Introductions
Rating: PG
Pairing: Danny/OFC
Spoilers: Bait post-ep
Feedback: Makes my day
Disclaimer: If it was in the show, it's not mine.
Archive: At my site Checkmate (http://helsinkibaby.ahkay.net)
Summary: Vivian meets Danny’s girlfriend
Notes: For the LiveJournal OC_Challenge "introduction" challenge.
Vivian didn’t notice the woman when she first entered the bar; no reason that she should have. It was a busy night, people were coming and going and there was no reason why a perfect stranger should arouse her interest.
She didn’t notice the woman until Danny noticed her, and even then, it wasn’t like that was such a rare occurrence. She wasn’t even surprised when Danny said, “Will you excuse me a minute?” because, after all, it wasn’t as if it was the first time that Danny had ever ditched her on a night out to make conversation with an unattached female.
What was unusual, Vivian noticed immediately, wasn’t what he said, but the way he said it. He didn’t look at her as he spoke, not taking his eyes off the brunette who was scanning the bar, evidently looking for someone. The tone of his voice, almost amused, slightly teasing, gave the game away too, as did the I-know-something-you-don’t-know quarter-smirk that hovered around his lips. As did the fact that he didn’t even wait for Vivian to deliver her customary quip about being dumped.
All these things meant that Vivian kept a close eye on Danny’s progress across the bar, and he was a couple of feet away from the woman when she spotted him coming towards her. Instantly, her face lit up in a smile and she began to move towards him, carefully avoiding any of the other patrons in the bar. From her stance across the room, Vivian could just about see Danny’s profile, was barely able to keep her surprise from her face when she saw the exact same wide smile on his face. Her surprise was doubled when he leaned towards the woman, brushing his lips across hers, his hand resting on her elbow, where it remained when he pulled away and began speaking to her. Whatever he was saying, it made the woman’s smile falter, joy replaced by unmistakable nerves, and her eyes flicked across the room, following the jerk of Danny’s head, landing on Vivian herself, who looked down not quickly enough for them both to know that she’d been eagerly cataloguing every move they made.
When she chanced a glance up a couple of seconds later, the two were making their way back across the bar towards her, hand in hand, and Vivian had to bite down on the inside of her cheek to keep back a smile. Danny might have ditched her in the past to strike up a conversation, but she’d never actually met any of the women that he’d dated. He preferred to keep his personal life separate from work, so even though she talked to him about Marcus and Reggie, she knew relatively little about his life. For him to allow her to meet someone – to allow them all to meet someone, because he must have thought that Martin and Samantha would still be here, had no way of knowing that they’d check out so early – she must be someone special.
Knowing that, Vivian’s trained investigator’s mind clicked into gear, eyes running over the woman from top to toe, taking everything in. About Danny’s age she guessed, about half a head shorter than he was, with dark, straight hair falling to midway down her back. Dressed fairly casually – blue jeans, white blouse, long black coat over them. When she came closer, Vivian could easily see the nerves behind her smile, could see how tightly she was holding Danny’s hand, just like she could see the slight tightness in Danny’s smile as he looked at her, eyes narrowing just enough that she could make out their warning.
Ordinarily, she might be tempted to raise a little mayhem, have a little fun with him, but something told her that this wasn’t the time for this.
“Viv, this is Natalie Masters,” were Danny’s first words when he came back to her, pulling up a stool for Natalie. “Natalie, Vivian Johnson.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Vivian replied, holding out a hand, holding her smile even when the other woman took it, revealing hands that were far colder than anyone’s hands had a right to be in a New York May evening.
“You too,” said Natalie, taking a seat. “Danny’s mentioned you.”
“Really?” Vivian, more out of genuine surprise than teasing, injected quite a few extra syllables into that one word, leading Danny to look sharply at her. That look had her swallowing her intended addendum, saying instead, “All good I hope?”
“And before you answer,” Danny interjected, leaning closer to Natalie, but speaking so that Vivian could hear him, “Please bear in mind that she’s my new boss.”
Vivian expected Natalie to look at her as she replied, but instead, the other woman looked at Danny, raising an eyebrow in unmistakable teasing. “So this answer would be worth something then?” she asked, and Vivian laughed out loud when Danny’s eyes narrowed, and the only word that passed his lips was a growl of Natalie’s name. It was a sound that made Vivian laugh harder, made Natalie laugh too as she held up her hands. “Just kidding,” she assured Vivian. “High praise only.” Then, in a curiously loud aside to Vivian, she added, “It’s just so much fun to watch his face turn that colour.”
