Lines in the Sand [Danny/Christina]
title: lines in the sand
fandom/pairing: conviction/csi: ny, danny messer/christina finn. mentions of steele/rossi, peluso/finn.
summary: after the events of “hostage” danny goes to see christina.
word count: 1,297
disclaimer: the names of all characters contained herein are the property of dick wolf and nbc. No infringements of these copyrights are intended, and are used here without permission.
rating/warnings: t/pg-13, just to be safe.
author’s note: written for iluvroadrunner6 .
Danny had been working a double shift at the lab, something that was going nowhere if anyone had bothered to ask him. The case that had been handed over to him by Mac was coming up sparse on evidence and witnesses were being less than cooperative, not to mention that the suspect was was a right son of a-
“Messer!”
Adam leant halfway into the trace lab, his hand still on the handle of the door. The kid looked almost apprehensive, which was something to say because Adam was, if anything, a very intelligent guy who only ever got excited about his work.
“There’s been a, uh, hostage situation at the courthouse. Stella got a call from Steele, said that a few of the ADAs were involved. Thought you should…” Adam trailed off as Danny pushed past him into the hall. He didn’t know what had Danny so worked up, it wasn’t as if he knew any of the ADAs that well or anything.
------
“What do you mean, you’re not doing anything to get her out of there?” Danny asked angrily. “That guy’s holding Christina hostage, Brian and Potter, some fuckin Senator, Jessica-Hell. Steele, he has Jess. And you’re not doing anything?”
Steele slipped on his kevlar vest that S.W.A.T. had provided to all those who would aid in resolving the hostage crisis. He didn’t like how this was turning out any more than Messer did. He didn’t like that Jess was in there, definitely terrified, possibly wounded, possibly dead. She just couldn’t handle things like this, not well at least, and definitely not without someone there to help her.
“Here, tighten this, would you?” As Danny adjusted the vest, Steele continued speaking. “I don’t have any choice in this, Danny. It’s not up to me. I negotiate, that’s it. We just have to ride this out.”
Steele stood there, talking about this…catastrophe…like it was some kind of storm. Some kind of bad weather that they were sailing through. Storm’s getting worse, we’ll fly through it soon enough. Well, this wasn’t a movie and there were actual lives at stake. Danny resented Steele his calm. He was always calm, wasn’t he?
“How’s Alex? I heard around the precinct that she’s dating some cop or another, that it’s getting pretty serious.”
Danny watched as Steele’s jaw tightened, as his fists clenched. He half-prepared himself for the first punch, and when it didn’t come, he could face Steele again.
“Alright, Messer. You’ve gotten the rise you wanted out of me. Do you feel better?”
“Yeah, actually. I do,” Danny said, feeling one hell of a lot worse than he did before.
“Good,” said Steele. “Now get back to where the other civilians are. You’re now on restricted access.”
------
When Danny had heard that the suspect had let Peluso out of the courtroom, he didn’t even bother. The guy was good, Danny would give him that. But Peluso and himself weren’t exactly friendly, and ten to one the lawyer would know exactly why he was here. So, he thought it was best to steer clear and send his best wishes from afar.
S.W.A.T. was going to take the guy out when Peluso took him to see his family. What a fucked up way to go. Danny had overheard Cabot talking to the leader of the team about it, and while he could say that he wasn’t exactly pleased (because, yet again, ten to one it was probably going to be another CSI or himself who would have to clean up the mess) he would also have to say that the guy deserved it. Mac would not approve.
He just hoped Christina was alright.
------
The steps to the courthouse were nearly empty, with exception to the members of the S.W.A.T. unit and the district attourney’s office. Danny felt oddly out of place as stood next to Cabot, feeling so relieved that everyone was alright but especially Christina. He had been worried about her all day, even though he wasn’t sure he even had the right anymore-
And his hands tightly clenched into fists when Christina leaned into Peluso and started to cry. It was never exactly Danny’s nature to walk away from anything, but he had walked away from Christina when she told him one night that she loved him.
They walked down the street to Christina’s apartment, the crisp autumn air slightly chilling them both. It only caused them to lean closer to each other for warmth, and whisper promises of an even warmer night once they reached Christina’s bed. Danny suddenly grasped Christina’s hands and twirled her in a dance to music only they could hear; after a few moments, he pulled her closer to him and kissed her softly on the mouth.
Laughing, she let her fingers ghost along the sides of his face as she whispered, “I love you, Danny, you know that?”
