Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own them. Unfortunately. If anyone finds out that they're on sale via Ebay… let me know ;)

A/N: So, I got this idea before 'Sleight Out of Hand' aired and the little plot bunny was just too cute to ignore. This is my idea of how Danny's acting around the lab soon after Lindsay leaves, told from the POV of everyone's favorite former M.E. – Sheldon Hawkes. Thanks, as always, to WingFetish for the beta. Happy reading!!

Observations

by SavvyAngel

She had only been gone a week, but Lindsay's presence was already sorely missed. Especially by a certain New Yorker who now had their office to himself.

The whole lab knew why Danny had been feeling down. Of course, the whole lab had also known months before he did how he really felt about Lindsay. After getting the card, a replacement for the goodbye she couldn't bring herself to give to him, which was now well read and hidden in a desk drawer, he'd had a hint of a sad smile for the day. But after that, he could only miss her.

Hawkes sighed, looking into the office at Danny, who he was assigned to a case with. Again. He shook his head at the both of them, the man in front of him and the woman who usually sat in this office. He prayed that the second Lindsay came back they'd be able to work everything out. Or, at the least, that she'll drag his sorry ass into the locker room and get that goofy grin back on his face.

"Hey man, we got a DB in Central Park. You ready?" Hawkes asked, walking in. Danny turned around, clearly trying to hide his gloominess from one of his best friends.

"Yeah, lemme grab my phone," he said, searching on his desk for a minute before finding it.

"You alright?" Hawkes asked, concerned about his usually fairly organized friend. If he couldn't find his phone, the one thing he never lost, his one connection to his family, friends, everyone at the lab, and half the rest of the world… I'm taking him to an institution.

Danny looked up at him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

The former M.E. mentally sighed. He could already see Danny getting on the defensive, and decided he would drop the subject. For now, at least. "Never mind. Come on, Mac's already at the scene."

For once, it seemed, the scene didn't take very long to process. Once they were back in the lab, searching through databases for matches on fingerprints and examining the other evidence they had gathered, Hawkes noticed a change in Danny's behavior.

He watched as Danny headed towards the room he was in, carrying what looked like the profile they had printed off on the vic a few minutes before. But, he stopped suddenly, looking confused as he pulled his phone from the clip on his side. When Hawkes saw him read something on the screen, his eyebrows shot up as Danny began smiling. And it was completely genuine – something he hadn't seen from his fellow detective since at least two weeks before Lindsay had left. What the… ohh. He smiled as well, figuring out that there was only one person in the world who could make Danny that happy in only a few seconds.

Hawkes turned his attention back to the computer screen, hiding his smirk as Danny finally entered the room. They discussed what each had found out, which amounted to almost nothing since most of the trace was still with the DNA crew, and tried to understand how a Wall Street stockbroker had ended up dead in the back room of a seedy restaurant.

"So, what's got you in such a good mood?" Hawkes inquired, trying as hard as he could to be subtle and not play devil's advocate, but failing miserably.

Danny just smiled slightly, and quickly tried to hide his reaction. "Nothing, man. I'm gonna go see if Adam, uh, found anything on that uh…"

"The shirt?"

"Huh? Yeah, yeah the shirt. I'll come back when I've got something."

Danny exited the room quickly, leaving Hawkes shaking his head once again. But this time, he noticed that his partner had left something valuable on the desk beside him. Again with the losing his phone, I swear he's… He stared at the phone, not usually driven by the same gossiping and inquiring mind that Stella typically had, but he had to know. These were two of his best friends, dancing around each other, and Hawkes had to know just what Lindsay had said to Danny to make him that… giddy?

He snatched the phone quickly, oh God, if he catches me I'll be done for, opening it and scrolling down the menu to find text messages. Let's see… ah. Received from Lindsay Monroe…

As he read the words she had sent Danny, he laughed out loud, nearly drawing attention from people walking by in the hallway. To think that his friend was so deep into this that such a simple message had made his week was not the Danny Messer he knew from years past. But, he could also tell that Lindsay cared far more about her usual partner than she could admit to herself, no matter what she said about being unable to say goodbye… bull. She was afraid she wasn't going to be able to leave him here.

He quickly put the phone back down as Danny reentered the room. "You forgot your phone, Mr. I'm-so-on-top-of-things-today."

"Shut up," Danny said grabbing his phone, and walking back to his office. As he sat down, he looked at the message again, full smile still playing on his lips.

To: Danny Messer

From: Lindsay Monroe

Message: I miss you, cowboy. Moo.