Chapter 3

Ok so here's chapter 3, hope you guys like it reviews welcome Elz xxx

The next morning Danny and Lindsay woke up at 4:00am in order to get to the airport on time. They showered (they of course did this together to save time), dressed and made their way to the New York City Airport. When they arrived there, they noticed that they were the first of their small group to arrive. Danny took the opportunity to speak with the airport security regarding their weapon clearance which took only a matter of seconds after the security personnel found the email from the Bozeman Chief of Detectives. He handed the papers to the Air Marshall who would be on board the plane and Danny was promised that the team would receive no hassle when checking in. Once that matter was sorted, Danny and Lindsay made their way to a small café outlet near the entrance to the airport and purchased some breakfast and snacks for the flight.

Once they had finished at the café, they spotted Mac and Stella at the meeting point and made their way over to them. Mac immediately shot a puzzled look in their direction before turning to Danny and asking "why did I get an email form the Bozeman Chief of Detectives informing me that I had clearance to carry a weapon in the state of Montana? I organized this trip as a vacation not police business" Lindsay glanced at Danny worriedly "Oh that yeah, Lindsay called one of her friends in Bozeman who works at the crime lab and told her that we were coming to visit and well to cut a long story short, Chief Adamson took Lindsay under his wing when she first became a CSI and when she left, he assured her that whenever she visited, she and whoever came with her would have clearance to carry a weapon, he just wants to protect us." Danny answered then Stella chipped in "but why do we need protecting there isn't a serial killer on the loose is there?" Stella asked suddenly alarmed. Danny was about to answer but Lindsay cut him off "no Stella there isn't not in the way you think, it's just that well everybody in the Bozeman PD treated me as their little sister and were not exactly pleased when I moved to New York. You know one of them was so in love with me that he threatened to come between me and anyone I had a strong friendship or relationship with and since me and Danny are dating and you guys are like family to me, Chief Adamson thought it would be best if we brought our off duty service weapons with us. As they say it's better to be safe than sorry." Lindsay stated as best as she could without giving any hints as to the real reason for their weapon clearance. Lindsay squeezed Danny's hand hoping that they didn't catch on to the fact that she had just made that up on the spot. Luckily, both Mac and Stella seemed happy with the response and smiled "well it's a good job he thought of that then isn't it we wouldn't want to be coming back here with one less than when we left. Don't worry Lindsay we won't let anyone come between you and Danny he's perfectly safe" Mac stated with a hint of determination in his voice.

Just then Hawkes, Adam, Jo, Sid and Flack came through the airport entrance and made their way towards them. They said their hellos before the NYPD group made their way to the check-in desk. Once they were checked in they made their way to the waiting area as they still had 1 hour before they had to board their plane. Lindsay sat next to Danny and laid her head on his shoulder, her body tensed up slightly when she realised that she was indeed heading back to Montana, to the place where everybody knew who she was and what she had seen. Danny just kissed her temple and stroked her hair which seemed to relax her just slightly. Jo was sat across from them and could see her friend's nervousness. She decided that she needed to tell Lindsay that she knew but she had to get her away from the team. Jo went over to Lindsay and spoke to her quietly "Linds, I need to talk to you about something but could we do it somewhere a little more private, you know away from Stella" Lindsay squeezed Danny's hand "yeah sure I do need to get a drink but could Danny come with us cuz I don't think I can leave his side at the moment" Jo could see the sincerity in her eyes as she spoke. She squeezed Lindsay's hand lightly before saying "of course Lindsay, come on"

