A/N: I have never actually been anywhere near New York in my life so I can't say for sure what's over there… So my descriptions of places might be a little vague…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Her head ached terribly and she was lying somewhere cold, hard and reeking of rusty metal. She couldn't see anything, darkness surrounded her. For a vague, terrifying moment, she thought she'd gone blind and cold fear welled up in the pits of her stomach. Relax Lindsay, she tried to tell herself, think back. What happened?

The memories hit her all at once. A gunshot, followed by sounds of punches being thrown, waking her from her sleep. The shocking sight of Danny on his knees, held there by two men while he was pounded by a third. A fourth man lying on the other end of the carriage, nose bleeding…

"Danny?" She couldn't quite believe her eyes. What was he doing here? Had he been there all this time? By his expression, neither could he. Oh God Danny, what have you gotten yourself into this time?

"Montana?" He managed to croak out.

She moved forward immediately with all the authority she could muster. "What do you think you're doing? Let him go!" She ordered the man who was beating him.

The man merely smirked in a way that only made her more infuriated. "You his girlfriend?" He asked, looking at her petite frame.

"Leave her alone." Danny spat out fiercely. "She's got nothing to do with this!"

"I'm his colleague." Lindsay answered at the same time. "And all of you have no idea how much trouble you're going to be in."

"Damn it Montana," Danny yelled at her, "Just leave us alone alright? I can handle this."

Neither his attacker nor Lindsay took any notice. They were having a stare down. Despite her size, Lindsay was glaring at the man so fiercely that it made one think of the 'If-looks-could-kill' cliché. She had to find some way to help Danny get away from them, but to get to the conductor, she had to go through these rabble. She didn't carry a gun though so she could only try and intimidate them until she came up with a better idea.

"A pretty girl like you is a detective?" The man said in a disbelieving voice. Lindsay didn't like the way he was looking at her at all.

"You know he's a detective and you still have your hands on him?" Lindsay stood her ground, trying to scare them. "You could all be charged with assaulting an officer."

His smug look only grew wider. "The thing is, sweet, we don't plan on getting caught. Detective Messer is coming with us on a road trip."

"What makes you think he wants to go with the likes of you?"

"Well, we were going to have him out cold and dragged along behind us," He said matter-of-factly and Lindsay was starting to get a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "But havin' his girlfriend along as a hostage will do just as well." She froze when she heard this. She knew all too well what he meant and she knew she had to get out of there before they got her too. At the same time, she didn't want to leave Danny to handle these thugs by themselves.

In the midst of her indecision, she heard Danny yell out suddenly, "Montana! Duck!"

It took only a split second to process his meaning and she dropped to the floor. At the exact same time, she heard a gun fire and a fraction of a second later, she felt a bullet whiz past the top of her hair, embedding itself in the roof of the train. There was a fifth man, underneath the seats with a gun in his hands. Rushing to get up, Lindsay moved to grab him, identifying him as the biggest threat.

"You idiot!" The man she had been talking to screamed behind her. Lindsay and the gunman struggled for the weapon. A heavy blow struck against the back of her head. The lights became unnaturally bright and then it was nothing but blackness…

That accounted for her headache. Someone, that jerk she had been talking to probably, had hit her on the back of her head. She'd been out cold in an instant. There was some kind of heavy fabric covering her eyes too, so she wasn't really blind as her panic had first told her. She struggled to sit up on the rumbling metal floor and her head bumped against a plastic sheet of some kind. Her hands were bound behind her and additionally tied to her waist, as well as to some heavy weights behind her.

"Danny?" She called carefully. "Are you here?"

"That you Montana?" His familiar voice said in a raspy tone. She felt a twinge of annoyance at the nickname but let it slide. This was definitely not the time to be arguing over stupid nicknames.

"Yeah, it's me." She said, feeling relief flood her. At least he seemed to be all right. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"Yeah, I have x-ray vision and can see right through this blindfold," He answered sarcastically. "I don't know. I know we aren't in the city anymore. Can't hear traffic or any of the regular city sounds."

Lindsay realized he was right and strained her remaining senses to try and get some bearing of where she was. Danny was right. There was none of the city sounds or smells that was classic of the Big Apple. Instead, there was the fluttering of some kind of canvas as it snapped under strong winds. She could also smell exhaust but the air was noticeably cleaner than the city, reminding her of the country scents of her home state. The deep rumbling and vibrating rusty floor told of the movement in a vehicle. Lindsay guessed they were in the back of a pick-up, covered by a tarp sheet probably and told Danny so.

