hey all :)

well i have the rest of the week off so i decided to give this next chapter up as a little treat to all of you.

we're getting closer my friends, i have the big chapter already written, its just a matter of getting all these fillers in.

as always, i love to hear what you think, and thank you sooo much for all you guys have said already. it makes my day so much better :)

enjoy :)

Chapter 6

"Bailey sweetie, finish up your breakfast, mommy's going to be late for work."

It was Monday morning in the Monroe household. Lindsay had woken up late and was trying to hurry Bailey along in order to make it to her shift on time. Bailey's preschool had the day off due to a teacher's institute which meant that Bailey would be going to work with Lindsay. If only the child would finish up her Lucky Charms, the duo could be on their way to the crime lab.

"But I'm not hungry," Bailey pouted as she rested her chin on her hands and pushed her bowl away from her.

"Bay, please, just finish it up for mommy. It would really make me happy. Just do it, please?"

The little girl glared down at her cereal as if it were a mutant thing soaking in the milk filled bowl. Hesitantly, she scooped the last of the cereal onto her spoon and shoveled it down with a pout on her face.

"That's my big girl. Now go brush your teeth and get your shoes on, we're gonna be late."

In a flash, Lindsay had the little girl buckled into her car seat and they were down the road in no time. She had her bag of coloring books and DVD's sitting on the seat beside her. Bailey always loved going to work with her mom, she enjoyed spending time with the staff at the crime lab, and she was already becoming a science geek, constantly asking if the "GMCS" had printed the latest readout, or if the "supspect" had been arrested. She was turning into quite the little scientist, and Lindsay couldn't help but chuckle at her little girls intelligence.

They were two blocks away from the lab when Lindsay's cell phone rang. It was Mac, no doubt calling to scold her for being late.

"Monroe.""Hey Linds, don't bother stopping at the lab, we need you to get to the scene right away. We've got a double homicide on our hands."

Lindsay glanced back at the child in the backseat who was making her Flash action figure battle her stuffed tiger, and, laughing, she returned to the phone call.

"Alright but I've gotta drop Bailey off at the lab first, I'll meet you there. Text me the location, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Sounds good Lindsay, I'll see you soon."

She hung up with Mac and hit the speed dial for Flack, asking him to meet her at the front door to grab Bailey. They pulled up, and Don Flack was standing in the doorway of the crime lab, squatted down with his arms wide open, as Bailey jumped out of the car and ran towards the man.

"Uncle Flack Uncle Flack!" she shouted, jumping into his arms.

"Hey princess, how are you? I've missed you ya know."

"I missed you too Uncle Flack! Are we gonna play with the GMCS again today?!" she asked him excitedly.

With a laugh, he responded, "We'll see kiddo. Why don't we get you settled in your mommy's office first."

"Okay!"

Lindsay smiled at the pair, and then realized that she had a job to do. "I'll see you guys in a little bit. Be good for Uncle Flack Bailey, don't give him too much trouble," she said, kissing the little girl on the forehead.

"Bye mommy!" she said as Lindsay waved from the car. She made her way to the crime scene that Mac had so urgently needed her to be at.

When she arrived, she saw a nasty site. Two bloody bodies were scattered about the ground. As the sun began to beat down on her, she realized it was going to be one hell of a day.

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Danny stood in front of the guest bed in Flack's apartment staring at his choices. Flack had loaned him the clothes in his closet; he would have to look his best to impress his former colleagues so he was trying to pick out something nice to wear. He knew that ultimately, the decision wouldn't be based upon how he looked, but solely on what kind of impression he made on the team. He had in fact taken off on them, he wasn't exactly thinking they would welcome him back with a cup of coffee and open arms.

After much deliberation, he finally chose a nice dress shirt and pants, got himself all dressed up and grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter. As he went to walk out the door, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the picture of he and Lindsay from four Christmases ago. It was his good luck charm so to speak. He smiled at the photo and put it back into his pocket, locking the door behind and taking off towards the crime lab. It had been so long since he had been to that building. So much of his life had happened there, it would be kind of weird to go back. But he was excited nonetheless.

He made it to the front doors of the New York Crime Lab, and a chill went up his spine as he climbed the front steps. He had walked down these halls so many times before, it was almost scary. He closed his eyes and began to take it all in; everything from the familiar scents of the lab equipment to the sounds of tests being run, even the playful banter between coworkers made him feel right at home. That is, until he opened his eyes to be presented with a dozen or so pairs of eyes staring him down. Of all of the people in the crime lab, he had only been really close with his team; Mac, Stella, Flack, Hawkes, Adam, and of course Lindsay. However, he had also known a lot of the other employees by face or from having a few casual conversations as they passed by. Basically put, most people in the lab had known his face, as well as his story. No doubt they were all curious to know why he was back, standing in front of them dressed for work.

