A/N: Okay y'all...first I have to give a WARNING to those of you who are Spoiler Free...this story does contain spoilers for upcoming episodes...Ep. 14 in particular I believe...HOWEVER...if you are spoiler free, I think you can still read the story, since you won't know what are spoilers and what aren't and I won't tell you!
Plus it's just fun and I likes it and so I want people to read it! Lol!

As much as I would love to own these characters and do to them what I would...I don't and can't, except here...so please don't sue!

Okay that said, Thanks goes to Aud, this came about cuz you suggested I write something, which sent my plot bunnies into overdrive! I hope this satisfies your fluffy hopes for now my dear...it did end up taking a different route then I had originally thought...but I think I like how this turned out better...so yeah! Enjoy everyone, and please review...I'm an unashamed review whore...love 'em!

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"Can you say goodbye to someone who has held your heart in their hands?"

Danny stared at the front of the greeting card in a daze, the printed words did not compute and the simple red background seemed to burn his eyes….she was gone. Here he thought they were finally past this, he thought after last night they had finally finished this dancing around each other and moved on, and now she was gone. He stared unseeing at the paper in his hands, unable to even open it. His mind scrambled backwards searching for anything that may have precipitated her leaving so abruptly. It was just last night, not even 12 hours ago...not even….

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"Linds?"

Danny stared at the woman who hesitated just outside his door. Blue eyes met brown ones and held. He studied her as she stood immobilized on his threshold. She looked tired he noticed, almost defeated somehow. Today had been hard for her, one of those cases that hit closer to home than most, that broke through carefully constructed walls and touched on something deep and painful, and the evidence of that was written on her face. Her eyes did not have their usual sparkle and gleam and she stood with shoulders hunched, as if the weight of the world rested on her slender back. Yet even then…tired, defeated, weight pressing, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. In that moment, he knew as sure as the sun in the sky, that to him she would always be perfect.

"Danny…I…" Lindsay hesitated and glanced over her shoulder back down the hall, looking for all the world like a rabbit about to bolt. Danny had the sudden urge to reach out and grab her and hold her to him to prevent her from running again now that she was really here. He settled for giving her a reassuring smile and opening his door a bit wider as he motioned for her to enter.

"How can I help Linds?" he asked softly, as she took a step inside his door. And with that simple question, the gentle reassurance in his voice and eyes, the floodgates opened and the tears and words poured out.

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Lindsay stood in line, staring at nothing in particular as the sights and sounds of the full airport terminal swirled around her. The commotion of JFK was hard to ignore no matter what the day or time, but to Lindsay, whose mind was a million miles away, it may as well have been the middle of a wheat field. All she could think, was how very much like a cheesy romantic comedy this whole thing was and how anytime now the hero would come rushing through the terminal, guards chasing him as he raced pell mell to catch up with her before she jetted off into the wild blue yonder. Lindsay smiled wistfully to herself, because this time was different. The hero would not come this time, because this time the heroine decided to be brave and face this on her own. Damn pride, Lindsay thought to herself, for not the first time since entering the airport. If only I had asked him to come with me, he would have, he would have in a second, I know it. But even as she thought it, she knew she had chosen right. This was something she had to do, to be able to move on with her life, to make a clean break from her past, and move into her future. A future that after last night finally looked like it would be worth fighting for…after last night…

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The tears had finally subsided, leaving in their wake a sense of utter relief coupled with the kind of headache that can only come after one has cried enough tears to fill the Pacific Ocean. Lindsay rested in Danny's arms, her head pillowed on his shoulder. They had made it to the couch at some point, how she wasn't sure, but she knew it didn't matter. What mattered was that he knew her secret, he had listened and had not run away. He had held her as she sobbed out her story in broken sentences and he had sworn softly under his breath as she had finished. He would, she knew implicitly, be willing to hunt down and destroy the man responsible for her tears if she so wished, but she did not. The knowledge that he would was enough for her, that and the weight of his arms encircling her now was all she needed. Her eyes slid up to his as he shifted his body slightly, and again brown eyes met blue and held. But this time, there was peace in her gaze, she was not afraid anymore, because of this amazing man who held her so tenderly in his arms. Why she had been so reluctant to come to him until now she would never know, but she knew without a doubt that coming here tonight was exactly what she, what they had so desperately needed.

"Why don't you stay here tonight?" Lindsay stilled at his words, her eyes widening every so slightly as she held his gaze. She wanted to more than almost anything, but she knew what would happen and she also knew that as much as they both wanted that, in the wake of her emotions it would not be wise.

"Danny…."

"Not like that Linds, as much as I would like that, I know you're not ready. I just…" Danny paused and swallowed, his arms tightening around her ever so gently,

"I just want to hold you."

Lindsay blinked back the tears that again crowded her eyes at that gentle statement and nodded softly, not trusting her voice to speak. Danny managed to maneuver them so they were laying front to back on his long sofa, spooned together, his arms wrapping securely around her smaller body. She sighed softly, knowing she would never feel more at home then she did at that moment in his arms. She felt him place a tender kiss in her hair and as her eyes slipped blissfully shut she heard him whisper ever so softly,

"I love you Montana."

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Danny flipped his phone open and hit speed dial, his heart racing as he prayed that she would answer.

"Hey," he let out the breath he did not realize he had been holding, as her soft voice came across the line.

"Where are you?" He asked, trying to mask the fear and anxiety in his voice. The extra second it took for her to answer felt like an eternity to the wound up man on the other end.

"Getting on a plane…" she finally said, so softly he had to strain to hear her.

"Linds, " he paused as his voice failed him, he really had thought they were going to be okay, more than okay.

"I thought….I thought you were done running?" he could not keep the pain out of his voice any longer. She paused for a long moment, and when she finally spoke he could hear the unshed tears in her voice.

"I am, Danny. I'm not running anymore."

He was confused now, "Then why…the plane…why?" He swore he could feel her smile through the phone,

"Because I'm not running anymore. I can't run from my past anymore Danny, you showed me that, you gave me the strength to face this, finally and put it behind me."

The phone squawked suddenly in Danny's ear as the intercom in the plane shrilled on unexpectedly. Danny could hear Lindsay speaking to someone he assumed was probably a flight attendant, before she came back on the line.

"Danny, I've gotta go…did you read the card?"

"Montana…"

"Read the card Danny….and just trust me, okay?" And with that she was gone.

Danny stared at his phone for a moment, before flipping it closed. For the second time that day he picked up the card she had left on his desk early that morning and again he slid it out of the envelope. The words on the front still made his pulse race a little faster, but this time it was with anticipation for what he hoped was inside.

"Can you say goodbye to someone who has held your heart in their hands?"

He held his breath as he opened the card, reading what was printed inside:

"Never."

He smiled, as a feeling of the most wonderful joy stole over him. And he couldn't hold back his grin as he read her distinctive scrawl,

"Danny, I'm sorry to leave like this, but I had to go and I knew if I saw you first I wouldn't leave. This is something I have to do, for me, for us. But I'm coming back…I'm coming back to you. I promise. Trust me.

Lindsay"

His breath caught in his chest as he noticed the tiny P.s. at the bottom of the page, and he felt time stand still for the second time that day as he read her final words,

"Oh and Cowboy…I love you too."