Asking For Mac's Permission

(Narrator's POV)

Danny bounced on the tips of his toes in anxiousness. He wiped sweat of his brow with the sleeve of his baby blue polo shirt. Never before had he been this nervous with talking to Mac. Then again, the situation was never this important.

Mac suddenly looked up from his work to see a frantic Danny pacing in front of his office. He came to the door.

"Danny, you've been standing in front of my office for 20 whole minutes now. Did you want to talk to me or something?" Mac asked, his usual serious tone hinted with a coat of worry.

Danny jumped a bit at Mac's voice.

"Uh, hey Mac. I was just uh…" Danny stammered.

Mac gave him a questioning look he only usually gave suspects and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What happened?"

Danny scratched the back of his head.

"Nothing, Mac. I've been good these past months. Don't worry."

"Hmmm," Mac said curiously.

Danny was nervous about something, it was obvious. And that made Mac queasy. Since when was Danny Messer tense?

"Come in, Danny. I want to talk to you."

Danny stiffened and went ghostly pale but followed his boss' orders. The two men entered Mac's office and took their respective seats. Danny felt like a naughty kid who'd been sent to the principal's office.

Mac took a few moments to appraise his 3rd grade detective, taking note of his profuse sweating, jittery, shifty eyes and bouncing knees. Something had Danny worried.

"So, what's wrong?" Mac asked, eyeing Danny suspiciously.

Danny would not make eye contact. He cleared his throat.

"Well, Mac… I, uh, wanted to ask you something."

Mac leaned back in his chair with a smug look and let the Staten Island boy continue.

Danny faked a cough before continuing. He laid his elbows on his knees and bowed his head down, as if confessing to a crime.

"I wanted to ask your permission to…"

"To?" Mac raised a brow.

Danny looked to the door, like he was afraid someone might come in at any minute.

"Danny, I haven't got all day," Mac said impatiently.

"I wanted to ask your permission to…"

Danny took a deep breath.

"To ask Lindsay out…" he mumbled softly.

"Huh?"

"To ask Lindsay out…" Danny mumbled a little louder.

"Excuse me?"

"TO ASK LINDSAY OUT!" Danny yelled, getting up on his two feet in frustration. A few heads outside the office had turned to see what the fuss was about, including Stella who had heard every word.

"God Mac, are you DEAF or something?" Danny spat, bewildered, forgetting for a moment that he could not speak to his boss that way.

"No, no, Danny. I heard you. It's just that I couldn't believe what I was hearing," Mac said, a smirk lighting up his otherwise intense face.

Danny sat back down, his entire face and neck red with embarrassment.

Mac was laughing.

"Mac, quit it."

The first grade detective continued laughing. Danny was utterly shocked.

"MAC!"

"Danny, I don't understand why you thought it important to ask my permission regarding this," Mac said, a smile playing around his lips.

Danny fell silent.

"I dunno, I guess I just thought that…"

"That I'd freak out? Blow my top? Forbid it?" Mac interrupted, a taunting hint in his voice.

Danny nodded like an innocent child.

"Jesus Christ, Danny! You're a big boy… Lindsay's a strong girl. What would I care about what goes on between you two?" Mac laughed once more.

"Mac, you said stuff about 'not letting relationships affect your work' or things like that…" Danny blabbered, absolutely aghast.

"Besides, you're always really protective of Lindsay. And I know that you're looking out for her. And…" Danny suddenly became serious.

"You know, you're like a father to me too, Mac. More than… you know. And I wanted to ask your advice and more importantly, your permission," Danny paused.

Mac smiled.

"Don't worry, Danny. I know," Mac leaned back on his chair coolly.

"I'm glad I can be a father to both you AND Lindsay… So now, I'm giving you permission," Mac said.

"Huh?"

"I'm giving you permission."

"Excuse me?"

"Daniel Messer, don't make me change my mind," Mac warned.

Danny grinned. "Sorry, boss."

"Now get outta here," Mac demanded.

Danny walked up to the door with high spirits, the weight of worry lifted off of him. He was grinning like a fool. He opened the door to Mac's office and turned around, like he had forgotten something.

"Mac."

Mac looked up once more.

"Thanks," Danny smiled.

Mac smiled back and gave Danny a small nod.

Danny turned around with a big sigh of relief and ran all the way to the lab. He burst through the doors and grabbed Lindsay in his arms with all the strength he could muster.

"I'm guessing you asked Mac?" Linsday said with a tease, cupping Danny's hands which were around her waist.

"Yeah," Danny kissed Lindsay's neck.

"And?"

"He gave us permission to date."

Lindsay laughed and slapped Danny playfully across the face.

"Doesn't he know that we've been doing that this past month already?" Lindsay teased.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him, Montana."

"Now all you have to do is ask him if we can…" Lindsay smiled against Danny's lips.

"Montana, we don't gots to ask permission for that," Danny waggled his eyebrows at her.

She laughed.

"Chill, cowboy," she scolded playfully.

"I meant… if we can leave this case and get to dinner," Lindsay said, walking out of Danny's grasp and through the lab doors with her coat.

"Right, I knew that!" Danny called, chasing after her.