The interrogation had been going well. Danny stood back and watched as his partner laid out the evidence before the scumbag they had just hauled in. Alex Davis was a real piece of shit with the consistency of Teflon. He had been picked up numerous times, more than a couple for rape, but they could never get anything to stick. This time though, thanks to Lindsay and some creative dumpster diving, they had the bastard cold, which was why he was letting her take the lead in this interrogation.

He gazed at her and had to force down the smile as she methodically laid out the crime scene photos. He didn't however, try to stop the swell of pride or the feeling of absolute respect he had for her.

She was dangerous, this country girl from Bozeman, Montana. She had caught his attention the day she walked up to Mac and introduced herself. She had been nervous and excited and beautiful, so he did what any man in his position would have done, he set her up. The reason was equal parts his nature and the grantee that she wouldn't be forgetting him any time soon.

Danny had hoped that this thing he seemed to have for her would burn itself out, that her novelty would wear off after a few months, but he had been wrong. If anything, as the months passed she became even more fascinating and he wondered all the time now what was going on beneath her surface.

Shaking those thoughts off he realized that Davis was speaking and he focused in on the words. The complete rage that filled him at the filth spewing from the suspect's mouth had him stalking over to the table, ready to commit a calculated act of violence, but his partner cut him off.

He backed down and let her take the lead again and this time he didn't try to hide his smirk as she told this asshole exactly how they were going to put him away for the rest of his natural life. He even added a couple of his own comments to add to the suspect's displeasure.

He hadn't expected the guy to jump the table and wasted precious seconds in stunned fascination. The shock was fleeting and he was on the bastard faster than he could blink.

"You sonovabitch, get off her!" Davis was screaming that he was going to kill Lindsay and Danny couldn't get a good grip on him. Frustrated, the Detective brought his knee up into Davis's ribs, breaking them; the suspect howled in pain and but his grip on Lindsay never wavered.

Davis's head snapped back in reaction to the blow and caught Danny in the face, splitting his lip. He ignored the blood and lunged for the suspect again and punched him in the jaw. This time he let Lindsay go.

Danny hauled the guy back and slammed him up against a nearby wall.

"You ever touch her again and I swear to God that I will feed you your balls." Danny had pulled back to throw another punch at the guy but two uniforms entered and pulled him back. Davis slide down the wall, clutching his ribs and whimpering in pain.

The young CSI threw off the uniforms but didn't lunge at Davis again like he wanted to, instead he wiped the blood he had just become aware of off his lip and motioned the other cops towards the suspect.

"Get'im outta here."

The two uniforms did as they were told and none to gently removed Davis from the room. Danny didn't give the scumbag another thought because his entire focus was now on Lindsay.

He knelt down next to her and gently brushed her hair back from her face.

"You need to stay with me, Montana," he whispered but she couldn't do it. She lost consciousness just as Mac and Stella entered the room. Stella looked angry and concerned and Mac looked down right scary.

He took one look at Lindsay and said in a low barely controlled voice.

"Someone better tell me just what the hell happened in here."

Danny wiped a weary hand over his face and sighed. This was not going to be good.

The paramedics had been called at Stella's insistence and they were now in the break room looking Lindsay over. She had regained consciousness before EMS had arrived and Danny had stayed with her, her head cradled in his lap until the med techs had taken her away from him. He had wanted to follow but one look at Mac and he knew that wasn't going to be an option.

Stella had gone with her, helping her at Lindsay's insistence, to the break room so the EMT's could look her over.

She hadn't been able to talk above a whisper and if Davis had been with in Danny's grasp at that moment he would have killed him.

Mac had left him a few minutes ago cooling his heals in his boss' office, and when he got back the look on his face was grave.

"Sit down, Danny" It hadn't been a request and the young CSI felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.

Mac sat down at his own desk and regarded his employee with an expression that Danny couldn't place. He started to fidget.

"Davis has called a lawyer. He is going to claim that the officer in charge of his investigation used excessive force and that he had said things under duress. He is even going to throw around evidence tampering and claim that the officer in charge had a grudge against him."

Danny bolted upright from his chair. "That is a damn lie! That sonovabitch! He-he…" Danny couldn't finish.

"Sit down, Danny," Mac said. The young CSI tried to calm himself and sank back down into his chair. His boss leaned forward and eyed him.

"I'm going to have to pull you from this case." An instant protest rose to Danny's lips but Mac held up a hand to forestall him.

"Danny, you broke the guy's ribs. If we have any chance of getting him we have to play it careful and that means you are off this case and unofficially taking a few days off."

"You mean I'm suspended," he groused and Mac shook his head.

"No, you are going to take a few days off, paid vacation." Danny must have looked as confused as he felt because Mac cracked a small smile.

"He attacked your partner. I'm frankly amazed he came out of there with only a couple of broken ribs and a bruised jaw but you know how this works. He can find a lawyer that will come in and shoot holes in your case. We need to do everything we can from this point on to preserve the evidence."

"So you ain't mad at me?" Mac shot the young CSI a rueful look.

"Actually I'm furious, but not so much with you after I saw Lindsay's neck. He attacked one of my CSIs. He won't be getting away with that and I'm going to make sure he doesn't. Now go on." He said, dismissing him.

Danny still wasn't sure he understood exactly what happened and his confusion followed him to the door. He was about to leave when Mac's voice caused him to pause.

"Oh and Danny? Call me later and let me know how she is doing."

Danny smirked and walked out. His boss knew him too well for his own good.