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 Watch

That night Lindsay called her mom.

"Hi Mom, it's Lindsay," she said when her mother picked up after the third ring.

"Lindsay… hi," her mother replied a little in surprise.

"You sound surprised!" she said a little dryly.

"Well, you rarely call," her mother replied slightly chiding.

Okay well this was getting off to a smashing start.

"Um, well I was just calling to see how you're doing," she tried again.

"Well, you know it is really busy here with the harvest and all. The men are working around the clock and that keeps me busy getting food to them in the fields," she said a little tiredly.

"No mom, I mean…. how are you doing?"

There was a pause. "You know I'm doing okay." Another pause. "Lindsay when are you coming home for a visit? Everyone would love to see you."

She decided the honest approach would be the best. "I'd love to come home for a visit. I'd love to see everyone but I would really love it if I could spend some time with you… you know, catch up… I think I really need that."

"Okay Lindsay," her mother said a little haltingly. "I would like that too."

Lindsay swallowed hard, "I'll check my schedule at work and see what I can work out."

"Good," her mother replied rather brightly.

They exchanged a little more small talk and then they hung up.

It wasn't a monumental conversation in Lindsay's mind but it was definitely a start. Sometimes you had to put all your own pain on the back burner for a while to be able to reach out to someone else in their pain. And even though she had lost a sister, her mother had lost a child. She couldn't begin to imagine that kind of pain. That must be the hardest loss to bear. To bury someone who you helped create, love and nurture and who in all rights should have outlived you by many, many years.

That night Lindsay did not take a sleeping pill and there were no nightmares. She knew she was not completely healed but acknowledging her need to deal more directly with Laurel's death, making an effort to reconnect with her mother and letting go of the unknown of Laurel's killer helped her begin her healing process in earnest.

On the way to work the next morning, she picked up the Mickey Mouse watch from the jewelers where she had dropped it the day before. The jeweler had admired it and said it was a classic. If she ever wanted to get rid of it he would take it off her hands in a heartbeat he had said. But be careful he had warned her. The clasp on the band was worn and it could break easily and the watch could be lost. I'll be careful she had tossed over her shoulder as she strapped it on her wrist and headed off to work.

When Danny came into work, Lindsay was sitting at her desk in the office they shared, head bent over a pile of paperwork. As he past by her desk, he could swear he heard her humming. He sat down at his desk, leaned back in his chair and surveyed her, his hands laced around the back of his head.

She heard the squeak of his chair and looked up in surprise. "What's this Messer, No hey how ya doing or Good Morning," she said smilingly. You know, back home, we would call that downright rude," she added teasingly.

Danny popped out of his chair in utter surprise, came around his desk to perch himself on the edge of desk across from where she was working.

"Well, Montana, I'm glad to see you in good spirits. Anything special happen?" he inquired casually. He really was chomping at the bit to see what had brought back her back to some semblance of the Montana he was used to seeing.

"No, not really," she smiled and bent her head back over her paperwork.

When a moment passed and she didn't offer up anymore tidbits about her attitude change he decided to change directions. "That's an interesting watch," he offered as he glanced at the Mickey Mouse watch on her wrist.

She glanced quickly at him and then back down at the watch. For a moment he didn't think she was going to say anything but then she said very softly and he thought almost emotionally, "Yeah… it is…. it belonged to someone very, very special to me."

What an old flame? he thought a little jealously. Get a hold of yourself, Messer. You should be glad she's in good spirits no matter what the reason.

"Messer," Hawkes called from the doorway. "We're on. We've got a couple of vic's in an alley not far from Central Park"

"Okay I'm coming," he called after Hawkes. "Have a good day, Lindsay," he said softly and then he was gone.

Damn him! He could still make her heart skip a beat. Maybe someday, she mused. But she couldn't think about that now. She had to go talk to Mac about getting some time off.

That night in her apartment, Lindsay laid the Mickey Mouse watch very carefully on her bureau. It had been a good day. She had finished a pile of paperwork. She had talked to Mac about some time off to go home to Montana. Danny had given a heart stopping smile as she had left for day. "Ya going home now? You be careful, alright." He had said it in that thick accent and playful tone that always made her smile. Yes, it had been a good day.

--------------------------------------------------

The next day, Lindsay woke up late. The damn alarm hadn't gone off. She could have swore she set it. She scrambled around to get out the door and on her way before the city streets got crowded. When was the city not crowded, she thought peevishly. She looked on the bureau for her Mickey Mouse watch. It wasn't there! Her heart went up into her throat. That was one of the few things of Laurel's that she had here in New York. She moved stuff around on the top of the bureau. She looked in the drawers, underneath the bureau, under her bed, on the bedside table. She couldn't understand it, first her phone, then the alarm clock, now her watch. Was she slowly losing her mind? With tears filling her eyes, she sighed. She had to get to work, there was no time left. She'd have to continue tearing her apartment apart this evening.

Ten hours later she was back home in her apartment. It had been a tedious day. For once there hadn't been much going on which was rare for the New York Crime Lab but it did happen once in a great while. Lindsay thought that being bored was much harder than being overworked by a long stretch. Even Danny hadn't been around to help break up the monotony. It must have been his day off.

At least she'd have the energy to search her apartment for her watch. But first a shower was in order. Thirty minutes later, wrapped in a towel she went to the bureau to get some comfy pajamas. A glint on the top of the bureau caught her eye. What the… It was the Mickey Mouse watch right where she had put it the night before. She let out a shaky sigh of relief but she just couldn't understand it. Maybe it was just some long-term after effects of the sleeping pills she had been taking a few days ago. That's it she vowed to herself, no more sleeping pills. And to hold herself to it she flushed the rest of the prescription in the toilet.

That night she wore the Mickey Mouse watch to bed, double-checked her alarm and clipped her cell phone onto the waistband of the pants that she was going to wear tomorrow. Good thing too because just as her alarm buzzed the next morning, Mac called.

Author's Note: As you can tell by now, my other genres are mystery, drama and relationship and character development. So if you're not into that, I apologize but please keep reading because I've already started writing the bits that come after all this and let me tell you it is going to an M rating once I post those. It will still be sweet though, not too hard core. A little something for everyone I always say!