Disclaimer: I am not connected in any way with the creators of any of the CSI shows. (I wish I was though, so Danny and Lindsay would get together already.) These are just my mind's version of the show.

Sorry about the cliffhanger. :D Don't worry, it gets resolved in this chapter. I'm going to have the couples come together one by one. :D I'm still figuring out what to do with Hawkes and Cassie and how they're going to come together. Hope you guys enjoy this one:D

The next day, Danny and Lindsay were put on separate cases. Mac put him on the same case that made him go dumpster diving yesterday. As he processed the scene, his mind wandered. Wonder where Montana is? He had arrived at work that morning earlier than usual, and he opened his locker half expecting something from Lindsay to be waiting for him. To his disappointment, his locker held nothing but his extra set of clothes and toiletries.

Sighing, Danny grumbled to himself. Well, what did you expect, Messer? How can she leave anything for you if she's not even here yet?

He was soon pulled out of his musings by the ringing of the phone attached to his waist. The caller ID read, "Mac". He flipped his phone open and answered the call, "Yeah, Mac, what's up?"

Tucking the phone between his ear and shoulder, he stuffed his things in the locker and nodded to himself. "Yep. Got it. I'm on my way." He disconnected the call and let out another sigh. I guess I'll just have to wait till later to see her.

He slammed his locker door shut and headed out to meet Mac.

Lindsay walked into the lab, half afraid that Danny might be there. She wanted to avoid him until they could seriously talk. I don't think I'll be able to face him and talk to him normally until we settle this. She let out a frustrated growl and sat at her desk. Tonight, I guess.

As she turned the chair, she noticed the brown paper bag sitting on her desk. Despite her morose thoughts, she was unable to hold back her smile as she saw it.

Lindsay reached for the bag. Inside was a sandwich from her favorite deli. Along with it was a small note. She pulled it out of the envelope. My turn to bring you breakfast, Montana. Go to the break room. Wondering what was waiting for her in the break room, she wandered off, holding the sandwich and the note in her hand.

She found the break room empty. Then she looked around and saw something that made another smile break across her face.

On the counter of the break room, sat a steaming latte from Starbucks. It was marked with a bright yellow post-it that said "Montana" in Danny's messy scrawl.

She quickly crossed the room and picked up the cup. Under it was another envelope. She shook her head to herself, amazed at Danny's thoughtfulness and read her second note for the day. Just wanted to make sure you got breakfast. Take care of yourself ok? Maybe we can meet for lunch? I miss you. Love, Danny

Lindsay's lips curved softly. He really was the sweetest guy in the world. Only with you, Lindsay, the voice in her head reminded her. Not that Danny wasn't a sweet guy by nature. Despite the fact that he couldn't seem to commit to anybody, he generally treated women well. But only with Lindsay was he thoughtful in that special way, taking care of her without smothering her, leaving things that weren't clichéd, things that only she would like and understand. That's how she knew it was sincere: because it wasn't scripted.

We really do have to talk. She sipped her latte as she walked away, savoring the sweet warmth.

At noon, Danny headed back to the lab. He was hoping Lindsay would be there. He hadn't heard from her all morning and Mac had kept him too busy to even send her a message. But as he searched the lab, he found himself disappointed again.

When he nonchalantly asked Stella if she saw Lindsay, he swore he could see a smirk lighting her face as she answered and told him that she was at a scene. Danny avoided her eyes, thanked her and walked away. Guess he'd have to wait a while longer to see Lindsay again.

As he entered the office he shared with Lindsay, his eyes fell upon the calendar that hung o their wall. Surprised, he checked the date again. Wow, time really flies by. He hadn't even noticed that his birthday was the next day.

He also remembered that week's schedule. It just so happened that tomorrow was also his day off for the week. Wonder if she's off tomorrow. Maybe she'd spend the day with me.

Glancing at his watch, he noted that it was now close to lunchtime. Just then, he noticed the small, folded piece of paper under his pen holder. His heart lifted as he saw the neat handwriting on the note.

