Hey, ya'll!! As always, thanks for the reviews.

You know how I took the ACTs a while back? Well, I got the scores back. I got a composite score of 29 (That's good, right?) But get this, I got a freaking 36 on the reading section of the tests (Go me!! :)) Ironically, despite how much I love writing, I only got a 23 on the writing portion, which isn't bad, but I thought I'd do better. (I've been showing all my teachers my score. I'm so proud!!!)

My scores were as follows;

English--24

Mathematics--27

Reading--36**

Science--29

Writing--23

I know, it's kinda weird that I'd tell you guys this, but I've been telling everyone, so why not?

Anyways...

I hope you enjoy it!!

Chapter twenty-five

Lindsay Munroe wrapped her coat tightly around herself as she traveled down the crowded sidewalks. According to her supervisor, Danny needed help, and she would be damned if she didn't try her best to help him as much as possible.

They had been making a habit of sharing a meal together at least once a week. Of course, that had been before his abduction. Now, it seemed almost like Danny was avoiding her.

Lindsay walked through the door of the small family run bar and shed her coat. Immediately, she spotted him. He was in the corner booth, nursing what was obviously not his first beer. That got Lindsay worried. It wasn't unusual for Danny to drink. In fact, she, herself, had joined him for a few drinks on more than one occasion. But this was different. This was Danny, drinking alone, at eleven o'clock in the morning. Not to mention the mask of utter despair he was wearing.

Still standing in the door way, Lindsay let the investigator in her take over. Danny did not look good. His hair was a mess, his clothes were rumpled, and he was unusually pale. Lindsay had heard, through the grapevine at the lab, about the bruise Danny had come in with, but that didn't make it any less of a shock to actually see it. His ashen skin only worked to make it more pronounced on his jaw. His left hand was still encased in a light brace. He appeared to be in pain as he gripped his side with his good arm and lifted the beer to his lips with the other.

Slowly, she made her way over to him.

"Hey." She said, uncertain.

He looked up at her and then looked back down, mumbling out, "Did Mac send ya?"

Feeling it would be okay, Lindsay slid into the booth, taking a seat right next to him, "No," she lied, "I figured you might be here, and we haven't really been doing our weekly meal. So I thought I'd take the opportunity." She was trying to be as casual as possible, not wanting to upset him.

He seemed to relax at those words, but there was still an underlying current of tension that seemed to run under his skin. She could tell something was definitely bothering him, but she hadn't the faintest idea what it could be. After the abduction, Danny had been forced to take a psychological evaluation, and he had passed, obviously. Otherwise he would not be working in the lab right now. But he didn't have PTSD or anything like that.

'So why is he acting like this?' she wondered, 'Did something happen that we don't know about?'

Deciding to face it head on, Lindsay asked, "Danny, is something going on that we should know about?"

She was surprised when his breath hitched and he looked at her. The fear and shame she saw in his eyes made her freeze.

He looked back down quickly, taking a swig from his beer. He kept silent.

That unsettled Lindsay even more. Before the whole kidnapping ordeal, she usually had a hard time shutting him up. Not that she wanted him to shut up. She actually enjoyed their daily bickering.

"Danny, come on. I can tell something is wrong. We all can tell something is wrong. We just want to help. Don and Mac are really worried about you. I don't know any of the specifics, but I'm starting to worry too. This isn't like you." She put her hand on his forearm.

He pulled away. "You need to stay out of it, Linds, for your own safety. You should just stay as far away from me as possible."

"No, Danny." She said angrily, "You're scaring me, here. I want to know what's going on."

He looked at her with wide eyes. The alcohol was blurring his inhibitions. He wanted so badly to tell what was going on. That way she would be able to protect herself. But Danny was so terrified that Tom would somehow find out, he just froze at Lindsay's demand.

Lindsay noticed that Danny's hands started to tremble. "Danny," she said, gentler this time, "You need to tell me what is going on."

Finally, the floodgates broke. Suddenly, Danny couldn't keep the words from spilling from his mouth or the tears from trailing down his cheeks.

"He said they'd hurt you, Lindsay. I can't let that happen." His voice was slurring slightly.

"What? Who, Danny? Who said that?" She was alarmed by his words. She wasn't worried about her own safety at that point.

"Tommy." He couldn't help but let the information slip through his lips. His drunken mind assumed that Lindsay would understand his vague answer.

"Danny," she placed her hand on the un-bruised side of his face, making him look up at her, "Who is Tommy?"

Suddenly realizing what he just revealed, Danny's eyed widened, "Oh, God." He grabbed the bottle from the table and took another long gulp.

Lindsay decided that Danny was in no condition to answer any questions at that point. She figured that any answers she would get from him would be either very vague, or completely unintelligible.

Grabbing his shoulder, she hauled the drunken man up to his feet. "Come on, Danny. We're going to talk to Mac and try to work this whole thing out."

Danny took a moment to process what she had just told him. Finally understanding, he jerked away, falling back into the booth. He looked up at her. "No, Mac'll get mad at me. I betrayed you all. He'll yell at me… I don't like it when Mac yells at me." She couldn't help but think he looked and sounded like a child that was being scolded.

"Danny, Mac will only want to help." Said Lindsay, softly, "And he won't yell at you. I don't know exactly what's going on, but I know that you can't handle this on your own."

"You promise he won't yell at me?"

"Yes, Danny. I promise." Until that point, Lindsay had never realized how much Mac's approval mattered to Danny.

Hesitantly, and with immeasurable amounts of fear in his eyes, Danny lifted himself from the booth.

Afraid that he might stumble and fall, Lindsay looped her arm through his. This also allowed her to make sure he didn't bolt before they got back to the lab. "It'll be okay, Danny." she said, softly.

Slowly, they made their way back to the crime lab.

Lindsay only hoped that the trouble Danny had found himself in wasn't as bad as he had made it sound.

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Sorry about the wait. I don't really have any real reason or excuse for it. :)

Please review!! :)