Lindsay got up to answer the door later that evening.

"Hi." Stella said. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"No. Please come in." Lindsay hoped back to so Stella could come in.

"Why don't I shut the door?" She suggested.

"Do you want a drink or something?" Lindsay offered.

"I'm fine." Stella replied as they headed for the couch. "How are you?"

"Would think I'm crazy if I said I was really missing being at work?" Lindsay asked.

"Probably not." Stella sighed. "A couple years ago I managed to convince Mac to take a week of his vacation time and do something away from the lab, how long do you think he lasted?"

"Knowing Mac maybe a day."

"Fifteen and a half hours and he was back at his desk doing paperwork."

"Sounds about right." Lindsay smiled.

"So Danny's been in an odd mood all day."

"Do you know why?" Lindsay asked.

"Something to do with you having lunch with his mother."

"It wasn't like I planned it or called her up and invited her. She called me."

"She called you and invited you to lunch?" Stella questioned.

"No. Danny had given her my phone if he couldn't be reached anywhere else in the event of an emergency, she called her looking for him because she was in town and wanted to know if he wanted to have lunch with her. I had to tell her he was at work and I offered to have lunch with her. I guess it was because I needed to get out and I didn't want her to have to eat alone."

"How did it go?"

"Lunch was great. Carrie's great too, Danny's a lot like her."

"Did she tell you any sweet Danny stories?"

"A few and showed me a couple of picture of him a kid. That took up about half an hour; we spent the rest of the time talking about other things. She was telling me about the classes she's taking so she can finally finish her GED, which Danny didn't know about. It was nice."

"That's great." Stella said. "But I'm guessing that she's finishing her GED isn't the problem."

"No. I told him about it and he sort of flipped out. Apparently he doesn't introduce his girlfriends to his parents, the last one they met was when he was a kid and that was because they lived in the same neighbourhood. In the end he said he had to take a shower, he said about five words to me after that and was gone by the time I woke up. So I have no idea what's going on."

"He's brooding and trying to figure out why he's supposed to be mad at you." Stella said. "And technically he didn't introduce you both, you introduced yourselves."

"I don't think that would make much of a difference to Danny."

"I say we don't sit around here waiting for Danny to figure out it isn't that big a deal and go out since I'm not on call tonight."

"Out where?" Lindsay inquired.

"Since crutches and alcohol don't work, how about we go and see a movie?" Stella suggested. "We can over indulge in popcorn and candy."

"I need to change."

"Have you got a paper so I can check what's on?" Stella asked

"It's over there." Lindsay replied.

Stella checked the paper and found a decent chick flick was on in forty minutes which would give them time to get there and buy refreshments.

CSI NY CSI NY

In the end they saw two movies; the first was a little too sappy so they saw a big blockbuster movie too.

"If I see anymore popcorn I think I might throw up." Stella groaned as they left.

"You know you just jinxed it." Lindsay said. "You're going to end up with a case involving popcorn tomorrow."

"Why didn't I just pick a nice office job?" Stella asked. "Nine to five no serious hassles."

"Because they wouldn't let you carry a gun and arrest the bad guys."

"True." Stella sighed.

"Do you want to grab some coffee or something before we head home?" Lindsay suggested not quite ready to go home and find out if her apartment was empty or not.

"Make it hot chocolate and you have a deal."

"Hot chocolate it is." Lindsay agreed.

"You know this is nice." Stella said. "Considering the majority of people we work with are men."

"Does it beat the dog show Mac took you to?" Lindsay asked.

"How do you know about that?"

"Danny likes tell me about odd cases you've all worked. I think a woman falling on a knitting needle at a dog show after having a spiked water bottle counts as odd."

TBC