A/N: I had some free time, and I remembered I wasn't done with this fic so I started to write. Or type. Anyway, this chapter is more of a continuation than an event. I hope it flows properly though. Have fun reading and hopefully it doesn't bore anyone to death. Do review:) Thanks.
Life at the moment
Life is made up of little and big moments stringed together by vast periods of calm, grief, indifference, joy… For that moment Danny was lost in her eyes, which reminded him of warm wood and golden leaves of the autumn. Then her gaze flickered back to the slip of paper she held in her hands and the moment vanished. What was left behind was a tension filled void that presented itself in the space between their bodies.
Snapping out of it, he asked, "So, what do you think?"
Lindsay dropped her hand slowly and muttered lowly, "I think we need to visit the morgue."
Nodding in agreement, Danny waited for her to remove her lab coat and exited without looking back. There was too much dull pain and agitation for him to handle.
Lindsay sighed as she walked a step behind her partner. There was a lack of conversation and the heels of her shoes accounted for all of the sounds that could be heard in the silent corridor leading to the morgue. She concentrated on walking softly, curling her feet so that they didn't make as much noise. Life at the moment was a frothy bubble of complexities threatening to burst. There were too many fears and insecurities lining the profoundly thick air surrounding her.
They reached the morgue and entered, coming to a stop before the table Sid was leaning over.
"Hello there, young detectives." He drawled, and it put a smile to her face. If there was anything she could count on, it was for Dr. Hammerback to retain his innate talent for jocular creepiness.
"If you've come to check on Mr. Hempel here, you came in at the right time. I hope the two of you are traveling along at the right speed. It's not beneficial to be at the right place, at the right time, but with the wrong speed."
Lindsay watched bemused as Danny interrupted what could have developed into a full blown lecture on lost opportunities. "Okay, Doc, just tell us what happened to the vic."
"Very well. Mr. Hempel here died due to the two bullets that I've previously extracted and passed to you. If you observe here, you will see that one of the bullets came into direct contact with the 6th rib and shattered the bone." He turned on the overhead lights and directed their attention to the screen of the projector. "Unfortunately, the bone splinters punctured his lungs. It is most probable that he ran out of breath as liquids started running in and collapsed."
Sid rotated the projector in another direction.
"The other bullet, pierced through the cervical spine. I must say his was a rather tragic case. Upon close examination, the main nerve was torn open and he literally couldn't move to save his life."
What followed was a brief moment of silence until Lindsay decided to speak. "Is it possible to tell which bullet struck first?"
"My theory is that both bullets were fired less than a minute apart, I can't really tell."
Both detectives hung around for another minute before giving up. Danny grabbed the autopsy report while Lindsay thanked Sid and both walked out of the glass doors together.
Lindsay went back to her collection of dried leaves in a foul mood. Usually she would be up for the challenge, but she had had a few too many difficult cases in a row. Working with Danny had become a chore with their uneasy way of communication. She was struggling horribly to deal with everything, and it didn't help that she entered a vortex of complicated emotions every time she thought about him.
She thought about him a lot. She almost loved him; she really, really did. Still a web of doubt wove itself around her mind each time they shared a moment. Lindsay closed her eyes and felt a passive anger wash over her. She was a slave to history, and she knew it was slowly beating the life out of her.
Still, there was work to do, and there were missions to accomplish. Whatever screwed up issues she had with Danny could wait until there was time. But would time wait for her?
The ballistics lab wasn't bustling with activity and Danny was glad for that. There was space away from Lindsay that he didn't want but desperately needed. They had been standing so awfully close to each other in the morgue that another minute more would've made him shake her violently by the shoulders and demand for an explanation. But he had promised her time, and he wasn't one to break promises.
Lately he avoided looking into her eyes, afraid that she would catch the sense of longing and wistful affection that flowed through him each time he laid eyes on her. He wanted to love her, only she wasn't letting him. Danny shook his head bitterly and scrubbed his hand across his face. None of the women he had ever been with were so complicated. Had they just not shown him their problems, or was his Montana just exceptionally complex?
Danny decided that thinking was a tiring activity and fired the gun he held in his hand, aiming for the plastic dummy a few meters ahead.
The gunshot rang and echoed in his ears. Danny picked up the ruler and walked forward, measuring the depth of penetration of the bullet. Too shallow.
Repositioning the dummy, Danny reloaded the gun and moved a foot forward. If he couldn't answer the questions that plagued his life, he would at least find answers to the questions that science could answer.
A/N: Unbeta-ed, any grammatical errors or logical errors I sincerely apologize for. Review!!