Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, just the cheesy storyline.

AN: My first FanFic – hope you enjoy – please R&R :)

Grains of Falling Sand

Chapter 1 – One Of Those Days

MEEP! MEEP! MEEP!

Lindsay rolled over started slapping around her night table, looking for her alarm clock, desperate to stop the incessant beeping that blared by her head. She grumbled something incoherent as she stared at the red numbers. She hadn't slept well the night before, and the last thing she wanted was to get out of bed. Grudgingly, she dragged her body towards the shower.

She stood under the water for awhile, letting it run down her back. Had she not been standing, she would have fallen back asleep right there. It's just going to be one of those days, she thought. The team had been busier than usual lately, and the stress was beginning to catch up. There was a stack of paperwork on her desk waiting for her, but the new cases seemed to be coming in faster than she could handle. Everyone had been working nearly around the clock to keep up.

Her subway ride to the lab gave no indication that her day would begin to look up. One of the routes was running behind schedule, resulting in more people than usual in Lindsay's car. She shoved her way through the herds of people towards one of the only remaining hand supports. A man reeking of BO stood in front of her, garbling something incoherent to the woman sitting in front of him; she was obviously trying to ignore him. It didn't take Lindsay long to catch the strong smell of scotch on his breath. She looked at her watch. It's only 8am! she thought. She sighed and tried to get a mental head start on her paperwork before her stop finally arrived.

The walk from the subway to the lab wasn't a long one – only two blocks. But this morning, it seemed miles away. Normally, the early-morning bustle of patrons on the New York sidewalks didn't phase Lindsay – in fact, she took comfort in it. Back in Montana, everything was always still and silent. Most of the inhabitants of Montana couldn't even fathom the busyness that was New York. But this morning, the close proximity of everyone around her hustling to their offices just annoyed her. She would have loved nothing more to just stick out her elbows and plough them all over. Instead, she just put her head down and heavily strode towards her destination.

After what seemed like an eternity, she finally reached the lab, miraculously, on time. With her head still down and her mind in a million different places, she yanked open the door and made her way towards the elevator. She pressed the 'up' button, and was surprised when the elevator doors didn't open immediately, like she was used to. She looked up at the red numbers shining above the three lifts. More often than not, they read 'G'. Of course, this morning's situation was different. Two read 'IS' – Great. In Service. The other was on the 10th floor… 11th floor… 12th floor… Ugh. It's going to be ages 'til that comes back down… and I don't much feel like taking the stairs up to the 17th floor. She sighed heavily. Definitely one of those days.

Lindsay pushed open her office door with much more force than she meant to. It swung backwards and slammed against the wall; the noise made her jump. She closed her eyes and let out a puff of air.

"Geez, Lindsay, where's the fire?" said a voice from her doorway. She looked up to see Flack standing there, looking concerned but amused.

Feeling embarrassed that she called attention to herself, which was the last thing she wanted this morning, she tried to brush off the question. "No fire, Flack," she said sheepishly, "just have a lot to do today."

"Yeah-huh, sure. And the reason you blatantly ignored me, then nearly ran be over when you got out of the elevator was…?" Flack asked, a sceptical tone in his voice.

Lindsay hadn't seen or heard him. She blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry Flack," she stammered, "It's just been one of those mornings, and I really do have a ton of stuff to do today. I'm hoping that no new cases come up – I have enough paperwork here to get me through the next few days. There's been so many new cases that I've fallen a bit behind."

Flack sighed. "Well, if it's any consolation, you escaped having to go out into the field this morning – A call came in about a half-hour before you arrived. Danny and Hawkes were already here, so they went to process. You don't have to go join them though – Danny called to say that the scene was pretty contained, and it wouldn't take he and Hawkes long to collect everything. They'll probably need your help to process when they get back here with the evidence, but in the meantime, you've got a bit of freedom to, well, do your paperwork."