Hey, Messer. Go to the break room. – Montana

Danny lunged out of the chair, striding eagerly to the break room, hoping, wishing, and praying that Lindsay would be there.

He skidded to a stop just before he slammed his face in the glass door in his eagerness to see if she was waiting for him. Damn. This is becoming a really disappointing day. She wasn't inside.

He wandered around the break room, wondering what he was supposed to find and saw the white take-out bag. It was simply labeled "Danny".

Chuckling to himself, Danny opened the bag to find his favorite Chinese take-out. Inside the bag was another note, similar to the one he left for her this morning.

Wouldn't want my partner to go hungry. Take care of yourself okay? Thanks for breakfast. – Montana

Danny flopped back down on the couch, the take-out bag in his hand. He snapped the chopsticks apart and started eating the lunch Lindsay bought him. That was how Stella, Flack and Jordan found him when they walked in the break room a few minutes later.

All three immediately took in Danny's goofy grin as he stuffed himself with beef sautéed in oyster sauce. He smiled brightly at them and waved with his chopsticks and continued eating.

Flack immediately started ribbing him about his cheery mood. Glancing around the break room, he asked Danny, "Well, I don't see Monroe around, so why're you grinning like an idiot, Messer?"

Danny widened his eyes and mock innocence as he swallowed. "What makes you think that Montana is the reason why I'm smiling?"

All three had identical smirks on their faces. Flack glanced at the two women and inquired, "Any of you ladies want to answer Messer's incredibly stupid question or do you want me to take this one?"

To everybody's surprise, Jordan raised her hand mischievously and replied, "No, it's okay, Don. I got it." She plopped down beside Danny on the couch, pulled her leg underneath her to face the happy man eating Chinese take-out and answered his question.

"See, Messer, I know I haven't been here long, but I'm going to take a shot and say, uh…" she furrowed her brow, pretending to think deeply. She snapped her fingers and said, "It's cause you like her!" with a firm nod of her head.

Again, Danny widened his eyes and aimed to make his expression as clueless and naïve as he could. "What? Can't a guy be happy cause he's eating a great meal?"

Jordan grabbed the bag and started looking at it. "Alright, let's examine the evidence. Detectives, may I?" she inquired, raising her eyebrow in Flack and Stella's direction, waiting for their permission to proceed. Flack waved his hand to encourage her to continue and Stella crossed her arms, grinning as she waited to see how Jordan would play this.

"Let's see," she mused, looking at the bag from different angles. Zooming in on the address, she let out a triumphant, "Aha!" and turned the bag towards Danny, pointing her finger at the address. "Let's see now, this take-out meal came from Chang's Restaurant. See, that name sounds familiar, Don. It's near that place… What's that place again?" she asked her partner, her pseudo-innocent smile matching Danny's.

Flack smothered a laugh and played along. "Lemme see. Yeah, I know that place. It's near…" he let out a fake gasp. "It's near Monroe's apartment! No, no no, wait! It's on the exact same block as Monroe's apartment!"

"Right you are, Detective Flack!" Jordan praised him.

Danny protested, "What does that have to do with anything? It could just be a coincidence. I could have stopped by that place on the way to work and grabbed myself some take-out. Or I could have had it delivered."

Flack snorted. "Come off it, Danny. Your apartment is across town from that Chinese place. And I know for a fact that you only eat there when you're with Lindsay."

Jordan chimed in again. "All things considered, it can only be either one of two things: A, You came from across town from Lindsay's apartment and bought yourself take out on the way back. Or it could be B, Lindsay brought you take out lunch. Either way, it boils down to Lindsay." She patted Danny on the shoulder, put the bag back down on the couch and got up to stand next to Flack, crossing her arms and smirking at him.

