Disclaimer: I in no way own CBS or the CSI franchise. Although I wish I did.

She didn't know why she was here, but she had been doing a lot of things tonight that her brain had no control over. After she had left the prison, she had set on the road and cried. She cried for Sarah, a young life taken too soon, she cried for missing Montana, and she cried for herself and how close she had been to Sarah. After she had regained her composure she started driving and ended up here. She knocked on the door before she lost her nerve. She waited for a few seconds and after there was no answer turned to leave. She was almost to the elevator when she heard him.

"Montana" She turned around to see Danny leaning against his doorway. He didn't have a shirt arm and his face was laced with sleep. Danny took in Lindsay's tear stained face and knew something was wrong.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, no, I don't know."

"Do you want to come in?"

"No, I shouldn't have come over."

"Montana come in. I'll make us some coffee." Danny steered Lindsay into his foyer. Lindsay had never been in his apartment before and she took it in. He had photos of his family and some of the team. Lindsay picked up a picture that had been taken at the Christmas party. Right before it was taken Danny had whispered in Lindsay's ear that she looked beautiful. Lindsay had the biggest goofy grin on her face.

"You really did look beautiful that night." Lindsay blushed and moved to sit on the couch next to Danny.

"You didn't look half bad yourself Messer."

"Thank you. Do you want to tell me what's wrong, or am I supposed to be a mind reader?"

"I went to the prison to see Vackner."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted answer, I wanted to know why he killed Sarah."

"Did he give you any?"

"No, he looked straight at me and walked off."

"You can't try to understand why he did what he did. No one will ever know but him and God."

"I know, I was just hoping it would give me some answers that would help me understand what happened to me."

"I'm not sure I'm following here Montana."

"Do you know the real reason I left Montana?" Danny shook his head. "I was a victim and I had to get away. I needed to go somewhere where people didn't know my story and what happened to me. Somewhere where I wouldn't get sympathetic stares."

"You don't have to tell me what happened."

"I know, I want to show you who I really am. Baggage and all." Danny nodded for her to continue. "When I was 23 I met a man named Mark. He was a few years older, and I fell for him hard and fast. We spent all our free time together and I spent almost every night at his house. One night I got off late, and when I came home I knew he had been drinking. I could smell it on him when he kissed me. He tried to start something and I told him that it was late and I was tired. He started screaming at me and was insisting that I was sleeping with my partner Jason. Jason's as gay as they come, still not sure how he became a detective. Anyways Mark kept insisting that I was sleeping with him. I tried everything I could to reason with him, but he wasn't having none of that. I went to leave and he grabbed my arm. He yanked me to him and I told him to let go of me. I tried getting away but his grip hardened. He slapped me across the face, took one look at me and left. I packed a bad and went to a friend's house. I know I should have left him, made a clean break there, but I didn't. He called me the next day telling me how sorry he was and that he would never do something like that again. Being stupid and in love I believed him. We kept dating, although I backed off a little. Spent a few more night at home and more time apart. Everything was going fine for a couple of months and I thought that it really was a one time thing. I was in bed one night and he came home from a baseball game. He yanked me out of bed and started yelling something about me cheating on him. I told him to let me go, I wasn't cheating on him. He looked me straight in the eye, called me a whore, and started hitting me. Finally after a few minutes he just stopped and left. I called Jason and he came and picked me up. I filed for a restraining order him and I left him."

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

"No one knows here, but that's not all."

"It's not?"

"No, a few of years later I had gone for a ride on my horse. It was late but I didn't think anything about it. I was unsaddling Sadie when I felt someone come up behind me. Before I had time to react he had slammed me against the wall. He started yelling stuff about how leaving him was the worst mistake of my life, and that he wanted me back. He kept punching me over and over in the stomach and all over. I fell down and he started kicking me. I tried to fight back, I really tried but it hurt so badly. He left and I tried to get up to go to the house, but I couldn't. I couldn't scream loud enough either. Luckily my horse was going crazy so my dad came to see what was wrong. He called an ambulance and they took me to the hospital. I had a broken nose, a cracked cheekbone, and four broken ribs. They found Mark in a bar apologizing for what he had done. He was tried and sentenced to 10-15 years. I asked him why he did it, but he wouldn't tell me, just kept saying he was sorry."