It did make Lindsay feel a bit better. This was definitely not the morning she wanted to be running around the city collecting evidence. She didn't mind being in the lab, especially on a day like today – though there was bustle and quiet conversations going on around her, she could easily tune it all out just concentrate on what she was doing, not having to worry about talking to officers and witnesses on the scene. Not today, at least.

"Thanks, Flack," she responded.

Flack smiled in return. He turned to leave, then turned back around to Lindsay.

"By the way, Danny took it upon himself this morning to book a limo to take us to the gala tomorrow night. Apparently trying to stuff ourselves into Stella's van like we did last year was just unacceptable to him. Taking two cars was evidently out of the question, so we're roped into this limo thing now. Ah well, at least we'll arrive in style. Double-check with Danny, but I believe he's arranged for us to be picked up here at 5:45."

Right. The Gala. Lindsay had completely forgotten about it. Every year, the NYPD put on a fundraising gala, and of course, it was a black-tie event. Lindsay really only had two fancy dresses to choose from, and Mac and Danny had already seen her green one – she had worn it to the opera one night, but had to leave to process a crime scene. She hadn't had time to change. At least she wouldn't have to stand in front of her wardrobe trying to figure out what to wear; she just hoped the other dress would be fancy enough.

"Thanks, I do suppose it's easier than trying to drive separately." They said their goodbyes, and Flack disappeared down the hall, closing her office door on his way out.

Lindsay absent-mindedly followed him with her eyes until he was out of sight, her thoughts now torn between the stack of papers on her desk, and the Gala tomorrow night.

Lindsay felt as though she was in a daze as she went about the lab, processing the evidence from Danny and Hawkes' crime scene that morning. She was vaguely aware of the people around her, but not really paying attention to anyone.

"Montana? Hello? Are you even listening?"

Lindsay snapped out of her fog, and looked up to see Danny and Hawkes staring at her expectantly. She had no idea that they had even been talking to her. The two stared at her for what seemed like an eternity, until she broke the silence.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What was it you wanted?"

"I said, the limo is coming at 5:30 tomorrow, not 5:45 like Flack has apparently been telling everyone."

"Ah, alright, noted. Thanks for letting me know – showing up late and missing the ride would not have gone over well." She smiled, hoping her embarrassment wasn't showing.

"Excellent, that's what I like to hear," he grinned. Lindsay just returned the smile, then went back to her processing. She had been so distracted and disgruntled by her morning, that she hadn't put together the fact that the whole team was going to be at this Gala. And that included Danny. She found herself now wondering if her red dress was going to be enough. Danny picked up his kit and began to unpack his tape lifts. He settled in on the opposite end of Lindsay's workbench; Hawkes announced he was going to take the surveillance tapes over to the A/V lab and have Adam see if he could find anything useful on them.

Lindsay did her best to focus her attention on the print in front of her, but she found her thoughts consistently and stubbornly being stuck on the topic of the Gala. What was worse was that after awhile, she found it wasn't just her thoughts that were wandering. Every so often, she caught herself looking up to steal a glance at Danny. She wasn't even sure why – there was just something about him that piqued her interest. Sid had told her that Danny had a crush on her, but she hadn't dared tell Danny that. She had sort of suspected it, but wasn't sure since Danny was known for being a bit of a ladies' man… Well, that was a lie, he had a reputation for being a lot of a ladies' man. And further to that, she wasn't even sure she had worked out her thoughts on him…and yet, she couldn't seem to purge him from her thoughts.

"Montana? Something I can help you with?" She froze as she realized she'd been caught staring. Crap.

"Uh, no," she stammered, "I was just trying to put some context to this evidence, and must have zoned out trying to place it." She doubted Danny bought it – she was a terrible liar.

Danny looked at her incredulously, with one eyebrow raised. "Alright then… you know, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were staring at me." There was an underlying tone of skepticism in his voice.

Lindsay wasn't sure if she had actually been caught in her lie or not, but she wasn't about to find out. She gathered some of her samples and headed to the toxicology lab, doing her best to keep her thoughts off of Danny and the Gala. She could figure it out tonight when she was alone.