Giving In

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: This wouldn't leave me alone. It even plagued me in my sleep. The thoughts of Lindsay and Danny during their conversation in 'Love Run Cold' where he tries to ask her to lunch and how it should have gone at the end of the episode. Weird how it popped up into my mind now.

Danny got off the phone with a final 'yeah' to Adam before hooking it back onto his belt, saying, "Colin's prints came back negative." Pushing up his glasses, he and Lindsay started a brisk walk across the street.

Blowing frustrated air out, Lindsay brushed a curl back from her face. "So is he off the hook?" Lindsay found herself pursuing this case with tunnel-vision. Anything to keep her mind off the strained tension between herself and the man walking beside her. It was exhausting though as Lindsay re-discovered why Danny Messer was so good at his job. Possessing a determinedness like a brick wall, he would not budge unless he received a reasonable answer; Lindsay had witnessed it a thousand times when he was trying to solve a case or going after a suspect, she had just never had it solely focused on her before. It was unnerving. Given time, Lindsay Monroe knew that Danny Messer could break her down.

Danny kept his eyes on the concrete street, wondering how in hell things had become awkward. Was this the consequence of his trying to take whatever he and Lindsay had to another level? But he couldn't deny, and he didn't think she could either, that they had something. The Holly Golightly case (and his heart still skipped a beat when he thought back to it) had made that painfully clear to him. "Blood still puts him at the scene." It had hurt when Lindsay hadn't shown up and normally Danny would have backed off, but damn it and himself if he didn't want to. This was Montana. He wanted to start something, at least just to see if maybe she and him could work. And a tiny voice in the back of his head obstinately declared that they would.

As they neared the sidewalk, the frown on Lindsay's face didn't disappear. "So what else do we got?" She just wanted to get back to the lab where it was possible for her to lose herself in trying to track down her vic's killer and possibly avoid Danny at the same time.

There was a long moment of silence as Danny grew frustrated at her doggedness in focusing solely on the case. It was obvious to him that Lindsay was completely fine in pretending their disastrous 'would've-been' first date had never happened. But Danny Messer could be stubborn too and injected a tone of nonchalance in his voice as he asked, "Wanna' go get some lunch?" He glanced at her.

See? Danny was like a bull-dog when he wanted something. Lindsay wanted to close her eyes and sigh. How could she tell him that things weren't really good for her now? Would he understand? Or would he think it an excuse? She forced a small smile on her face and said in a no-nonsense voice, "Danny, Mac wants us to wrap this up."

Excuses. She was always giving him excuses, but Danny wasn't letting her off so easily. "Sure, but he doesn't want us to starve to death." He looked at her, thankful that his shades hid most of the irritation in his blue eyes. Why was she being like this? Any more of this and Danny was liable to blow. Looking at Lindsay's face, a cool and calm mask, he wanted to grab her, go somewhere secluded and have it out with her. Why, why, why wouldn't she give him a chance? He stemmed his turbulent emotions as he maintained a stolid stroll down the sidewalk.

The poor excuse of a smile finally gave out on Lindsay's face. "What else did Adam say?" Her eyes dropped to the sidewalk littered with discarded trash, stepped on gum, and cracks. Her desperation was warring with resignation. Once again, her past was rearing its ugly head and throwing her for more than just one loop. It was starting to affect her life. This thing with Danny was just the start and she suppressed a sigh. The only one who knew anything was Mac and well...it was Mac. Her boss. No go. Was there anyone she could go to?

"What do you mean?" Danny made his tone dismissive, continuing his goal of forcing Lindsay to talk to him, but not about the damn case. He had to know and he wasn't one for letting things drag on if he could get a straight answer now.

"I mean that's who you were talking to right?"

"Yeah, but what makes you think he said anything else?"

Incredulous that he was dismissing the case in lieu of trying to figure out exactly what was going on between them, Lindsay stopped in her tracks and put her hands on her hips, giving Danny a mulish look with her brown eyes. She shook her head. He wasn't going to let this go, she could see, but she wanted so desperately to ignore this.

"What did- I just want to go get something to eat," Danny entreated, not really wanting to beg. All he wanted was to spend a little time with her, outside of the lab and get to know her better. Danny was going to add that they could even talk about the case while they ate. Why was it so hard for Lindsay just to give him a chance? He knew she liked him; their constant teasing was a sure sign. She didn't even seem to mind his nickname for her anymore which, truth be told, Danny had started as a way to annoy her, but had turned into something special. Just between the two of them. Montana. His Montana. No one else called her that and if Danny had any say, no one else would be calling her that. He sighed as he saw that she was getting upset. But that just got him riled up even more. Lindsay would have no reason to be upset if she'd just talk to him. "All right, the gum you found," he gestured to her, quelling the frustration showing on his face, "they matched it to the dental impressions of the vic, nothing." Another second and he was going to start yelling at her. Danny crossed his arms over his chest as he stood in front of her, as if to say that since their case had hit a dead-end, Lindsay had nowhere and nothing else to talk about but the personal feelings swirling around them.

"DNA and teeth impressions both negative?" Staring at him straight in the eye, it didn't take a flashing neon sign for Lindsay to see that Danny was becoming angry and frustrated. Guilt reared up in her. He was trying so hard, just to get her to open up. He was her friend, wasn't he?

"Negative." He stood his ground in front of her.

Lindsay stood silent for a minute before her hands dropped listlessly to her sides. She bit her lip. Though his beautiful eyes were hidden slightly, there was a slight tick in his jaw. His whole stance declared that he was not going anywhere and for a moment, a brief moment, a small voice inside her head questioned: would it be so bad if she gave in to Danny? He was gorgeous, smart, funny, loyal, and he enjoyed teasing the hell out of her. And, her heart thumped loudly, if Lindsay was honest with herself, she did feel something for him. Danny was her friend. Friends leaned on each other, helped each other through tough times; they wouldn't be friends if they didn't.

Maybe...perhaps...what if...

Maybe it was time Lindsay started leaning on her friends. It would be a cold and lonely existence for anyone who continually shut everyone out. Lindsay didn't want to be like that.

Danny unknowingly was holding his breath as he clearly watched the emotions flit across Montana's face. She was thinking, hard. And he could only hope that her thoughts ended with him on the winning side. In the next second, Danny felt something inside jump as Lindsay's face softened, a drastic change from her defensive demeanor all day, and a smile, a genuine one, shyly crossed her face. Was she finally letting down her walls? Danny loosened up as Lindsay graced him with a fond look and an exasperated sigh. "Fine, Messer. Let's get something to try to satisfy that bottomless pit of yours. Although, we'd probably need a truckload of food, possibly enough to feed a whole state, and we don't have that kind of time," she needled lightly.

At the look on her face and her acquiesce, Danny felt like punching a fist in the air in victory, but settled for his trademark Danny Messer full grin. The strain between the two lessened and he bounced on his feet as he walked over to her. "That's what I'm talking about!" He took her arm and turned her around. "I know this great place that has the best pizza! You'll love it, Montana. Although I'll probably need a whole pizza to myself; I'm starving here." Danny slipped his fingers from her elbow and in a move that was designed to be unconscious, but that both fully aware of, his hand took hers and the spark that tingled up both their arms was in no way imagined. "Don't want ya' to get lost now that I got ya' Montana," Danny tossed out lightly as he tugged her down the sidewalk.

They still had to talk, seriously talk, but for now, this was good enough.

A/N: It's short and there's probably only one more chapter to this, I'm not sure, but I just had to write it.