Disclaimer: If I owned them, I would rent them out to the highest bidder and get really really rich. But since that isn't the case, don't sue me please.

Summary: D/L of course. A post-Valentine's fic. Some season 3 spoilers. A tension filled Lindsay volunteered to work a double though Valentine's.

A/N: Just another one of those fics that found my plot bunny, and then they teamed up against me till I started writing.

Rooftop Rendezvous
No Guts, No Glory

Lindsay rubbed her hand across her forehead over tightly closed eyes, and let out a long, slow sigh. Last night had been Valentine's, and as usual, the holiday never ceased to bring forth some of the most depraved acts and crimes against supposed 'loved' ones. The added stress had the tension level in the lab running dangerously high. It was almost a physical object that could reach out and touch all those it encountered. Everyone could have used a break, a chance to come back up to the surface for air. Since, once again, she had no plans for the lovers' holiday she had offered to pull a double shift giving her coworkers the opportunity for a night off.

Allowing her hand to fall to rest on the desktop next to the open case file, she looked around the office, weariness making her appear older than her 28 years. Looking out the window, her forehead creased as she frowned, trying to recall a time in her life where moments had been more care free. Her gaze fell to the empty desk chair across from hers and some of the lines lifted from her face. She momentarily allowed herself to become lost in the recollection of time spent in this office waiting for test results.

"Does it turn you on?"
"Whoa, slow down there, Montana! What'd ya have in mind?"

She shook her head slightly, rousing herself from her reminiscence. That was a dangerous road to travel as she could recall every nuance of those moments: every expression, every movement, every word, and every look. She also could remember every moment of a conversation in a hallway some months later. Those sights she wished she could erase: erase the confusion, erase the pain, and erase the hurt she'd caused him.

After receiving the call from the Bozeman prosecutor she knew she had to deal with the past first. Danny knew Lindsay was leaving. He didn't know when, or for how long, but he knew it was now inevitable. By this time she was certain that the water cooler news had given him the basics, but she had yet to give him her full explanation. As much as she wanted to, she just didn't know how to tell him. When she told Mac, she could present it as a case, with objectivity. With Danny… the emotions were already so close to the surface and he made her feel all emotion and sensation tenfold. In some circumstances that would be a definite blessing, but with the current situation it seemed to be her curse.

Pushing her chair away from the desk roughly, she stood up, suddenly too restless to just sit there, regardless of her tiredness. She walked briskly down the corridor, her heels clicking loudly in the largely deserted laboratory. Coming to halt just inside the break room, she gave a small smile to see the coffee maker was just finishing a brew cycle. A cup of freshly brewed coffee could always go a long way towards making the world seem a slightly better place. She pulled her mug from the drying rack, emblazoned on the side with the outline of a bronco riding cowboy, quite naturally a gag gift from Danny that Christmas past. Lindsay wondered if he realized it made her think of him each time she used it.

"Make tracks, Cowboy."

She added some cream and sugar to the mix in her mug, and then turned to rummage through the kitchenette drawer for some aspirin. With her sought after prize claimed, she grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and tipped back her head, swallowing two down. Mug in hand she made her way back down the hall towards their office, mentally centering herself so she would be able to concentrate fully on the pending investigation that waited on her desk.

As Lindsay entered her office, she stopped abruptly just inside the door frame, a look of confusion crossing her face. The case file was no longer on her desk. In fact there were no files on her desk any longer; the surface had been cleared with the sole exception of a lone envelope. The CSI in her automatically took over, instantly on alert. Her eyes sharply and scanned the office and the corridor behind her to see if anyone was lingering, hoping to find a clue as to what had occurred. They were both as deserted as they had been just moments before, not a soul in sight. Lindsay cautiously approached her desk, one small step at a time. She leaned over the desk to get a look at the envelope, instinctually resisting the impulse to pick up the envelope with her bare hands.

Scrawled across the front of the ivory envelope in a familiar messy handwriting was the nickname 'Montana'. Letting out a slightly irritated huff, she reached out and picked it up, turning it over in her small hands, scrutinizing the envelope. Eventually curiosity began to outweigh her irritation at whatever game he was playing. It was three in the morning, what on earth was Danny Messer doing in the lab on his night off?

Carefully breaking the seal on the back of the envelope, she pulled out a folded sheet of parchment style paper. She set the envelope down on the desk treating it with her usual careful manner. With a hand on each side, she gently unfolded the note. Her head inclined slightly as she began to read, and unconsciously she reached one hand up to brush a curl back behind her ear that had escaped the clip.

Montana,

You work too hard. You are a kind and generous person who always put others before your own needs. That being said, it's time to put you first for a while. Meet me on the roof.

- Danny

She felt at once warmed yet wary of his words. She refolded the note, making it small enough to tuck deep into the pocket of her dark slacks for safe keeping. Taking one last visual survey of their office Lindsay retreated to the hallway, making her way towards the stairwell. As she ascended to the roof, it was as though a thousand thoughts ran through her head, but none stopped for more than a second or so. Her steps slowed as she neared the door to the rooftop, coming to a stop with one heeled boot resting on the last step up. "What am I doing?" She wondered, mind whirling. As she paused reconsidering her options, she could almost hear the voice of her older brother, a man of few words, imparting his words of wisdom to her before she accepted Mac's offer of the job in New York.

"Linds, all it comes down to is this: no guts, no glory."

Lindsay bit down on her lower lip for a moment and then whispered to herself "No guts, no glory," and opened the door.

At the same time Lindsay was having her internal debate, Danny was pacing the roof pensively, head bowed with his fingertips steepled against his lips, almost as though in prayer. He imagined he was wearing a path on the roof clear through to the office below. Would she come? Would she accept his offer at face value? Would she walk away without taking any chances?
A/N2: Did I mention that reviews feed my plot bunny? And a happy plot bunny means a productive plot bunny…