Thanks to lily moonlight and Bulletgirl1723 for reviewing! I'm glad you liked the last chapter!

Chapter Thirty One: Hope

Lindsay Monroe's House, Bozeman, Montana

Fear gripped at her, not only for the storm that was devastating the world right now, but the chance of them being able to make it through the storm, being able to stay alive. A week had passed by, and they had struggled to make it through the week. It was impossible to cook food, something she hadn't even thought about, and now they had to eat canned foods, foods that came in packages, and anything else edible they could find. They had, however, gotten enough water and soda to drink though, which was more important than food. As long as they ate something and had enough to drink, they would be fine. But it was hard to be satisfied when hunger still gripped at her stomach.

She sighed as she paced back and forth in the living room. She looked outside the window, seeing nothing but snow cover the landscape to the horizon. She wanted to see Montana again, the place where she had grown up, or at least the place said to be her home. Paige Hobson had grown up in New York City and Lindsay Monroe had grown up in Bozeman, Montana. Surely that would mean those names where actually names of two different people? She couldn't have grown up in two places at one time, could she?

She ignored the questions that filled her mind. She didn't want to think of Paige Hobson or her double identity. She had to focus on making it alive through the storm.

Danny was standing by the window, watching her pace across the room. "You okay?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"Yeah," she replied. "This just helps me think."

Danny nodded and turned to glance out the window. How could he be so calm? She wondered. This storm could kill them and yet he acted like nothing was going on, that their life wasn't in danger. "How?" she asked. "How can you stay so together, not think about dying and the whole world falling apart?"

Danny turned his gaze back to her, his face showing his worry. Maybe he was scared too, but he just didn't want to admit it. "We can't do anything," he replied simply. "I guess I'm just waiting for a miracle, something that will make this storm go away. I guess that's what keeps me together."

"Hope," a new voice said. She turned around to see Calleigh. "I can't let myself think about not making it through, it's too much of a frightening thought. I focus on the positive that the storm will clear up by tomorrow."

"If only that was true," she mumbled to herself.

"We will make it Lindsay," Horatio reassured her. "We made it this far; we can make it a little longer."

Lindsay looked at him. "The question is how much is a little longer?" She didn't wait for him to answer because she didn't want to know. The storm would either clear up tomorrow or it would last a few more days, weeks, maybe even months. She'd rather not know the answer, because if the storm was over, she would go back to worrying about her case. But if she knew the storm would last longer, then she would be afraid of dying and cry until she did. She didn't like the truth; it always scared her.

She stopped halfway and immediately collapsed to the floor, crying. Danny rushed to her side, struggling to get her to sit up right. She didn't want to though, she just wanted to lie on the floor and cry herself to sleep, away from the real world. "Lindsay, what's the matter?"

"I can't do this," she sobbed. "It's too much, I can't take it anymore."

Danny cradled her in a hug. "I know this is hard, it's hard for all of us. We are going to make it, trust me. You'll see the sun shining down on Montana early one morning, as beautiful as it was before this storm hit."

"But when Danny?" she asked, for once glad for his company.

"I don't know Montana," he said. "I don't know." Lindsay silently cried into his shoulder, not caring if everyone was staring at her. It wasn't just the storm she couldn't take; it was her secret she had been hiding for such a long time.

She was miserable. Crying was the only thing in life that she could ever do right. Crying was her solution for everything, the solution she hated the most. She needed answers, but she wasn't getting them. But answers were truth, and the truth scared her.

A/N: In the next chapter, we'll see how House and Dr. Brennan are doing. It should be up either tomorrow or Friday. And on a random note, who saw House last night? I thought it was a pretty good episode...anyway, I would say CSI: NY is on tonight, but it's not on this Wednesday! :( Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter!