Disclaimer: I don't own anything here but my own thoughts. Really, if I did do you think I would be sitting on my couch in Texas! All belongs to the fab people at CBS who bring us CSI: NY every week! I wish I was one of them!

Summary: This is a DannyLindsay story. If you don't like 'em together, don't read this. No flames as per their relationship. This is why you have a choice to read this or not:D

AN: Wow! I never expected people to like this story so much! (blushing) Anyway, here is the next chapter. I hope y'all enjoy this as much! Thanks!

chili-peppers- Wow! You were my first review for this story! Glad you like it!

Mrs. Fitzgerald- I glad you like the different POV's. It was something different than what I normally write. Each chapter will follow the same format. Thanks for the review!

artigiano- Thanks! There will be 5 chapters total, so I hope all of them are of the same quality.

dddynamite- Thanks! I hope you continue to read and review!

anona- Thanks! I'm glad you like the story. The updates with probably be about a week apart since I started back to school this week.

Chapter 2.

Hearing

Hearing. To perceive (sound) by the ear, to learn by hearing; be told by others, to listen to attentively, to receive news or information.

(Danny's POV)

Danny had never thought much about hearing. It was a natural thing to do. But after he had met Lindsay, he found himself thinking a great deal about sound and hearing.

At first, it had started by just hearing her voice. He consoled himself that it was just because she did not sound like anyone else. Why else would he enjoy the sound of her voice? It certainly not because he had feelings for her, he told himself.

When Mac told him that she had taken down a suspect, he was skeptical. He had never heard of a female CSI doing that before. He tried to talk to her about it after he found out, but she brushed it off.

He was impressed by her knowledge of music when they worked the case of the high school student who was having the affair with the older man. "How did you know that the music was from Wicked, Montana?"

She smiled. "Music keeps me company, Messer. You should try it sometime. Broaden your horizons."

He laughed. He was beginning to love sparring words with her. Hearing. Just hearing the sound of her voice, whether it be something about work or a hidden barb with her, he was beginning to become addicted.

It had become a habit. Bantering with her. He liked it. He always tried to come up with something witty for her, knowing that she would not let him down.

When he was trapped in the panic room, he felt her voice urging him on in his head. Mentally, while he processed the evidence, he thought about everything he would say to her if she was the one trapped, not him. He would try to make her laugh. I really love the sound of her laugh. Love? What am I saying? Gawd, being trapped in here has rattled my senses. The sound of his phone constantly ringing had been grating on his nerves.

He remembered the case where he made fun of her for knowing a song from Wicked. She had said that music had kept her company. He never realized that those words would save his life. But there he had it. He recognized the ring tone on the locksmith's cell phone. If he could only bring himself to tell her how she saved his life.

Only weeks later, he had gotten the sound of her voice out of his head. He saw a pretty girl on the subway home, but unfortunately life decided to intrude. Instead of asking the woman out, he found a dead body instead.

He was studying the scene with Mac when he heard the sound of her shoes. He turned and looked at her in fascination. He couldn't help but say, "Well hello Ms. Monroe. Ya clean up nice." He listened to her murmured response, shivering at the huskiness in her voice.

He had never heard that quality in her voice before and he longs now to hear more. Wow. That just blew me away. He tried to blow it off, but it lingered in the back of his mind throughout the night.

Finally, he got to go home. "Ya gotta be kidding me!" Danny noticed the same woman from the subway before. He smirked. This outta take my mind off of Montana.

He was wrong. The relationship didn't last beyond that night. Disturbed, he realized that the only thing he had on his mind was her. So he tried to cover it up when he worked with her. The next case they worked together made it especially easy to flirt harmlessly.

He loved hearing her gasp of shock when he asked her if she wanted to see 'Rough Sects'. It was a play on words that he could not pass up. She surprised him when she asked him to go to Cozy's.

