Disclaimer: Don't own them, don't control what happens. Just borrowing them.

A/N: Thanks again for the reviews or Alerts (: Review, please? (:

The shrill ring of her telephone shocked Lindsay out of her sleep. Cursing loudly from the sharp, shooting pain in her head, she quickly looked around, trying to place where the sound was coming from. She narrowed her eyes at the offending object on her cabinet and stretched across her bed to pick up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"You sound like Hell."

Lindsay groaned and sat up in bed, resting her back against the headboard. "Thanks, Jen," she said, her voice hoarse and sore. She knew she probably looked like Hell too. And she was more than certain that Jen looked amazing. Somehow, Lindsay would always be the one lumbered with the hangover for both of them. And it really pissed her off.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" Jen asked nonchalantly, knowing full well that she had.

Lindsay grunted at the thumping pain in her head. "Of course not. I'm usually up at…" Lindsay looked at her alarm clock and sighed. "Six in the morning on days I have a late shift."

"That's good then," Jen chirped cheerfully.

Lindsay rolled her eyes at the smirk she knew Jen had on her face. "What do you want this early? I though it's your day off."

Jen looked down at her nails and aimlessly picked at the clear varnish. "Oh, it is. I just wanted to tell you somethin'."

"What?"

"There's a boy in my bed."

"What?" Lindsay asked, shock and confusion evident in her voice.

"There's a boy in my bed," Jen repeated, as she looked down at the man next to her. "Okay, technically not my bed. But that isn't the point. He's cute. Nice ass." Jen tilted her head to the side as she gave him the once over. "Hung like a horse."

Lindsay rubbed her forehead as she tried to focus on the conversation. "Who?" Lindsay was silent for a second, before it dawned on her. "The bartender?" She shrieked, the sound of her own voice making her wince in pain.

"Jeez Monroe, can you get any louder?" Jen looked down at him once more before getting off the bed, grabbing her jeans from the floor. She rested her cell in between her shoulder and ear as she got dressed, not bothering trying to be discrete. Bonbon, and yes that was his real name, seemed to be a deep sleeper.

Lindsay mumbled an apology as she frowned, trying to figure out when exactly Jen managed to leave with the bartender without her noticing. It was clear that last night events were still hazy in her mind; the last thing she remembered was throwing up in her toilet before crawling her way to her bed. "When did you leave with the bartender?"

"Bonbon," Jen said, as she looked around for her jacket. "And around one. We made sure you got home. You're really horny when you're drunk, you know that?"

Lindsay was about to speak, when she stopped and frowned. "Bonbon?"

"Bartender." Jen bent down and reached for her jacket which was lying under the desk.

Lindsay nodded absently, when she abruptly sat up straight. "I am not horny when I'm drunk!"

Jen grinned, "Yes you are. The things you promised Bonbon, the things you promised me…" Finally fully dressed, Jen walked out of Bonbon's bedroom and into his kitchen, locating a small pad of paper next to some empty beer bottles. She looked at the paper, considering what to write. "Hey Linds, stop stressin' for a moment." She heard Lindsay huff on the other side of the line before carrying on, "Should I leave him my number?"

Lindsay shrugged; she knew that no matter what she said, Jen wouldn't take it into consideration. "It's up to you, Jen. If you just want this to stay as a one night stand, then don't. If you'd like to give him a try then go ahead, leave your number."

Jen thought it over. He probably wouldn't call her back. "Okay," she mumbled, as she quickly wrote about having to leave for work. "No number."

"No number." Lindsay was quiet as she chewed on her bottom lip. "Am I really that bad?"

Jen stood up straight and walked to the door, quickly glancing back at the closed bedroom door. "You'd make a stripper blush."

Danny moved across the break room heading straight for the coffee. He was nearly at the end of his shift, and if he wanted to stay awake for the last part, he would need all the coffee he could find. Even though he was glad he didn't have to sort through anymore of his paperwork, after another sleepless night, all he wanted to do was crawl up in a ball and die. He certainly did not want to deal with the brick wall he had hit in his case.

Each time he tried to close his eyes last night he would be greeted by flashing images. He would see glimpses of them, both women haunting him. He didn't want to see their faces, both hurt and lost. He didn't want to be reminded of how much he had fucked up. But that didn't stop the memories to come flooding back every time he tried to sleep.

First it had only been Lindsay. He would see her face, her brown eyes large and vulnerable. He would hear her, her hushed voice floating around his mind, her blurred words repeating constantly in the silence of his world. But last night, his dreams had changed. Suddenly, he could see Rikki. Her image exploded before his eyes, her eyes showing how scared she felt even though her face was bright with a desperate hope. He could still hear her, her voice a whisper, threading in between Lindsay's words. It wasn't clear to him what they were saying, but he could see them, side by side, and the image couldn't be more foreign in his mind.

Danny sighed as he rinsed out his mug and placed it on the rack. He glanced down at the sound of his cell buzzing against the counter surface. Picking it up, he noticed her name flash brightly on the screen. Danny was tempted to ignore the call, tell her later that he didn't answer personal calls at work, but he knew they had to talk.

