![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kathierif_ficTitle: Daddy's Little Girl
Author: Kathie
Fandom: CSI:NY
Disclaimer: not mine, not true, not anything.
Rating: FRT-13
Warnings: disturbing images, spoilers for the season premiere (7x01), AU, future!fic
Summary: There were good days and there were bad days.
Word Count: 1081
Author's Note: Written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
au_bingo, for the prompt "Alternate History: Personal life of a character changed". Millions of thanks for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ginny305 for the help and betaing.
“Daddy!”
Danny Messer looked up from the microscope he’d been standing bent over and pushed himself away from the evidence spread out on the table. It wasn’t one second too early – as soon as he’d stepped away from it, Lucy barreled into him, wrapped her thin arms firmly around his waist and clung to him with all of her strength.
“Evidence,” she said earnestly, even before Danny could open his mouth, and looked up at him from wide eyes. “Evidence means being careful.”
“That’s right,” Danny agreed and brushed a strand of blonde hair off of his daughter’s forehead. “Evidence means being very careful.”
He smiled gently at her, and Lucy held out the stuffed cat Mac had given her for her birthday.
“Dog,” she said decisively. “Daddy, dog.”
“Cat,” he corrected her automatically. “That’s not a dog, Lucy, it’s a cat.”
“Dog,” she said again, more firmly this time, and looked at him with wide eyes. Her lower lip started to tremble slightly. “Dog, Daddy.”
Danny took a deep breath and slowly released it again. Getting impatient with her wouldn’t help anyone, he knew that from painful experience, and even if it was hard sometimes, he knew that this wasn’t Lucy’s fault.
A wave of love and deep affection swept through him and he wrapped both arms around her shoulders and held her close, careful not to squeeze her too hard.
“Daddy loves you very much,” he murmured. “You hear me, Luce? Daddy loves you.”
“I love you too, Daddy,” she answered and held up her stuffed toy again. “Dog loves Daddy too, Daddy.”
Danny sighed again. It wasn’t her fault, he reminded himself again, and he was lucky to have her.
“Hey,” he said. “Do you want some cookies, baby?”
“Cookies!” She clapped her hands excitedly and almost hit him in the face with her stuffed cat.
“Careful!” he warned. “Lucy, evidence!”
“Evidence means being careful,” she echoed her earlier words immediately and took a small step back from the table, her toy tucked carefully against her chest.
Danny nodded. “Good girl,” he cooed. “That’s Daddy’s good girl, right?”
He brushed her hair back over the horrible scar on her temple and picked her up. She was getting too big for this, he knew, too heavy for him to carry her around at almost seven years, especially with his history of back injuries, but he didn’t care.
He was just happy that his little girl was alive and doing reasonably well after that horrible night six years ago. Danny knew that Lindsay had aimed her gun at Shane Casey – her second bullet had hit him perfectly between the ribs, killing him instantly – but it didn’t change the fact that her first bullet had, due to Shane Casey turning at the last second, hit their daughter.
It was a miracle Lucy had survived that night. Danny knew that and he was grateful for it. Lindsay hadn’t been able to be so optimistic. Every time she had looked at her daughter, all she had been able to see was the mental disability and the scar on her temple that she, Lindsay, had put there.
It had been the reason their marriage had failed, the reason why Danny had transferred to the New Jersey Crime Lab – he simply hadn’t been able to face Lindsay and her temper anymore.
Sometimes, when he woke up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, from another nightmare, he blamed her and cursed bitterly about her pointing a gun at their daughter, at her own daughter. Those moments usually passed quickly, and he spent the rest of these nights staring at his sleeping child or doing paperwork. The nights not even paperwork helped soothe his mind, he called Mac and talked to his old friend.
He carried Lucy into the break room now – Lindsay had never as much as protested when Danny had packed his things and Lucy and had moved out. She helped pay for Lucy’s school, but Danny didn’t know if it was love for her child or remorse and a guilty conscience that made her write the checks, and he had never asked. He wanted to give Lucy only the best education and care, and Lindsay’s money helped him do that.
“Does your cat want a cookie too?” he asked as he set her down on the counter and went to retrieve the cookies from their hiding place in one of the cupboards. His new coworkers had accepted Lucy easily, and some of the lab techs had taken a special shine to her and had started to keep cookies stashed in the break room. They pretended that they were for emergencies, bad cases and long shifts, but everybody knew the truth. Danny couldn’t even begin to put his thankfulness for their little gestures into words, and he was almost embarrassed about accepting their care sometimes.
“Dog,” Lucy said firmly around a bite of cookie. “Uncle Donnie is all-er-gic to cats.”
Danny smiled a little wistfully and took a cookie for himself. He didn’t see Don nearly as often as he wanted to, with their schedules clashing almost all the time. “That’s right,” he said. “Cats make Uncle Donnie sick.”
She nodded and lifted her toy again. “Dog,” she said, a tone of deep satisfaction in her voice. “Uncle Donnie doesn’t get sick from dogs, Daddy.”
Danny blinked, and then he started laughing as he realized what Lucy was trying to tell him.
“You are very smart,” he told her before hugging her and giving her another cookie. Today was a good day, he could tell it, and he was thankful that she had more good days than bad days. Those left both of them emotionally drained and exhausted, and they made the nightmares Danny suffered from so much more vivid.
Lindsay didn’t know what she was missing, he thought when sticky fingers traced along the lapel of his lab coat, but he wouldn’t trade Lucy for anything in the world, no matter how many bad days she had and no matter how hard the journey was.
No matter how hard the bad days were, there always was a ray of sunshine coming from somewhere, and there always was something good happening eventually, a surprise that made him realize again just how precious she was and how thankful he was that she was even alive.
And how much he loved her, no matter what.
Lindsay just didn’t know what she was missing.
