Author's Note: Thanks for hanging with me guys... I have so much story it just keeps spewing... so here is some fun stuff for you to get through until Wednesday night!

DISCLAIMERS: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to Jerry Bruckheimer and the wonderful writers for CSI: NY. Any resemblance to scenes from the episodes is included for clarity and continuity and I do not claim any of those as my own work. However everything else is mine.

Frustration

Thanks goodness for such a busy day at work, Danny thought as 5:00 pm approached. He knew it would be hard to concentrate on work, while thoughts of Lindsay, waiting at home for him, filled his mind, but processing of the evidence from the murder scene of the family had been intricate, to say the least, and had required his full attention. Since there were four victims, blood and fingerprints were intermingled throughout the apartment. Most of the fingerprints inside the apartment had been accounted for by the victims and the husband; however, there were a few strays that had been lifted and Danny was waiting on matches. Several fingerprints had been lifted from outside the apartment, around the front door, that hadn't belonged to the victims or the husband. Hopefully some of these unknown fingerprints would yield a suspect. Based on the interview with the husband, that Flack had conducted, there was only one suspect, at this time, with a motive, the ex-husband of the murdered wife. One of the three children had been his, with the wife, and a restraining order had been taken out against the ex for threatening the wife and his child countless times, with bodily harm.

"Okay you son-of-a-bitch, we've got you," Danny exclaimed, as the beep from the computer heralded a match on the prints found outside of the apartment.

He immediately made a call on his cell.

"Flack, were you able to locate the ex-husband on this morning's murder case?" asked Danny tersely.

"Good, hold him. I've got his prints all over the outside of the apartment. I'll be there ASAP."

Danny looked at the time again. Damn, this could take all evening, if this guy was a tough nut to crack. I better call Lindsay and let her know it could be awhile. Of all the rotten times to have a break in the case, this was the worst. But he knew this was a part of the job and that Lindsay would understand, particularly on this case.

He placed the call as he headed out of the building to go to the station precinct.

"Hey Danny," she said a little breathlessly as the connection was made.

His body began to ache at the sound of her soft voice. So many images from the past few days flooded his mind, and sharply reminded him of the unfinished business they had left hanging at the apartment door this morning. Oh god, this was going to be harder than he first anticipated.

"Hey, how ya doing?"

"I'm good… How are you doing?"

"Actually good."

He paused briefly, "Listen, Lindsay, we have a suspect in custody for this morning's murder. I'm heading down to the precinct now to interrogate him."

"Do you have a motive and anything to place him at the murder scene?" she fired back.

Man, what had he been worried about? This was Lindsay he was talking about here. Three days around her, away from the job, had quickly faded his memories of her dedication to catching the s.o.b.s that commit these heinous crimes.

"Not inside, but all around the outside of the apartment. He has motive too. There is a recent R.O. against him for countless bodily harm threats against the wife, who is his ex, and the oldest child, which is his, with the wife. I think we may have the son of a bitch," he replied a little heatedly.

"Good, I know you and Flack can crack this guy."

"That's what I'm hoping for," he stated emphatically. Then his voice turned husky of its own accord, "Lindsay, I want you to know that I was really looking forward to tonight."

There was a slight pause.

He could hear the catch in her voice as she said, "Me too… but I want you to nail this guy, okay?"

"Sure, I will… Bye"

"Bye"

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Four grueling hours later, Flack and Danny had not been able to budge the ex-husband from his claims of innocence.

"Listen man, like I already told ya! I didn't clock out from my job until 2 am. You can check my timecard and with my buddies. I'm not saying another word, I'm done," he said as he glared at Flack and Danny.

They heard a tapping on the two-way glass and left the room to confer with Hawkes, who was waiting for them.

"Bad news, his story checks out. More than one person saw him leave the job at 2 am and not only that, but we have someone on the subway that filed an assault charge against a guy matching our suspect's description. Hawkes held up a police artist's sketch of the suspect currently in the interrogation room. Apparently they had a little falling out over who was the best bet for this year's super bowl. That was roughly around 2:45 am, on the other end of town from the murders. This isn't our guy," Hawkes finished a little apologetically.