Luckily, the rest of the team was half asleep so they didn't notice, the three CSI's make their way to the coffee shop. When they were out of ear shot, Jo turned to Lindsay and smiled sympathetically "listen Lindsay, this is kind of hard for me to explain but when I got the email last night regarding the weapon clearance my heart broke. As you know before coming to the New York Crime Lab, I was working with the FBI and to put this simply I know what happened and I for one will never judge you but I just wanted you to know that I am here for you and that you can talk to me" On hearing what Jo had just said Lindsay felt as if some of the weight that she had been carrying around for the past 12 years had been lifted off. Lindsay looked up to Danny, who gave her a small smile and turned to face Jo and smiled "thanks Jo, I should have known that you would know, I'm sorry if you felt that I was being a bit selfish for not coming to you but I just didn't feel safe telling anyone until I met Danny and even then it took me a while to bring it up." Jo placed her hands on Lindsay's shoulders "Lindsay you do not need to apologise to me for not telling me, I can only imagine what it was like for you having to deal with something like that at such a young age and don't worry I won't tell anyone about it, you have my word". Lindsay smiled briefly, but the frown soon returned to her face. She leaned into Danny and inhaled his scent before continuing "I'm scared Jo, I haven't been back to Montana since I arrived in New York and before that it was like walking in a living nightmare. At crime scenes people would stare at me, even people I worked with thought I was incapable of doing my job. I left because I couldn't stand it anymore. There were only a few people who were supportive of my decision; my family and Chief Adamson, everyone else thought I was a coward …." Jo didn't say anything she just listened to her friend as she talked about her pain. She could see the tears begin to form in Lindsay's eyes "… and now I'm going back not at all ready to face the music. I don't know what I'm gonna do Jo, I look over my shoulder every time I go out, I can't go into a public restroom by myself, and I freeze every time I hear a door chime. I know what the rest of the team are going to think, they'll think I'm silly and selfish for keeping this to myself, they'll think I'm a complete mad person when I ask Danny or my parents to come outside with me … and worst of all they'll never look at me the same again, they'll laugh at me when I cry at pictures of myself when I was younger and how I can't remember any happy times of my childhood. I just don't know Jo. The only people I can trust at the moment are you, Danny and my family. I'm that scared that I can't trust the rest of the team with anything never mind my safety. I have nightmares all the time except in my version, he finds me then kills me. Sometimes, it's not even my childhood friends who are killed, it's you guys and worst of all he ties Danny up and makes him watch as he rapes and kills me and then he kills Danny. I mean what if it happens again. I can't cope with it Jo, the only way I can sleep at night is having Danny wrap his arms around as tight as he can without hurting me …." At this point the tears were flowing freely down her cheeks. Danny had made his way back to the team seconds ago to avoid suspicion. He had only been gone less than a minute but without Danny by her side Lindsay was a nervous wreck "…. Oh look at me, I'm sorry Jo, I shouldn't have dumped all that on you, now I bet you think I'm stupid" Lindsay finished as she wiped the tears away from her eyes. Jo looked at Lindsay with tears in her own eyes before pulling her friend into a gentle hug "Lindsay look at me, I would never think you are stupid, and you certainly do not need to apologise for unloading on me, if anything I'm glad you have as it means that you have that one extra person that you can lean for support. Don't worry about the team they do not need to know until you are ready to tell them. You tell them in your own time just like you did with me and Danny ok honey. Now I don't know about you but I could sure use some caffeine". Lindsay thanked Jo with a smile a proceeded to the counter to buy a round of 9 coffees before making their way back to their group of friends

As Danny saw Lindsay and Jo approaching them, he smiled at his girlfriend silently asking her if she was okay. When she smiled back at him, he knew that she was fine and that Jo was one of the greatest friends that she could have and he was grateful that she was someone that Lindsay could talk to. Once the team grabbed their coffee, the announcement was made telling them that it was time to board the plane. The team grabbed their carry-ons and made their way to the gate and boarded their plane. Normally, Lindsay would be frowning right now, but after talking to Jo she felt as though she had an extra shield of protection surrounding her. The smile that she had given Danny had been true. She was fine and she hoped that she could stay that way for the duration of their flight.

On board the plane they were surprised to learn that they had been given their own private first class cabin. They didn't argue however, they just made their way to the back of the plane and to their seats. Hawkes and Adam both took a seat next to the window, Flack and Mac also sat next to each other in front of Adam and Hawkes. Sid decided that he would sit by himself to read up on the history of his profession and the amazing world of the post-mortem as he so often put it. Stella and Jo took a seat next to other both reading a magazine which just left Danny and Lindsay. The couple were amazed that the team and left a sofa in the corner of the cabin completely empty. So the two sat down on the sofa and Lindsay curled up against Danny as he held her and stroked her hair. Lindsay soon fell asleep in her boyfriend's safe, strong arms and Danny hoped that after her talk with Jo, and the fact that she had wrapped herself around him, that her slumber would only consist of happy dreams that she could smile at when she woke up.

Ok that's it for now will try and update again soon xxx as always reviews are welcome xxx