Vivian smirked, deciding that this was a woman she could definitely get along with. “I know just what you mean,” she said, words that had Danny closing his eyes, rubbing a hand across his face. Vivian thought she heard him mutter something about his blood pressure, but when he lowered his hand, he was smiling at the two of them, even if the smile was a little forced.
“Ladies… would you care for a drink?”
With each word ground out through gritted teeth, Vivian was willing to bet that he could do with one, and she held up a hand as Natalie asked for orange juice. “I’m good, thanks,” she said. “I should be making a move pretty soon.”
To her surprise, Danny’s face actually fell in real disappointment. “You sure?”
“Third wheel’s not really my style,” she replied, and Danny looked down, a sheepish smile hovering around his lips.
“You can stay for a while though, right?” he asked, and Vivian nodded, checking her glass.
“A while,” she said, waiting until his back was to her, signalling the bartender, before she met Natalie’s gaze over his shoulder. “Just to see your face turn that colour a few more times.”
When Natalie grinned and Danny groaned, she wondered if she should have that drink after all. Especially when Natalie said, “I’m glad… I’ve been wanting to hear what he’s been up to these last few years.”
Something about the way she said it had Vivian tilting her head curiously. “How long have you two been together?” she asked, knowing there was a story when they looked at one another, identical looks – equal parts amusement and worry – on their faces.
When Natalie inclined her head, clearly stating that she was leaving whatever tale was to be told up to him, Danny shrugged. “Believe it or not, we dated in college,” he said. “Then we… we lost touch for a while. Ran into one another a couple months ago.”
Knowing that Danny was leaving out as much as he was saying, Vivian nodded, prepared to ask a question, anything that would take the worried look of Danny’s face. She wasn’t prepared for Natalie to reach across, take Danny’s hand in hers, squeeze it tightly. “Literally,” she said, the word an almost breathless laugh. “I was in a bookstore one day, turned around, and there he was.” Another teasing look towards Danny. “Thank goodness it wasn’t a china shop.”
All three shared a laugh at that, and Danny took up the tale. “We’ve been taking things slow,” he told her. “Seeing what happens.”
“But when he told me that Jack was leaving, I decided that I couldn’t not meet him,” Natalie concluded with a shrug. “Oh well.”
“He’ll be sorry he missed you.” This, Vivian could say with absolute certainty. “Martin and Samantha too. We’ve never had the honour of meeting any of Danny’s dates before.”
Natalie’s face was a picture of surprise, transmuting pretty quickly into amused happiness. “Oh? Special, am I?” The former was directed at Vivian, the latter at Danny, and it was her friend’s response that had Vivian reaching for her coat.
“Very,” Danny said simply, bringing their joined hands to his lips. The word rang with sincerity, as did the look in his eyes, and Vivian honestly believed that they’d forgotten she was there.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” she said as she put on her coat, biting back a grin when Danny jumped at the sound of her voice. “Natalie, it was nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
Natalie stayed seated, but Danny stood, looking down at Vivian. “You ok to get home?” he asked. “You want me to hail you a cab?”
Vivian waved a hand. “I’m ok to drive,” she told him. “Besides, you’ve got better things to do.” Luckily, Danny’s back was to Natalie, because his face lit up in what was surely the goofiest grin that Vivian had ever seen there, and this time, she didn’t try to keep back her smile. “She’s great,” she told him, her voice so low that only Danny could hear her, then, louder, “Good night.”
The two of them bid her goodnight, and she made her way towards the door of the bar. Once she got there though, she turned back towards the table, and to her absolute non-surprise, saw that Danny and Natalie had completely forgotten about her already. They were sitting facing one another, hands joined on the table between them, Danny listening intently to whatever Natalie was saying. As Vivian watched, he reached out, tucking a lock of hair behind Natalie’s ear before leaning forward, brushing his lips across hers. It was as if the two of them inhabited their own little world, and it made Vivian smile to see Danny so happy.
Almost as much as it made her smile to think of how much she was going to tease him over this tomorrow.
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