"Damn," Danny swore roughly.

"It's okay, man," Flack said encouragingly. "We'll get whoever did this."

"I'm going back to the lab." Danny said suddenly. "There were a couple of prints on the outside of the apartment and a couple inside that didn't match this suspect or the family. That might be enough to give us another lead."

Another two hours later, Danny was no closer to matching the stray prints. There was no match in any database to which he had access. Couple this with the fact that they hadn't even found a murder weapon and had ruled out their only suspect, who had a motive, he felt very defeated at this moment.

Mac popped his head inside the door. "Danny, what are you still doing here? It is well after midnight!"

Danny shook his head. "Our only suspect from the murder this morning has an airtight alibi. I'm trying to find a match for some stray prints I found at the scene, to try to dig up another lead. I've just gotta find something for this guy who lost his whole family," Danny replied in anguish.

Mac clapped a hand reassuringly on Danny's shoulder. "Go home! You've been up since 4 am. You need some sleep. Things will seem clearer in the morning."

"Maybe you're right," Danny replied, looking bleary eyed at Mac.

"And Danny," Mac said as Danny was exiting the lab, "take a few hours in the morning to sleep in. A good night's sleep can make all the difference in the world."

"Thanks, Mac." Mac was usually all about the job, but every once in a while, when it really counted, he showed his human side.

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When Danny arrived back at the apartment it was well after 1 am. As he placed his badge and phone on the table beside the door, he saw Lindsay curled up on the couch sound asleep. He could barely make out her face through the maddeningly tangled veil of wavy hair covering her face. What was it about her hair that drove him crazy? It must be that everything else about her implied calmness, efficiency, and reserve, while the hair… the hair hinted at the delightful wantonness that she kept locked securely behind all the other layers that made up Lindsay Monroe. Yes, securely locked away, until these past few days, when he had been fortunate enough to experience the inner Lindsay. As much as he liked the other layers, he relished the innermost one, the one that he would like to partake of at this moment. But the fact of the matter was that it was way too late for a CSI that had been on the job since 4 am; one that needed a good night's sleep in order to crack a senseless and devastating murder of a four innocent people. One, who desperately needed a beer.

He walked to the refrigerator and opened the door to grab a beer when saw the plate of food, wrapped with saran wrap, with a note on top.

I know you'll be hungry after you nail the bad guy. Enjoy! L-

Does she know me or what? He was famished but his heart still tightened at the thought that she had complete faith that he would nail the murderer tonight and yet he hadn't. He remembered Mac's words, 'Things will seem clearer in the morning.' He had to trust, that tomorrow, the break would come. He heated the food in the microwave, then carried it and the beer to the living room and sat on the coffee table across from Lindsay. As he gulped down the food and the beer, he realized for the first time that the lamp, the TV and the DVD player were on. The DVD player had long since stopped playing and the TV volume was completely off, but he realized what Lindsay must have been doing, waiting up for him. Whether it was because of their unfinished business or the fact she didn't sleep well when he wasn't there or both, he didn't know. By now, he had finished eating. He swallowed the remainder of the beer as he took the dishes to the kitchen and placed them quietly in the sink. All he wanted to do was sink into his comfortable bed, next to Lindsay, and sleep. He turned off the TV, DVD player and lamp, picked up Lindsay from the couch and carried her to the bedroom.

