A/N:
here's the Dos chapter y'all – so so sorry about the very long wait, but we've had some bad thunderstorms up here in the NE which have kept everything plugged into an outlet on the fritz….

and on a joyous note: this is dedicated to my new baby niece born Friday June 23d…she's so gorgeous!

Oh! and one other request: when you review – as i'm sure you will (wink wink, nudge nudge) – i need you to put the notation either '1G' or '2E' in the review text somewhere…i'll tally the choices and the winner will directly impact the outcome of the story – the notation's have to do with the new guy and i'm sure you guys can figure out what they mean, even though i won't tell ---

Love y'all lots, El.


Chapter 6: Smolder


Danny strode down the crime lab hallway the next day, headed for a cup of coffee from the break room, then his office for paperwork. He had a new air about him. He was a man on a mission today; I'm going to get her. Danny had taken care in getting ready for work this morning – it was a big day after all – the first day of his pursuit of Montana. He was going to burn up a night with Montana soon, granted that she wanted him as much as he wanted her, or he was going to self-destruct. He looked good, he felt good, and he had a purpose.

"Um Danny?" Stella was staring at him from one of the break room tables. She simply had this look on her face.

"Yeah, Stel?" Nothing could keep Danny from his two points of focus today: Montana and his case.

"You trying out for GQ Man of the Year?" Stella smiled at him. She knew already the answer he was going to avoid.

"No. I just thought, y'know, that I'd get up early today, and not look like such a bachelor."

Stella grabbed her mug and made for the door, right behind Danny. "Uh huh, sure Danny. Whatever you say. But I think you're up to something."

"Stel, a guy doesn't have to be up to something to dress nicely. Tell her, Flack." Flack had just caught up with them as they passed the elevator bays, and fell in step with Stella, behind Danny, as they all made their way towards his office.

"Tell her what, Messer?" Flack was sort of confused. Stella just shot him a look behind Danny's back, indicating his appearance with her hand.

"Tell Stella that I'm normal, and that I look nice, and that it's normal for me to look nice." Flack choked back a grin in understanding then, and looked at Hawkes, who had since joined the little band of merry followers. "Messer, you are something else," he laughed.

"Danny, you smell like you fell into a bowl of cologne," Hawkes quirked his eyebrow at Stella and Flack from his place behind them. "Don't you think you might have gone a little overboard?" he asked. Danny merely shrugged. It doesn't matter, as long as she likes it. The three behind him were still exchanging glances behind his back, Hawkes a little more confused than Stella or Flack. "Danny, is this about that itch you had?" Stella and Flack exchanged a look that said, "Huh?"

Danny laughed briefly. "Nope, Doc, this is about scratching." And I'm sure going to enjoy scratching this one. He rounded the corner and came upon his office door, stopping short. Stella would have run into his back if Flack and Hawkes hadn't each caught one of her arms. Inside the office, Lindsay was at her desk and Fire Boy was sitting in Danny's chair.

Determined to maintain civility, Danny opened the door and grinned at everyone. "Morning, everyone, morning, morning! How are we today?" The trio behind him were holding in their grins, as Lindsay merely looked up at him as he stopped next to her chair. He was kind of…different today. "Um, excuse me, Firefighter, you happen to be in my place." Danny was looking at Colt, and Colt was eyeing him back, and Lindsay realized they had never been formally introduced.

"Oh, um, Danny, this is Colton Morrow, and Colt, this is Danny Messer. The one who I'm working the case with," she made all the appropriate gestures. Danny extended a hand and shook Colt's, continuing to eye up the massive guy. Colt excused himself from behind Danny's desk, and switched positions with him. Danny stood behind his desk, smiling all the while, but growling inside. Listen, you big horse, get outta my place and away from her. Stella, Hawkes, and Flack were rooted to their spots, and Lindsay was moving her eyes between Danny and Colt.

"I hate to cut this short everyone, but as wonderful as it would be to socialize all day, I have some paperwork, and Montana, you and I have some data to go over." Danny gave a look to the trio at the door, as Colt grunted at the use of the name Montana.

