"Danny I think I've got a match…" Lindsay was saying as she walked into their office. She quickly stopped talking when she noticed that Adam was already in the office talking to Danny. Politely, Lindsay waited for them to finish.

"Sure, man, sounds like fun." Danny was saying to Adam. He bobbed his head back and forth and turned up the corners of his mouth while he was talking. "I'll be there."

Adam was about to walk out of the office, when he turned and noticed Lindsay standing behind him.

"Hey, Monroe, my roommates and I are having a party tonight… just drinks and things. A bunch people from the lab and precinct are coming. You should come too." Adam said, inviting Lindsay with a smile. Danny watched the exchange with humor. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that Adam had a thing for Lindsay – which would be weird considering the amount of time that Lindsay usually spent yelling at him for results.

"Thanks Adam, that sounds like fun." Lindsay replied nicely. "Do you mind if I bring someone with me?"

"You bringing Flack?" Adam asked. The moment the words had left his mouth and he saw the confused look on Lindsay's face and the look of sheer enjoyment of Danny's, Adam started to recant his question.

"Why would I bring Flack?" Lindsay asked. She crinkled up her nose and looked from Adam, to Danny and back to Adam again, genuinely confused. "Whatever. I had had plans with a neighbor in my building. I just thought that they could come so I didn't have to cancel."

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Adam said quickly, feeling like he needed to get out of Danny and Lindsay's office as soon as possible. "We'll see you there, then."

Adam walked out of the office and Lindsay sank into her desk chair. She sighed and when she looked up, Danny was staring at her. Danny let out a high whistle and laughed as he looked at Lindsay.

"If looks could kill, Montana." Danny said when he got his laughter under control.

"What?"

"If looks could kill, we'd be looking for a new DNA tech around the lab." Danny continued.

"What are you talking about, Messer?"

Lindsay only used Danny's last name when she was getting irritated or bantering with him. Danny knew Lindsay well enough to know that it was the prior – she was becoming annoyed with him and was wishing more than anything that they'd just get back to work.

"I'm just saying that when Adam mentioned Flack, the looks you were shooting him were deadlier than a cobra with wings."

"A cobra with wings? Danny, I don't think you can do that to the English language. And as for Adam, I have no idea what you're talking about." Lindsay was thoroughly confused. She didn't have a clue what Adam had been referring to earlier and Danny was only leaving her more bewildered. Lindsay decided that she preferred to drop the subject all together. "Now, can I tell you about the match that I got from trace?"

Danny couldn't tell if she was truly clueless or just trying to get him to drop the conversation. Chuckling, Danny let Lindsay spread the trace evidence before him and make the connections for herself.


When Lindsay waked into Adam's party two things surprised her. She didn't realize Adam lived in such a huge place, and she didn't realize that Adam had so many friends. As she stepped in through Adam's door, she had to stop and catch her breath at the sight before her. There had to be at least 50-60 people at this party. There were people everywhere. The lights were low. There was a part of the living room where people were dancing and there was a rather well stocked bar set up on a counter in the kitchen. Lindsay turned around to make sure that her companion for the evening was still behind her.

"Wow." Lindsay said to the guy standing in back of her. "Adam really knows how to throw a shindig."

"I should say so." Replied Lindsay's friend.

Lindsay's "friend" was actually Lindsay's next-door neighbor from her building. Will had graciously welcomed Lindsay to the building with a basket of still-warm banana nut muffins on the day Lindsay moved in. She and Will had been good friends ever since. Will worked as an interior designer and freelance artist. Lindsay had always enjoyed hanging out with him, and had had plans to grab dinner with him when Adam invited her over for his party. Feeling that she needed to socialize with people from work too, Lindsay had simply opted to bring Will with her. If nothing else, Lindsay and Will could check out the hot guys at the party together. Lindsay and Will grabbed some beer and made their way to one end of Adam's living room to talk and watch the guys.

On the other side of the room, Stella was talking animatedly with Flack and Danny. Stella was in the middle of explaining some huge plan to Danny when she caught sight of Lindsay.

"Oh, hey! There's Lindsay." Stella said, interrupting her own conversation.

At the mention of Lindsay's name, Flack's head snapped up. Sure enough, Lindsay was standing on the other side of the room. Her body swayed to the music and she was sipping her beer elegantly. Then Flack noticed that she was talking to a guy. He narrowed his eyes, glaring and attempting to get a better look.

"Why don't you go say hi. Take her a beer or something." Stella said. She woke Flack up out of his thoughts and he turned to look at her.

"She already has a beer. Plus she's got a guy with her. Who is he, anyway?" Flack said. Stella and Danny could tell from the faint change in the tone of his voice that he was disappointed.