“Don’t I ever,” Danny replied somewhat weakly. He placed a swift kiss to Christina’s mouth and continued, “Now, I’m intrigued about your proposed usage of handcuffs, baby, tell me more about that…”
“Danny?” Christina rested her hand on his shoulder and shook it gently. “Danny. What are you doing here?”
“I just…I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
She let her hand fall from his shoulder and gestured away from the gathering of attourneys. She really didn’t want to say any of this in front of Peluso, but mostly for Danny’s sake; she knew how confrontational he could get. “Let’s take a stroll, okay?”
Danny nodded; he really wasn’t in a position to object, mostly because she hadn’t wanted to talk to him for months now and she was okay and if this was all he was gonna get then, well, he was gonna take it.
“You shouldn’t be here, Danny. We’re not together anymore, you know? You’re not obligated to worry about me-” Christina was cut off suddenly by Danny, who stepped closer to her as he spoke.
“Is that what you think, Christina? That once we broke it off, I’d just stop caring about you? Well, that’s not what happened. I’ll always care about you. I may not have been the perfect boyfriend, but caring about you was never an obligation. It was something I chose to do, and something I enjoyed doing because you deserved…” He paused and gave a laugh that was more out of self-realization than joy. “You deserved better.”
It was a moment before either of them said anything, the air having taken on a humor that sucked all articulation out of their brains. It wasn’t that Christina didn’t want to say something, it was just that she didn’t know what to say. She had never had an inkling that Danny had felt this way, and she knew now that she had underestimated him. She had always thought that he was just passing the time, waiting for a moment when he could walk away to something better. But, now after listening to what he had just said, maybe she was wrong. Maybe for Danny, there was nothing better, and she had ruined it all.
“You should come,” she said, her hand reaching for Danny’s as he moved to walk away.
“Come where?”
“Well, we’re all going to go out, probably-celebrate being alive. And, you could come. I’d like that,” she finished lamely. It was a reach, considering that she didn’t even know if Steele was going to go out, and Jess wouldn’t go if he didn’t, which meant that…
“What about Peluso?”
She’d forgotten. “You’re my friend, Danny. He can deal.”
“Friends,” said Danny. “That’s a good start.”
Christina smiled quickly at Danny and rubbed her arms softly. It was a good start, she thought. Better than any they’d had before.
fandom/pairing: conviction/csi: ny, danny messer/christina finn. mentions of steele/rossi, peluso/finn.
summary: after the events of “hostage” danny goes to see christina.
word count: 1,297
disclaimer: the names of all characters contained herein are the property of dick wolf and nbc. No infringements of these copyrights are intended, and are used here without permission.
rating/warnings: t/pg-13, just to be safe.
author’s note: written for iluvroadrunner6 .
Danny had been working a double shift at the lab, something that was going nowhere if anyone had bothered to ask him. The case that had been handed over to him by Mac was coming up sparse on evidence and witnesses were being less than cooperative, not to mention that the suspect was was a right son of a-
“Messer!”
Adam leant halfway into the trace lab, his hand still on the handle of the door. The kid looked almost apprehensive, which was something to say because Adam was, if anything, a very intelligent guy who only ever got excited about his work.
“There’s been a, uh, hostage situation at the courthouse. Stella got a call from Steele, said that a few of the ADAs were involved. Thought you should…” Adam trailed off as Danny pushed past him into the hall. He didn’t know what had Danny so worked up, it wasn’t as if he knew any of the ADAs that well or anything.
------
“What do you mean, you’re not doing anything to get her out of there?” Danny asked angrily. “That guy’s holding Christina hostage, Brian and Potter, some fuckin Senator, Jessica-Hell. Steele, he has Jess. And you’re not doing anything?”
Steele slipped on his kevlar vest that S.W.A.T. had provided to all those who would aid in resolving the hostage crisis. He didn’t like how this was turning out any more than Messer did. He didn’t like that Jess was in there, definitely terrified, possibly wounded, possibly dead. She just couldn’t handle things like this, not well at least, and definitely not without someone there to help her.
“Here, tighten this, would you?” As Danny adjusted the vest, Steele continued speaking. “I don’t have any choice in this, Danny. It’s not up to me. I negotiate, that’s it. We just have to ride this out.”
Steele stood there, talking about this…catastrophe…like it was some kind of storm. Some kind of bad weather that they were sailing through. Storm’s getting worse, we’ll fly through it soon enough. Well, this wasn’t a movie and there were actual lives at stake. Danny resented Steele his calm. He was always calm, wasn’t he?
