OK, so there was only supposed to be one more chapter of this story before the epilogue, but after looking at how much I wanted to cover in that one chapter, I decided to break it into two. And then, because I thought it a little unfair to have you have to wait for what should have been the second half of the chapter, I decided to post them both!

So, I really hope that you like these final two chapters of this story! Enjoy!

As soon as Lindsay left their apartment, she was on autopilot. By the time she realized what she was doing, she had taken a cab across town and was standing outside the apartment building of her friend and co-worker Stella Bonasera. Though she knew that Stella wasn't big on having people over to her home, even her friends, because of her past experiences, Lindsay was in desperate need of a friend, and Stella had always been there for her in the past, whether Lindsay realized that she needed a friend or not. Lindsay pressed the buzzer next to Stella's apartment number, 6B, and waited for an answer.

"Yes, hello?"

"Hi Stella, it's Lindsay."

"Kiddo, what are you doing here?"

"Um, I…I…I need a friend to talk to." Lindsay had planned on apologizing for calling around unannounced and presuming that Stella had nothing else she needed to that night, but she had barely managed to get through what she had said. Immediately, she heard the door buzz, allowing her access to the building. The elevator came right away and quickly made the trip up to the sixth floor. When the doors opened, she found Stella waiting there for her, a look of great concern on her face.

The sight of her friend caused Lindsay to start to cry, and she saw Stella step onto the elevator through blurry eyes and wrap her arms around Lindsay as she led her off the elevator and to her apartment. If Lindsay hadn't been such a mess, she probably would've tried to take in more of her surroundings, but she just let Stella lead her over to a couch, Stella crossing the room to grab a box of tissues before sitting down next to Lindsay. Lindsay took a couple of tissues and blew her nose before looking over at Stella.

"Thanks, Stel."

"Linds, what's going on here? Why are you over here wanting to talk to me instead of your husband?"

"We just got into a huge fight and I walked out. I couldn't deal with it. All I wanted to do was smack him across the face – he was accusing me of being a bad parent."

Shock and surprise crossed Stella's face. "Wait a second, that doesn't sound like Danny. What happened before that? It was your day off, right?"

"Yeah I took Lucy out for the day and he was all pissed off because I didn't have my cell phone on and he couldn't reach me. I just wanted to be left alone to clear my head, and he accused me of being stupid and reckless."

Stella sat in silence as she absorbed Lindsay's story. From what she was hearing, Danny had a right to be concerned about Lindsay not answering her cell phone and disappearing with Lucy for the day, but she wasn't about to tell Lindsay that at the moment. Stella had seen a marked change in Lindsay in the past week and a half, and she could see that especially in the last couple of shifts they had worked together, Lindsay was throwing herself into her work, likely trying to avoid dealing with what had happened with Shane Casey. Stella knew that if she tried to defend Danny right now, Lindsay would likely run off again, and there was no telling where she would go next. Instead, she decided to stall for a bit of time in order to decide what to do next.

"You sit here and relax. I'm going to get you some water and then we can talk about whatever you want to talk about, OK?" Lindsay nodded her head and leaned back into the couch as Stella disappeared from her view.

On the way to the kitchen, Stella quickly grabbed her cell phone. Opening up a text message window, she typed out a message:

Danny, Lindsay showed up at my place. She's safe. I'm gonna try talking to her. – Stella

Sending the message, Stella grabbed a bottle of water from her fridge and went back into her living room. She had opened her mouth, about to speak, when she saw that Lindsay had fallen asleep. Though it was just shortly after 9 pm, Lindsay looked drained not only from her argument with Danny but also from a general lack of sleep, so Stella decided not to wake her.

Stella shifted her into a semi-lying position, putting a pillow behind her head so she wouldn't have a sore neck and taking the blanket from the back of the couch and draping it over the younger woman. Turning off the light nearest to Lindsay, she made her way to her bedroom, deciding to go lie down herself and relax for a while.

Lindsay found herself walking through her home on her way to Lucy's nursery, but something seemed completely wrong. Walking over to the crib, Lindsay tried to feel around for her daughter, surprised not to find her there given what appeared to be the late hour. Instead, Lindsay's hand came in contact with some sort of sticky liquid, and her heart stopped. Turning on the light next to the crib, Lindsay saw that the mattress was soaked in blood, an amount that she knew was too much for someone Lucy's size to lose and still survive.

Stumbling out of the room in horror, she ran to her bedroom to find Danny, hoping that she would somehow find Lucy alive and well with him. She found him faced away from her on the bed, so she ran up to him and tried to wake him. "Danny…" The rest of her words died on her tongue as her hands came in contact with his skin – his ice cold skin.