"Messer."

There was a moment hesitation before Rikki's voice came through, "Hey, Danny."

Danny turned to rest his back against the counter. He knew he was supposed to call her. She probably thought he was ignoring her. He wasn't, he just got so caught up in his thoughts that it had slipped his mind. "Hey Rikki, how you doin'?"

Rikki contemplated telling him that she hadn't been able to sleep lately, that her mind wouldn't let her rest. The only good night's sleep she received was a one-off occurrence with Danny, and she didn't like her odds of catching anymore nights like that. "I'm alright," she lied, her voice soft.

Looking down, she realized she was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She tore her hand away and stuck it in her jeans pocket instead. She had to remain calm. Rikki scolded herself silently, she really shouldn't be this anxious. "How are you?"

Danny noted the waver and fake energy in her voice but ignored pressing her on the issue. "I'm good, I'm good…Just been a bit busy with this case…"

It wasn't entirely a lie, since he had been partially busy with his paperwork yesterday, and today had been busy with this case before he found himself stuck, unable to get the subpoena he knew would help to shut his case. Danny couldn't help but get annoyed at himself; he shouldn't be pushing Rikki to one side. They lived in the same building, he should have gone to see her and put her mind to rest. They needed to talk after all.

"Anything interesting?"

"Nah." Danny fell into thoughtful silence; he couldn't help but notice that if Lindsay had asked him the same question, he would have launched into a detailed rant about his case. God, he missed Lindsay.

Realizing that he had Rikki on the line, Danny snapped into focus. "I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to call you. I know what I said and—"

"Don't worry about it, Danny. I know you get busy with your job." Rikki had spent a lot of time going over it and finally came to the conclusion that Danny wasn't ignoring her. She reasoned that there must be an acceptable reason why he hadn't followed through with his word. But even though she spent a long time trying to convince herself, it didn't stop the spiteful thoughts that were flooding into her mind.

Trying to keep her voice positive, Rikki carried on, "It's fine, really. I understand that calling me back hasn't exactly been top priority." Talking to Lindsay must be. "We're talking now, so everything's fine." She fell into silence, her last words hanging in the air as a silent question to whether or not everything was really all right between them.

Danny looked down at his shoes as he wondered what to say. They both knew that this situation was far from fine. Danny just didn't know what to say to make it better. He thought he had done everything he could, and yet he knew she was still upset. Maybe him sleeping with her just made her feel worse. Danny sighed; he really didn't know what was happening. "Yeah, everything's fine." At the sound of someone opening the door, Danny looked up from his feet to see Flack shutting the door. "I have to go."

"Oh," Rikki blinked at the sudden sharpness of his voice. "Okay…"

Danny eyed Flack as he walked closer to him. "I'll talk to you later." He paused as Flack narrowed his eyes at him, "I promise." Flipping his cell shut, Danny pushed off the counter and stood straight. "What's up?"

Flack gestured towards the cell that was clipped back into place on Danny's belt. "I'm guessing that wasn't Lindsay."

Danny shrugged, "So what if it wasn't?"

Flack shook his head, "What's going on?"

"I don't know what you're talkin' about." Danny moved to leave when Flack moved closer. Trying not to get angry, Danny motioned in between them, "You mind backin' up a bit?" When he didn't move but instead crossed his arms over his chest, Danny sighed and moved back to lean against the counter. "Alright, what now?"

Flack looked him over, taking in the dark bags that were beginning to form under his eyes and the scruffy stubble that he hadn't got around to shaving. He looked like shit and Flack was starting to get annoyed at him moping around, it was obvious he wasn't doing anything about his situation.

"You tell me." Danny rubbed his forehead tiredly and Flack dropped his arms from his chest. "You obviously seem to think it's better to talk to Rikki right now, when you should be talkin'–no, begging–Lindsay to take you back."

Danny shook his head and shrugged helplessly, "And how am I supposed to talk to her when she don't want to talk to me?"

"Have you even tried talkin' to her?"

"She won't want to talk to me." There was nothing he could do; if he attempted to talk to her she would simply come up with an excuse and leave. He knew it would be a long time before he got the chance to sit down and talk to her.

Flack sighed, "How do you know that?" Sometimes, Danny's logic made no sense. "If you haven't tried talking to her, how do you know she won't want to talk?"

"I know Lindsay, Flack. I know her better than anyone here, and she ain't gonna talk to me."

"So you're gonna settle for Rikki?" Flack scoffed, this situation was getting crazier by the second. Everyone knew Danny and Lindsay were supposed to be together. Sure, it had turned Danny into a pussy in his eyes, but nonetheless, Flack could see Danny loved Lindsay. Whether or not he wanted to admit it, or even knew it, was another issue.

"Rikki and I got things to sort out as well, Flack."

"And that's more important than talkin' to Monroe?" Flack held up his hands and took a step back. "Whatever, man." Flack couldn't help but laugh as he turned around, heading towards the door. "Shows where your priorities are."

When Flack opened the door, Danny spoke up. "Flack…It's easier to sort out things with Rikki 'cause at least she's talkin' to me. The sooner I figure out things with her, the sooner I can talk to Lindsay…You understand that, right?"

