-1"I'm in Mommy's photo?"

An immeasurable sense of shock sent coldness down throughout my body, my skin erupted in goosebumps.
'She's alive. How can that be?' I thought to myself. The moments of her last moments, played again and again in my mind. I can never forget how that was.

"C…Could you take me to Mommy?"

She looks at me with those baby blue eyes, and she holds up her hand to my own. Somehow, I hesitate.

"Come."

My hand dwarfs her immensely, as she only could take hold of 3 fingers. She begins to take me further down the network of docks. My heart beats faster within my chest, as the clutter in my head attempted to sort itself to the notion of Lindsay being alive and well.

She stops in the secluded corner of the docks, just underneath the fishing pier.

She yells, "MOMMY!"

"Yes Baby?"

BOOM. A voice that only existed in my dreams and memories for the past 4 years, came alive in that instant. I was dumbfounded. She's alive. Lindsay's alive.

"I found it." "Found what? Hon?"

"I found the picture man"

A long pause came from within the vessel. Then from the darkness of the boat, came the familiar color of her hair, appearing from below the stairs. Then complete shock and the clearing of the rain clouds above me, my heart began to beat with a purpose once again.

Stopping where she stood, she returns my gaze, with a broken stare.

"Marie, go play inside with Rex alright?"

Without pause, Marie runs into the boat and down below.

"Lindsay." I whisper in my breath, as I marvel at the sight of her in front of me.

"Lindsay, you died. I was at your funeral." She walks forward to me, she takes me and with her arms, she wraps them around my body. Pulling me close. I felt warm once again, my spirit swelled with happiness. My empty arms became full of the one thing that kept me going on. A missing element of my beautiful madness.

Unbroken from our embrace, she whispers into my ear. "They can't see you here Danny."

"What are you talking about? For the past 4 years, I believed that you were dead"

"We need to talk somewhere quiet. I don't want Marie to hear this."

She takes my hand, and leads me into her boat. We walk past Marie, and a Jack Russell, must be Rex. We walk into the master suite, and she shuts the door. Looking around, I see that it screamed of simplicity. Queen sized bed, and a simple bedside table. And on that table, I see the very thing that brought me a genuine smile in a long time.

Lindsay takes the picture from me, and sets it down. "Danny I need to tell you why."

So we both sat there, on the bed facing each other. I held her hand in my own, as we began to marvel at the sight of each other.

Before anything else, I had to ask. "How old is Marie.?"

"She's 3 and a half."

It made sense. Marie's blue eyes burned in my memory. It was strikingly familiar to me. It was me.

"Is she mine?"

She slowly nods.

From the moment that Marie held my hand, somehow I knew. I now have a daughter, a child of my own.

Then I remembered when it happened.

--

"I need you Danny."

Those 3 words spoke of the world to me, especially coming from her. It's so hard to find that somebody who fills those needs without question.

Without thinking, I hang up the phone, grabbed my jacket and quickly rushed out of my apartment to my truck.

---

I let myself into her apartment with the spare key that I had. Taking off my jacket, I throw it on the couch along with my keys.

"Lindsay?"

Mac had given Lindsay her first high profile case to handle. A woman who had been killed by an abusive husband. Jakes parents had the same disturbing fate. She had indicated that she was having a rough time with the case, but like her true self, she wanted so bad to put the suspect away. No matter how much it brought back painful memories, of her own past.

"Lindsay, I'm here"

Looking through each and every room, I finally found her in the corner of her bedroom, crying into a pile of pillows. She looks at me with those brown eyes, and her raw red face. I kneel down to offer my comfort.

"Danny. They're letting him go. They're declaring a mistrial due to circumstantial evidence. It's the second time. Double Jeopardy. I did everything I could, every speck of dust that proved that it was him was thrown out. I couldn't help her. I wanted to help her. I failed."

Each one of us had a case that continues to haunt us till our dying day. Call it a curse or not, that was a fact of being a CSI.

She buries her face into my neck, muffling her cries from the neighbors., who obviously have witnessed various events like this before. They didn't mind though. It brought them peace to have a detective in the building.

It broke my heart to see her like this, so I pull away to wipe away her tears.

"Lindsay."

We didn't have to speak to know what we both were thinking right now. I sensed it within me, echoing in my mind, and hers. Many times, we came dangerously close, and I didn't want it under these circumstances. Though this time it was somewhat different, I couldn't explain it.

How long will it take, How long till this aching goes away?

The urge became so hard to resist, I had to close my eyes. In that moment, she began feverishly drinking me in. I felt her lips upon mine. I didn't back away, and I remained there, taking her in.

How long should I stay? How long should I keep myself awake?

I broke the barrier to the urge, and lifted her up into my arms, turned around and laid her down onto the bed. She whispers. "I need you"

I'm a liar just like you and that's okay. I'm guilty.

For the first time, I felt her next to me. I felt alive in places that had died along this tortuous road.

There's nothing left to see, there's nothing left to be.

There was no going back. "It's only ever been you, Lindsay"

There's nothing left for you, there's nothing left for me, it's all been done.

Then she sent me to a place far away. Never in my life I'd think one person could ever do this to me.

When my body could take no more, I collapsed and it all became a blur.