Written for LilyMoonlight, sort of upon her request. And in a recent edit, I'll explain the title at the bottom, thanks to Laurzz who helped me realize it wasn't so bad after all :p Maybe. If anyone has a better one... Times up was on recently, the episode where Stella gets the package from Drew, so that scene with Mac prompted the story.

Blame it on the River

The rush of the river was in his ears as he pushed up on the bank, his breath expelled. They'd nearly drowned. Then he breathed in and let it out. Beside him he heard Stella simply sink and settle against the rough ground.

"You all right?" Danny asked as he turned on his side. His glasses were sprinkled with drops of water, but he could see Stella's naturally curly hair was plastered to her head. Her mascara was a little smeared.

And they were both soaked.

Yet all in all, they were alive.

"Yeah," she said, and pushed her hair away from her face. "How far away down river do you think we got?"

"I don't know. Seems like forever," Danny looked past her, upstream. The river looked a lot calmer from the banks, or maybe that was simply because they'd only pulled themselves out when it had gotten calm. "Thanks for saving my life, by the way."

Stella muttered something in Greek, but managed to smile. "Seemed the least I could do after pulling you in with me."

She pushed herself into a sitting position and pulled her cell from her pocket. The Greek came out again, this time more frenzied, as she flipped it open and tried for service. With a sinking feeling he pulled out his own phone.

He sighed.

"Soaking wet, damaged phones and miles to walk-" she looked down as he did, and they were both thankful that she'd kept her boots—though with the thin leader and pointed heels they obviously weren't the kind meant for hiking.

This was Lindsay's kind of adventure he thought—a bit bitterly—even though he doubted it was one she would enjoy either. And thinking of her reminded him that they had plans. Things had been busy lately. They'd both been looking forward to a little R&R.

Stella stood first, careful as she balanced and moved away from the river bank. With a sigh, Danny followed, his clothes wet and cold against his skin.

It was going to be a long walk.

~ny~

Back at the lab, Lindsay walked the halls, burning off the time as she waited for Danny. She'd clocked out an hour ago, but their didn't seem to be a point to head out since he was going to have to come back to the lab to drop off his kit and evidence she knew he'd collected.

She glanced at her watch and told herself not to worry. He hadn't called and hadn't answered his phone, still, that didn't mean anything bad had happened. She knew the case he was working on with Stella involved a number of different crime scenes. Their vic had ended up stabbed at his home. He'd gotten into his car and drove out of the city and into a national park where his car had been found along side a river. His body had been flushed down river, right into the banks of Manhattan. No one knew why he'd gone there, driving his own car, while hurt. They just knew his name and where he ended up.

The number of scenes meant Danny could be anywhere, out of cell service. She smiled a little—she might give him a hard time, but she was fairly certain he could negotiate the roads outside the city.

She should head on home. Depending on where he was, and the condition of the traffic, it could be a while before he got back.

Still.

She spun on her heel and headed back down the hallway. Mac was in his office. She wouldn't dare call Stella. It seemed a little … clingy. She was aware of their jobs. But maybe Mac had heard …

His door was always open. She stepped in and faltered a bit. He was, after all, her boss, and she was leaning toward the personal side of her job with the question. She wanted Danny for herself and their plans, not because she needed him for a case.

When Mac simply lift a brow, she simply pushed past the awkwardness. "Have you heard from Stella?"

Mac's brows furrowed as he picked up his phone. "She's not back yet?"

"No—and I can't reach Danny, either."

Lindsay bit her lip in anticipation as she watched him dial. The silence was agony. She didn't like the look in his eyes when he finally set the phone down.

"She should have been back."

~ny~

Mac had told Lindsay not to worry, that he would make a few calls. There were dozens of reasons they couldn't get in touch with Stella and Danny—and why neither had contacted them.

He was glad she hadn't asked him to list those reasons. He didn't believe them.