Flack nodded, not bothering trying to convince Danny to talk to Lindsay. He knew that Danny would come to him sooner or later when he fucks this up again. "Sure."

As he watched Flack walk out of the room, Danny let out a sigh. He needed to talk to Rikki. The sooner he did that, the sooner he could get back with Lindsay. The sooner he cut away from Rikki, the better they would all be.

"Danny," Hawkes called out as he walked through the open door. "Angell finally managed to get that subpoena for us. I'm heading down with her now, you coming?"

Danny nodded, making a mental note to make a visit to Rikki later. "You got it, Doc."

"A-ha!" Grabbing her other boot from under the couch, Lindsay briefly wondered what it was doing there. Quickly she slipped it on and made her way to her door, snatching her keys from the table along the way.

After her phone call from Jen, she figured she should get up and make herself useful. Once she had cleaned down her entire apartment, Lindsay felt good about herself. She didn't need to sit around and pine over Danny. She had better things to do. Her eyes scanned her apartment momentarily, and when she was happy that everything was in its place, she turned and opened her door.

Lindsay stopped in her tracks as the man before her lowered his hand. "I was just about to knock," he said, taking in the shocked look on her face.

It took her a moment to realize that he was actually standing in front of her, and that it wasn't her mind playing tricks on her. Lindsay blinked and was tempted to rub her eyes, to see if this was really happening. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't bring herself to formulate words. She didn't know what to say.

"If this is a bad time I can always come back…" He nervously fiddled with the strap of his backpack as he watched Lindsay open her mouth and then shut it again. "Okay, this is a bad time. I'll just go. Sorry." He sighed and twirled on his heel, ready to leave, when Lindsay finally spoke.

"Don't go." She couldn't help but smile as he cautiously turned back to face her. "I'm sorry. You just caught me off guard." She sighed happily, as she realized that this was actually happening. "I'm glad you're here." Her heart twisted when she saw his crooked smile. She never thought she'd see that again. "I'm so glad you're here," she whispered, while her eyes roamed over him, noting that nothing had changed except for the few wrinkles gracing the sides of his deep green eyes.

"I'm glad to be here," he said, his voice soft as he looked her over. She still looked the same, her hair was shorter than he remembered and he missed the gentle curls, but her height, her build, her face, it was all the same. He found himself relieved for the familiarity of the situation. He looked at her bag slung on her shoulder and nearly cursed at his bad timing. "You got work now?"

"Oh," Lindsay looked down at her badge clipped onto her belt. She looked at him, apology clear on her face. "My shift starts soon, I'm sorry." She gestured back to her apartment and tried to keep the hope out her voice. "You can always just wait. You're staying with me, right?"

"Oh no," he held his hands up. "Seriously Linds, I just stopped by to see you. It was on the way to the hotel so I'll just go there and come by whenever your shift ends."

Lindsay placed her hands on her hips and gave him that look which made him smile despite himself. "You already know you're canceling that reservation." She grabbed the handle of his suitcase that was lying next to his foot but stopped when she saw his hand cover her wrist.

"Lindsay–"

Looking up at him, she just raised her eyebrow at him. "Andy," she replied, her voice laced with annoyance. She stood up straight, lifting the suitcase and turned to enter her apartment. "Don't be so stubborn."

"I'm not being stubborn," he called out as Lindsay disappeared into a room. Shutting the door behind him, he took off his backpack and left it by the door. "I just don't want to put you out."

Lindsay came out of the room and shook her head. "You aren't putting me out. I'm surprised you even reserved a room." Lindsay walked up to him and punched him lightly on the arm. "You should have just come straight to me; you know you're always welcome."

Andy shrugged, "I didn't know if you'd be comfortable with it." He touched her shoulder gently when she looked away. He sighed dramatically, "But if you really want me here, then fine. I'll stay."

Lindsay looked back at him, joy clear on her face, "Really?"

Andy groaned at the excitement sparkling in her eyes and pulled her into a hug. "Yes, really," he mumbled, as he rested his chin on her head.

Lindsay laughed against his chest and pulled him closer, enjoying the feel of his arms around her waist. She never thought she'd get the chance to do this again. She never thought he would come back. Snuggling up closer, Lindsay forgot about having to leave for work, all she wanted now was to stay like this, enjoying having not to think about what was going on in her life.

Andy sighed contently and slowly rubbed his hands over the small of her back. As the thought came into his head, he laughed, "Why do you always get your way when I'm around?"

Lindsay pulled away and smiled at him, "Because you really can't resist me."

Andy laughed and rubbed the back of his head, "Sure."

"Okay, I better go," Lindsay stretched up and kissed his cheek as if it was the most natural thing to do. "Make yourself at home." She turned around and pointed at him. "And when I get back, I expect the full story."

Andy nodded; it gave him enough time to figure out what he was going to tell her. "I'll see you later, Linny," he said absently, as he took in the sight of her apartment.

Lindsay opened the door and smiled; no-one had called her that in a long time. Her smile widened, it felt good to hear. "See you later, Andy."