Flack grinned proudly at the way Jordan caused Danny to splutter and choke. Stella, for her part, couldn't stop laughing at the incredulous expression on Danny's face and the way Jordan drew out her conclusion. Boy, these Montana girls are going to give my New York boys a run for their money.

She didn't miss the way Flack looked down at Jordan, at the subtle way his eyes softened as he took in her smile. She also didn't miss the way she would instinctively move closer to him. Stella was sure they liked each other and hoped they would be less obtuse than Danny and Lindsay when it came to admitting their feelings. She would just have to wait and see.

Stella pulled herself out of her thoughts and rejoined the conversation, laughing with Flack and Jordan as they teased Danny some more. She kept silent, and chose to watch, simply because she already knew Lindsay had bought the take-out for Danny. Stella caught her trying to smuggle the bag in the break room and leave quickly.

Looks like everything's on track then, she thought to herself, smiling at the three detectives.

Hawkes was dreading going to the Trace Lab. He'd been stalling all day, making different excuses as to why he can put off getting his results. When Mac came by his office asked him for the fifth time about the mysterious substance they found on the vic's hands, he tried to come up with a good reason why he still didn't have it. He sure as hell wasn't going to admit to Mac Taylor that he was avoiding the new Trace Lab Analyst.

In a gesture of defeat, Hawkes rubbed the back of his neck and told Mac he was on his way to the Trace Lab to get the results.

Mac answered, "Good. I've been waiting for that the whole day. I wonder what took Adam and Cassie so long with it." He looked at Hawkes with his I-see-everything eyes and made Hawkes shift uncomfortably in his seat. Reluctantly, he got off his butt and resigned himself to the fact that he was about to face Cassie again.

It's not that he didn't want to see her. It's just that he remembered the promise he made Stella that he'd be nicer to Cassie. TBut tinking logically, he knew that there was a lot of sense in not engaging in an office war with the people who ran the Trace Lab.

He trudged off to the Trace Lab, half hoping that Adam would be the one to hand him his results. Since the entire office was mostly made of glass, he immediately saw that Cassie was bent over a microscope, working by herself in the lab. Hawkes looked up at the sky and silently asked the heavens, Do you really hate me so much?

Pushing the door open, he waited for Cassie to look up. Nope, no such luck. Looks like he'd have to be the one to make the first move.

"Hey Cassie," Hawkes said tentatively.

Cassie looked up from the sample she was looking at and saw Hawkes standing in the doorway, hands in his pockets. He had a small smile on his face and was looking at her expectantly.

"Hey, Doc," she answered back, pushing away from the table. "What can I do for you today?"

"Um, I came by for the Trace sample I left here yesterday. It was a gel substance that was found on the body dump in Queens. Mac needs the results," Hawkes answered neutrally, trying to gauge her mood.

"Yeah, I got it right here. I paged you hours ago so I could give it to you. I've been done with it since this morning." she replied, getting up to grab a printout from a desk in the corner of the Trace Lab and handing it to him.

"Thanks," Hawkes smiled at her.

Cassie found herself responding automatically to his kind smile. Now I know why people call him the good doctor. He's got that nice guy aura about him. She finally got why one other lab tech referred to Hawkes as a "younger, hotter, male version of Mother Teresa". She replied, "No problem, Doc," still smiling at him.

On his part, Hawkes found out that he liked it when she smiled. Correction, he liked it when she smiled at him. She really was pretty. He found himself studying Cassie and he liked what he saw. She's cute. He found himself noticing how attractive she was. Big brown eyes, curly hair, nice lips, nice smile, nice body. Nice. Hawkes was surprised at the direction of his thoughts and shook his head. He thanked Cassie again and moved to the door.

As Hawkes walked out of the lab, Cassie went back to her microscope. A few seconds later, the door opened again and Hawkes was inside the lab. He stood in front of her and his hands were inside his back pockets, making him look like a young schoolboy.

He said, "Hey, Cassie. I, um… I wanted to apologize about the other day. I really didn't mean to yell at you," he shook his head ruefully. "I actually don't know what happened."

