A/N: ok, what do you get when you add case and fluff --- a little Cluff! Here's a Cluff chap.Love, El


Chapter 3: Sear


Lindsay was hunched over the lab table going through various pieces of mail and trash from the victim's apartment. Some of the edges were charred as she sorted them into piles. It seems their victim – Cristine Connors – was a relatively normal, 30-something single female making a living in the Big Apple. She was a legal assistant in one of the big Manhattan firms, which was apparently paying for her to go to school, as evidenced by the various bills and schedules for classes. It seemed like she also liked to travel; she had various brochures from places all over, everywhere from Russia and the Ukraine, to Little Rock, Arkansas. Lindsay had just picked up a few pieces to examine them further, when Danny breezed through the door holding a couple files and reading as he walked.

"Okay, here we go. Our vic's tox screen came back; she's negative for all major narcotics and alcohol, but her blood was sent for further testing to determine what caused it to goo up like that," he glanced up at Lindsay, and -- oh God, was that a mistake, he thought. Her hair was mussed and she looked tired, like she was ready to go to bed, and I could take her there. Oh danger! Danny damn near thought he was going to choke, his thoughts just seemed to keep getting the better of him lately, especially where Montana was concerned. He licked his lips, and she just kept watching him expectantly, never noticing anything amiss. WORK!

"Um, okay, anyway, the results of those tests came back, and it looks like she was positive for sodium hypochlorite." He didn't dare glance up.

"Her blood came back positive for Clorox? The household cleaning agent – Clorox?" Lindsay sounded more than incredulous.

"Uh yeah, that Clorox; you don't know of any others, do you Montana?"

Danny looked up then, only to find that she had slid off her stool and was moving towards him. Deep breath. She had moved herself to his right side, half turned into him, her chest flush with his bicep. Deep, deep breath. Focus. She leaned into him slightly, he could feel her breath, hot and moist against his arm, flowing up over the hem of his shirt and onto his neck. Lindsay moved her right arm over his, pointing at various items on the lab report.

She glanced up at him in profile, completely unaware of his silent battle to maintain composure, "I see we still don't know what caused the burning, but at least we know what caused her RBC's to deteriorate. I think I might have found something in her mail that we need to check into; it seems she's been getting regular information from one of the labs at Columbia." Her fingertips brushed his as she skimmed the page with them. Okay, not working, can't breathe -oh Lordy, she's killing me!

Danny couldn't take it; he backed away from her with a jerk, and dumped the files into her arms. "I gotta," deep breath, "I forgot, there's some stuff I gotta check into, I um, left something over in the, yeah, I gotta finish up some fluoroscopy."

Lindsay quirked her eyebrow at him. He was up to something; she had never known Danny to trip over his words – even when he was visibly upset over his brother and Aiden. Danny was nothing if not collected, and yet, here he was in front of her, a complete mess of incoherent stammering and quick footsteps towards the doors. Whatever, he'll figure it out, she thought, then said,"Uh, okay, Messer, I guess I'll just stay here and," the doors had already swung shut behind him, "finish up with fingerprinting the mail."


Narrow, that's what it was, and he knew it. It was a narrow escape. What in the hell is going on with me? Danny stood shakily, back to the glass in his office door – the office he shared with the woman who seemed to be able to make him stop breathing recently. Damn – I don't think I've ever wanted to just grab someone and kiss them as much as I wanted to with her just then. He ran his hand through his hair, blowing out his breath that only now was coming back to him. It was like she made his body forget to work, and made his autonomic functions shut down.

He took another deep breath and let it out, pulling his glasses off. Why is it that all of a sudden all I can think of is Montana? Why do I want her so much? He knew that he had grown to care about her as more than just a coworker over the better part of the last year - almost like she was a friend; and that it seemed like she had become more in tune with him, he almost dared think she cared. But it's like she doesn't even realize how bad she makes me want her…that all I can think of is her, and me, and how my body temperature seems to rise every time I simply am in the same place as her. It's gotta be this heat wave outside. Yeah that's it; the summertime heat has just fried my brain a bit. But even as he thought that, Danny knew he was lying, at least just a little bit. This thing was affecting his emotions too, something he wasn't sure he was ready to face.