“How’s Alex? I heard around the precinct that she’s dating some cop or another, that it’s getting pretty serious.”
Danny watched as Steele’s jaw tightened, as his fists clenched. He half-prepared himself for the first punch, and when it didn’t come, he could face Steele again.
“Alright, Messer. You’ve gotten the rise you wanted out of me. Do you feel better?”
“Yeah, actually. I do,” Danny said, feeling one hell of a lot worse than he did before.
“Good,” said Steele. “Now get back to where the other civilians are. You’re now on restricted access.”
------
When Danny had heard that the suspect had let Peluso out of the courtroom, he didn’t even bother. The guy was good, Danny would give him that. But Peluso and himself weren’t exactly friendly, and ten to one the lawyer would know exactly why he was here. So, he thought it was best to steer clear and send his best wishes from afar.
S.W.A.T. was going to take the guy out when Peluso took him to see his family. What a fucked up way to go. Danny had overheard Cabot talking to the leader of the team about it, and while he could say that he wasn’t exactly pleased (because, yet again, ten to one it was probably going to be another CSI or himself who would have to clean up the mess) he would also have to say that the guy deserved it. Mac would not approve.
He just hoped Christina was alright.
------
The steps to the courthouse were nearly empty, with exception to the members of the S.W.A.T. unit and the district attourney’s office. Danny felt oddly out of place as stood next to Cabot, feeling so relieved that everyone was alright but especially Christina. He had been worried about her all day, even though he wasn’t sure he even had the right anymore-
And his hands tightly clenched into fists when Christina leaned into Peluso and started to cry. It was never exactly Danny’s nature to walk away from anything, but he had walked away from Christina when she told him one night that she loved him.
They walked down the street to Christina’s apartment, the crisp autumn air slightly chilling them both. It only caused them to lean closer to each other for warmth, and whisper promises of an even warmer night once they reached Christina’s bed. Danny suddenly grasped Christina’s hands and twirled her in a dance to music only they could hear; after a few moments, he pulled her closer to him and kissed her softly on the mouth.
Laughing, she let her fingers ghost along the sides of his face as she whispered, “I love you, Danny, you know that?”
“Don’t I ever,” Danny replied somewhat weakly. He placed a swift kiss to Christina’s mouth and continued, “Now, I’m intrigued about your proposed usage of handcuffs, baby, tell me more about that…”
“Danny?” Christina rested her hand on his shoulder and shook it gently. “Danny. What are you doing here?”
“I just…I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
She let her hand fall from his shoulder and gestured away from the gathering of attourneys. She really didn’t want to say any of this in front of Peluso, but mostly for Danny’s sake; she knew how confrontational he could get. “Let’s take a stroll, okay?”
Danny nodded; he really wasn’t in a position to object, mostly because she hadn’t wanted to talk to him for months now and she was okay and if this was all he was gonna get then, well, he was gonna take it.
“You shouldn’t be here, Danny. We’re not together anymore, you know? You’re not obligated to worry about me-” Christina was cut off suddenly by Danny, who stepped closer to her as he spoke.
“Is that what you think, Christina? That once we broke it off, I’d just stop caring about you? Well, that’s not what happened. I’ll always care about you. I may not have been the perfect boyfriend, but caring about you was never an obligation. It was something I chose to do, and something I enjoyed doing because you deserved…” He paused and gave a laugh that was more out of self-realization than joy. “You deserved better.”
It was a moment before either of them said anything, the air having taken on a humor that sucked all articulation out of their brains. It wasn’t that Christina didn’t want to say something, it was just that she didn’t know what to say. She had never had an inkling that Danny had felt this way, and she knew now that she had underestimated him. She had always thought that he was just passing the time, waiting for a moment when he could walk away to something better. But, now after listening to what he had just said, maybe she was wrong. Maybe for Danny, there was nothing better, and she had ruined it all.
“You should come,” she said, her hand reaching for Danny’s as he moved to walk away.
“Come where?”
“Well, we’re all going to go out, probably-celebrate being alive. And, you could come. I’d like that,” she finished lamely. It was a reach, considering that she didn’t even know if Steele was going to go out, and Jess wouldn’t go if he didn’t, which meant that…
“What about Peluso?”
She’d forgotten. “You’re my friend, Danny. He can deal.”
“Friends,” said Danny. “That’s a good start.”
Christina smiled quickly at Danny and rubbed her arms softly. It was a good start, she thought. Better than any they’d had before.