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Chapter Two

I'm amazed
How you found your way
To my heart
Drove through the dark
It's so strange how life changes

Danny paused outside the office Lindsay was in. He peered through the glass panel and saw her chewing a pen and staring out of the window. Licking his lip, Danny pushed the door open.

She heard the door swing open and jumped, knocking the pen against her teeth. Damn.

"Sorry." He apologized, and placed a cup of coffee before her, and sat on the table.

"It's okay. Thanks." Lindsay held the cup with both hands, enjoying the warmth. She took a small sip and tilted her head at Danny's direction, "What brings you here?"

"I've sent the strands of hair to DNA, and seeing that we're both free, I was just gonna check on you. You look like you didn't sleep well last night. And you didn't kick or scream when I called you Montana tells me," He bent down and stared into her eyes, "that something is up."

She couldn't hide the smile growing on her face, "What a gentleman you are," and stuck out her tongue.

"Have you eaten at all?"

"No."

He hopped off the table and pulled her up, "C'mon. Let's grab lunch and talk, okay?"

Lindsay stood up and allowed him to drag her towards the elevator, "Okay." Maybe the day could turn out well after all.

He ordered pasta for both of them and leaned back into his chair, "So. Tell me what's wrong."

Lindsay swirled her straw and watched as the ice cubes jiggled in the glass, "It's complicated. Can we talk about something else?"

"Lindsay, I know I behave like a jerk. But I am not insensitive. Okay? And I can't stand having my partner act like a depressed old lady." He attempted to slide a joke across the concerned tone his voice was taking.

She glared at him from above her glass of water and said indignantly, "I do not act like a depressed old lady. I am just tired and…"

"And what, Montana?"

A waitress slid two plates of spaghetti onto the table and placed the cutlery next to the dishes.

"You do know if you keep pressing into this issue I'll get out of here and walk back to the lab by myself." She feigned anger to avoid answering. The truth was she didn't want to go back alone, but she couldn't explain anything without feeling like she'd given a part of her soul away. Picking up the fork, she stabbed it into her plate and twirled the noodles around.

Danny chuckled at her empty threat, "See? Depressed old woman."

"Don't be a jerk, Danny. I'm not in the mood." Somehow her voice didn't come out the way she wanted it to, it sounded like it came from another person, gentle, caressing yet teasing; more loving than angry.

Danny, professionally trained to pick up details, didn't fail to hear the tone she had used. Smirking, he raised his hands up in mock surrender.

He dug in and stared occasionally at the woman sitting opposite him. It was strange. When she first came as a replacement for Aiden, Danny felt resent that his old partner had to leave. He recalled feeling a little anger at both Mac and Aiden, he for firing her; she for being so stupid. He called Lindsay 'Montana' to piss her off, hoping that if he treated her badly enough she would leave the city and Aiden could come back, or he would get to work with a more familiar face. Obviously, that wasn't working well. Perhaps it had completely backfired. Now he enjoyed her presence so much that her silence was eating at him. Mentally, he imagined slapping himself so he could awake from this insane dream (or was it a nightmare?) that got him so convinced he was falling for Lindsay.

Chewing on a meatball, he heard her give a small sigh. Looking up, he observed her sucking up a strand of spaghetti before letting out another tiny sigh. "Stop it."

"What?" Lindsay raised her head and met Danny's eyes.

"Stop sighing." Damn, she has beautiful eyes.

She rolled her eyes and popped the slice of tomato lying on her plate into her mouth, "Can't help it."

Danny smirked and called for the check. "I'm paying," his voice took a tone of finality that made Lindsay roll her eyes some more and zip up her purse. "C'mon." He steered Lindsay out of the small restaurants by the shoulders.

She was fiddling with the hem of her jacket when Danny's voice startled her, "You can tell me anything, you know?"

Regaining her composure, she looked in his direction and said, "No, I do not."

"Ouch." He muttered, that hurt.

"I'm sorry, Danny. I don't deny that you can be sweet and kind, but sometimes you're just all obnoxious and horrid. I want to believe I can trust you, I really do. But regarding this whole…issue… no one has yet to gain my trust. It's not something I share openly."

Danny could not help but smile a little at her words, "I want to believe you can trust me too."

They returned to the lab and hardly saw each other until the shift was over. Striding into the locker room, Danny caught sight of Lindsay zipping up her bag.

"Hey."

She turned around and smiled at him, "Hi." Picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, she smiled again and said, "Bye."

"Montana," Danny gave into temptation, "Wanna join me for dinner?"

Lindsay felt a little shocked. Two meals in a span of less than 12 hours? She looked at Danny for a while, "I…uh…don't know. I think I need some time alone. Maybe another time?"

"Yeah, sure. Rest well."

"Uhm.. Thanks. See you."

Their eyes lingered on each other for a second before both turned away and proceeded doing their own things. Danny concentrated on spinning the combination of his locker while Lindsay zipped up her jacket, muttered a goodbye under her breath and left the room. When she was out of earshot, Danny heaved a gigantic sigh and rested his head against the locker. He was still unsure if he had intended to ask her out. It was all just too confusing.

He found himself pondering thoughts he should never even think about entertaining.

If only I could find…

Danny slammed his locker shut and jumped a little when he caught sight of Lindsay's cell phone lying on the bench. A sideway smile grew on his face and he pocketed it, feeling a sense of exhilaration he hadn't felt in ages.

An excuse to see her one more time tonight.

Lindsay took a long, warm shower when she got back to her apartment. She hadn't gotten used to calling it home yet. Walking past the small book shelf, something compelled her to pull out the photo album jammed in between two thick volumes of forensic journals.

Perhaps it was the exhaustion affecting her, or maybe because her birthday was fast approaching, but she sank into the couch and flipped open the album feeling a little homesick. Lindsay smiled at the sight of her 16 year old self riding on a gray pony she had loved so much, but the tears came when she reached the middle of the album, where the pictures of her old workplace back in Montana were.

She paused at one of those placed towards the end of her collection and sighed miserably. Her two best friends and her were sitting on the stiff metal chairs near the lobby of the Montana lab, and they were smiling so radiantly at the camera. Unable to control herself, a big sob escaped her throat and she reached for the box of tissues on the table. Lindsay regretted allowing herself to look at those photographs. She was about to get up when there was a knock on the door.

Wiping the tears fiercely away she walked towards the door and looked through the peephole.

"What do you want?" She asked, yanking the door open.

Danny smirked, "Must you be so rude?"

She glared at him when he invited himself in. "You left your cell phone in the locker room."

"Oh. Thanks. You could've called, you know?" Lindsay snatched her phone away before closing the door behind her. Her fingers grazed his outstretched palm and she recoiled a little from the tingly feeling.

"Nah, it's more fun this way. Why are you crying?"

"No, I'm not!" She denied it all a little too quickly.

"I'm a CSI, Montana. Besides your cheeks are still wet," He lifted his hand to wipe the sheen of tears away, "And there's used tissues all over your couch."

Lindsay noticed his hand was still on her cheek and removed it gently, "Thank you for returning my phone, you don't have to stay."

Danny stared at her with a small frown.

A/N: This chapter is too sappy. Any ideas?