The rest of the day seemed to pass without incident for Danny. No more occasions where he nearly had to run away from Lindsay, just to keep himself in check. He found himself doubled over a microscope in Trace, painstakingly cataloguing the charred remains of clothing and tissues from Cristine Connors, when Marty caught up with him.

"Listen, I'm on my way out, but I wanted to let you and Lindsay know that the arson investigators called and said they didn't find any evidence of an outside catalyst or accelerant used in the fire, so they aren't going to rule it arson. The way they figure, it was an accident or intentional, but either way, they don't really care, as long as it wasn't arson."

Marty stood next to Danny as he glanced up at the news, "'Course the fire guys wouldn't care, someone's death isn't as important as calves." Marty eyed him suspiciously, as if he thought Danny might have lost – Danny was beginning to think so too.

"Okay, so I'm not even going to ask what fire has to do with calves, but anyway," he dropped a file folder onto the stool next to Danny's, "I also wanted to drop this off – the report on stomach contents, well, what we could get anyway. And now, I'm off."

"Thanks, Pino. Listen, you haven't seen my brunette partner, have you?" Marty was just at the doors.

"Um, come to think of it, not super recently, but last time I saw her, I think her and Stella were having a girl moment in your office with a bunch of flowers. See ya," and he walked off. Girl moment? In our office? Flowers? Danny got up and grabbed the file next to him as an excuse to go investigate what Monroe was up to.


Danny had just opened their office door, when he was greeted with, "Oh my God, Stella, I just never imagined, you know? I mean, how?" Man, she's gorgeous when she smiles and her eyes light up. Danny stood watching for a couple seconds, Lindsay was in profile to him and Stella was leaning back against Lindsay's desk, facing him.

"Aren't they just beautiful?" Lindsay whispered, turning and bending over something. Danny moved towards his desk and spied a huge – and by huge that meant the-size-of-a-small-cow huge – arrangement of flowers sitting in the middle of Lindsay's desk.

"What's the occasion, Montana? We miss your birthday or something?" Danny joked, although he knew it wasn't her birthday because he had already looked that information up months ago and stored it away in his memory, just because he wanted it.

Stella grinned widely at him. "Oh no! Miss Monroe here has herself a very sweet admirer." Lindsay shot her an Oh-please-don't-tell-him-he'll-just-poke-fun-at-me look, but smiled shyly. "Seems she impressed some guy recently who thought it'd be sweet to send her these beautiful flowers as a sort of 'thanks-for-smiling-at-me-today' gift. I think it's completely adorable – even the card!" Stella sighed, thinking about how horribly the last time was when a guy sent her something. Too bad there weren't more guys like this one around; Stella didn't know him and she already liked him.

Danny eyed up the two women, then the flowers, dropping the file onto his desk as he planted his hands firmly onthe desk and leaned over to smell the arrangement of yellow and orange roses and lilies. He met Lindsay's eyes dead on as he pulled back up. "So, what did this oh-so-romantic card say, anyway?"

Stella plucked the card out of Lindsay's hand, since she hesitated to read what it said to him. Lindsay's cheeks blushed that beautiful shade of pink that Danny adored as Stella recited:

To the girl from Montana, who can start a fire with one look.

You made my morning sweet.

C.W. Morrow

"See, Danny, didn't I tell you that was sweet?" Stella sighed. "I bet the girls love it when you send them flowers," she teased. Danny just shrugged; his eyes had never left Lindsay's face, and she seemed to be looking everywhere but at him. He could only think one thought: Wasn't Morrow that firefighter from Montana she met this morning?


ok…this was kinda a long chapter, but it was hopefully a good one. next time, the lab gets to meet than new man.

BTW – you're reviews totally make me squeal and smile, so keep them coming, as i love you all!