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.

Danny's Apartment

When Danny finally found a parking spot near his apartment, Lindsay was in a flutter. They had made small talk on the drive from the hospital but so many things were running through her mind. She had never been more aware of him than in the close confines of the SUV. She had to keep herself from staring at those bulging biceps and long fingers gripping the steering wheel. The biceps alone were unnerving enough, but those sensual fingers… She could just imagine them floating across her skin. She could see the quads flex and release through the fabric of his jeans as he switched from the gas pedal to the brake and back again maneuvering through the afternoon traffic. She wanted to slide her hand up his thigh and rest it in the crook of his leg. If it were a of couple weeks ago, before all this had happened, she would have. But right now her confidence in her ability to handle it with him without being triggered back to the past haunted her. Surely there couldn't be a worse turnoff, she thought, than for someone to freak out on you in the throes of passion because they were having traumatic flashbacks.

"Ya ready, Montana?" Danny had opened her door and was squatting down with his back to her.

"What?" she giggled. "I get to ride."

"Yup," he said with a small grunt as she climbed onto his back, wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

"Oh come on, I can't be that heavy," she teased him lightly as he rose with a small groan. He grabbed the handle of her suitcase, kicked the door shut with his foot and began walking towards his apartment.

"No, ya aren't, actually you're as light as a feather but I'm starvin' here. I can't remember when I've had a substantial amount to eat."

"Oops, I guess you're right, I could use a little food too," she said and her stomach rumbled in agreement.

She was starting to slide a bit down his back so she hitched herself back up with her arms and instinctively tightened her thighs around his waist. She heard the quick intake of his breath. This was having an effect on him, she noted with pleasure. Impulsively she kissed his collar bone. She felt his arms tighten around her legs in response.

"Montana, I gotta warn ya, there is only one thing that trumps food when I'm this hungry and unless ya want me to show ya what that is when we reach my apartment ya better start behavin' yourself." Danny growled.

She absolutely loved it when he growled her name. It sent little shivers up and down her spine and made her tummy tingle. But since she was still wavering in her confidence in being with him, and she knew he knew that, she decided she better change the subject. She knew he would never take advantage of her, so it wouldn't be fair of her to tease him too much in this situation. One thing Lindsay Monroe was not, was a tease.

"So what do you want to eat?" she asked and then realizing the possible implications of her question, she added quickly, "I mean what kind of food?"

He chuckled, "It doesn't matter, I'm easy," and he didn't clarify the implications of his last comment.

When he set her down in his apartment, she looked around. It was sparse but everything was of high quality from the long leather sofa to the high definition TV, stereo equipment against the wall and racks of CD's and DVD's lined up beside the entertainment equipment. He certainly had high end taste. He disappeared for a moment down a hallway with her suitcase and came back empty-handed.

"Make yourself at home. Do you want anything to drink?" he said as he went into the kitchen and came out with a pile of takeout menus. She wasn't about to make any smart comments about him not being able to cook because she knew he could from that night in her apartment.

"Water"

"In the fridge, help yourself," as he motioned to the kitchen.

So is pizza okay?" he called out to her as she hopped her way into the kitchen.

"Sure," and anticipating his next question, "I like just about everything… no anchovies though." She looked around the kitchen. It was the average kitchen, cabinets, fridge, stove, microwave and automatic coffee maker, again very sparsely furnished. She retrieved the water and went to sit on the couch beside Danny as he ordered the pizza.

"Thirty minutes," he said as he clicked the phone shut. No sooner had he turned to speak to her than the phone rang again. He picked it up and looked at the caller id questioningly. The he said, "Oh, right" to himself.

He flipped the phone open and took a deep breath and said, "Detective Messer."

This must be important Lindsay thought because she knew Danny rarely answered the phone that way. Usually it was either Messer or Hey. Lindsay held her breath worried that it might news about the perpetrator that attacked her last night. She didn't want to hear about that right now.

"Oh hello, Mrs. Monroe, how are you doing?" Danny said quite charmingly into the phone.

Lindsay's eyes went wide and she mouthed what? at Danny.

He smiled at her and was nodding his head as he listened to the response from the other end of the phone.

"No, no, she's okay. She misplaced her cell phone at a crime scene last night and it hasn't been recovered yet so that's why you weren't able to get in touch with her."

He nodded again.

"Well, she's right here if you want to speak with her now."

Lindsay let out an exaggerated sigh through pursed lips as Danny handed her the phone.

"Hi mom"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine."