"They probably don't want to let idle drivers see two people bound and gagged behind here." Danny said, "I can't imagine why." His tone was light and joking.

"Wherever we're going, it's probably a long way from New York." Lindsay sniffed hard, "I can smell clean air…cleaner than the city anyway." She added as the engine of the pick-up coughed startlingly.

Danny groaned. Just when he thought things were looking up, that the hectic week was over and maybe he could finally get some rest, this had to happen. He couldn't believe his luck. And to get Lindsay involved in all of this when it shouldn't have had anything to do with her… Danny didn't want to be responsible if anything happened to her. It'd been a complete shock when he heard her call his name. What had she been doing there in the first place? Shouldn't she be safely at home? They'd wrapped up the case hours before. She should be asleep at home, far away from them, far away from danger. He still remembered the cold fear that had trickled down his back when he stared down into the gun barrel.

Danny knocked the gun out of the man's hands and it clattered under one of the seats. He launched a punch at one of them, breaking his nose and sending him to the other end of the car. He dimly registered that another of the men was trying to crawl under the seats, attempting to retrieve the gun. He rushed for it too but was knocked to his knees by heavy blows in the back.

A shattering blow to his face busted his lip and smashed his glasses. More blows continued to rain down on him. Danny struggled to fight but was held down firmly by two of them. And then, a voice he had last heard yelling at him now spoke in incredulity. "Danny?"

Danny couldn't believe it. What was she doing here? She shouldn't even be here. She should be at home, fast asleep. "Montana?" He whispered, not quite believing his eyes. Maybe it was the cracked glasses…maybe he was just seeing things.

She walked into their carriage, walking in that businesslike way that most perps knew they were in trouble. "What do you think you're doing? Let him go!" She ordered his tormentor. Danny groaned silently. No mistake, this was Lindsay. Not many girls in New York had that daring and boldness.

"You his girlfriend?" He heard the man ask. Danny couldn't quite crack his neck high enough to see his face but he was sure he was leering at her.

"Leave her alone." Danny spat out fiercely, feeling irrational anger flood his insides. "She's got nothing to do with this!" He had to get her out of here. She couldn't be here.

"I'm his colleague." Lindsay answered at the same time as he and he cursed her big mouth. There went all possibility of letting them think she was just a nosy acquaintance. "And all of you have no idea how much trouble you're going to be in." You think they care Montana? Threats don't do no good against thugs like them.

"Damn it Montana," Danny yelled at her, "Just leave us alone alright? I can handle this." Please, just leave us alone.

No one took notice of him as the big man stared at Lindsay. It might actually be an amusing sight, seeing Lindsay glare with such deadly vehemence at a man so much bigger than her.

"A pretty girl like you is a detective?" The man said in a disbelieving voice. Danny didn't like his tone.

"You know he's a detective and you still have your hands on him?" Lindsay stood her ground bravely. Danny wouldn't have expected anything less from her but this very quality was going to get her into a lot of trouble.

"The thing is, sweet, we don't plan on getting caught. Detective Messer is coming with us on a road trip." Great, these guys were planning on abducting him. Danny couldn't even begin to guess why. There were just so many reasons.

"What makes you think he wants to go with the likes of you?" Oh no, don't challenge them like that… You're just asking for it… Danny winced at her question.

"Well, we were going to have him out cold and dragged along behind us." His attacker said in a casual voice, "But havin' his girlfriend along as a hostage will do just as well." He froze when he heard this. His worst fears were coming true. They were going to take her too. Run Montana! He yelled in the silence of his mind. She had to get out of here now but she seemed to be frozen in place.

They had forgotten about that last thug that had crawled under the seats, looking for the gun. Lindsay didn't seem to have noticed him but Danny could now clearly see him aim the weapon in Lindsay's direction. His chest tightened in fear as he saw the finger reached towards the trigger. "Montana! Duck!" He roared, praying she would be fine.

She paused in puzzlement for what seemed like an eternity but then she dropped to the floor just as the gun fired. It didn't seem to have hit her as the bullet lodged itself into the roof of the compartment. Danny breathed a brief sigh of relief but he could swear his heart nearly stopped when she tried to tackle the shooter.

"You idiot!" Danny's attacker screamed and he was tempted to yell the same thing at Lindsay. She should've run while she still had the chance. His attacker stood over the struggling duo and raised his hand high, striking her squarely in the back of her head.

"Lindsay!" Danny struggled harder than ever against his two captors, his teeth and fists clenched tightly together. "I swear to God, if you've killed her…"

"Relax," His attacker said, checking her pulse. "She's still alive. I wouldn't want our bargaining chip to die so early."

