot and tied the laces; leaving Lindsay to just look on at the two most important people in her life.

... And it made her realise just how lucky she really was.