Again, suppose to be a Sara/Nick piece and Lindsay/Danny took over. Snickers fans are going to be so mad at me as I promised I'd try to get a New Years fic out for them. This is a companion piece to my first fic 'Peace Offerings' since lots of you asked for me to continue. I probably won't do another piece to this story because whenever I do full-multi chapter stories I never finish them and I don't want to ruin this story (I'm very proud of it). Then again never say never, it all just depends on my muse, and if she's up for overtime. I have seen a couple more Danny/Lindsay episodes now but still go easy on me since I'm not completely familiar with them yet. I own nothing, everything belongs to CBS.

Tradition States

It had been a week since Danny had tacked the small piece of mistletoe to the top of the break room door and after a couple hours of avoiding him Lindsay had fallen back into their playful banter. Or, more accurately, she'd gone back to scowling and yelling at him while he in turn tried his hardest to piss her off.

It brought a smile to his face as he thought of the smack she'd given him just the other day when he'd stood behind her and continually whispered 'Montana' into her ear while Mac was handing out assignments. She'd finally became so mad that she'd turn on her heel and in front of their co-workers told him to piss off and that her name was Lindsay, before smacking him upside the head with a satisfied smile. No one said anything for a couple of seconds until Mac cleared his throat and hesitantly handed her a slip of paper, telling her quickly that she'd be working with Danny before backing away. He laughed from his spot behind her before placing his hands on her shoulders and steering her out of the room. That had been a fun day and the case was the reason he was moving threw the lab looking for his partner.

"Hey, did you find anything new?" he asked, rounding the corner and almost walking straight into her. She bumped lighted into him as he protectively wrapped his arms around her, steadying her and pulling her back a couple inches.

"Daughter-in-law," she told him, looking up from the folder she was holding and into his deep blue eyes. He cocked an eyebrow at her as she brushed past him and he followed her, making sure to stay only a foot behind her.

"Pardon?"

"I think we've got enough evidence here to bring in the daughter-in-law and to get a warrant for her place." She told him over her shoulder, turning into the break room. He noted with a smile how she made sure to clear the doorway before he reached it and he had been tempted to call out and stop her if only to taste her again. He didn't even want to admit how often since their little Christmas encounter he'd thought about her. About her lips or her scent or her hair or the way her small body seem to fit perfectly against his own; the way their hands had.

She made a bee line for the coffee pot, dropping the folder onto the table and indicating with her head for him to look it over before they brought it to Flack. She pour herself a cup, dropping three sugar cubes in before pulling a cup out of the cupboard and pouring him a cup as well. The coffee was warm, having just been made and she hoped someone who actually knew how to make coffee had made this pot.

She slipped the cup in front of him and he turned his head up to look at her as she read over his shoulder.

"What?" she asked, looking down at him for a moment before the table top became much more interesting.

"Nothing; thank you." Danny turned back to the papers and nodded his head, "Well then seems we have a date with Flack and after that with… Mrs. Richardson." She laughed at him, jumping back when he pushed out his chair and getting coffee all down her shirt.

"Damn it," she hissed, the coffee burning her exposed skin slightly.

"Damn," he mimicked, hurrying to grab some napkins for her. "I'm sorry, Montana." She shook her head as she took the napkins he offered her and started patting down her shirt.

"Don't apologize it wasn't your fault, I shouldn't have been standing that close." She blushed when she heard what she'd just said but bussed herself with drying off instead of looking at him. He smiled; would she kill him if he let her knew exactly how close he'd like her to get? Probably, but how he wanted to tell her; he bit his tongue.

"I'm going to go change, I'll be right back and then we'll go find Flack." She dropped the napkins into the garbage on her way out and Danny killed time by placing both cup into the sink and scooping up the folder before she was walking back into the room with a new shirt. His mouth went dry because the shirt she was wearing was much too tight and much too low cut and much too flattering for him to think about it as anywhere but on his bedroom floor. Or on any other part of his place as long as he got to take it off her. She wasn't too happy about having to wear it either he noticed by the way she kept pulling at the sleeves or the hem before she settled for crossing her arms over it.

"I know, I know, it's a horrible shirt but it's all I have here." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before slipping back into the dedicated CSI that she was. "Well, let's go, we have a case to solve." He nodded, waving the folder at her and following her out of the room, again noting the way she made sure to slip out before him.

