Title: "Without a Trace"

Summery:Twelve years ago a young woman was murdered, and the case was never solved. Now Lilly's team is going to pick it up again, but without Lilly. Part 3 in a series of Cold Case/ Without a Trace crossovers

Disclaimer: Just borrowing all the characters for a little while…

Author's Notes: First of all:Thanks to Anmodo for betaing this!

This is the third part in a series of stories. Main characters are Det. Lilly Rush (Cold Case) and Special Agent Danny Taylor (Without A Trace). It's not necessary to read the first two parts (which can be found in the WAT section) to understand this story. But to make it easier I'll give you short summery of what happened. It starts when Lilly is sent to New York to find a woman who was a main suspect for a murder case the team worked on. During the investigation she has found out that the FBI is also looking for that woman as she had been missing for a few months. During that investigation, Lilly meets Danny and although they can't stand each other at first, they soon start to get along and in the end they solve the case together.

It's only a couple of days later when Lilly asks Danny for his help with another case. But before Danny even gets a chance to react, Lilly goes missing and it's up to Danny and Scotty to work together and find Lilly in time. Of course they do.

So between that and this story a couple months have passed and Lilly and Danny haven't stopped seeing each other…

Enjoy!

………………

I.

„… so you can see from their expressions if your suspect is telling you the truth or not. Same goes for your co-workers. If you look closely at their faces…"

Special Agent Samantha Spade yawned. This had to be the most boring workshop she ever had to attend. Communication and Body Language. Just the thought almost made Sam snort. The fact that the room was crowded with people – most of them looked as if they were just as bored as Sam was – and that the air condition was obviously not working – it was extremely warm in here – wasn't helping.

But it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so boring. The guy in front of them was speaking in such a monotone voice. Sam wanted to walk up to him and shake him until he stopped talking.

Or fall asleep. That's probably the better idea.

"… so you tell each other without words…"

Sighing, Samantha closed her eyes and ran a hand over her weary face. At least attending this workshop meant that she'd have all afternoon off. That was why Jack Malone, her boss, had sent her and Danny to this in the first place. It was Friday, and both of them would be officially out of the office until Monday – even if the team had a case.

Sam stretched as a smile appeared on her face. At least that was something. Yet, the free time being guaranteed came with a price because she was still bored to tears.

Turning to her left, Sam looked to see how her co-worker, Special Agent Danny Taylor, was doing. He sat with his eyes closed, right next to her, and if Sam didn't know it any better she'd have guessed that he was asleep.

One look at her watch told Sam that the workshop was almost over. Just ten more minutes of this to endure and then it was weekend.

Of course, soon Sam realised that the ten minutes had been a bit too optimistic. It took another half an hour – that felt like two hours to Sam – until the guy dismissed them, finally. As the other agents around her got up, Sam was about to leave when she noticed that Danny hadn't moved yet.

Oh.

Obviously he was really asleep. Sam couldn't help grinning as she nudged Danny in the side.

"Hey, it's over, you can wake up."

"What?" Danny opened one eye, seemingly confused.

"The workshop. It's over; we're free to go home."

"Yeah?" Danny mumbled. He rubbed his eyes and then stood up and stretched. When his eyes met Sam's, he grinned. "Thank God. I thought it would never end."

Sam laughed and stood up, feeling uncomfortable as her shirt stuck to her sweaty back. "So did I. Now come on, let's get out of here; I'm dying from the heat."

As they walked out of the building, Sam's stomach began to rumble. The workshop had lasted all morning and although they had provided food for them, Sam hadn't been hungry enough to touch any of that.

"You got any plans this weekend?" Danny asked, taking Sam's attention away from her empty stomach.

She nodded. "Yeah, sleep. Sleep and… uh… sleep."

"You gonna start right away, or are you up for getting some lunch somewhere?" Danny wanted to know.

"Really?" Sam asked, surprised. "I would have expected that you want to get to Philly as soon as possible."

Danny shrugged. "It's only one p.m. Lilly won't be home from work until five, so I have no reason to be there before that."

"That makes sense." Sam nodded, before adding, "And lunch sounds quite good to me. Where're we going?"

Danny shrugged. "Dunno. How about Angela's?"

Sam grinned. "Sounds good to me."

………………

Detective Scotty Valens was about to finish the report on his latest case when a tall figure appeared in front of his desk. Looking up, he met the eyes of his boss, Lt. John Stillman. He was wearing a serious expression.

"I need to talk to you, Scotty."