"Oh, so you're the coworker who uses the nickname," Colt addressed him. Danny stared him right in the face, not mincing words.

"I'm the one." At least, I will be. Colt merely made a little grunt of noise at the statement, and leaned down to whisper something to Lindsay. She nodded once, said "Eight," and kept her eyes on Danny the whole time. That's it, Montana, feel the New York heat. Colt kissed her cheek and made for the door, where the trio had moved out into the hallway. After Colt left, they each mumbled something about doing work, before splitting into their own separate ways. Danny sat at his desk, eyes still locked with Lindsay.

"It's going to be a great day, Montana."


Danny had gone over the results of the work he did yesterday with Lindsay that morning, and subsequently ran the print he lifted off the victim's tissue through AFIS, IAFIS, and the NYC Firearms Database. So far he hadn't gotten any hits. He glanced over at Lindsay, across from him at her desk, where she was on the phone with Columbia University. She had told him about the mail she had gone through, finding some intriguing letters from Columbia and a couple from pharmaceutical companies which had piqued her curiosity. Now she was trying to determine what connection these letters had to their victim.

"Yes, yes that's right…NYC Crime Lab…No, the information was dated four months ago, around the 17th of February…Uh-huh, okay…yes, I'll hold." She sighed and bit her lower lip. Danny grinned to himself as he caught the motion out of the corner of his eye. Soon enough, Montana. Today, he was pulling out the infamous Messer Charm.

"You know, I really hate it when you call to get information and they transfer you four times and you somehow end up back with the person who transferred you in the first place," she sighed and glanced over at him. "If only we could do it all in person." Danny shrugged and nodded, leaning back in his chair, watching her. "At least they have nice mus…Yes, she was? And that department is located where? Uh-huh, okay, thank you." She hung up and looked over at him.

"Wanna go for a ride?" he grinned.


The ride to Columbia had been hot and muggy. The temperature was high again today, with a heat index of 103. The air conditioning in the SUV had been a short reprieve. Danny and Lindsay made their way through the lab halls of one of the buildings on campus, looking for a Dr. Jeff Terrill. He was apparently the head of a major research study being done at the university, which was somehow connected to their victim. They turned a corner and came upon a large open air lounge that had at least three dozen children in it.

In the center was a man wearing a lab coat, talking to what looked like a parent of one of the children. Danny and Lindsay approached, calling the doctor's name. "Yes, that's me." He motioned the adult away, and turned to face them. "You look like people on official business."

"We are, Dr. Terrill; we're here about Cristine Connors. I'm Detective Messer, this is Detective Monroe," Danny introduced them. Dr. Terrill led them away from the lounge area and towards his office.

"I haven't seen her for a while and she's not due in until Friday, I believe." Dr. Terrill sat behind his desk and sighed. "But since you're detectives and you're here on official business, I'm going to assume something has happened to Ms. Connors." Lindsay glanced over at Danny to gauge his reaction to the doctor's guess, and sat in front of the desk. Danny preferred to stand, taking his usual interrogation stance – arms crossed and legs apart, firmly planted.

"Well, you're certainly good at guesswork, Dr. We're here because Ms. Connors was found dead in her apartment Tuesday." The doctor shook his head at Danny's words, but said nothing.

"We discovered some items in her apartment that led us to you, Dr. Terrill," Lindsay jumped in.

"I'm assuming you found some of the information on the study?" They nodded, senses alert for betrayal of guilt. "Yes, she was such a sweet woman. The kids will miss her."

"Um, Dr., would you mind telling us just what exactly it is you're conducting research on?" Lindsay pulled out a notebook to take a few notes.

"Certainly. We're part of a national research study to investigate the connection between enervated olfactory receptors and subsequent loss of transmittable olfactory sensations in children who were produced through artificial means and the possibility of a stunting of emotional development in these children as a result. The children participating in the study section done here at the university are from the tri-state area, and more specifically, they are all products of artificial insemination using both natural parents' reproductive media." Lindsay and Danny were rather interested in how this type of research related to their victim. The doctor continued, "The children you saw range from two years old to eight, and exhibit a variety of symptoms and conditions related to stunted emotional development. These kids act out, can be violent, but some of them just don't know how to show love or affection. They are cold."