"I don't know." Stella said, shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe a date, boyfriend, male escort… who knows? You're a detective. If you really want to know, go find out. All I know is that I'm going to go talk to her. See you boys later."

Stella pushed her way through the crowd of people and made her way to Lindsay. The music was loud and the room seemed only louder where Lindsay was when you added in the volume of everyone's voices.

"Hi Stella!" Lindsay exclaimed as she saw Stella make her way towards her. "Stel, this is my friend Will. He lives next door to me."

Will and Stella exchanged pleasantries and began talking about Will's profession. Lindsay just listened quietly, every now and then casually looking over her shoulder to check on the location of Danny and Flack. She didn't know why she was so concerned about where they were and why they hadn't come over to say hello, but Lindsay just couldn't resist the urge to check on them every few seconds.

"Lindsay?" Stella asked. Lindsay turned to look at Stella, only to realize that Stella had called her name a few times now.

"Huh?" Lindsay stammered.

"I was asking you what you're looking at." Stella said. That same mischievous and knowing smile spread across her lips.

"Oh….maybe she's looking at that fine guy over there. The one by the bar. Oh, is he hot." Will interjected. Stella looked over at Will to see if she had heard him right. Will, catching Stella's questioning look, clarified things for her. "Oh yes, darling, I'm what my mother used to say is that light shade of black minus the "r"…..I'm gay."

Stella smiled and turned to see what guy Will was talking about.

"Who are you talking about?" Lindsay asked, suddenly a lot more interested.

"That god-like man over by the bar. The one with the perfect body, looks like he could be an Italian Stallion…..blue eyes, glasses." Will ticked off the guy's many features on his fingers as he talked.

When Will got to the part about the glasses, Lindsay almost spit her beer out and Stella almost choked on her drink.

"Sorry, Will." Lindsay said playfully. "That's Danny and he's got a girlfriend."

"That's too bad. We were perfect for each other." Will said with a laugh as Stella and Lindsay joined in.

Across the room, Flack was still watching Lindsay and her growing group of friends.

"What do you think they're laughing about?" Flack asked Danny. Danny had been watching a gorgeous blonde walk across the dance floor and close to the bar and wasn't really paying attention to Lindsay and Stella.

"I don't know…..you?" Danny asked smartly.

Flack punched him in the shoulder. "Cut it out. You really don't know who that guy is?"

"Nah man, not a clue." Danny shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "You know, good for Montana if she brought a date to the party. I don't think she's had the best track record with guys since she moved. She's too trusting."

Flack stared at Danny, looked back at Lindsay with concern and finished off his beer.

Lindsay looked at Will and indicated that she was ready to leave. Will grabbed her coat, handed it to her and guided her through the crowd in Adam's place to the door. As they pushed through the crowd, Will moved a bit in front of Lindsay pulling her by her hand and then let the crowd separate them an inch or two as they headed for the door.

Lindsay was concentrating on keeping up with Will when she felt a hand grab her arm and pull her back.

"You leaving?" Flack asked, putting his beer down on the bar and taking a few steps towards Lindsay.

"Yeah." Lindsay said, flashing Flack a look that asked why he wanted to know.

"You leaving with him?" Flack nodded his head towards the door where Will was waiting for Lindsay.

"Yes." The exasperation was evident in Lindsay's voice; even Danny could pick up on it from where he was standing near the bar.

"You can't leave with him." Flack stated plainly.

Lindsay looked down at her arm. Flack's hand still had a firm grasp on her wrist. He wasn't letting go.

"I can leave with whoever I want. Let go." Lindsay said, attempting to free her wrist from Flack's hand. Lindsay shot a look past Flack to Danny, pleading for a little help. Danny was so confused and amused by the scene in front of him that he didn't notice Lindsay's look of desperation.

"You're not going home with some random guy, Lindsay. You're not leaving here with him." Flack said again, his grip tightening around Lindsay's wrist.

Lindsay yanked her arm down forcefully. Then sudden movement caused Flack to loosen his grip and then lose Lindsay altogether.

"You're either drunk or crazy. But you're wrong; I am leaving here with him." Lindsay nearly spat the last few words at Flack. She turned on her heel and walked away from the bar, saying goodnight to Danny over her shoulder.

As Lindsay and Will walked out the door to the bar, Flack turned his head and walked back to his beer. What he found was Danny looking at him, his eyebrows raised.

"What was that about man?" Danny asked, a grin snaking its way across his face.

"What? That?" Flack asked innocently. He was beginning to think that maybe he had been a little too protective of Lindsay. "I was just looking out for her safety. Lot of thanks I got."

"Uh huh." Danny murmured. "Sure."

"Can we just drop it?" Flack asked, picking up his beer and drinking it before Danny could ask him anything else.