"Sure what's up?"

"In my office," Stillman replied, not waiting for Scotty to follow.

Frowning, Scotty fell in step with Stillman to his office. He watched his boss close the door and took a seat at the desk. Stillman sat down opposite him. He went trough a couple of files that lay untidily on his desk and finally handed one of them to Scotty.

Full of curiosity, Scotty opened it quickly.

"Young woman, raped and strangled. Found 1995 out in the woods. Never identified. The case was cold from the beginning," Scotty said as he scanned the file.

"It's not anymore", Stillman said.

"So we are going to investigate this?"

"Yes," Stillman replied with a hint of worry in his tone.

Confused Scotty skimmed through the few pages inside the file. "So, what's new? Why are we picking it up again now?"

"The FBI is looking for a serial killer, who kidnapped, raped and killed young women since the 1990ies. Today, some of their agents were here to look through our old files and see if any there were any jane does found in the last ten years that fit their guy's pattern."

"So? What has that got to do with this?"

"In 1995, Agent Baumgart worked for the New York office, missing persons. He recognised our girl here as a young woman who went missing in May 1995. His team was working on the case." Stillman sighed and made a long pause, his expression very serious. Finally he continued: "So we're finally able to identify her."

Scotty started to wonder what was so special about this case. It wasn't until Stillman handed him another file that he understood.

"Here's the old file."

Curiously, Scotty opened the file to take a look at it. The first page didn't give much information. It held a photo of the dead woman, when she was still alive. According to the report, she had gone missing a couple of weeks prior to when she was found. But when he turned the pages, his eyes widened. "Damn."

"That's exactly what I thought", Stillman agreed with a nod.

Frowning, Scotty asked. "Are you going to talk to Lilly about this?"

"No, I was hoping you would talk to her," Stillman responded with hesitation in his tone.

Scotty sighed. "What do you want me to tell her?"

Stillman shrugged. "I honestly don't know. But she can't work the case, that's for sure. I just think we should tell her, because it wouldn't be fair to investigate this behind her back."

………………

"Oh – I forgot how good Angela could cook", Sam said as she attacked her pasta, hungrily.

Danny grinned at her. They were sitting opposite it each other at a small table in a corner booth of Angela's shop. They'd used to come there very often, years ago when they first started working together. It was quite close to their office and Angela was a friendly old woman. For her age, she was still very fit, running the shop all by herself. Although they didn't know her very well, it was obvious that she cared for them, especially Danny, and she had always made them feel very welcome.

"You obviously haven't been here in a while", Danny responded with an amused expression as he watched Sam.

"Yeah – and I regret it", Sam admitted and shoved another bite into her mouth.

They ate in silence until the worst hunger was stilled, and finally Sam felt able to start a conversation.

"So… how are things going between you and Lilly?" she start, and now she had an amused look in her eyes.

Danny grinned again, knowing that Sam wouldn't let this opportunity go by without prying a little. It was a very new situation for him to be in a steady relationship, and it was typical for Sam to be curious about every detail. Especially since she wasn't in a relationship herself.

"Everything's going pretty well. Why? Did you expect something else?" Danny asked in a mocking tone.

"Oh no", Sam hurried to say, with her mouth full. "I just wanted to hear it from you. Although I have to say, it's actually fairly obvious that it is going well."

"Really?"

Sam smiled. "I don't think I've ever seen you this genuinely happy", she explained.

"So what? Does that mean that you didn't think I was happy before Lilly?"

Sam shrugged. "Well, right before Lilly?"

She regretted saying that when she saw Danny's face fall. He had indeed gone through a very tough time before he had met Lilly, triggered by the events that had almost cost the life of another agent, an agent they both didn't just work but also were friends with. He had been shot, and Danny had been with him, unable to prevent it happening. Sam knew that Danny had felt – and was still feeling – guilty for not being able to keep him unharmed.

"Okay. Point taken. I wasn't very happy then, but let's not talk about that, okay?" Danny responded in a silently pleading tone.

"Sure", Sam replied with a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry. It's over. I just don't like remembering those few weeks. I'd rather talk about you. Is there anybody in your life?" Danny asked, his momentary downcast expression now replaced with a playful one.

"Nah…" Sam shook her head. This wasn't exactly a topic she wanted to talk about. She didn't need to be constantly reminded of how she was unable to keep a relationship going. But then, Danny couldn't know how this would bother her. They hadn't really talked like this in a very long time.

For a moment, there was silence until Danny apologized for bringing it up.