Again, Cassie found herself responding to the kindness that radiated from Doctor Sheldon Hawkes. Seeing as how he was being so nice, she said her apologies as well. "I'm sorry too. I know I'm a bit reactive sometimes. Trust me, I'm working on that." Flashing a bright smile at him, she extended her hand. "Truce?"

Hawkes smiled back and reached out to shake her hand. "Truce."

For a moment, they stood there, smiling at each other, holding each other's hand firmly. Then they gave each other one more shake and Hawkes let go of her hand. He smiled at her one last time and walked out of the lab.

When Hawkes got back to his office, he pondered on the moment in the Trace Lab. Actually, he thought about the pretty girl in the Trace Lab.

Stella's right. She is pretty. She's smart, too. It's always a plus to find a pretty girl who has a brain. Hawkes thought to himself.

Meanwhile, back at the lab, Cassie was having thoughts of her own about Hawkes. She remembered the moment when they shook hands.

Hawkes' hand had been warm around hers, holding it firmly, but not too tightly. She also appreciated the fact that she didn't have to get a crick in her neck just to look at his face. The fact that she was so tiny was a problem when she dated. More often than not, she wished she could find a guy who didn't tower over her.

She realized right then and there that Hawkes was the right size: big enough to make her feel safe, but not too big to make her feel insignificant.

Separated by several rooms and hallways, Hawkes and Cassie both smiled at the same time, happy that the battle of wits had ended.

However, neither could ignore the lingering thoughts in their heads. Hawkes thought about Cassie and Cassie thought about Hawkes.

By the time the day ended, Danny still hadn't seen Lindsay. He was worried, annoyed, frustrated, antsy and hopeful all at once. It wasn't a good feeling. He had sent her messages but she hadn't responded. He thought about calling her, but he was afraid that she'd feel closed in and react by backing off. Nope. That was the one thing he did NOT want Lindsay Monroe to do at this point. He sensed that he was getting close, that Lindsay was slowly beginning to trust him.

Still it did not stop him from growling in frustration. Where the hell is she and why isn't she replying to my messages? Danny took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. Calm down, Messer. Stella told you she's on a case. She's probably just busy. Smiling ruefully to himself at that thought, he realized that the fates had turned on him. Danny Messer, couldn't stay still because a woman hadn't replied to his messages.

Taking another deep breath, Danny straightened up his desk and walked to the locker room. To his surprise, he found a brown paper bag inside his locker. For some reason, he looked around the locker room to see if Lindsay was there. Of course she isn't here, Danny chided himself at his foolishness and reached for the bag.

Inside was a mini CD, similar to the ones he had given her. Accompanying the CD was a note, again written in Lindsay's neat script. Danny, don't play this until you get home, okay? Love, Montana

Danny reread the note again, confused. He was half tempted to run back to the lab and play it on his computer, but some inner voice told him to do as he was asked and go home. He stared at the note for another long moment. Something was off. As he pulled the rest of his things out of his locker and got ready to go home, he tried to pin down what was so different from the other notes that Lindsay left him.

He sat for a moment on a bench in the locker room. Letting his eyes lose focus as he stared on a blank spot in the wall, he thought about the note. He stayed there for a few minutes, just thinking.

Then it hit him. He pulled the note out of the bag again and reread it.

He smiled.

She signed it, Love, Montana.

Although he warned himself not to read too much into it, Danny's heart was beating triple time. He hoped with all his might that it meant something. I know she cares about me. I'm sure she does, he told himself fiercely. He didn't really know how he knew, but he knew with a bone-deep certainty that Lindsay cared about him very much.

Smiling softly to himself, he headed home.

Lindsay stood across the street from Danny's apartment building, a small white bag in her hand. She had been bouncing on the balls of her feet, impatiently scanning the streets and keeping one eye on the door of the building. Danny still hadn't arrived.

