DISCLAIMERS: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to Jerry Bruckheimer and the wonderful writers for CSI: NY. Any resemblance to scenes from the episodes is included for clarity and continuity and I do not claim any of those as my own work. However everything else is mine.

The Conflict

Lindsay awoke with light filtering through the blinds into her eyes. Judging from the amount of light in her room it must be late in the morning she thought. Peeking up at the clock she read 11:00. She sighed, stretched and turned over into the pillow pulling the covers over her head. The aroma that hit her nose was all Danny Messer. Oh that's right… last night… the nightmare. Her body heated up just thinking of Danny spooned up to her. She had to admit it was a great feeling and she let her mind wander a bit, thinking of his strong arms, his lean body and those long fingers intertwined with hers.

BRRRING!

The cell phone brought her back to reality and she suddenly had butterflies in her stomach at the thought that it might be him calling to check on her. She grabbed the phone and checked caller id quickly. It was Mac.

"Hello," Lindsay said into the phone.

"I'm feeling fine. I actually just woke up."

"I plan to."

"Okay, at 9 tomorrow. I'll be there."

She sighed as she hung up the phone. That had been Mac calling to tell her that her appointment with the shrink was set for 9 tomorrow.

She lay back down stretched her arms above her and let the cell phone slide out of her hand and onto the pillow. She was going to enjoy today. After one more stretch she hopped out of bed and padded into the kitchen to make some coffee. Danny had left her a note.

M-

Hope you slept well. I know I did. Will call you later.

D-

P.S. Enjoy your day off, you deserve it.

She loved the way he short-handed their names, and even though it was a very short note it had an intimate feel to it. 'Hope you slept well. I know I did.' Those two sentences gave her a warm cozy feeling. Then she shook herself. You know Linds, he could have been just seeing a friend through a trying time. Maybe so but she was going to indulge herself a bit. She didn't want to ruin her day off.

The next several hours passed quickly as she showered, dressed, ate breakfast, paid bills, and did some much-needed wash. When she looked up it was 3:00. Danny still hadn't called and her dreamy mood began to dip a bit. So what, she'd go out for a run in the park. She loved going to Central Park. It was the only place in Manhattan that she could go and feel somewhat in the country. In Central Park if you looked at the sky at just the right angle all you could see were tree tops and sky, no skyscrapers. It had the feel of Montana and sometimes she just needed that bit of home.

After a good run through the park, she meandered around just enjoying the day. She reached for her cell to check the time but it wasn't on the waistband of her shorts. Damn! She needed that phone; she took all her calls on it. In fact she was thinking of getting rid her home phone because she never used it. She sighed and began retracing her steps. She was a detective after all. She should be able to track it down. Great Lindsay, setting yourself up to work on your day off, Ugh! When she had completely retraced her steps and still no cell phone she turned towards home. The shadows were beginning to deepen and her stomach was rumbling. Her only hope now was that it had fallen off in her apartment. In fact she honestly couldn't remember clipping it to her waistband. She had been so distracted all day with thoughts of the takedown yesterday, Danny and last night that she couldn't be sure she had clipped it on at all. Her pace quickened towards home. Hopefully it was back at the apartment and there was a message from Danny on it.

She bounded up the steps in her building but stopped short when she reached the door to her apartment. It was ajar! The door showed no signs of damage so whoever was in there had either picked the lock or used a key. Her mind raced. No one had a key to her apartment except the super. But she knew of no scheduled maintenance. Her breathing quickened and her heart pounded. What to do, what to do. She had no gun and no phone with her. She could go to a neighbors and call for help but if whoever was in there was still in there, she didn't want to give them the chance to get away. She knew it was foolish but she stepped up the door anyway to look through the crack.

Suddenly the door was flung open; someone grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her inside. Two strong arms held her in a vise like grip and she started to struggle until a familiar face came into focus.

"Danny," she said faintly "what are you doing in…

"Do you realize you could be dead right now?" he spat out. His eyes were narrowed and there was a grim set about his mouth.

His sharp tone set her on edge so she spat back at him, "The door was not mangled so I figured it was someone I knew or …."

"In this city Lindsay there is no such thing as harmless. If you're going to live here you have to understand that or you could end up like the victims we see day in and day out."

Her good mood shattered now and her anger mounting, she struggled to get out of his hold and as suddenly as he had grabbed her, he released her. He slammed his hand on the door right behind her head and it shut with a loud crack.

"Danny you don't have baby-sit me. I'm a grown woman and I know how to take care of myself," she told him heatedly.