Lindsay felt her heart strings tug for what these children were going through, as Danny nodded his head while mentally trying to connect the kids to Cristine Connors. "How was Ms. Connors involved in this research? Was she a parent?" Dr. Terrill hadn't missed the look of sympathy on the female detective's face, but now concentrated on Detective Messer.

"Um, no," he replied, leaning back in his chair, "she was merely a volunteer who came to help run the basic tests and supervise the children during some of the testing processes." He looked to Lindsay, "It seems we have a lack of students interested in helping children in unfortunate circumstances. She nodded. She appeared to be somewhat misty-eyed, but that was not exactly the case.

Danny knew exactly what the doctor was attempting to do; it was the oldest thing in the book. He was dividing them up by their apparent weaknesses, and was subsequently pandering to the idea that Lindsay would be more receptive to his explanation because she was female and he worked with children, therefore she would get all emotional. So Danny would play along with him just enough to throw him off track.

"Betcha those kids get to be a handful, no?" Danny chuckled. Dr. Terrill turned to him.

"Well, they have plausible reason to be, Detective. These children have problems you and I don't have to deal with." I got my own set of problems. "It takes dedicated people to work with these cases, people like Ms. Connors. Might I inquire how she died?"

"Well, that is the big question," Danny returned. Lindsay made a couple notes, keeping her head down.

"It was very painful, though, Dr. Terrill, that we can tell," she said, glancing up to catch his reaction. None. Just a shake of his head and a tsk.

"It truly is a shame; the children will all miss her terribly. They were quite fond of Ms. Connors, as was all of the staff. She really was the sweetest woman, as I said before. She had bountiful patience and compassion, and yet somehow seemed to not fall into the trap of naiveté that so often claims those who are willing to give their hearts to better causes." Oh brother, cut the crap. "I hope you catch whoever killed her, she didn't deserve to leave the world that way. She was only a volunteer since January, she seemed new to the area, but since then her popularity with the people involved in the study skyrocketed. The children loved her, the parents loved her, the staff loved her…" Danny guessed that he trailed off before he said he had loved her. "She was so caring," the doctor focused his attention on Lindsay intensely, "as women usually are. Much more than we men. She was a gem, and it's so hard to find a good woman these days." Lindsay smiled. That's it, asshole, just keep pouring it on.

"Dr. Terrill, do you keep sodium hypochlorite in the lab?" Lindsay smiled sweetly.

He nodded. "Yes, obviously. We use it as a general cleaner and sterilizer." The doctor wasn't sure how that related to Cristine Connors. "Why?"

"Simple curiosity. Do you know if Ms. Connors was taking any drugs or seemed upset enough to take her own life?"

"No, like I said, she was always so sweet. I never once saw her get discouraged, and certainly not on the level needed to commit suicide. I didn't really know her well enough to know about drug use, but prior to joining the research staff she had to submit to a drug test. If she hadn't passed, she wouldn't have been allowed to work here." Danny caught Lindsay's look at him out of the corner of his eye. "Perhaps one of the other volunteers or staff would know better than me her personal history."

"Yeah, perhaps, Dr." Danny nodded. He motioned to Lindsay, who got up and followed him the door. "We may have to return later to talk to some of your staff and you, Dr. Terrill, and if you think of anything, give a call." Danny opened the door for Lindsay, and followed her into the hall. "Looks like you might make your firefighter jealous, Montana. He was hitting all the right notes in there."

Lindsay laughed. "Oh no, and if we were in Montana, notes wouldn't be the only thing that was getting hit." Danny quirked his eyebrow at her. She shrugged, "It's the Montana way."

They had only gotten twenty feet from Dr. Terrill's office, when Danny turned and headed back, leaving a confused Lindsay slowly following. Danny popped his head into the office, "One more thing, Dr." The man glanced up, surprised. "I know I'd love to have a bunch of rugrats of my own, and working with kids and all – don't you ever get the urge?"

