Author's Note: An extra chapter for you guys today since you all are so good to me.

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.

In The Lab

Silence ensued as Danny and Lindsay walked back to lab to begin organizing and processing the evidence. Each were lost in their own thoughts, Lindsay pondering how quickly they could process the evidence and start getting DNA and trace results back while Danny was wondering what in the heck Mac had said to Lindsay during the car ride to the lab and what was going through Lindsay's mind about the case. You could just ask you know, Messer. He stole a quick glance at her profile noting the intense concentration in her face. Nah, he knew that look, she was in that deep processing mode of hers. No chance of real conversation right now.

It was a companionable silence that they shared as they worked the evidence. Each seemed to know the other's next move, who needed to process what piece of evidence next and when to look over the other's shoulder and give a well-thought out opinion or pointer. It was so different than Lindsay's first day in the NY CSI lab over a year ago. Then Danny had been resentful that she was here in Aiden's place but it hadn't taken him long to admit to a grudging admiration of her work ethic and skill. Yup, things were so different now.

They worked well into the evening until they hit a lull when they were just waiting for results to come back.

"Want to head around the corner and pick up a bite to eat?" Danny asked Lindsay hopefully.

She just looked at him tiredly. "No," she finally said after a long pause, "I think I'll just put my feet up and wait for the results. But if you go, can you pick me up something?"

"Sure, the usual?" he queried. He had done this many times for her before, pick up something for her. After all she rarely took him up on his offers of lunch.

"Yeah."

He just nodded and left without another word. Truth be told, he was disappointed. He was hoping that after their small moment today when she had let him hold her that she would be willing to at least spend some time with him, even if it wasn't under the best of circumstances right now.

After Danny left, Lindsay folded her arms on the lab table and laid her head on them. Truth be told, she was just too emotional to go to dinner with him. She was afraid she would spill her guts to him and it would be all over. She would be off the case. She couldn't risk that. She wearily walked to the break room to get a cup of coffee but when she saw the couch in the corner she couldn't resist. And that's where Danny found her, an hour and a half later.

For a long time he nursed a tepid cup of coffee, watching Lindsay sleep. She was so peaceful. Her wavy hair was splayed wildly across the arm of the couch and it reminded him of that first night he'd been in her apartment. It seemed like eons ago but in actuality it was only a couple of weeks ago. She sighed softly in her sleep and shifted her position slightly. He felt the emotion and desire rise in him concurrently. He remembered how she had wanted him to stay after the nightmare and how her body how felt against his. Stop it, Messer or you are not going to be able to walk out of here. So he went to the locker room, positioned himself on a bench the best he could and tried to get some semblance of sleep.

And that's where Lindsay found him the next morning. There was no man that could look more handsome as he slept than Danny Messer. She remembered the last time she had watched him sleep that morning in her apartment. Her heart fluttered, as she knelt beside him and began to outline the contours of his face with her index finger. She lightly traced one eyebrow, then the other, along the ridge of his nose and on to his lips. His hand came up quickly and caught her fingers to his lips in a soft kiss. As his eyes opened, even without his glasses, he could not mistake the tenderness in her eyes. He reached up with his other hand to pull her head down to his lips when they heard the locker room door open.

"Damn" he swore softly under his breath. "We'll definitely finish this later," he said with conviction in his voice.

She nodded mutely at him. She stood up and took a step backwards. As she watched him sit up on the bench and rub the back of his neck with one hand she said, "The files from Bozeman are here."