The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity - designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny of man.

- Ernest Becker

Well, I'm back! I got a bunch of reviews so now I'm posting the next chapter. I'm going to try to put in less writing, and more poetry. I hope you like it!

I used to be the perfect little girl
Got to work on time every day
I even had my own pearl
Danny Messer; he joked and never called me Lindsay

The day started out like any other
I got to work, Danny kissed me
He said he had to go visit his mother
Said he'd be back in two days, maybe three

"Monroe!"

Lindsay turned. Mac was striding down the hall to meet her, fire in his eyes.

"I've never heard you call me by my last name, Mac. What's-" Mac cut her off.

"Where the hell've you been? I've been looking for you for ages!"

"I was in the lab, running some prints through AFIS. Oh, and by the way, the results came back-" he cut her off again.

"I don't care about the damn results! I called you five times!"

Lindsay blushed. "Right. Sorry about that. My phone's out of batteries. But, if you don't want the results, them why'd you call me?"

The fire was suddenly gone, extinguished by tears, welling up in his eyes.

"Mac? What's wrong?" she asked, looking up at him.

"It's Danny." Tears started running down his cheeks.

"Yeah, he went to go visit his mom. Come to think of it, it's been four days and he said he'd be back in three. What about Danny?" she asked, starting to worry something had happened. "Is his mother alright?"

"His mother's fine. It's about him."

"Mac, can you just tell me what's going on? The suspense is killing me."

"I'm sorry, Lindsay. Danny… he's gone."

She looked stunned. "Wh-what?"

"He's dead."

The funeral was okay
Afterwards Stella asked to talk to me
She told me Danny had had a surprise for me on my birthday
Said he was going to ask those magic words; "Marry me."

I couldn't take it
I fell to me knees
They put you in a casket
Why'd you have to leave?

I was never the same
I came to work one of three times
I only had myself to blame
Letting you go was a crime

After a year I was still in pain
I still didn't come to work
I lashed out again and again
I knew I was being a jerk

"Hey, Lindsay." Hawkes walked up to her. "I got the results back-"

"Hawkes! I'm busy, can't you see that?" She snapped at him.

He looked at the screen. There was a fingerprint entry, and there was a little flashing box saying there was no match. He looked down at the time of entry. 2:30. (A/N: I don't actually know if there's a TOE, but I just put it there so don't get mad at me if there isn't) That meant she'd been sitting there for about half an hour, doing nothing.

"No… but I'll go anyway." Everyone knew to just leave her alone when she was like this.

One day Mac asked to talk to me
I knew what he was going to do
He said, "I know you miss Danny
We all want him back too"

"But you can't keep skipping work every day
You eventually have to get over it"
I cut him off "Mac, I know what you're going to say
So I'll do it for you. I quit"

I strode out the door
With as much dignity as I had
But my tears still dripped onto the floor
People stared at me from inside the lab

Stella wanted to know why
I told her I was sick
I didn't want anyone to pry
Let Mac tell them why I quit

And now, I have no home
I'm sitting, begging for money
This wouldn't have happened if Danny wasn't gone
And Adam just ran away

She sat there in an ally, stunned. How could he do this to her? How could Danny do this? How could Adam just… run away like that?

"This is my fault, not Adam's, not Danny's, not anyone's." She thought to herself. "If I just curled up and died now, no one would notice or care."

She smiled at the thought of letting go, not having to care anymore. Not having these stupid human emotions.

I looked up and was staring down the barrel of a gun
The man was wearing a mask
He told me that my life was over
But first I would have to perform a task

She looked up and saw black. That was it. "What is going on?" she thought in panic. But then the black adjusted. She saw it was the barrel of a gun. She looked up and down the dark alley. No one. All she could see was the streetlight at the end of the alley, about twenty feet away.

"Hello, sweetheart." She heard a voice. It was coming from behind the gun. She looked and saw a man wearing a balaclava. It was pink. She gasped and tried to stifle a laugh.

"Something funny?" he yelled at her, and pressed the gun to her temple. She shook her head no, tears cutting lines through the dirt on her face.

"Your life is going to be over very shortly, my dear. But first, I want you to do something." He stroked her cheek.

She was still staring at the gun. Somehow, it looked… familiar.

"I want you to remove your clothing. And just lie on your back, no struggling, or I won't just kill you. I will make it the most painful thing you've ever experienced."

She boldly looked up at him. "No."

He looked enraged. "No? NO?! You don't say no to me!" He suddenly became very calm. "I'll tell you one more time. Do what I ask, and nothing will happen."

"Even if I do do what you ask, you'll just kill me afterwards. So no." she was looking very smug for someone about to die.

"Alright. I could've just put a bullet through your head and be done with it. But since you're giving me attitude…" he pointed the gun at her foot. "Do it. Now."

"I dare you." She whispered to him.

He did it. A bullet went right through her foot. She screamed in pain and grabbed her foot, trying to stop the blood.

He pointed the gun at her head once again. "Do. It." He said through clenched teeth.

She was gasping in pain, but still managed to choke out the word, "No."

He yelled and shot her in the back. She screamed again.

I refused to do what he wanted; even though he held a gun to my head
So he put a bullet in my back
Left me there for dead
The world started to go black

And right there, in that alley, Lindsay Monroe died.

A brief candle; both ends burning
An endless mile; a bus wheel turning
A friend to share the lonesome times
A handshake and a sip of wine


So say it loud and let it ring
We are all a part of everything
The future, present and the past
Fly on proud bird
You're free at last.

- Charlie Daniels

And there you have it folks, my story. Possible epilogue, maybe a sequel. Reviews would be greatly appreciated. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) You can come up with how Danny died, I like for people to still be thinking when they read my stories.