A/N: Blah blah blah…Same disclosures apply as Chapter 1, if it's real, copyrighted, or otherwise owned, it isn't owned by me, I'm just using it for entertaining content. This story is purely for entertainment value only and may not reproduced to make a profit without my consent and but more importantly that of CBS, Jerry Bruckheimer or anyone else who's stuff I may have unknowingly used. Please enjoy and submit a review as it helps me know how much and what people like about the story.

Chapter 5

Danny walked into the break room to pour himself another cup of the sludge they called coffee. He really wanted to make a run to Starbucks for their killer caramel macchiato, but he couldn't leave the lab for a while yet as Mac had called a staff meeting. This really made everyone wonder as staff meetings, while not completely uncommon, were rare. Stella wandered in shortly after Danny had started the coffee pot brewing another round.

"Coffee, give me hot coffee." Stella moaned. She moved towards the machine, waiting for the brewing cycle to be complete.

"Don't know if I could call this sludge coffee but I guess whatever works after a long night, eh Stel?" Danny laughed as he asked her. Her hair, while being neatly done, wasn't her normal state of looking perfectly natural, like she had woken up with it done. Her makeup looked slightly off as well. Almost as if she had been in a hurry to get them done, like she had been running late; something Danny had never seen Stella do.

"Never you mind, Danny Messer, never you mind" was Stella's only response as she poured coffee into a large cup and took a sip. Others had started to file in now. Danny saw Lindsay and she took his breath away. She looked absolutely gorgeous in a baby blue peasant top, black dress pants, and stylish black shoes. Her hair was up, something that normally accentuated the beautiful features of her face, but today she looked tired, like she hadn't slept much the night before. He tried to get over to a seat near her so he could talk to her but without seeming obvious of what he was doing. However, Hawkes beat him to it. Damn it, Danny cursed to himself, settling in a chair that was near the door. He just stared at her from his chair, hardly noticing Mac walking passed him into the room.

"Alright guys, let's get this meeting over with, I know that we all have cases or other things that we would rather be doing right now. I'll get to the point. The city has changed a requirement of our jobs. They are now stating that everyone who sees field work must have a valid pistol certificate on file stating that you have passed a general target test. It's something that everyone must take seriously because if you fail to complete this new requirement, your ability to work in the field will be suspended until you comply. They are giving us a two week time period in which to comply with this new requirement, and before you all moan and groan about the constraint, know that the original time frame was a week from this meeting. I have been given authorization to give you time out of the lab, for which you will be paid, to go down to the NYPD range for a training/practice session with your qualification to follow. This does not mean that you will need to carry a gun or anything along those lines; the city just wants to know that you can hand and fire a gun successfully should the situation call for it. Again, I need to stress that this means everyone, even if you only see the field on a fill in basis. Are there any questions?" Mac stopped talking and looked around the room.

Hawkes spoke up. "Where is this new requirement stemming from Mac? Do you know?" Danny thought it was a pretty good question. There hadn't been a crime scene problem in months; nor had there been an investigator-related shooting in months, not since he screwed up anyway.

"The city said that they just compared data that had been gathered by an outside company about shootings related to crime scene management and evidence collection. That's about all I know." Mac answered. He looked like there were a million other things that he would rather be doing right now rather than running this meeting, Danny thought. Mac was a leader, but he wasn't a "talk about it to get it done" kind of guy. He'd rather show you and help you learn to do it yourself kind of guy.

Danny broke from his thoughts at the sound of Lindsay's voice. She was asking how the city could give such a small window of time. How they could expect people to drop everything that they were doing just to comply with this new regulation that they just decided was needed. There was a hint of anger in her voice Danny thought. He should know, he'd been on the receiving end of that voice several times when she first joined the lab. Mac waited several seconds before answering her.

"Lindsay, this isn't going to be easy for any of us, we just have to get it done and over with. While I agree that the timing isn't great, they sign the paychecks." Mac finished plainly; as if he was saying that there wasn't anything else left to say. No one else raised their hands to ask anything so Mac ended the meeting.

Danny was hoping to catch Lindsay before she left the room, he really wanted to go to Starbucks for something that he could actually call coffee, and he was hoping that she would go with him so that they could talk. However, by the time he put his chair back at the table and threw out his empty cup, she was gone.
"Hawkes, where'd Montana go" Danny called out to the former Coroner and new CSI.

"She said she had to go somewhere." Sheldon called back, "Why?"

"No reason" Danny lied, "Just wanted to ask her a couple of questions, keep her on her toes ya know?" Danny smiled, thinking that wasn't the only reason, just like going to Starbucks hopefully wouldn't have just been for the coffee and muffins.

"Can't leave her alone can you Messer," Stella retorted. "The poor girl moves more than half way across the country -:" Danny cut Stella off.

"I wasn't going to pick on her. I think she's cool, she can handle herself and she does pretty well with me too," Danny said slightly put off, "You haven't heard some of the remarks she's thrown at me first. Right Hawkes? Remember about the walrus documentary? She said I was 30!"

Sheldon laughed out loud, shook his head and walked out of the room. Stella followed shortly after, as her cell phone rang and she mysteriously didn't want to be overheard. Danny thought it was probably that sculptor guy who helped them out on their blind murder victim case, but she hadn't admitted it to anyone. Well, Danny thought, I'll give myself a few minutes to try and find her, if not, guess it'll be a lonely Starbucks visit for me.

Danny had looked all over that lab for Lindsay, even checking the stairwell and Mac's office, since he wasn't sure if she had gone back to finish their conversation yesterday, but she was no where to be found. So Danny had gone to Starbucks and was now in the break room again, sipping on his caramel macchiato, thinking about what was happening between Lindsay and him. His mind replayed their interactions, from the breakfast at the restaurant, to his kissing her on the cheek, to the hot kiss they had shared in the stairwell. He was playing that particular memory over and over again when Flack entered the room.

"Messer" Flack greeted Danny enthusiastically, "What are you up to man?"

"Nothing much, just thinking about some things that are going on, life in general, ya know?" Danny tried to be casual, hoping it didn't sound too forced.

"So who's the hot little number, Danny?" Flack asked with a smile on his face, "You have that same look on your face every time there's a woman in your life Messer."

"Nah, there isn't anyone special right now, Flack. I'm just thinking about life, how things go from bad to great to unsure in the beat of a second." Danny answered just as Lindsay walked into the room.