Taking a bold step forward, he set off down the hallway towards Mac's office, hoping to catch him in a good mood. As he passed by the familiar lab stations, a curious face suddenly appeared--much to close for his liking--right in front of him. It was the face of Sheldon Hawkes, his expression a mix of confusion, questioning, and no doubt anger.

"Hiya pal, what goes on?" Danny said nervously to his old colleague.

"Danny Messer. You've really got the nerve to show your face in here? Man I ought to--"

Their conversation was interrupted by the shattering of glass a couple of feet away. Danny breathed a sigh of relief as both men glanced back at a very stunned Adam Ross, tongs in one hand, a broken test tube on the ground at his feet. They couldn't help but laugh as Adam's eyes went from big to bulging as he realized that his evidence was now quickly pooling around his shoes.

"Drop somethin there Adam? At least your shoes are finally gettin a good washing. How long has it been since you cleaned those nasty things? Four years or so?" Trying to help his case, Danny cracked a joke at his young friend. Adam quickly grabbed a towel and attempted to salvage the evidence that was now collecting on the floor.

"Uhh, yeah Messer, how long has it been since you last had a shower, five?" he replied wittily, getting a laugh from Hawkes as well as a bug-eyed look from Danny. The three men stood in a circle in the middle of the hallway, awkwardly laughing every couple of seconds before they simply couldn't contain themselves. They erupted out in laughter, at what or whom no one was exactly sure of, but they were certainly gaining attention from the majority of the lab. As they eventually calmed down, Hawkes grew serious as he realized exactly who he was sharing this moment with, suggesting they moved their little powwow to his office. This received a nervous look from Danny. Both of these men were highly trained to discover how a victim was murdered, surely they had picked up some pointers along the way in the case that they one day wished to do so themselves?

They made their way down the winding hallways to Sheldon's office, he and Adam taking seats opposite Danny as they arrived. What was this, an interrogation? Danny became utterly worried that he would be handcuffed and hauled off to Sing-Sing if he didn't play his cards right. Adam and Hawkes both had a look of vengeance in their eyes as they locked the door. Danny gulped hugely as the men began their round of questioning.

"So. Where the hell have you been Messer?" Hawkes began. "You can't tell me it's taken you this long to mourn the loss of your family."

Noting that this had been a tad harsh, he quickly regretted what he had said, but was nonetheless angry at the uneasy man seated in front of him. He threw him an apologetic look as Danny opened his mouth to reply.

"Look guys, I know I don't even deserve to step foot in this building, let alone this room, but I gotta make things right. With all of you. You deserve and explanation, and as much as I'd like to give it to you, I just can't right now."

Adam cocked his head. "What do you mean? You can't tell us where you've been for the past four years but you can just waltz back in here like you belong? Look Danny, I'm sorry that you lost your family, you know that as well as I do, but you just took off without so much as an explanation. You didn't just hurt Lindsay, you hurt us all. You were a part of our team, and when one of us hurts, we all do. You could have at least called or left a note or something."

"You're starting to sound like one of my old girlfriends kid," Danny replied, receiving a chuckle from Hawkes. "I know I know, I should have explained it all to you guys, but the truth is, I didn't even know what I was going to do. I left to grieve, and you all knew that. But there was some…business…that I needed to take care of. I didn't think I'd be able to go on with my life if I didn't finish that bastard off."

"Danny, when one of us is in trouble, we all pitch in to help, don't you know that by now?" replied Hawkes. "You know we would have dropped everything to help you out. We were all ready and waiting, but you disappeared. If you wanted our help catching that ass, why didn't you just call us?"

"I couldn't do that Sheldon. As much as I would have loved to have you all there, I just couldn't. I had to do it alone. I owed them that much. And I failed miserably at that. But when that happened, I was too…well, I was kind of ashamed to show my face in here again. I figured if I couldn't bring down the man that had murdered my own family, I didn't deserve to be in the presence of the people who did it for a living. I was disappointed in myself, and I couldn't bring myself to come back. That is, until quite recently…"

"Messer, not being able to solve one crime doesn't make you any less of a CSI. It makes you stronger, helps you to pick out your weaknesses. If you've gained anything from this experience, it's that you can always learn from your mistakes, and that your friends are always here for you to fall back on."

Danny picked his head up and stared into the sweet face of Stella Bonasara. He couldn't believe she wasn't beating him over the head with a two by four, but he couldn't help but return her smile as he stood up to give her a hug.