"Um…I," the doctor spluttered out an answer. "Yes I suppose so." He was obviously flustered, just the reaction Danny was hoping to see.

"We'll be in touch, Dr. Terrill." Danny sauntered back to Lindsay, passing her and heading to the SUV. She jogged to catch up, and when she did, Danny smirked at her. "We don't need physical blows to get the info here, we just need smarts."

"You just got a reaction out of him that I was trying to get earlier," she seemed astonished at the fact.

Danny licked his lips, and grinned. "That's the New York way."


The car ride back to the lab was a hot one, since the AC in the SUV kicked out five minutes into the trip. Lindsay seemed especially perturbed by the fact that there was nothing they could do to fix the cold air and they'd had to open the windows. When she sighed in frustration and slumped back into her seat, Danny laughed.

"This is New York in the summertime, Montana, get used to the heat. The city acts like a convection oven, roasting everyone and everything in it. What's got your panties in a twist?" If only it were me.

Lindsay scowled at his mention of her unmentionables, and he just laughed again. It wasn't that she was annoyed by the heat, but rather she was wary of being stuck in a sweaty car ride next to him. There was just something about him today. "Nothing. I just am annoyed because of that doctor. He was completely smarmy."

"This is true." Danny glanced over at her; something else is bugging her. "He seemed to think you'd be a very caring woman to children."

"Please. He was just playing to the fact that I'm female and you're male. If you were the female, he would've made cheesy remarks and googly eyes at you."

"Oh is that so?"

"Of course. I was surprised you got the reaction you did out of him at the end. He was very practiced and rehearsed throughout the rest of the interview; he made sure never to slip up in the act. I know he's involved in her death somehow, I'm just not sure what he did."

"It seems our victim had a good heart. Maybe too good for her own good," Danny threw out. He wiped a hand across his forehead, a bead of sweat managed to escape and slide down his temple. Lindsay watched it roll past his eye and over his cheek, until she switched her focus to the beads of sweat over Danny's lips, and when he darted his tongue out to swipe at them, she sucked in her breath.

Danny heard the intake but decided to play innocent. He made a turn and pulled into the underground lot for the crime lab. Lindsay was still fixated on the spot where his tongue had connected with his upper lip; she was dazed. Danny snapped right in front of her nose, "Montana, we're back."

Lindsay startled and followed Danny into the building. Mm-hmm, come and get it, girl.


"What did you mean that the victim might have had a heart too good for her own good, Danny?" Lindsay was a step or two behind him as he breezed his way through the halls to the Latent Lab.

"All I meant, Montana, is that it might be possible that she was naïve and trusting, and someone took advantage of that. She was taking medications right?"

Lindsay stood next to a workbench, as Danny began sifting through various collected items from their vic's apartment. She watched him pull a couple prescription bottles out and stared as he set them up next to each other in front of her.

"Our victim took allergy medication," Danny stated as he handed Lindsay a prescription bottle of nasal spray.

"That's not uncommon, Danny –"

"Hold on, hear me out." He held up a bottle of Climara. "She was also taking estradiol tablets. I'm sure if we sent her labs back for an ESDI analysis, it'll be elevated."

She nodded, watching as he handed her the last item. It was injection paraphernalia, but there was no drug attached to the use of the equipment, which Lindsay could discern.

She shook her head at him; "But Danny, the needle and syringe are most likely just part of the hormone therapy she seemed to be on. We don't have any other explanation for it being with her other prescriptions."

Danny smiled. "Yeah, I'm assuming she was on some hormonal therapy. There are only two main reasons women go on hormonal therapy: menopause and babies. And given our vic's age, I'm going to say it's safe to assume she wasn't hosting geriatric conventions." He got up and stood just behind her right shoulder, his back to the door. She'll see just what she's been putting me through.