It was a couple hours later when they got back to the lab, after obtaining a warrant, they had made their way to the address listed for Mrs. Richardson only to find that she wasn't there. According to Trisha, a girl she worked with, Ann Richardson had asked for some time off. Two days ago she'd left on a trip with her two children to Florida, much to the shock of her husband who was still grieving for his mother. Trisha had told them that Ann was suppose to return in two weeks which meant that for now they had nothing else left. Lindsay signed as they trudged back into the lab and headed for the coffee pot in the break room. Unfortunately, Stella was blocking her path.

"I'm going to kill whoever put this up in the first place." Stella yelled angrily, having yet to notice the two younger CSI's.

"What are you doing Stella?" Danny asked, coming up behind Lindsay to find Stella standing on a step ladder in the door way. He desperately tried to hide his smile at her words.

"I'm taking this damn thing down," She didn't look down at them as she continued her work but whoever had placed the piece of mistletoe there had gone to great lengths to make sure it was secure. Stella swayed a little, and Danny automatically grabbed her hips to stop her from falling as Stella placed an arm on the doorframe.

"Thanks, Danny." She smiled down at him before straightening and finally pulling the mistletoe down, as Lindsay brushed past them quickly.

"What happened with the mistletoe?" he asked her, as she reached back up to remove the tape that had held it in place along with a tack. She grumbled as he lend on the doorframe with his arms crossed.

"Some lab tech from down stairs thought that it would be okay for him to shove his tongue down my throat because 'it tradition' as he put it." Danny laughed as she stepped off the ladder. Stella turned to him with a smile, as Lindsay again quickly brushed past, a cup of coffee in her hand.

"I'm going to go see if anyone needs help with anything since our case is more or less at a dead end. But Stella, seeing as you two are standing together in the doorway and you are holing mistletoe maybe you should give tradition another shot? Danny is quite the gentlemen." She winked at him as she waited for the two of them to follow threw. Stella gapped at her, mentally reminding herself to ask Lindsay exactly how she knew that Danny was a gentleman before Danny slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her an inch closer. She kept her eyes open as their lips met and found herself thinking that though the kiss was very nice it seemed like kissing her brother. They pulled away after a quick peck and he flashed her a grin. As hot as Stella was, he didn't have feeling for her that way, he cared more for her the way you care for a family member.

"Well, thank you for saving tradition for me Danny I guess I'll have to give mistletoe a shot again next year. You were right Lindsay, he is a real…." But when they turned to look at Lindsay she was gone. "…gentlemen." Stella looked at him questioningly and as much as he wanted to go after Lindsay he didn't want Stella getting any ideas. He shrugged his shoulder at her.

"Wonder why she left?" Stella closed the ladder, tossed the mistletoe into the garbage and glanced at the clock before heading down the hall.

"Look at the time, it's almost midnight, you should get out of here, you could still find someone to kiss tonight Danny." She laughed before disappearing from his sight.

He looked at the clock, it read 11:45pm and it was then that he remembered that it was New Years Eve that night. He'd been so busy on this case with Lindsay that he'd forgotten about taking tonight off to spend with some lose girl at some random bar. Or had he really forgotten at all but instead wanted to spend his night here with someone in particular?

He stood there wondering until a loud crash and a string of curse words interrupted him. He strolled down the hall and into the locker room to find Lindsay standing in the middle of the room holding the tip of her finger in her mouth with the step ladder at her feet. She looked up to meet his eyes before blushing slightly and turning around.

"What the hell happened, Montana?" he laughed, coming up behind her and picking up the ladder.

"Nothing," she mumbled, but because of the finger in her mouth it came out 'nofin' "And it's not funny." He stored the step ladder on the top shelve for her before standing in front of her and taking her wrists into his hand. She protested, pulling back her injured hand but he was stronger then she was.

"Let me see, Monroe." He whispered, blowing lightly on the finger she'd hurt. She shivered. "How did this happen?"

"Stella was about to put it away when she got paged, she asked me to do it for her." "You're such a suck Montana, there's nothing there." He looked up at her, his thumb gently rubbing circles on the palm of her hand.

"It hurts Danny, okay," She tried to pulled her hand back, ready to turn and leave but he tightened his grip.