"No, it's just been really busy. I know, I know, I couldn't help the trip being cancelled, kinda last minute work thing you know…" Lindsay trailed off.

"Okay, you too. Hey is Daddy there?"

"Hey Daddy" her voice brightened considerably.

"I'm doing real good." Danny raised his eyebrows at this point. Tell them he mouthed. She waved him off with her hand.

"uh huh, Daddy I have to tell you something," her voice became rather small almost like a little girl's voice. And Danny saw her eyes start to fill with tears. He scooted right up next to her on the couch and slid a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Um, I haven't heard if it's official yet but I think Laurel's murderer was taken into custody last night."

"We're waiting on the DNA results to confirm it but we're relatively certain."

"Um… um…" she took a shaky breath, "in my apartment last night." By now the tears were falling like a waterfall and Danny pulled her close into the crook of his shoulder and closed his hand around her hand.

"Yeah, I'm okay, really, I'm okay, just a couple of bruises and scratches," Lindsay took her hand from Danny's to wipe her eyes but he kept his arm around her.

She regained some of her composure. "I don't really have anymore information than that right now. Daddy I'm really tired. Can I call you tomorrow and we can talk some more then?"

"I will. You'll tell mom won't you. I love you too." Lindsay almost whispered. She was so shaken by the conversation, she handed the phone blindly to Danny as tears filled her eyes once more.

She immediately wound her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. He gently lifted her onto his lap and wound his arms around her and rested his chin against her hair. No words were necessary he just held her as she released her emotion into his chest.

When the crying abated enough for her to look at him, she drew back and whispered, "I'm sorry, your shirt's all wet again."

He grinned. "Not a problem Montana," he said as he deftly criss-crossed his arms to either side of his waist and pulled it up and off in one fluid motion and tossed the shirt down the hallway and out of sight. She loved how his arm muscles rippled when he did that.

Oh God, she thought as she stared at the outline of his chest through the thin material of his tank top.

She must have had some kind of expression on her face, because he bent his head to catch her eyes. "Ya okay?"

"Um… um," she stammered as she quickly licked her lips and looked up at him. "Just peachy," she added in a small voice.

"Just peachy?" he grinned at her. "Is that something they say in the country?" Oh now he was just teasing her. Well two could play at that game. She held his eyes with her own as she touched him lightly with one of her index fingers at the point right above his belt buckle and gave him a right back at ya! look as she began a slow trace up the middle of his stomach. He looked down at her finger and she watched him watching her finger.

Damn Montana! How could one little finger cause so much heat to rise in his body? It felt like a trail of fire following the wake of her finger. She continued right up to the hollow in his neck where she made a hard left turn to follow his collar bone. His hands tightened instinctively on her hip and he leaned his head back against the couch.

She could no longer see his face so she shifted her weight, slowly easing a knee to either side of his legs. She barely felt the pain shoot through her ankle as she did this. She settled herself gently in his lap. She saw him close his eyes and heard him let out a small groan. She began tracing around the contours of his face but not before removing his glasses and laying them carefully on the arm of the couch. She made her way tantalizingly over one eyebrow then the other, down the ridge of his nose and around the edge of his lips. Those lips. She was going to kiss them, no two ways about it. As she gently placed her lips to his, a loud buzzer sounded alerting them to the pizza guy downstairs and they both gave a start. He lifted his head and looked completely dazed like he didn't know what day it was or what planet he was on and Lindsay felt guilty as hell for teasing him like that when she had just reminded herself moments ago that it wasn't fair to him. But she just couldn't help herself. Ever since he had come to her in the hospital room last night she had felt such a sense of peace, safety and belonging with him that made her only want to get closer to him in every possible way. She didn't know exactly what she was doing here but she knew there was no other place she wanted to be than to be with him.

She used his shoulders for leverage as she lifted herself off of him and hopped around on one foot to regain her balance. She held out her hand to him to help him off the couch but when he grabbed it he pulled her down close to his face and whispered hoarsely into her ear, "Thanks to that little interlude, Montana, I'm not going anywhere for a few minutes." With his free hand, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. "You'll have to get the pizza."

"What?" she said in mock horror, "send a maimed and battered woman to do a man's job," but in reality she was quite pleased that she had had that effect on him. The teasing, Lindsay, watch the teasing. Although she still couldn't help but smile a little to herself.

"I'm sure you can handle the pizza guy, Montana," he said with a grimace as he dropped his head back against the couch and focused his thoughts on ice.