A/N: A 'Boo' oneshot a la good half of season 4, yet there's Lucy? How did I manage that you ask? Well... Read and see! Muhaha!
No I'm just kidding, the idea hit me the other day when I was watching Boo - so I hope it works alright and you all like it :)
Lindsay wiped her tears on her winter coat before taking a deep breath. The Duncan's case really had taken its toll on her, leaving her an emotional wreck.
She thought, as she hurried into Danny's apartment building that she had held it together well throughout the entire case, considering the circumstances.
However, as she had sat at home, mulling over the case and typing her paperwork up on her laptop she had quickly broken down. And decided that a visit to Rose Duncan, who still lay in the Children's ward at the hospital, was in order. Lindsay had decided she couldn't bear to be alone. When she got there however, the look in the little girl's eyes had killed her, as Lindsay explained to the little girl that they had found the bad man that had hurt her family, and she and Detective Messer were going to personally put him in prison for a really, really long time.
The little girl had smiled weakly, and snuggled up to the plush puppy teddy bear Lindsay had bought for her hours previous; and as a tear slipped down her cheek, Lindsay knew that it was slowly coming together for the little girl and realisation was setting in.
Mommy, Daddy, Tommy and Charlie weren't coming to get her. Nor were they going to come home.
Lindsay had soon left the hospital, tears spilling down her face; trying to decide her best port of call.
It took her around fifteen seconds to hail a cab, burst through the first one that stopped and gushed Danny's address.
And now, here she stood, knuckles poised ready to knock.
She took a deep breath and knocked three times, then twice again and sniffed. She listened for some sort of movement, but failed to hear any.
She knocked again, and soon heard shuffling. She heard the bolts being unlocked and the key turned and he soon appeared in the doorway, with his wifebeater clinging to his chest with a remorseful and sorrowful look on his face.
He opened his arms and instantly, Lindsay fell into them letting tears spill down her cheek. He backed up into the apartment as he held her and kicked the door shut after she was safely in. He led her to the couch, sat her down, before removing her coat, and kneeling on the floor in front of her.
"Lindsay, Lindsay honey… Look at me."
She let out a splutter as she wiped her tears away.
"You went to see her, didn't you?" he asked. "Rose?"
She nodded. "I…"
"I knew you would." Danny nodded. "I know you had to go. You wanted to tell her that we had him."
Lindsay sniffed as a fresh bout of tears hit her. "It's so unjust!" she cried as he moved to the couch and pulled her into his arms, letting her snuggle into his side. "She's a little girl, Danny. She's just a baby. And she doesn't have… And she saw it all and…"
"I know honey… I know. I got you."
Lindsay gripped to his wifebeater as he traced his fingertips through her short bob and let out a sigh himself. "You're completely right." He whispered as he pressed a kiss to her temple. "It isn't fair."
Tears spilled down Lindsay's cheeks as she looked up at him with a broken expression. "I want to help her, Danny. I want to do something."
"What more can you do? You found her family's killer, Montana – there's nothing more you can do."
"I feel as though… I can't… She doesn't have anyone, Danny."
"She does… She has her aunt, her uncle comin' down from Albany."
"They aren't her parents!" Lindsay cried. "They're not her brothers."
Danny nodded. "I know they aren't." he cajoled. "I know, baby. But Linds, there isn't anything more you can do. There's nothing more either of us can do."
"She's going to have that night's memory hanging over her for the rest of her life." Lindsay sniffed.
"And she'll also have the memory of the police lady that went to tell her personally in hospital that she found the bad man that killed her family. She's gonna have the puppy that you bought her from the gift shop and think, 'at least I know that the man that killed my family got what was coming to him – all thanks to Detective Monroe'."
Lindsay shook her head as she tried to form a sentence.