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Danny didn't stir, the next morning, until he felt the warmth, in the bed, recede. He sleepily opened his eyes and focused on the clock; it displayed 9:30 am. He groaned. Lindsay was no longer in the bed and he turned into her pillow to catch a waft of her scent. It immediately brought to mind their moments together yesterday and he wondered where she was. He heard water running in the shower. Hmmm… maybe he could catch her coming out of the shower or better yet, in the shower. He hauled himself out of bed, walked over to the bathroom door and opened it gently. He could see the suggestive outline of her body through the opaque shower curtain. Mental note: Buy a see through shower curtain! He walked across the bathroom to stand directly in front of the shower curtain. The water shut off and he could see her running her hands along her head to squeeze out the excess water from her hair. He didn't want to startle her, so he gently pulled the towel off the curtain rod into his hands. She reached for the towel and gave a quiet, "What?" Then she saw his outline.

"Danny!" she exclaimed.

"What?" he replied innocently.

"You know what…. the towel…hand it over!" she stated slightly exasperated.

"Uh, uh, I don't think so Monroe! I think a trade is in order," he said, thoroughly enjoying the predicament that she was in.

"Danny, I don't have time to mess around this morning. I have an 11:00 appointment with the departmental shrink," she said somewhat agitated.

Ah ha, the ante just went up!

"Then I guess you better come up with something quick!" he said, barely concealing the glee in his voice.

There was a long pause.

"Lindsay?" he said a little concerned.

"You know it is getting a lit-tle cold in here," she said with a shiver in her voice.

He didn't reply because he was enjoying all the delightful pictures running through his mind that the words, cold, naked and Lindsay invoked. But her next words snapped him back to attention.

"Alright you win. You give me the towel, then I get out and give you a little sump'um', sump'um'… deal?" she bargained teasingly.

His whole body quivered at the thought of what she had in mind. And the way she slanged that word; was Montana talking dirty? He would have never believed it, if he hadn't heard it with his own ears.

"Dan-ny," she sing-songed softly. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah, yeah… are ya talkin' 'bout what I think you're talkin' 'bout?"

She knew she had him then, because his accent was coming through loud and clear.

"Is it a deal?" she countered.

He was beyond dickering with her anymore because his head was starting to muddle at the thought of any part of her body on his body in any way, shape, form or fashion. He would take his chances. He tossed the towel over the shower curtain and she quickly wrapped it securely around her body.

She pushed back the shower curtain and he noted that she was a wet vision of loveliness, all puns intended! She put a hand on his shoulder to steady herself, as she stepped out of the tub while clutching the front of the towel with her other hand. He looked down at her piercingly, waiting for her next move. She pushed on his chest with her index finger until he took a step back, then another and another until he was up against the wall. The entire time he hadn't laid a hand on her and that is just the way she intended it.

"Now keep your hands where I can see them, Cowboy," she said with that teasing voice that he was growing to love.

He wordlessly held them up against the wall next to his head in a gesture of acquiescence. She smiled sweetly at him as she slipped one finger in the waistband of his boxers. He couldn't help but groan at her slight touch.

"Close your eyes! Don't open them until I say so and above all don't touch me or the deal is off," she warned coyly.

He swallowed hard as he closed his eyes. The thought of Lindsay on her knees in front of him, pleasuring him to a hard and fast climax was almost more than he could bear. He willed himself, against the complete protest of every Y chromosome in his body, not to wind his hands in her wet and wildly tousled hair.

He felt a whoosh of air, a towel settling over his face and hands, the click of a door and a chair being dragged across the floor.

"Open them!" he heard Lindsay's lilting voice from the other side of the door and at the same time he heard a loud thump up against the doorknob. "And remember, all's fair in love and war… your words not mine!"

He pulled the towel off his face and looked around in a daze. She was gone! He tried the door but it wouldn't budge. All the sounds he heard a split second ago made sense. She had barricaded him in the bathroom.

"Monnntaannaa!" he brawled as he pounded a couple of times on the door with his fist.

He heard her hysterical laughter from the other side of the door.

Damn her! Things with Cindy had never been this complicated. Of course, they had never been this exciting and intriguing either. Maybe there was something to being with a witty, clever and complicated woman.

"Watch your back, Montana, two can play at this game!" he warned promisingly through the door.