Danny glared at him even more murderously than Lindsay had, struggling so hard that his captors were having trouble keeping him under control. His glasses were coming off the bridge of his nose, clattering to the floor. The train was starting to slow noticeably. He froze when the shooter clicked the gun and pointed it at the back of Lindsay's skull.

His attacker smirked, "Now, we're going to be nice and come along quietly, right? Otherwise, your girlfriend here will be the next body your pals at work will have to…what's the word…process." Rage seethed within Danny, threatening to explode. He trembled with anger but he didn't dare to move. Lindsay's life was balanced on this man's trigger finger. The train stopped and the door to the conductor's cabin opened in the distance. It was the last sound Danny heard before he felt a violent blow to the back of his head and then, Danny Messer knew no more.

By the time Danny had awakened, he was suffering the combined after-effects of a hangover and the bruise that was sure to be forming on the back of his skull. He'd struggled against his bonds for a long time before he resigned himself to the fact that he was securely tied up. He had thought he was alone until Lindsay finally woke up. He was filled with mixed feelings on hearing her voice, mainly dread and relief. He was relieved that she was there, and perfectly fine; that they hadn't done anything to her yet. However, he knew that as long as she was there, they could use her as a threat against him. Danny couldn't trust himself to refuse anything if it meant her life would be on the line.

"Why couldn't you have just stayed out of things?" Danny muttered, more than a little unhappy with the situation. She wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. If she wasn't here, he could plan a reckless escape instead of having to think about someone else.

Lindsay could feel herself stiffen with anger. This was what she got for trying to help him? It was true that she probably had made things worse but couldn't he at least be glad he didn't have to go through all this alone? "And leave you at the hands of those gangsters? I don't think so. Unlike you Messer, I do have a heart." Her reply was harsh and she knew it but it was a little hard not to be angry at the moment.

"It was none of your business." Danny threw back, even though he knew she couldn't have done anything else, that he would have done the exact same thing, that he would've been disappointed if she had just left him there. However, just like her, he was feeling helpless and there was no one else to take it out on.

"It is every bit my business when someone, much less a friend of mine, gets shot at and beaten up by a bunch of drunken thugs." Lindsay retorted, feeling just a little hurt that he could actually think she would've left him behind.

Danny fell silent at that. "They weren't drunk." He stated sullenly after a few moments.

"Excuse me?"

"I said they weren't drunk." Danny repeated, sitting up straighter. His head pushed against the tarp above them. "They had been drinking, but I don't think they were really drunk. It was planned a little too well for that."

Lindsay knew he was right. They knew he was a detective and this abduction had obviously been part of the plan. But how had they known Danny would be on that train at that particular time? "What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"You make it sound like it was my fault." Danny's tone had a light, almost joking lilt to it.

"Well you were their target." Lindsay pointed out. "Which guy have you ticked off so bad that he'd want you kidnapped?"

"How'd I know?" Danny said defensively, "In case you haven't noticed Montana, I'm a detective too and we make all kinds of enemies every day. For all I know, they're after me 'cos I chucked one of their buddies in jail."

"Or maybe you just decided to give someone a stupid nickname." Lindsay's voice was heavy with sarcasm and she was fast becoming angry with his flippant attitude. "My name is Lindsay Monroe, not Montana. And has it ever occurred to you that once in a while, you could do more than offend people? We make enough enemies every day without you going out of your way to make more."

That was it. "And why can't you just lighten up once in a while?" Danny asked, getting angry as well. "Is it so wrong for a person to crack a joke in the face of a bad situation?"

He heard Lindsay's sharp intake of breath. "I didn't…" She had been temperamental but she hadn't really meant what she had said, hadn't thought how he would take it.

"No, that's just fine." Danny was turning sarcastic as well. "I know. I'm just a joker who goes around offending people all the time. I don't take anything seriously. I get it."

"No Danny, that's not what I…" She was cut off once more by him.

"Look, you know what, you're right. You're right and you win, you happy now?" There was the unmistakable sound of Danny trying to move around, although he was tied down by weights. He didn't want to talk anymore, not when he was in a mood like this. Lindsay pursed her lips, knowing anything she said right then would not be heard. She could only wait until he finished sulking. Lindsay only hoped that he finished soon. They needed to work together if they were to get out of this.

And that's it for this chapter… there will be more of them in the next one. I just wanted to get a bit of their POV in what happened. I hope they don't seem too OOC… Thanks to everyone for reviewing again!