~end.
Author: Kathie
Fandom: CSI:NY
Disclaimer: not mine, not true, not anything.
Rating: FRT-13
Warnings: disturbing images, spoilers for the season premiere (7x01), AU, future!fic
Summary: There were good days and there were bad days.
Word Count: 1081
Author's Note: Written for
au_bingo, for the prompt "Alternate History: Personal life of a character changed". Millions of thanks for ginny305 for the help and betaing. “Daddy!”
Danny Messer looked up from the microscope he’d been standing bent over and pushed himself away from the evidence spread out on the table. It wasn’t one second too early – as soon as he’d stepped away from it, Lucy barreled into him, wrapped her thin arms firmly around his waist and clung to him with all of her strength.
“Evidence,” she said earnestly, even before Danny could open his mouth, and looked up at him from wide eyes. “Evidence means being careful.”
“That’s right,” Danny agreed and brushed a strand of blonde hair off of his daughter’s forehead. “Evidence means being very careful.”
He smiled gently at her, and Lucy held out the stuffed cat Mac had given her for her birthday.
“Dog,” she said decisively. “Daddy, dog.”
“Cat,” he corrected her automatically. “That’s not a dog, Lucy, it’s a cat.”
“Dog,” she said again, more firmly this time, and looked at him with wide eyes. Her lower lip started to tremble slightly. “Dog, Daddy.”
Danny took a deep breath and slowly released it again. Getting impatient with her wouldn’t help anyone, he knew that from painful experience, and even if it was hard sometimes, he knew that this wasn’t Lucy’s fault.
A wave of love and deep affection swept through him and he wrapped both arms around her shoulders and held her close, careful not to squeeze her too hard.
“Daddy loves you very much,” he murmured. “You hear me, Luce? Daddy loves you.”
“I love you too, Daddy,” she answered and held up her stuffed toy again. “Dog loves Daddy too, Daddy.”
Danny sighed again. It wasn’t her fault, he reminded himself again, and he was lucky to have her.
“Hey,” he said. “Do you want some cookies, baby?”
“Cookies!” She clapped her hands excitedly and almost hit him in the face with her stuffed cat.
“Careful!” he warned. “Lucy, evidence!”
“Evidence means being careful,” she echoed her earlier words immediately and took a small step back from the table, her toy tucked carefully against her chest.
Danny nodded. “Good girl,” he cooed. “That’s Daddy’s good girl, right?”
He brushed her hair back over the horrible scar on her temple and picked her up. She was getting too big for this, he knew, too heavy for him to carry her around at almost seven years, especially with his history of back injuries, but he didn’t care.
He was just happy that his little girl was alive and doing reasonably well after that horrible night six years ago. Danny knew that Lindsay had aimed her gun at Shane Casey – her second bullet had hit him perfectly between the ribs, killing him instantly – but it didn’t change the fact that her first bullet had, due to Shane Casey turning at the last second, hit their daughter.
It was a miracle Lucy had survived that night. Danny knew that and he was grateful for it. Lindsay hadn’t been able to be so optimistic. Every time she had looked at her daughter, all she had been able to see was the mental disability and the scar on her temple that she, Lindsay, had put there.
It had been the reason their marriage had failed, the reason why Danny had transferred to the New Jersey Crime Lab – he simply hadn’t been able to face Lindsay and her temper anymore.
Sometimes, when he woke up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, from another nightmare, he blamed her and cursed bitterly about her pointing a gun at their daughter, at her own daughter. Those moments usually passed quickly, and he spent the rest of these nights staring at his sleeping child or doing paperwork. The nights not even paperwork helped soothe his mind, he called Mac and talked to his old friend.
He carried Lucy into the break room now – Lindsay had never as much as protested when Danny had packed his things and Lucy and had moved out. She helped pay for Lucy’s school, but Danny didn’t know if it was love for her child or remorse and a guilty conscience that made her write the checks, and he had never asked. He wanted to give Lucy only the best education and care, and Lindsay’s money helped him do that.
“Does your cat want a cookie too?” he asked as he set her down on the counter and went to retrieve the cookies from their hiding place in one of the cupboards. His new coworkers had accepted Lucy easily, and some of the lab techs had taken a special shine to her and had started to keep cookies stashed in the break room. They pretended that they were for emergencies, bad cases and long shifts, but everybody knew the truth. Danny couldn’t even begin to put his thankfulness for their little gestures into words, and he was almost embarrassed about accepting their care sometimes.
“Dog,” Lucy said firmly around a bite of cookie. “Uncle Donnie is all-er-gic to cats.”
Danny smiled a little wistfully and took a cookie for himself. He didn’t see Don nearly as often as he wanted to, with their schedules clashing almost all the time. “That’s right,” he said. “Cats make Uncle Donnie sick.”
She nodded and lifted her toy again. “Dog,” she said, a tone of deep satisfaction in her voice. “Uncle Donnie doesn’t get sick from dogs, Daddy.”
Danny blinked, and then he started laughing as he realized what Lucy was trying to tell him.
“You are very smart,” he told her before hugging her and giving her another cookie. Today was a good day, he could tell it, and he was thankful that she had more good days than bad days. Those left both of them emotionally drained and exhausted, and they made the nightmares Danny suffered from so much more vivid.
Lindsay didn’t know what she was missing, he thought when sticky fingers traced along the lapel of his lab coat, but he wouldn’t trade Lucy for anything in the world, no matter how many bad days she had and no matter how hard the journey was.
No matter how hard the bad days were, there always was a ray of sunshine coming from somewhere, and there always was something good happening eventually, a surprise that made him realize again just how precious she was and how thankful he was that she was even alive.
And how much he loved her, no matter what.
Lindsay just didn’t know what she was missing.
~end.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-05 06:31 pm (UTC)