"I know that isn't good enough for you, Linds… But you can't bring her parents back. No matter how bad you want to. No matter how bad I want to; I can't… When it's a little girl, we both get attached. We know that. No little girl should lose her mommy and daddy, but baby, there's nothing we can do. We did our jobs, now it's up to the ones who pick up the pieces to step in."
Lindsay sniffed as she traced Danny's bicep with her fingertips.
"I know it's hard, but you just have to let it go."
"How?" She cried. "How can I do that?"
Danny sighed as he pulled her into his chest and let her sob.
Truth to be told, Danny had shed a tear himself.
When he had gone into the bathroom to freshen up before starting his paperwork in the office, he had splashed water on his face to mask the tears that were slipping down his cheeks.
The broken and innocent way Rose had rasped, "Monster," had really affected him, and he could tell by the way in which he said; "You saw a monster?" in the hospital his emotions were needing to find an outlet. And they needed to find an outlet sooner, rather than later.
So he stood with his hands on the washbasin in the locker room, staring into the mirror, and cried.
He cried just a few tears; just enough to get the emotion out before closing up and taking a deep breath.
"I got you, Linds." He whispered as she cried. "I know it's hard. I know it is…"
"The boys… How they were laid…"
"You saw your friends." Danny nodded as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I know, I know honey."
She let out a heart-wrenching sob, the day's events clearly taking its toll on her.
He sighed as wiped her tears away. "Come on…"
He scooped her up into his arms and pressed a kiss to her temple as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He carried her into the bedroom and placed her on his side of the bed, before moving to his dresser and grabbing a pair of her flannel pyjamas that she left there. While he did so, she snuggled into his pillow, tears soaking the material, before he joined her, perched on the edge of the bed.
"Come on, lift up." He smiled down at her as he placed her pyjamas on the bed. "I'm good baby, but I ain't that good."
She sat up and began to pull the shirt over her head, but he stopped her and simply raised her hands over her head as he carefully and gently pulled the top from over her head and placing the olive green and white t-shirt two set on the bed, before slipping her arms into the sleeves of the pyjama's and buttoning the seven buttons. He quickly undid her slacks and peeled them from her slender legs before covering them with the fleecy pyjama pants. He moved to press a kiss to her forehead and then scooped up her outfit and tossed them to the other side of the room, getting them into the laundry basket.
She sniffed and wiped her tears with her sleeve as he place a kiss to the tip of her nose, before straddling her lap and placing his rough hands on either side of her delicate face, in a comforting gesture.
He pressed a delicate kiss to her lips, to which she instantly deepened. They slipped to the bed in unison, as he held her while her tears flowed.
Lindsay blinked, slowly coming out of her reverie as she felt Lucy pull away from her.
"You done there, honey?" she asked as she held her daughter to her chest and burped her lightly. "Mommy zoned out for a minute there."
With the assistance of Lindsay patting Lucy's back, Lucy soon burped, letting Lindsay fasten her pyjama top as she snuggled Lucy to her chest.
Prodding the baby's nose, Lindsay smiled at the musical giggle that was emitted from her daughter. "Well who's a pretty baby? Who is mommy's little girl?"
Lucy giggled as she grasped onto the material of Lindsay's pyjama top, snuggling her head to her mother's chest as she did so.
"You know, Lucy," Lindsay started as she sat back on the bed, on Danny's side. "Even though me and your daddy have had it tough, me and him have had some memories together." Lindsay started as she slowly rocked her daughter. "Daddy's always been there for mommy, you know; always; even when she turned up at 3AM a crying and blubbering mess. Daddy always took care of me."
Lucy cooed up at her mother.
"I think everything good in our relationship got overlooked for a little while you know…" Lindsay continued as she prodded her daughter's nose. "When me and daddy broke up for a little while, it seemed like all the time we spent together amounted to nothing… but you know, holding you, being here, it really adds up to something special, you know?"
Lucy blinked.