"So Cristine Connors wanted a baby," Lindsay stated, as she could feel Danny's breath on her shoulder. It made her shiver inside despite the very warm temperature in the Latent lab. What she didn't know was that she had made him feel this way only a short time ago in a different lab. "No wonder she wanted to volunteer to help those children. She was feeling her maternal clock ticking."

"Mm-hmm," Danny breathed. "Nothing hotter than a woman who feels an urge to do something, anything" he grunted under his breath lightly, but he was close enough to her ear that she heard it – and it made her stomach knot with fire. Fell the urge yet, Montana? "What I meant before," he licked his lips as they neared the junction between her neck and shoulders, "was that maybe Cristine Connors went to help those kids because she was big-hearted." Neither was wearing a lab coat, and Lindsay knew only thin clothing separated them. He shifted his feet behind her – knowing what he was doing to her, and doing it on purpose – moving around to face her at an angle. "And because it stoked her maternal fires," Danny's mouth was moving towards her jawline. She has beautiful skin, I wish I could taste it. Lindsay was doing nothing to stop him, because if she had been an iceberg headed for the Titanic at this point, the boat would've stayed afloat because she was melting fast.

The pure heat that was creating palpable friction between them seemed to have sent electromagnetism through her feet and into the floor; she couldn't move – even if she had wanted to. Danny licked his lips, eyes on hers as she watched his mouth move on an arc two inches over her cheek bone towards her nose. Come on, Montana, come on. "Maybe the good Dr. Terrill wanted to help Cristine stoke those maternal fires," he moved over her mouth. "But perhaps his experiment went all wrong and murder was the only recourse. Murder with a little heat."

"Maybe he figured a little heat never hurt anybody," Danny's mouth was now a mere inch from her own, and her eyes flicked from his gorgeous lips up to his burning gaze, which seemed to be penetrating her eyes, "much." That's it, short of breath and looking dangerously sexy. Danny watched her eyes for signs that she didn't find him physically desirable, unlike how much he wanted her. His plan was working. She sucked in a rakish breath, sighed out, "Yes," which was more of an allowance for what was about to happen than an affirmation of her agreement with his theory, and waited for him to kiss her. Man, did she want him to kiss her! Yes, ma'am, Montana!

And he would have.

If Adam hadn't walked in with some news.


He didn't seem to notice the incredibly fiery moment happening between the other two people in the room. "Hey guys, I have some news for that fire case you guys are working. We were going over some of your victim's personal items and we pulled prints off a couple of items. One set of prints was found on her bathroom medicine cabinet, and we ran those through the system without getting any hits." He looked up at them. By this point, Danny and Lindsay were a good two feet apart, with Danny focusing all his attention on Adam and the case, leaving Lindsay staring at him and confused and wound up tighter than a pop can of biscuit dough.

"What about the other prints, Adam?" This couldn't have worked out better. Much as I wanted to kiss her, now I can leave her wanting something she didn't get more than if she had gotten it.

"Well they were pulled off of her kitchen counter and then again, we found more prints from this individual in the bedroom. Which I guess would mean that this person had some kind of very personal relationship with the victim. I mean, they would have to, because they were in her bedroom and you know how women get about their personal space and their—"

"Adam!" Danny cut him off. "Whose prints were they?"

"Oh, um, they came back from the medicinal prescription database, matching a Dr. Jeffrey Terrill." Gotcha bastard. Lindsay turned to look at Adam.

"So the good doctor lied. Big shocker there," Danny joked. Adam smiled at him, before turning to Lindsay.

"Lindsay, someone called while you and Danny were out, and I think Stella took the message. Something about 'don't forget, dinner tonight' or something. I figured you'd know what it meant," he smiled.

Lindsay looked down at her watch; 7:10 PM. Their shift had been done for over an hour. She started for the door in a hurry, and turned when Danny called out: "Montana!"

"Danny, I gotta go, I'm going to be late!" She backpedaled towards the door.

"We'll finish this later, Montana," he never broke eye contact with her, letting her know exactly what he meant. Almost, Montana, almost.


ok – super super long chapter there, and i'm already working on 7.

Leave a review cause I left my heart for y'all.