"Well, Montana, that wasn't a very good example of handling yourself just now. And believe me I know you are a grown woman." He placed his other hand on the door behind her and took a step closer to her. She was essentially blocked in and the look on his face had changed from anger to something else. She wasn't quite sure what but when his face drew closer she knew he was going to kiss her. And that made her mad! How dare he belittle and yell at her and then turn around and think he could kiss her. As his lips made contact with hers she started beating her fists against his chest but he closed the distance between them quickly and pinned her forearms against his chest. She continued the struggle with her body but he only pressed his lean body along the soft contours of her body making movement impossible. When his kiss became less ferocious and more exploratory, a tingling started in the pit of her stomach and moved lower down her body. Her mouth responded of its own accord and she let out a little moan when he left her lips to trail light kisses over to her ear. She could feel his warm breath and the scent of him was making her lightheaded.

"Gotcha Montana!" he whispered into her ear.

"What!" she shouted as she pushed against his chest with all her strength. He stumbled backward and the look of surprise on his face did not quell her anger in the least."

"What the hell do you mean Gotcha!"

Shit Messer, this was completely the wrong time to be a smart-ass. "Look I was just trying to say that you couldn't stay mad at me when…" replied Danny as he licked his lips nervously.

"When what? When you're playing me? Are you playing me Messer?" she said as she stepped closer to him.

"No Lindsay…. NO! What would make you think something like that anyway?"

"Because- you- are- a- player- Danny- Messer-!" Each word was punctuated by finger poke into his chest.

"Ouch Lindsay, you don't have to get physical" he said rubbing his chest. "But okay I'll bite." He crossed his arms over his chest, stuck his bottom lip out momentarily as he shrugged his shoulders and bobbed his head from side to side like a mob boss.

"What is a player?" This was an interesting twist on things. He wanted see where she was going with this. And with her chest heaving, her checks flushed and her eyes flashing he could stand to see her in this state a little while longer. God she was hot when she was angry!

Lindsay was rolling full steam ahead with this one. "A player is someone with a huge ego, who flirts incessantly with the opposite sex and gets around." She said each word distinctly as if he were hard of hearing.

"Hmmm…" he said as he rubbed his chin while looking at the ceiling thoughtfully and rocking back on heels.

"Sounds like you just described yourself."

"What?" she sputtered.

"Well let's see, big ego. You sailed in here on the first day with an attitude bigger than the Montana sky, raring to outdo me in the lab and you haven't let up since then."

"You deserved it Messer after that trick you played on me, making me call Mac 'sir' my very first day here. And as far as being competitive in the lab, I'm just thorough and if that makes you feel inadequate then that's your problem," she fired back.

"How about that flirting? Promising me drinks to carry you across crime scene, inviting me out for drinks just so you can show me you know Mac better, asking me if anonymous phone calls turned me on – I could go on" he retorted.

Her face grew hotter but she wasn't pulling back now. "How about all the women?"

His eyes narrowed. Sure he liked women but he'd certainly not been with many lately, not since… since… well not since Lindsay had come around.

"Do you see women hanging around me at the lab, calling me on the phone, asking me out on the street? Really Monroe where are these women?"

"Well I hear the talk," she said starting to lose a little of her steam.

"The talk, oh yeah the talk," he said with a chuckle in his voice. Then with a bit more seriousness in his voice, he said, "Maybe if you took me up on my offers of lunch or bothered to hang around with me after work you'd see it a little differently." "By the way I hear the talk about you," he said slyly.

"What talk?" she replied defensively, the flush suffusing her face.

"That you dance around the issues and you are a tease. Yup that is what all the guys are saying about you." He had added that last line not to intentionally hurt her but to make her think.

That was just cruel. The tears stung the back of her eyes and threatened to spill over. She tried to keep her voice steady but it quivered a bit as she said, "Danny, how can you believe stuff like that. You know I'm not like that. You work with me every day. Do you really believe talk like that?" That last sentence came out as a whisper.

He could tell he had hit his mark. "Do you?" he said quietly and sincerely.

She looked at the ceiling momentarily to keep the tears from escaping. She had been rotten to him just now just because he had made her feel foolish. He was right about her needing to be more careful in the city. And how many times had she said to herself that the talk about him didn't quite describe the man she worked with every day.

She looked at him and said firmly, "No I don't."

A big smile spread across his face and she thought she was going to die on the spot. He took two quick steps to close the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her in a big hug. Then he pulled back, looking into her eyes and said with a twinkle in his eyes, "And tell me Montana, would a player lie in bed next to you all night and not lay a hand on you."

Her face flushed at the mention of the previous night but she couldn't help quipping, "Well technically you did have a hand on me."

"Montana," he growled playfully as she ducked out of his arms and into the kitchen.

"Why don't you stay for dinner," she called over her shoulder. "I'm cooking."

"You're damn right, you are," he said under his breath as he turned to watch her walk into the kitchen.