SUMMARY: As asked for, the prequel to You Look Good In My Shirt: The evolution of Danny and Lindsay's relationship from Zoo York to Personal Foul.

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING, NEVER HAVE, NEVER WILL.

AUTHORS NOTE: Hope it meets expectations, and ENJOY! =)

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Grand Murder Central Station (Intro)

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It was a beautiful day out, it was warm, not a cloud in the sky, and the sun was reflecting off the buildings adjacent to the crime lab and filling the space with sunny beams that stole your train of thought. The crime lab and medical examiner's office relocated to a great building in midtown and with the move came new obstacles to overcome. The most difficult of those for one Mr. Daniel Messer was the ability to stay completely focused and not drift off when the outside world tried to steal attention. His daytime wanderings were thankfully interrupted by his partner Stella snapping her fingers in his face. Apparently, she had been talking for a few minutes and had gone completely unnoticed, an action she was not a fan of.

"Earth to Messer." She snapped.

"What, yea, sorry Stel, what did ya need?" He asked shaking his thoughts of a Yankee game, a hot dog, and a brew from his mind.

"Finger print analysis?"

"Yea, right here." He smiled handing it over. "From now on, I have to remember it's not the print itself, it's what's in the print."

"Very wise words of wisdom but what do the prints tell us?" Stella questioned.

"They tell us that Flack's picking up the ex-girlfriends brother right about now." Danny smirked.

"Ok, you're gonna have to explain….." Stella started but trailed off by the euphoric laugh coming from Mac's office. That was unusual. Stepping away from their work, they followed the sound into Detective Mac Taylor's office to see him hang up the phone, a great smile playing across his face.

"Mac?..." Stella asked chuckling at Mac's demeanor, his smile was contagious.

"I got her." He said happily.

"Got who?" Danny asked, he was genuinely interested; Mac had not been this excited in a very long time, not since Claire had passed away, anyway. "Wait do I wanta know, cause if it's something extra personal…." He said, shriveling up his face into a disgusted look.

"Aiden's replacement." Mac clarified.

"The one from Bozeman?" Stella asked. They needed a good blood splatter person, and another woman to boot. Mac nodded.

"Wait, you already found someone to take Aiden's job? It's been 4 days. That's a little fast don't you think boss?" Danny asked. He was still taking Aiden's departure roughly, and well, it had barely been a week.

"Danny." Stella piped in, yawning as she did so. "Do you want to continue pulling doubles and triples because we are under staffed, because I can give you some of mine."

"No, that's ok." Danny laughed, "So who is this person?"

"Lindsay Monroe." Mac informed. "3rd grade Detective out of Bozeman, Montana."

"They have crime out there?" Danny asked skeptically.

"More than you'd think." Mac told him, sitting back in his chair. Stella grabbed the forensics magazine off the corner of Mac's desk and pushed it into Danny's chest.

"She's good Messer." Stella told him. "And if you don't believe me, page 12."

"What's on page 12?" Danny asked flipping through the magazine with interest, it was an issue he had yet to thumb through.

"The article that got her the job." Stella said patting him on the shoulder as she passed to leave the office. "and now, we interrogate, send to booking, and sleep."

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Across the country in Bozeman, Montana, at a small bakery downtown, Lindsay Monroe looked at the phone in her hand. Had she really just said yes? Yea she did. She was pulled out of her train of thought when she heard her name called from the very Canadian sounding baker. "Linds, you want your regular, Eh?"

She smiled at the baker, one of the perks to living in the apartment upstairs a great relationship with the owners, and fresh baked goods, she was surprised she could keep her size two figure. "Actually, let's quadruple that."

"Oh, going to the ranch today?"

"Yup, and Ma is not going to like the news."

"Bad news eh?"

"No, no," Lindsay thought as she pulled a $20 out of her wallet. "Just life altering."

"Oh how so?"

"Well," Lindsay said a little apprehensively, not wanting to upset a great landlord, "You may want to start looking into finding a new tenant."

"What, Lindsay, your leaving?"

"I just took a job in New York." Lindsay shrugged.

"Well, good for you. Eh." He congratulated her handing over a pink box full of donuts. "Just let me know when you're out, and I'll find someone, no worries." Lindsay smiled and thanked the man before paying grabbing her coffee and heading over to her parents property in her old beat up pickup.

She walked into the back door into the kitchen to see her father and one of her older brothers sharing the paper over toast. Charlie glanced up when the door slammed shut behind her. Upon seeing the donuts he put his paper down and called out. "Lindsay's got donuts!" her father put down his paper too, Lindsay grinned, her family knew all too well, that if anyone brought food to the Monroe house it was for big news. News so big that it would require a big sit down AND sustenance would be needed. "Linds, that grin is dangerous." He warned his sister, "Do we need to call 911 now?"

"I don't know, maybe." Lindsay shrugged putting the 2 boxes of donuts on the table and adding coffee to hers to heat it up.

"Shit." Charlie muttered grabbing a donut and picking a prime seat as other members of the Monroe clan filed in for donuts. "What is it? You pregnant? Gonna have a kid out of wedlock?" He asked, throwing gas on the fire. Now both sisters had entered a brother-in-law, and her eldest brother.

"I woulda eloped already." Lindsay responded plucking her favorite donut out of the box before anyone else could steal it.

"Oh, Linds, No, Linds you didn't not with Zach.…." Her older sister Laura cried.

"Oh, he's another one I'll have to talk to." Lindsay said to herself, however audible it was to the rest of the family. She and her boyfriend Zach had been going strong for almost a year and a half, it surprised her that she hadn't thought to consider him, eh, if it was meant to be.

"So it has nothing to do with all that area." Charlie said gesturing to her abdomen.

"NO CHARLIE!" Lindsay said exasperatedly. "Did you knock someone up, because, honestly, that's where your mind keeps going."

"No." He said shortly, "I have more control than that…..OK, so if it's nothing to do with Zach, than its work. You get a promotion?"

"Of sorts." Lindsay said screwing up her face and thinking it over, "It's definitely a pay raise…."

"But…?" Jim Monroe asked his daughter, she wouldn't bring donuts over just for a pay raise.

"But, it's a new position…." She trailed off looking at her Dad. "In New York." She finished. Everyone was silent, so silent that when the glass bowl her mother was cleaning fell and shattered it was more like a sonic boom.

"Lindsay Monroe, please tell me you didn't accept." Wendy Monroe begged her daughter.

"I start next Wednesday." Lindsay admitted with a smile. She was finally getting out of this town, this state, the nightmares, the looks, the ghosts, Lindsay Monroe was on her way, she was leaving behind her baggage, and moving on in life. Her Life started now.

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Danny tossed the forensics magazine onto his coffee table. Whoever this Lindsay Monroe was, she knew her stuff, and could be good for the lab, the article was intelligent, yet witty, and kept his interest, that was rare. But only time would tell for sure.

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A/N: Thanks for reading, Hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for more.