"That's why you went to the prison?"
"Yeah." Lindsay started crying and Danny pulled her into his lap.

"He did it because he's an idiot." Danny kept whispering reassurances in her ear, and after a while her crying stopped.

"I'm so sorry"

"Don't be, you have every right to be upset. Just answer me this, is that why you wouldn't go out with me?"

"Yeah, I mean if I don't let myself get close to people, how can I get hurt?"

"You can't"

"It didn't work. The whole team was so nice I came out of my shell. Let myself become vulnerable again."

"None of us are going to hurt you Montana."

"I know, I feel safe here, something I haven't felt safe in a long time."

"You should feel safe." Lindsay was still sitting in Danny's lap and for the first time she noticed how close their lips were. She didn't know who initiated the kiss, but she knew she like it. Soon hands were roaming and their tongues were dueling for dominance. Both their hands were traveling up each others shirts. Lindsay groaned into Danny's mouth and he pulled back to look at her.

"Montana if you want me to stop you have to tell me right know."

"Don't stop" That was all Danny needed. He once again attacked her lips and lifted her from the couch and walked to the bedroom leaving a trail of clothes in their wake.

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"Are you okay?" Danny asked as Lindsay was lying on his chest drawing circles.

"Yeah" she said biting back a yawn.

"Go to sleep we can talk about this in the morning." Before he finished the sentence Lindsay was asleep. He kissed her forehead before falling asleep himself.

DLDLDLDLDLDLDLDL

When Lindsay woke up the next morning she had two thoughts: one she wasn't in her own bed and two she was naked. She opened her eye to find Danny asleep. The previous night came flooding back to her. She knew she shouldn't have slept with him; there was no turning back now. She was in love with Danny Messer and she knew he didn't feel the same way. She decided that when he woke up she would just tell him that it was a mistake and that they should just forget about it. It would be hard, but Lindsay didn't want to lose one of her greatest friends. She felt Danny stir underneath her and she shut her eyes. She could feel his eyes on her but she pretended to be asleep. After a few minutes she felt Danny extract himself from her. Lindsay stayed in bed for a few more minutes.

DLDLDLDLDLDLDLDL

Danny woke up and his senses were filled with the smell of vanilla and brown hair splayed across his chest. Lindsay eyes were shut, but he knew she wasn't asleep. He had watched her last night, and when she truly was asleep her features were softer, almost child-like. He didn't want to "wake" her up, so silently he extracted himself from their tangle of limbs. He grabbed his glasses and headed to the kitchen to make some coffee. He thought about the previous night and there was no doubt in his mind that he was in love with Lindsay Monroe. He had thought about how his lips would feel on hers, but nothing could have prepared him for how it truly felt. Danny wanted to tell Lindsay how he felt, but he knew that she had been vulnerable and upset last night, and he had comforted her the only way he knew how. He hoped that after last night that nothing would change, and they could still be friends. He felt her walk into the kitchen and he turned around. She was already dressed, but she looked more rested than she had in weeks.

"Morning" Lindsay said.

"Morning, you want some coffee?"

"Sure" Danny handed her a cup

"We need to talk."

"Yeah" they made their way to the couch. Setting down Lindsay mind flashed through the previous night. She pushed them to the back of her mind and concentrated on what Danny was saying.

"Last night was"

"Wow"

"Yeah, but it"

"Can't happen again" Lindsay finished his sentences.

"Right"

"I don't want to lose our friendship over a rash decision."

"Exactly you were upset and I comforted you. That's all."

"Yep, so are we okay?"

"We're more than okay. Are you okay from the case yesterday?"

"Yeah, I think I just needed to tell someone had happened." An awkward silence fell over the two of them.

"I need to go home and shower before I head into work." Lindsay said

"Yeah me too" They got up and walked to the door.

"I'll see you in a couple of hours."

"Yeah" They shared a hug and Lindsay held on a little longer than normal. She didn't notice Danny doing the same thing. Danny opened the door and she walked outside, she gave him a smile and headed down the hall. Danny shut the door and leaned up against it, Lindsay leaned against the wall in the hall. Both of them thought the same thing, how much they loved each other."

Authors Note: Okay so I saw "Stealing Home" for the first time last week, and this story was itching to get out. I hope you all enjoy it, it's different than what I normally write, but I think I did pretty well. Tell me what ya'll think. Love you all.

Twinkeyrocks