"He was mean to mommy to begin with. Made me look really silly, and he was mean to me in front of your godfather. I'm sure Uncle Mac will tell you all about it." Lindsay smiled warmly. "Your daddy drove me crazy, Lucy-Lu. Mental. To the brink of insanity some days. But, over time, something changed between us. I don't know when… or how… but once it had… I think both of us knew we were at the point of no return. It was like the powers that be thought 'hmm, this works, let's go with it.' And mommy's glad it did change. Because it meant that mommy got you. And you're everything to mommy. You and your daddy." Lindsay smiled as she traced Lucy's cheek. "You know that? Mommy loves you so much, honey."
"And daddy loves you too." Danny smirked as he appeared in the doorway of the bedroom.
"I didn't hear you come in." Lindsay smiled at her husband as he made his way across the bedroom.
"I didn't want to scare you, so I was trying to be quiet." He said as he dropped his head down and placed a kiss to Lindsay's temple.
"Oh yeah, sneak up on me – fantastic idea, daddy."
He smiled sarcastically before casting his eyes down at Lucy as he sat on the bed. "How's my baby girl, today?"
"She's fine." Lindsay smiled. "Missed her daddy like crazy."
"Of course she did." Danny said as he lifted the little girl from her mother's arms and cuddled her to his chest. "I'm her daddy… and she loves her daddy."
Lindsay rolled her eyes as she tucked her knees into her chest and held them in place by locking her arms around her legs, clasping them together with her fingertips.
"What's on your mind?" he asked as he glanced at her while bouncing Lucy on his knee.
Lindsay sighed. "Rose Duncan."
Danny thought about it from a second. "The Amityville case, Halloween 2007?"
Lindsay nodded.
He furrowed his brow as he edged further onto the bed. "Why?"
She shrugged. "I don't know… I drifted off, thinking about the night I came over here and you made everything better, and I just realised that although we've had our tough times, we've had our good times too."
Danny nodded as he prodded Lucy's nose. "It made us stronger." He shrugged. "Everything we went through led us to this beautiful baby girl; I'd do it all again if I had to." He said as he pulled Lindsay into his side. "So long as I ended up here with you two. Even if it meant me going through hell and back."
She smiled.
"I wonder how Rose is doing?" Danny pondered as he pressed a kiss to Lucy's forehead.
Lindsay sighed. "Hopefully she's okay."
Danny nodded as he pressed a kiss to his wife's forehead. "I love you, you know that?"
She smiled.
"I know I don't always show it. But I'm tryin'… I'm really trying to be the guy that you want me to be."
She giggled. "You know you're that guy. I told you that."
"I know... I know…" he sighed as he looked to Lucy. "Just sometimes, I feel like I need to reassure myself."
Lindsay pushed up onto her knees and shuffled toward the edge of the bed and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Well, whenever you feel the need to be reassured how fantastic you are as a husband and a father, feel free to come to me and Luce, we'll happily sing your praises." Lindsay smiled as she poked Lucy's belly, gaining a giggle. "Won't we baby girl?"
Danny smiled. "We've been through a lot, me an' you, haven't we?"
Lindsay nodded.
"Does it ever scare you that it's just the beginning and we've got so much more to go through?" He asked her.
She considered it for a second before shaking her head. "It doesn't worry me at all."
He raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't?"
She shook her head. "You and me, we make sense. We've been through hell together, and we made it through. I know we're meant to be. We just have to work at it. We've got to make sure we're united and support each other through the hard times, through the bumps and over the mountains place in our path."
Danny smiled down at their sleeping daughter before carefully standing up and placing her in her bassinet by the side of the bed.
He turned to face Lindsay and blew a kiss before heading out of the bedroom, and going, Lindsay presumed to the kitchen to fix himself some dinner.
She took a deep breath as she lay back on their bed and smiled to herself in retrospect over how far they've come in the past year. And more specifically and how far they had to go.
Together; as a family.
United as one.
Hope you liked it, I'd love to know what you thought :)