What could be keeping him? I figured he'd go straight home. She glanced at the watch she wore on her wrist. Six-thirty. She knew Danny always got home around this time. She had been here for fifteen minutes, just in case he got home earlier than usual.

She stayed in a place where she could keep an eye on the door and stay out of sight. She did not want Danny to see her. She trained her eyes on the door, until a familiar sandy blond head pushed away from the throng of people. Her breath caught in her throat and her heartbeat escalated. She watched him enter the building and took a deep breath. Ten more minutes, Monroe.

Danny whistled to himself as he entered his apartment. Although the subway was jampacked, he had gotten home a little earlier than he expected, particularly since he walked quickly tonight, impatient to get home and find out what was on the mysterious CD.

He hung his key on a hook near the kitchen light and dumped his mail on the counter. He shrugged out of his coat and crossed to his CD player. He popped in the CD and waited impatiently for it to start playing.

Love once left me cold and gray
I had almost reached heaven just to feel it slip away
But life's too short to waste away being scared to take chances
Or so I heard wise men say

I wanna be loved faithful and true
I wanna be loved 10 billion lifetimes with you
I wanna be loved and after all I've been through
I'll let my heart take its chances just to be loved by you

Taste, touch, hear, see, feel me now
And you'll know I'm so ready to exchange lifelong vows, yes i am
Cause now you've shown me how God has smiled
On this chance and this moment, for this I've prayed all my life

I wanna be loved faithful and true
I wanna be loved 10 billion lifetimes with you
I wanna be loved and after all I've been through
I'll let my heart take its chances just to be loved by you

I wanna feel there's a reason for living again
I want us to fly far away
And i want my heart to sing the words only you can understand
So put your hand in mine, say a prayer tonight
So that we might find love

I wanna be loved faithful and true
I wanna be loved 10 billion lifetimes with you
I wanna be loved and after all I've been through
I'll let my heart take its chances just to be loved by you

By the time the last strains of music ended, Danny's heart was beating so fast it threatened to knock out of his chest. Was this Lindsay's answer to his question?

Distracted from his thoughts by the buzzing of his door, Danny tried to calm himself down. After he got rid of the person at his door, he was going to go across town and see his Montana.

Danny flung the door open to find Lindsay standing there, looking unbelievably beautiful in his eyes. She stood there, smiling uncertainly, holding a chocolate cupcake with white frosting. On top of the cupcake was a single candle. "I wanted to be the first to say happy birthday, Danny," she said softly, holding out the cupcake towards him.

Smiling crookedly, Danny swiped a bit of the frosting. His heart was still on overdrive, but he tried to play it cool. "You remembered."

Lindsay smiled at him again. "Make a wish," she invited.

Looking deeply into her eyes for a long moment, Danny stood there silently. After a few seconds, he blew on the candle.

"So where's my gift?" he inquired, gazing at Lindsay.

She stood there silently, taking a deep breath. Then she raised her brown eyes to meet his blue ones and said softly, "Me."

Danny's smile threatened to rip his face apart as he reached out for her and wrapped her in his arms. She clung to him tightly as he pulled her inside and hugged her for one long moment. Then he pulled his head back and tipped her chin up and placed his lips on hers.

The kiss was everything Lindsay dreamed it would be. It was fireworks and stars, waves crashing on the shore, bells tolling and all. She hugged Danny tightly and kissed him back, finally finding in Danny's arms a place in New York that she could genuinely call home.

This chapter's song was "I Wanna Be Loved" by Eric Benet. I hope you guys liked it. I hope to TPTB that there's D/L in this week's episode. I really miss them. I'm sorry if there wasn't equal attention among the three couples. I figured if Danny and Lindsay got their "are we or aren't we" tango out of the way, they can concentrate on getting Jordan and Flack and Hawkes and Cassie together.

The next one will have Moving Day, but this time, Danny and Lindsay will be an official couple, so yay:D

Let me know what you guys think ok? Your reviews mean a lot. :D