Candy Hearts

A/N: In honor of National Single Awareness Day (NSAD) here is a short Danny/Lindsay story. It is going to be so strange not having Anna for the next few episodes. It's like being without Grissom on the Thursday show. Anyway on with the story. For arguments sake everything from Love Run Cold happened but Lindsay has not left for Montana. I'm choosing to ignore that particular storyline at the moment. As always I own nothing but the DVD box sets and the tapes that contain this season.

Lindsay sighed when she noticed the date on the calendar. She had tried to ignore the signs that her most hated holiday was approaching. She hated Valentines Day. As do most single women in the US. While she was in college a few of her friends had started calling it National Singles Awareness Day and the name had sort of stuck in her mind since then.

Every year on NSAD she would go to Blockbuster and rent as many horror movies as she could. She would make a gigantic bowl of popcorn and watch her scary movies. She figured she could get her unhappy endings that way instead of watching everything turn out all right in all the romantic movies that were usually out in full force on NSAD. Not since she had turned 12 had she watched a love story on this particular day.

She knew Danny and the others in the lab would be wearing red or pink as way to celebrate the hated day. She decided that she would counter it by wearing green. Of course Danny would tease her by saying she was wearing the wrong color, that she was a month early for St. Patrick's Day. That is if Danny would even look at her.

Lindsay hated that things had gotten so weird between them. She would never admit it but she missed Danny's teasing and the playful banter that they used to share. She missed the feeling that she was being watched. Not in the creepy stalker way but the way she always knew that Danny had her back. She missed the sidelong glances he would do while working in layout together. To be fully honest Lindsay just missed Danny.

Danny stopped at the bodega by the lab and picked up a few boxes of those little candy hearts with the phrases on them. His candy stash in his desk drawer had run seriously low and he needed something to fill it with. Usually he would just pop the little hearts in his mouth without bothering to read the message on them. But something made him look before he popped one in his mouth. He looked down at the pink and purple hearts in his hand. The pink one had "I love you" printed on it. The purple one had "Be Mine" printed on it. Just as Danny was reading the messages he saw Lindsay walk into the lab. If that wasn't a sign that today was the day to change his relationship with Lindsay Danny would have no idea when to do so.

He took the back way up to the 35th floor and managed to beat Lindsay to their office. He carefully set the two hearts on a post it note and signed his name. He then slipped back out of the office and went to the break room to get his coffee. He wanted Lindsay to find his note without him there. Hopefully she would seek him out to ask him about it.

Lindsay was in a bad mood before she had even left her apartment. She had woken up late and had missed her normal train. She then had to take a cab and had gotten caught in a traffic jam and had to walk the last ten blocks to the lab. She was not in the right mindset to handle Danny's note in the way that he had wanted it to taken. She got to her office and tossed her coat and scarf on the back of her chair. She sat down and flipped on her computer. It took her a minute to notice the small note. She saw the two pieces of candy and thought about just popping them into her mouth without another thought but she noticed that Danny had signed the post it note. She picked up the two hearts and read the messages. "I love you" and "Be Mine" were what she read.

"This has to be a joke. I'm on Candid Camera or something," she muttered. She slipped the candies into her pocket and went in search of the smart ass, Italian she worked with. She found him laughing with Adam in the trace lab.

Her thoughts went to the one time she happened to be walking past a lab with Adam and Danny in it. They were watching a "walrus" documentary. She of course had to find out what they were doing and was sorry that she did.

She poked her head into the lab. "Danny, can I talk to you for a second?" she asked.

This was the moment Danny had been waiting for since he had left the candies on her desk. Except the look on her face was not the one he had pictured in his head. He had imagined her smiling and excited that he had left such a personal note for her. But the look she had on her face was one of annoyance and albeit anger.

"What's up Montana?" Danny asked, leaving the lab.

"Can we go somewhere quiet please?" Lindsay asked, not looking at him.

"Yeah sure," Danny replied.

They walked together in silence. They got a few strange looks from other lab techs. They finally arrived in a quiet secluded hallway. She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out the candy. She held them out to Danny, a grim expression on her face.

"Can you explain these?" she asked. "I know you put them on my desk. You signed your name on the post it note they were sitting on. I seriously thought we were over these childish pranks. If this was supposed to be a joke I'm not laughing Danny. I'm really not finding this funny at all."

"It's not a joke Lindsay," Danny siad. "I know you're going through some things right now and I respect that. I really do. But I can't keep these feelings to myself any longer. I don't know if the time away from each other has done us some good or what but I can't go another day without you with me completely. I love you Lindsay."

Lindsay stood silently for a moment, taking in what Danny had said. Was she really angry at his message or was she just scared to admit that she was in love with him as well? Danny looked at her trying to read her thoughts. He longed to hear her say she loved him as well. Neither spoke for a minute. Finally Lindsay sighed and began to speak.

"Why me?" she asked. "You could have any woman in the city. Why choose me?"

"Why not you Lindsay?" Danny countered. "You are the smartest, most beautiful woman I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Nothing would make me happier than to have you in my life."

"You don't love me," Lindsay said curtly. "You love the thought of being with me. If you knew you would turn and run."

"If I knew what? Lindsay, please just talk to me! I don't care what's in your past. Hell you got caught up in mine last year. Please baby. Talk to me."

"Every-Every time I let myself fall everything changes. It becomes something that I'm afraid of. I always end up the one left broken and crying alone."

"What makes you think that I'm going to leave you hurt and broken Lindsay?" Danny asked sincerely. "I would never do anything to hurt you."

"I'm sorry Danny."

She turned and walked away, leaving him speechless again. Why did he always let her walk away? He decided not this time. He ran after her catching her by the arm. She yanked herself out of his grasp. He looked down at her with such emotion and caring that it was hard for her to be angry.

"Lindsay please, please talk to me," Danny pleaded. "Please let me in."

Lindsay sighed and looked into Danny's blue eyes. There were days when her mind floated to a place where she was the only thing those peircing blue eyes ever looked at. There were days when all she wanted to do was stare into those eyes and never look away. This time as she looked she could see the concern and emotion clouding them.

"Danny," she whispered, falling into his chest, her tears dripping onto his shirt.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her to him, never planning on relaeasing her. They stayed like that for several moments. Playing in her mind was every single relationship she had ever been in. The ranch boys from school, James from undergrad, Peter from grad school, and Greg the last boyfriend she had in Montana.

Greg was a lawyer, the best in the county. He was the most sought after man in Bozeman amd somehow by some strage kismet of events he and Lindsay began seeing each other.They both worked all the time so when they got th chance to see each other it was always special. They would go on picinics in the mountains, horseback riding, or just sit at home and watch a movie, wrapped in each others arms.

The night he died was a cold, dark, stormy winter night. He was coming to meet her for dinner with her parents. His car hit a patch of black ice on the freeway and he crashed. Lindsay was waiting for him at the restaurant with her parents when the State Trooper arrvied. She remembered screaming and she fainted. When she awoke she had no memory of Greg's death. All she remembered was coming to the restuaraunt with her parents and that was it. She couldn't remember another thing. Greg was gone and there was nothing Lindsay could do to bring him back.

"Lindsay?" Danny voice called, pulling her from the memory.

She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. "Just hold me Danny."

"All you ever had to do was ask," he whispered, pulling back into his embrace.