A/N: Same disclosures apply as in all previous chapters. Please read and review! Happy Holidays!

Chapter 13

Lindsay sat in Doug's office for almost two hours, going over weapon safety, loading and unloading, cleaning, and other basics. Now she was finally out on the firing range, with Danny and Doug. She looked at Danny, and while he wasn't being overly protective, he was never far away and she was grateful that he was there. She knew that he was keeping a careful eye on her, even if he didn't seem like it.

"Lindsay, I'm going to have you take a few practice shots. You're going to want to aim for center of mass of the target." Doug was instructing her. "The pistol is going to kick a little just so you're aware."

"Ok, so" Lindsay was just clarifying her instructions, "I'm going to aim for the center of that target down there? If that was a real person, wouldn't that pretty much kill them?"

"Lindsay," Doug started, "the purpose for this regulation isn't for you to just injure the person, you're going to want to do as much damage as possible. I know that sounds harsh, but you're going to want to make sure that you can get away quickly, and to preserve the scene as much as possible." Doug paused, seeing that he wasn't really getting through to her; he looked to Danny, who just shrugged his shoulders, for help. "Lindsay think about it this way. You're processing a scene, someone surprises you and is trying to hurt you or get incriminating evidence away from you. Your first response isn't going to be just to give it up, is it?" He cocked his head the side, and raised an eyebrow. "He's going to be fighting you as hard as possible to make sure that you don't complete your job, you should be prepared to fight just as hard."

Danny could see that something had finally clicked inside Lindsay's head. He saw her eyes form that steely resolve that this is something that she needed to do and that she was determined to do well.

"Ok." Lindsay said with a serious voice, "Center mass."

"Alright, put your ear protection on, and I'll signal when you're good to go." Doug said.

Lindsay donned her ear muffs, and waited for Doug's signal. He gave her the thumbs up sign. She locked the clip into place, and switched the safety off. She stood as Doug and Danny had showed her, and gently squeezed the trigger. Her eyes seemed to focus on the area where the sternum would be. She continued to aim and fire until the clip was empty. She clicked the safety on, and took the clip out of the gun. She set everything down on the little shelf in front of her, and then took off her ear muffs.

Doug and Danny walked over closer to where she was, and Doug brought her target up closer so that they could see where she had hit. As the target came closer, Lindsay could see that all ten of her shots had hit the target, not all in the direct center but fairly close.

"Very good Lindsay, very good. You could use this as your qualification if you wanted to." Doug offered, "Only three of your shots fell outside of the range needed to pass."

"Great job Linds." Danny said, agreeing with Doug, "You don't have to go again if you don't want to."

"No." said Lindsay solidly, "I want to go again." She looked from Danny to Doug and then back to Danny.

"Ok. Let's go again then." Doug said smiling. "Go ahead and get ready, I'll give the signal."

Lindsay went back to her booth area and Danny resumed his spot. Lindsay saw Doug give the signal and Lindsay again emptied the clip into the target. Again, Lindsay repeated the process of putting the safety on, took out the clip and rested it on the shelf. Again, Doug and Danny came in, pulled the target forward. Lindsay saw that only 1 of her shots missed this time.

"Wow." said Doug, staring at her target, "you are one quick study Miss Lindsay Monroe." Doug smiled proudly at her. "I do believe that you are the quickest person I've ever had the pleasure of teaching to shoot."

Lindsay turned as crimson flooded her cheeks. "Have you ever had to teach someone as stubborn as me?" she asked quietly. She heard Danny stifle a snicker, trying to cover it with a cough. Doug however laughed and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Lindsay, I've had worse. Not by much, but I've had worse." Doug reassured her, then he turned to Danny, "You've got a fire cracker here. Don't let her go." He turned back to Lindsay, "Are we going to go again?"

Lindsay shook her head, "I think I've had enough for awhile." She walked over to Danny, who wrapped his arms around her waist, and she rested her head on his shoulder. She felt exhausted, completely drained.

They said their goodbyes and Danny helped guide her to the car. He opened her door for her and then jogged over to his side and got in.

"Call Mac." He said simply as he looked at her.

"Why?" She asked as she rolled her head on the headrest to look at him. She was fighting to keep her eyes open.

"Because you're exhausted and if you're exhausted you're not going to be worth a dime to the lab." Danny explained, and as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he wished that he had finessed them slightly.

Rolling her eyes, Lindsay said "Thanks Danny. Means a lot." She was smiling however.

"Mac will understand Lindsay, just call him." Danny asked again as he started to drive away from the range.

"Danny," Lindsay said sleepily, "Can we just go back to my place? I want to take a hot shower."

Danny looked over at Lindsay, her eyes were closed and her breathing was even. He shook his head with a slight smile, she was asleep already.

He pulled into the parking area at her building and parked his vehicle. He watched her for a few minutes, then got out of the vehicle. He walked over to her side, opened her door and leaned in.

"Lindsay" said Danny, he rested his hand on her arm. "Lindsay wake up." She shifted slightly, but didn't wake up. "Lindsay…Lindsay…" He said a little louder. Again, she shifted slightly, but again, did not wake.

Danny gave up trying to wake her and gently lifted her out of the vehicle; she responded by cuddling into his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his neck. He carried her to the elevator to take her up to her apartment, gently fishing her keys out of her pocket to open the door.

Once inside the apartment, he gently laid her down on the couch and covered her with the blanket that was on the back of the couch. He then picked up the phone and called Mac.

"Taylor" came the response on the other end of the line.

"Mac, it's Danny" Danny cut to the chase, not wanting to keep his superior on the phone too long, knowing he was probably working on something big. "Is it possible Lindsay could take a paid holiday today or something?"

"Why what's wrong?" Mac voice resonated concern, "Is she ok?"

"Yeah, she's fine" answered Danny, "she's just beat. Her qualification took a lot out of her today and she's sacked on the sofa right now."

"Yeah, that's fine." Mac said, relieved it was nothing serious, "How did it go anyway?"

"P.D said that she's one of the quickest studies he's ever seen." Danny answered honestly, "She missed three on the first try and one on the second."

"Good." Said Mac, "Well, you just let her know that it's ok for her to relax today, I'll take care of the paperwork."

"Thanks Mac," said Danny, "We'll see you tomorrow."

"Oh, and Danny…" said Mac, "Let her know I said good job, I knew she could do it. I'm glad that she has someone to care for her." And Mac hung up.

Danny set the phone down quietly and walked back over to the couch. She was talking in her sleep again.

"Danny, don't let them." She cried softly, "I didn't do it. No…"

Danny kneeled at her side, grasped her hand, and told her that he was there for her.

Her cries died and she settled down again. He stayed there for like 5 minutes, just making sure that she was ok. He stood up and started to go into the kitchen, when he heard her again.

"Danny will you lay down with me…I don't want to be alone." Lindsay cried again softly.

A/N: Ok….I'm so sorry this chapter wasn't up before Christmas like I promised to a lot of people…Things here just got hectic, then I hit writer's block, uck! I'm also sorry that it's not as long as previous ones. The next one should be longer and contain more action…