Title: Feeling
Rating: T just to be safe.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own CSI:NY. I only own the story.
Spoilers: Minor spoilers for Sleight Out of Hand.
Category: Danny's POV during Sleight Out of Hand.
Summary: Danny can't breathe.
A/N: Thanks for checking out this story. I hope you like it. I took some creative license with the amount of time Lindsay was in Montana before Sleight Out of Hand; I'm guessing 3 weeks. Also, for my purposes Danny is a Level 2 CSI. I don't really know how that scale is determined, or if his level has ever been mentioned on the show. If I'm wrong, please let me know. As always, I really appreciate reviews.
Danny Messer lets out a haggard sigh, as he turns the key in the lock and enters his lonely apartment. He closes the door and locks it, acting only on autopilot—the same way he's been doing everything for the past three weeks.
This is the first time he's been home in three days.
He hasn't slept in at least forty-eight hours.
And he hasn't eaten something, besides coffee, in God knows how long.
He's put in more overtime in the past three weeks then he has since he first became a Level 2 CSI.
Hell, the only reason he's home now is because he's actually run out of things to do at the lab, and he knows that if Mac caught him taking another case, he wouldn't stand a chance of seeing the inside of the lab for at least two days.
He knows he should feel exhausted. But he doesn't.
He should be hungry. But he isn't.
And he hasn't been either of those things for what seems like forever.
It's like all of the life has been taken out of him.
He sinks down into the couch and rubs his hands over his face. A grim smile slowly cracks his exhausted features as he allows himself to realize the basic truth of the situation.
Lindsay. It all comes back to her. His Montana.
He feels like he's been fading away since the day she left.
He misses her. Terribly.
But, more importantly, he realizes, he needs her. Desperately. He needs her like New York needs Time Square, like pasta needs sauce. He needs her like he needs air.
He doesn't know when it happened. He was perfectly fine before her.
But, now he can't breathe without her.
So he follows his gut instinct. He goes to the airport and buys a plane ticket to Bozeman, Montana.
He needs to see her, in her hometown, the place where she comes from, the place that still haunts her.
He needs to hear sweet voice, face to face, not just on a tinny answering machine recording.
He needs to smell the warm, baby powder scent of her hair, as he wraps his arms around her in a tight embrace.
He needs to get his breath back.