"Do you want me to kiss it better? Will that help?" he wiggled his eyebrows at her, watching as she eyes widened before she surprised them both and nodded.

"Yeah, I think it might." She flashed him a grin and the game was on. He brought her hand to his lips and without losing eye contact lightly, like what butterfly wings might feel like, kissed the tip of her finger. Then he kissed the inside of the finger, then the bass of her finger, then he placed three open mouth kissed on her palm before he came to wrist where he sucked lightly before pulling his head back up.

"Better?" he asked with a smirk; two could play at her little game. Lindsay gulped, nodding because she didn't trust her own voice as she pulled her hand away from him. "Good, and seeing as I did you a favor I need one in return." He watched panic rise in her dark eyes and he couldn't decided whether he was angry that she'd think he'd take advantage of her or amused at how easily he could cause her to panic. Lindsay closed her eyes for a moment before clearing her throat.

"And what is it you need Messer?" she asked, no crake in her voice, no hint of fear.

"Clemency- I need clemency." She knitted her eyebrows in confusion and clocked her head to the side to study him.

"Clemency? For what?"

"For this," And like in the break room he was pulling her to him before she knew what was happening and dipping his head to kiss her. She moaned right away, having craved his kiss, his mouth for a week now as she leaned into him to kiss him back. They stumbled backwards; her back hitting the row of lockers hard, and he eat up her yelp as he pressed her into the lockers with his strong body. Both of his hands found their way into her hair and he tangled then up in the silky brown strains, tilting her head back for better access before his tongue slip across her lips looking for entrance. This time she allowed him in right away. He pushed her farther up the lockers until she couldn't touch the floor anymore and was forced to wrap her legs around his waist. She was vaguely aware of his watched beeping in her ear signaling a full hour had passed and that another was just beginning but at the moment she couldn't have been bothered to care. His lips moved from hers, kissing her jaw before trailing light kisses towards the spot where her jaw connected with her ear. He latched on there, knowing full well what he was doing but hoping that she wouldn't finger it out till it was too late. When he'd finally done what he'd set out to do he pulled back, breathing heavily into her ear before whispering.

"You're shirt has been distracting me all day, I know a million places in my apartment where it would look great and none of them is on you." She shuddered at his words, letting there full meaning sink in. He kissed her again on the lips, this time softly as he fingered the hickey he'd left on her neck. When they pulled away they were both breathing heavily and he stepped back to let her down. Lindsay pulling down her shirt and brushed back her hair before looking at him.

"Happy New Year, Montana." It seemed to her that Danny hadn't been affected at all by their little encounter. Turning quickly, she spun the combo of her locker before pulling it open- she wouldn't let him see how much he hurt her.

"Tradition again?" she bit out bitterly and prayed he wouldn't hear it in her voice. He shrugged.

"Who am I to break tradition, Montana?"

"I'd never expect you to go against tradition, Messer; I just figured you'd be able to find someone else to kiss." She pulled her hair out of the back of her jacket when her eyes caught sight of the hickey he'd left on her in her locker mirror.

"How do you know I was looking for someone else?" He noticed the way her eyes widened as she turned her head to get a better view of it.

"Something wrong?" he leaned against the locker beside her, crossing his hands over his chest and grinning at her.

"What the hell did you do, Danny?"

"Branded you, that way everyone knows who you belong to." He told her with a wink, buttoning up his jacket and leaving her gapping at both the hickey and his words as he left the locker room. It took her all of a minute to close her locker and start after him; she didn't belong to anyone. She finally caught up to him as he was unlocking his car door.

"I'm going to kill you Danny," he laughed as he turned to her.

"You can't," he stated, pulling open the door as she grabbed his arm to stop him from getting in.

"Oh, believe me I can,"

"No you can't; if I remember correctly Montana, you granted me clemency and it wouldn't be very honorable to go back on your word."

"What the hell am I suppose to tell people?" she asked.

"Well, you could tell people that I pushed you up against the lockers at work or you could come back to my place and tell people that it happened during sex." She smacked him as he laughed at her.

"Stop screwing around Danny."

"That's the thing Lindsay, I'm completely serious." And he left her there like that, starring at him in shock as he drove away. 2006 was going to be a good year; he could feel it.

End

-Girlygirl

P.S- Happy New Year everyone and I hope, like Danny, you get to kiss the person you want to!