He entered the jazz club, talking in the ambience of the music. He saw her from across the room and walked over to her. He was confused when she said, "I ordered a beer for you." He noticed a different quality to her voice. It was softer, more alluring. He found himself taken in by her voice. It sent shivers up his spine. He was still confused when she told him that he didn't know everything about Mac. His confusion was broken when he heard Mac on stage.

The sound of Mac's voice brought him back to reality. He realized that she hadn't brought him there to deal with the rising tension between them; she had brought him there to prove a point. Still, he wasn't one to pass up an opportunity. They talked that night, really talked. He learned about her family and her life back in Montana. He told her a little about growing up in New York City. He failed to mention anything having to do with Tanglewood.

The next week, he made the mistake of betting against her. How could I have known that any person would eat those bugs! I can't believe she cost me twenty bucks. Should have known better than to bet against a country girl. Especially after she told me about Montana.

A couple of days later, he was pleased and shocked about her offer to buy him drinks if he helped her with her case. He didn't know what to think when she told him that he would have to carry her. He decided to pass off his uncertainty of being able to control himself by telling her, "I know you promised me drinks for this, Montana. But I think I'm gonna need dinner, too."

He loved the sound of her laugh. Then she called him cowboy. Cowboy? Do I look like a cowboy?

The opportunity to banter with her became the highlight of his day. He was truly coming to look forward to any moments spent with her, whether it was on a case or just talking in their office.

She still managed to surprise him, though. He almost fell off his chair when she asked him about phone sex. He was sure his overheated brain was just playing tricks on him, so he asked her what. She repeated the question and he realized that he had heard her right. Even after she explained that it was for a case, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to what it would be like if she made an explicit call to him. He quickly changed his train of thought when he realized that it would only get him in trouble.

He loved her sighs of frustration when a case wasn't going good, as well as the sparks that came to her eyes when something went right. Her esoteric knowledge still astounded him. In fact, it almost got him in trouble when he warned her that he might ask her to marry him. What the hell was I thinking, saying that? Geez! Just because a woman knows something about football? When am I gonna learn to keep my mouth shut. I'm just thankful that she just blew it off.

When he thought about her being lost in the bombing, he still trembled. Only the sound of her voice kept him sane from his worry about Flack. He hoped that he provided something similar to her. He was surprised and pleased when she asked him for a ride home. He couldn't help but still ask her in the hospital if she still wanted him to take her home. His heart fluttered at her husky murmur yes.

(Lindsay's POV)

Sound or the lack of it was something that Lindsay had not thought about until she moved to New York. After her first day in the city, she thought she was going to go mad at the constant sounds of the city. Sound encompassed her night and day, relentlessly punishing her. Her first night in the city, she did not sleep. In Montana, she was used to the stillness, the quiet chirping of crickets cutting through the night to lull her to sleep.

After her first week in the city, she was sleeping through the night a little. She still woke up after about four hours. As least I get four hours.

Then she started her new job. Never did she think that her restless nights would continue.

When she met Danny, she was shocked. His accent is atrocious! Am I really supposed to be able to understand a word of what he is saying? It's like he is speaking another language!

Soon she learned to speak a little of his language. That was due to the case with the kids that were subway surfing. She still remembered the word. Doot de doot. That was the engineers name for the kids. She felt proud at that accomplishment, but did not understand why she looked forward to talking to him so much.

Soon after she started working with him, he began to call her Montana. Every time he called her that, she cringed. She hated the nickname. Why must he remind me at every turn that I'm an outsider?

She decided that she was a big girl and that if he wanted to call her a nickname, even if she didn't like it, she would shrug it off. Then one day, he was acting all superior to her and she snapped. He had kept going on about how he knew Mac better than her. So she did a little research and found out that Mac played bass at a jazz club on Wednesday nights. Smirking to herself, she decided to surprise Danny. So she asked him out to the club. She was no fool; she saw the look on his face when she issued the invitation.