"It's okay", Sam cut him off quickly. "We can't all be as lucky as you are and find the person we have been waiting for all our lives."

Danny laughed. "Is that what you think Lilly is to me?"

With a shrug, Sam answered: "Well, maybe. At least from what I can see she is. As I said, I've never seen you this happy. And I am glad you two are happy together."

"So am I", Danny replied, before tapping her arm, warmly. "And I am sure you're going to find somebody, too, who will make you this happy. Very soon, probably. I wouldn't even be surprised if he came walking in here any minute--"

"Danny, stop it. I'm happy the way it is, okay?" she interrupted, knowing that the tone she was using was telling a different story.

Raising his hands defensively, Danny leaned back on his chair and quickly said, "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Let's change the subject."

For the rest of dinner, they talked about the workshop and what a waste of time it had been. They stayed for longer than they had expected, and even ordered a dessert. Finally around 2.30, Danny asked for the bill. He had a short discussion with Angela about how much money he owed her, but ignored what she said and gave her a lot more than she had asked for. Then, he got ready to leave.

"Tell Lilly I said hi", Sam called after him as she remained where she was, wondering if she should order another cup of coffee or leave as well.

"Will do." And with these words and a slight wave, Danny left the shop.

………………

It was four p.m. precisely when Det. Lilly Rush started to tidy up her desk. She gathered all her files together to put them in one neat stack and finally got up, ready to leave.

"Okay, everybody, I'm out of here. See you all on Monday", she called before she turned off the little lamp at her desk and turned to walk towards the exit.

On her way out, she noticed her colleague, Det. Will Jeffries, looking at her, one eyebrow raised.

"It's only four pm", he informed her.

"Yeah, so?" Lilly said, trying to suppress a grin.

"You're leaving early?"

"Yeah, maybe…"

"You never leave early unless there is a special reason, not even if it was Friday afternoon on the hottest day of the year," he explained.

Lilly shrugged and was about to reply, when she heard a female voice from behind her say in a teasing voice: "Oh – I am sure she has a reason to leave. And if you would allow me to guess, I would even say I know that reason… tall, good-looking with dark eyes…" Det. Kat Miller said as she grinned at Lilly.

"Oh – you don't mean that scrawny FBI guy, do ya?" asked Det. Nick Vera, who had suddenly appeared from somewhere.

Miller was about to answer when Lilly raised her hands and cut them all off. "Shut up. All of you. Mind your own business."

But it was hopeless, and even Lilly couldn't suppress a grin as the three of them seemed to have no intention of minding their own business; the truth was that she didn't really care. It was nice to – for once – be teased for being in love and not for being the only one who was always alone.

She heard her colleagues giggle behind her back but continued her way towards the door and had almost made it, when she saw her partner Scotty coming her way. He looked somewhat serious and Lilly wondered if that meant she'd have to stay.

"Lil, I gotta talk to you."

"What – now?" she asked, disappointment creeping into her tone.

"Yes, I'm sorry. It's important."

"Can't it wait? Danny's coming this weekend and I really need to…"

"That's exactly why I need to talk to you." Scotty interrupted her and shook his head. He placed his hand on Lilly's upper arm and gently pushed her towards an empty interrogation room.

"Sit down", he told her in a gentle voice.

"What the hell's up with you Scotty? What are we doing in here?"

He handed her a file and Lilly sighed. A new case. Great, she thought. That was probably going wreck her plans of spending the evening with Danny.

"Young woman, raped and murdered. Found 1995, but the case is still open. Take a look at it," Scotty stated as he motioned toward the file.

Sighing deeply to show how annoyed she was, she opened the file. Looking over the file, she quickly scanned for important information. Finally, she hesitated when she read the victim's name. "Georgina Taylor."

Scotty just nodded and after a moment Lilly suddenly understood. "Oh, no… don't tell me… Scotty, you can't honestly think that this has anything to do with Danny, do you? Do you know how many Taylors there are in the U.S.?"

Scotty shrugged and simply said, "There's more."

Lilly continued reading quickly until she finally found out what Scotty had wanted her to see.

"She was married? To a Daniel Taylor?" Lilly frowned as a pit formed in her stomach. "But… still, that doesn't have to mean anything."

In a soft tone, Scotty responded, "There's a picture. On the next page."

Lilly turned to the next page and was startled when she found herself looking at the photograph of a young man with dark hair and brown eyes. He may have been ten years younger, but there was no doubt about it. This was Danny.

Her Danny.