Lindsay didn't go home, he knew that much. And he also knew she had picked up on his worry. He couldn't do anything about that either. He'd told her there was no reason in driving out to the crime scene, as they could be at any of the three or anywhere in between.

He made a few calls, getting officers in vacinities around the areas to be on the lookout. He had the national park service drive out to the registered crime scene … and he waited.

He didn't like the silence. Since losing Claire, he'd gotten used to it.

But it didn't mean he liked it.

~ny~

The crime lab was quiet as Stella stepped off the elevator with Danny. They were both still wet, the combination of a walk and relatively shorter drive had only allowed them to dry a little.

When Danny made a smile sound in the back of his throat, she looked over. He had spotted Lindsay through the glass of their office. She slept sitting up at her desk. The only sign of slumber the fact that her chin was down, hair hair falling forward to cover her face.

More interesting was Danny. His eyes were soft, the look on his face appreciative and flabbergasted. She could tell him that he was in love. It was written there all over his face. Yet, he wouldn't believe her.

"I got this if you want to go," she said, and smiled when he came out of the trance. She lifted the box in her hands and wordlessly nodded toward the window.

He flashed her that devil-may-care smile, "I owe you one."

"How about you not tell anyone how I pulled you into the river?"

He grimaced and glanced briefly toward Lindsay. "I don't know about that one. It's going to be hard enough to tell her I went in in the first place."

Stella snorted. "Danny, I hate to tell you this, but I don't think you're going to have to tell her. Go on. She's going to have a bad ache in her neck as it is."

Danny didn't wait around—but Stella did. Maybe she was a bit drawn to watching them. She wasn't exactly sure why. Maybe it gave her a little hope that one day she could settle down, or think about settling down again. It didn't surprise her that Danny had chosen Lindsay, and it didn't surprise her that they fit together so seamlessly.

But maybe it did surprise her a little that it mattered.

She watched Danny push open the door, and watched Lindsay come drowsilly out of sleep.

"Why'd you wait around?"

"I didn't mean to-" she rubber at her eyes. "What time—wait a minute. Are you wet?"

"You could say I have a good reason for standing you up."

"You haven't stood me up, yet." Lindsay stood and leaned over her desk, offering her lips. Danny didn't have to be told to lean in, and accept the gesture. Stella shook her head as forced herself to look away. Danny took a little more liberty with that kiss that Lindsay had meant—or was appropriate under normal circumstance.

But under it all, Lindsay didn't seem to mind.

Still, she enjoyed watching them fall, but there was a line somewhere.

As she headed toward her office, she spotted Mac in his. His eyes were on her as she walked down the hall, the heels of her boots clicking against the tile. He didn't stand to come at her, to fire a dozen questions about where she'd been—nor had he been asleep.

She veered toward his office, "Not surprised to see you still here," she motioned with a slim shoulder back to where Danny had greeted his girl. "Lindsay was still around. He didn't think she would be."

"She knew he was almost back," as she raised her eyebrows, he shrugged. "I called around, put out an unofficial BOLO to a few places. One of the officers spotted the truck as it came into the city. I told him not to stop you—seemed a little counter productive." His lips twitched. "Your phone must have fallen in with you."

"Dead as a drowned rat." She leaned against the door frame. "Sorry about that."

"No," he shrugged it off, but there was something in his eyes, a hint of laughter.

"You're not going to give me a hard time, are you? That's something Lindsay would do to Danny."

"If Danny were wearing those shoes along the banks of a river, he would deserve it," he managed with a straight face, then waved it off. "I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable story behind it. How about you go change into something dry and I'll take you out for a hot meal. You can fill me in on what happened."

"Fine. But I'm going to need plenty of hot coffee with that."

"Deal."

So here's the real title (or maybe the reasoning behind the current one): There are reasons behind what I'm thinking, but if you ask me, I'll just blame it on the river... because no ones telling anyone what they're really thinking in this story ... what do you think? :p