When she got to Cozy's, she was impressed by the atmosphere. She chose a table in the middle of the room, so that she had both a good view of the stage and of the door. When the waitress came to take her order she ordered a white wine for herself and a beer for Danny.

Her heart sped up at the sight of him walking into the club. Why do I have butterflies in my stomach? This is not a date! Come on, girl. It's not like you want to go out with a player like him! She tried to calm her nerves and ran her hands down her pants. She told him that she ordered him a beer.

His voice is different tonight. It's sexier. She was so caught up in his voice that she had forgotten about the reason that he was there. Then she heard Mac's voice on stage and mentally slapped herself upside her head. She realized that she was in serious trouble, but couldn't seem to stop herself. She found herself sharing her previous life with him. Telling him what it was like growing up in Montana. She felt it was one of the best conversations that she had ever had with a guy.

She realized the next day that she was truly beginning to like him as a friend. Even though she was beginning to think of him that way, she realized that she was still up for a challenge. So when he bet Mac that she would not eat the bugs, she just had to prove him wrong. She watched as he shook his head. "What was I thinking, betting against a country girl?" She grinned and giggled at his statement.

She got a chance to get him back. She was completely puzzled about why any man would want to have phone sex with a complete stranger. So she asked him. She watched in pleasure as he turned an interesting shade of red. Then he gave a clue to her case without meaning to. "It's about control. It's a fantasy."

A month had passed. She was working on the case of the dead body found at Kid Rock's concert when she heard the call. As she saw Mac take off at a dead run, she realized that it was Stella's address. She stood by helpless as she watched her friends go to help Stella.

She realized when she was in the interrogation, how well Danny had come to know her. When she stormed out of the interrogation, upset with her inability to help Stella, he followed her. He called her name, both calling her Lindsay and Montana. After she refused to stop, he grabbed her arm. She turned to him, looking deep into his eyes. She barely remembered what he had said afterwards. She just remembered that he was reassuring her, even though he did not know exactly why she was affected so strongly.

Then came her toughest case. When she found out that the woman dressed in the mermaid costume was from Montana, it brought back horrible memories. She went down to the morgue to talk to Sid about her. Sid pointed out the strange calluses on her hands. Lindsay smiled as she explained about rawhide braiding. "You don't think that Danny calls me Montana because I'm a forty-niners fan, did you?" She felt heat creep to her face as Sid said that Danny had a crush on her.

She mentally denied. He was just a friend and colleague. She realized that she was close to going over the edge with that case. The perp would not tell her why he had chosen Sarah. Again, Danny was there for her. He tried to support her, telling her that you don't always find the reason behind what the criminals do, but you catch them. Both he and Mac told her to let it go. She couldn't.

He followed her that night, when she left the building. He looked in her eyes and the purpose hidden there. Without a word, he grabbed her keys and silently told her that he would drive her to the jail. She never understood why she heard what he was thinking, but was grateful that he was there for her.

Time passed for her. Their friendship deepened. Then her day from hell began. It started out as a routine call. She remembered Flack telling her about Sunday block parties. She drank in the atmosphere of the music and people having fun. Then the day turned to hell when the building exploded around her. She remembered the glass and concrete flying towards her, the awful roar of the building being torn apart, then the awful stunned silence that the surrounding area seemed to be wrapped him. In took her a couple of minutes to pick herself back up. Then the awful noise came rushing back, only this time with people screaming and alarms going off.

Later that day, at the lab, Danny called her from the scene to let her know that he was sending her pictures. She realized after he had hung up that he had called her Lindsay. It touched her. They talked on many occasions that day. She knew that only he was keeping her sane from her worry over Flack. She was babbling a little during a coffee break about how she did not want to take the subway home. She never imagined that he would offer to drive her home, but she agreed.

She had almost forgotten about that conversation later that night. She stood in the hospital, watching Flack's chest rise and fall rhythmically, when he turned to her. "Still want that ride?"