She laughed again and threw back at him, "Cold shower, Cowboy… pronto! I need a ride to my appointment in fifteen minutes."

When Danny emerged from the bedroom, less than 15 minutes later, dressed and ready to go, Lindsay was sipping a cup of coffee and half sitting on the back of the couch, intently watching a local news flash. She wore typical work attire: a pair of slim, black, work slacks, a blue, long-sleeved, v-neck sweater and a pair of black, heeled, ankle high, zip boots. Her hair was pulled back and up. It sobered him to see her dressed for work, after seeing her delectably dressed down for the past 3 days. Hello CSI, Lindsay Monroe, so long carefree Montana!

"Danny, I thought you and Flack nailed a suspect for that family murder yesterday," she asked worriedly, as she turned to him and interrupted his thoughts.

"Nah, the guy had an airtight alibi," he replied, the frustration showing plainly on his face. "Why, did it make the news?"

"Yeah it did," she said apologetically. She knew how it felt to have a case aired in the media as not yet solved, with no apparent suspects. It made you feel inadequate and sorry for those close to the victims, all at the same time.

"Dammit," Danny swore. "That poor guy, I hope he's not watching right now.

"Do you have any more leads?" she inquired hopefully.

"Nah, I've got some stray prints that I couldn't find a match on. I'll run them again today to see if they hit against anything that might have gone into the databases overnight. If that doesn't pan out, I'll reexamine all the evidence. There's gotta be a clue there somewhere."

"Hey, how about a cup of coffee?" she offered soothingly.

"Sure, that would be great."

He leaned against the back of the couch, while he listened to her heels click into the kitchen, a clink of the glass pot against a cup and her heels click back with his cup of coffee. His eyes held hers as she handed the cup of coffee to him.

"What?" she asked a little nervously. She couldn't read his expression. Maybe he was miffed about the incident in the bathroom.

He took a sip of his coffee, then reached over and set it on the end table. He leaned toward Lindsay, without leaving the back of the couch, took her cup of coffee from her and set in on the end table next to his. Then he clasped one of her hands in his, pulled her toward him and said softly, "C'mere". His arms went around her waist, while he widened his stance and pulled her into the v of his legs. She felt the heat surge through her body, as her arms encircled his neck of their own volition.

How does he do this to me with such a casual movement? This was exactly what she was trying to avoid this morning. With the psych evaluation looming on the horizon, she didn't want Danny Messer messing with her head.

"The ankle all better?" he asked casually.

Glad to have a topic that seemed benign, she looked down at her feet and replied, "Yeah, I started putting weight on it yesterday and today it seems to be holding up so far… so…" She looked up to see him staring at her but not really listening to what she was saying.

She stared into blue eyes, which were the color of the ocean on a soft, breezy, spring day, and knew she never wanted to go a day without looking into those eyes.

He finally spoke again, this time very softly, "Take down your hair."

Without a word and without breaking her lock on his eyes, she undid the clasp holding her hair. He took it from her hand and tossed it on to the table, next to the coffee cups. When he placed his hand back on her waist, she tossed her head a couple of times to settle her hair more naturally around her face.

"There, that's the woman that I've been with for the past three days," he said huskily

Her heart raced. How does he do this to me with such a casual statement?

He bent his head to graze his lips across hers and suddenly she knew that wasn't enough for her. She splayed her fingers along his cheeks and neck and he obligingly deepened the kiss. Their tongues engaged in an exquisite dance that heightened their breathing to shallow gasps for air. A whimper escaped from the back of her throat and with a groan he removed his lips from hers and briefly looked up at the ceiling before returning to lean his forehead against hers.

A few moments passed before he finally spoke. "Whatever goes on out there, I don't want it to change what we have in here, okay?" he said emotionally.

She knew exactly what he meant. She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. "It won't, I promise." Then she tightened her arms around his neck drawing his head into her neck. He buried his face in her hair as his arms tightened around her waist.

She waited until he said, "Let's go," before she released her hold on him.