Summary: The (somewhat incoherent) early morning musings of Danny Messer

Rating: K+

Category: Romance

Pairing: Danny/Lindsay

Disclaimer: If I owned CSI NY this would not be fanfic. Unfortunately, I don't and it is.

Timeline: Season 3, morning after my fic Home, But Not Alone. Don't have to read that one, but I hope you will ;)

Spoilers: Minor for Seasons 2&3

Beta: da capt'n. 3 ya girl.


The soft gray of dawn brought Danny slowly into consciousness. He shifted slightly and found that he was stuck. The couch was against his back; that was a sensation he was familiar with. New to his senses was the soft skin he found under the fingers of his left hand, and the faint breath against his neck. Well, alone they weren't new, but the source of them was. His nose detected the scent of fresh air that somehow had never disappeared from his country-turned-city girl and vaguely he wondered how on earth she'd ended up on his couch.

As the nighttime fuzz vacated his brain, he began to piece together the night before. Lindsay turning up soaked at his door. Lindsay in his sweats and jersey, sitting on his couch, tears streaking down her face. Those same tears soaking his skin as he held her close. She'd been exhausted, and it hadn't taken him long to convince her to take his bed. Not wanting Lindsay to wake up, he suppressed a chuckle at himself; he'd never had a woman turn up at his apartment without them both ending up in his bed. Somehow this woman had thrown him so far off balance he didn't know if he'd ever be able to go back.

He didn't know if he wanted to.

He tensed as she stirred a little bit, but all she did was adjust her head on his arm without awakening. A smile crept onto his face when he remembered waking up to see her her standing over him in the dark, afraid to be alone.

Somewhere inside, he knew he had the same fear, but letting someone in to see his secrets had never been an option. Girlfriends who were shallow enough not to care made it easy; they were content to share a bed without caring what darkness lay beneath his skin.

Then in waltzed Montana, her ability to see past his bravado terrifying and tantalizing him. Suddenly Cindy's senseless and self-centered chatter drove him crazy, and he found any excuse to stay away from her. She'd never even asked about his experience in the panic room, just talked on. After Lindsay greeted him with a quick hug when he came into work the next day, Danny found an empty room to call Cindy and end it. No explanations; he hung up on her indignant rant. He just couldn't take it anymore.

No women were good enough for him after that. Sure, he went on dates, but during every dinner he would compare the girl to Lindsay and eventually he just gave up. None of them could measure up to the enigma of a woman he got to be with every day at work.

She moved in his arms again, and he tightened his hold on her. He wasn't ever going to let her go; it felt right to have her beside him and it had been a long time since something in his life had been even close to right.

"Danny?" her eyes were still closed, and she was mumbling against his neck. He grinned.

"Mornin' Montana."


Reviews Love. This is really only written and up so fast because of all the reviews on "Home, But Not Alone". Hugs to all my readers!