Pushing him onto his back, Lindsay could see in the moonlight that he had been shot twice directly in the heart. His unseeing eyes bore into her and she backed away from his body in shock. Just then, an eerily familiar voice broke the silence, coming from a dark corner in the room.

"He was supposed to be last, but he just wouldn't co-operate. It was him that was supposed to watch his entire family die, but alas, things change. Since my grudge was never with you, your death will be quick and painless. Goodbye Lindsay."

Lindsay saw the gun aim right for her heart, and as the first shot rang out, she screamed "NOOOO…"

Instead of feeling the pain of a bullet ripping through her chest, Lindsay felt two hands grab her shoulders and begin to shake her. "Lindsay, wake up! You're safe!"

Lindsay's eyes flew open and the tears that had seemingly started before she woke up continued to fall. "Lindsay, you were muttering both Lucy and Danny's names, and then you said 'Shane Casey' right before you screamed 'NO!' and I woke you up."

"I was at home and I found Lucy's crib mattress soaked in blood, then I found Danny on our bed with two bullets through his heart, and then Casey said I was next and he aimed at my heart and pulled the trigger." Lindsay's tears intensified after reliving the nightmare, so Stella created a spot for herself on the couch and pulled Lindsay into her arms.

"Lindsay, it's not real. Casey's dead, so he can't come after you again. Danny and Lucy are safe, it was just a horrible nightmare."

Lindsay's body began to shake as the true weight of what had transpired between her and Danny finally set in. "This was all my fault. If I had just gone to him like I said I would, this wouldn't have happened. He has no idea where I am right now." Lindsay let her head fall into her hands as a fresh wave of tears overtook her.

"Lindsay, I already sent him a text telling him that you were with me. He knows you're safe." Lindsay nodded, but made no attempt to speak again. Stella realized that she would have to pry more information from Lindsay.

"Have you been having these nightmares for the past week, and not been telling Danny about them?" Lindsay nodded again. "Sweetie, why haven't you told him about what you've been dreaming, he could help you get over them."

"I've been trying to deal with it on my own because I thought I could stop them myself by willing myself not to have them, like I had been taught after my friends were murdered."

"Linds, it's obviously not been working for you. Have you ever thought that what worked for you as a teenager won't work so easily anymore because you're in a different place in your life? Maybe if you actually talked with Danny about these nightmares in addition to using the technique, it might work better for you."

Lindsay let out a frustrated sigh. "God, Stella, I've messed this up so much – I told Danny that I would come to him if I needed his help, but I just keeping pushing him away. What am I gonna do?"

"Well, first of all, you're going to stay here tonight and get a good night's sleep, then after your shift tomorrow, you're going home to talk with your husband and work all of this out – it's not beyond fixing. I'm gonna go grab you a pair of my sweatpants and then I'm getting you two sleeping pills."

"Stella, I…"

"There's no negotiating here. They're over the counter, so they're very mild. I used them after what happened with Frankie, and they helped a lot to just let me get some rest. Now, I use them only after particularly draining cases."

Stella disappeared into her room and reappeared quickly to toss Lindsay a pair of pants before going into her bathroom. Though Lindsay was hesitant about using sleeping pills, at this point she was desperate to sleep through the majority of the night again. She quickly changed into the sweatpants and made herself comfortable on the couch.

Stella came back with 2 small pills in her palm, which Lindsay popped into her mouth and swallowed with the water that Stella had left for her on the coffeetable. "You have the early shift like I do tomorrow. Do you need to go visit your place before we head into work together?"

"No, I have all the essentials in my locker – shampoo, toothpaste, stuff like that – so I'll shower at work. I also have an entire set of clothes at work – I learned after getting stuck dumpster diving a lot in my first year here."

"OK, so we're all set for work tomorrow. Are you gonna be able to handle seeing Danny at work tomorrow?" Stella knew he had a later shift, and that Lindsay and Danny would be overlapping each other for several hours.

"Yes, I'll be OK seeing him." Stella wasn't completely convinced, but she decided to let that go.

"Alright, well go to sleep Linds, it looks like you've got a long day ahead of you. Goodnight kiddo."

"Goodnight Stella, and thanks for everything."

"You're welcome."

Lindsay reached over and shut off the light next to her and curled up on Stella's couch. Within ten minutes, Lindsay was asleep. It was the first night in a while that she slept through the majority of the night without being woken up by a horrible nightmare.