"Welcome back kiddo. You've been missed."

He couldn't wrap his hand around it. Why was she being so nice? After being afraid of being stuffed into a body bag by Hawkes and Adam, Stella had welcomed him back with open arms. He couldn't help but think that this was all just a ploy to get back at him. Act nice, pretend he was missed, and then once they had regained his trust, dump him into the Hudson. It was too easy, and he felt as if he was playing right into their hands. Pulling back from the warm embrace, he gave Stella a look of suspicion, which gained a laugh from the woman.

"What's the face for Messer? Did you really think I was going to come after you? You came back. That's all any of ever wanted to happen. I'm not going to hold a grudge against you, you're one of us, always have been, always will be. Nothing will ever change that, right guys?" she said, eyeing a now confused Hawkes and Adam, who were no doubt thinking about jumping the man in front of them. However, no matter what he had done in the past, both knew that all was forgivable, regardless of how much they longed to give him a good beat down in the back alley.

"You know what, you're absolutely right Stell. We missed you Danno, good to have you back," Hawkes replied, but at the same time giving Danny a look of "we'll talk more later".

"Yeah, I'm glad you're back Danny. It hasn't been the same without you," Adam said, giving him the same look Hawkes had. Danny now felt like a new man; gaining back the reassurance from his coworkers made him all the more confident in tackling his biggest fear, Mac. He exited Sheldon's office only to realize that the older man was nowhere to be found. He began circling the building when he bumped into a flustered Flack, clutching the tiny hand of Lindsay's daughter. This sight stopped Danny dead in his tracks.

"Hey, Messer, can you do me a favor and watch the little one for a sec? I just got called out, but Linds should be here any minute now. Her office is still locked up so just chill in mine til she gets back."

Danny stared at Don like he was crazy. Was he really asking him to do this? Did he even stop to consider how Lindsay would react when she came into work to see Danny looking out for her daughter? He had no time to ask these questions, however, as Don practically shoved the little girl in Danny's direction, muttering a "Thanks man, I really appreciate it," and took off down the hallway.

"Flack, wait, what the…? Hiya kiddo," he stuttered shakily.

"Hi. I'm Bailey. I remember you, you were at my house Saturday. Your name's Danny."

"That's right, I was at your house the other day."

"So are we gonna go play? Uncle Flack said he left the DVD player in his office, we could watch a movie."

Looking down at the child's big blue eyes, he couldn't help but stare in amazement. She was so full of energy, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Well sure kiddo, you lead the way."

She grabbed his hand, sending a shock of electricity throughout his body. Her touch was extremely warm to his body, just like her mother's. As she half-dragged him down the hallway, he stared down at her tiny grip, laughing at how much she was like her mom.

"So do you wanna watch the one with the Mirror Master, or we could watch the one where The Flash loses his memory, OR we could watch--"

"Whoa whoa whoa. You have The Flash on DVD?" Danny folded his arms across his chest in shock. This little girl was quickly turning into his new favorite person.

"Well yeah, he's my hero," she replied. "See?" Turning around, she revealed that she was wearing a Flash costume cape that had obviously been worn down from previous uses.

"Really now? What a coincidence. Did you happen to know that the Flash is my favorite comic book character of all time?"

"Really?!" the little girl replied excitedly.

"Yes really, he was my favorite when I was growin up. I even dressed up as the Flash for Halloween one year."

"Me too! I was him for Halloween last year!" The more they talked, the fonder Bailey began to grow of Danny.

"Wow, that's pretty impressive. Do you have any of his comics?"

"No, mommy says they're too much money."

"Well, I happen to have the entire collection of his comics. Maybe I'll have to show them to you sometime."

"Would you really?!"

"Sure kiddo, anytime you want."

As the two began to talk more and more about their favorite things, including the New York Yankees, Batman, and the Flash, Don peeked in his head in the door quietly. If there was any way to get Danny and Lindsay back together, what more common ground could there be than their daughter? Grinning to himself, he walked away from the office, a smile of accomplishment plastered over his face.

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After nearly four hours of processing, Lindsay was absolutely exhausted. The case had turned out to be much more complicated than she had thought, connecting back to an unsolved murder 3 months ago. She had spent majority of her day in the lab running evidence through GCMS, finally deciding to take a much deserved break. She made her way down the halls to Flack's office, expecting to find Don sitting at his desk doing paper work and Bailey sprawled out on the floor with a DVD playing and her coloring book and crayons on the ground in front of her. What a shock she got when she arrived to a scene much different than what she had expected.

As she opened the door, she saw Danny laying on the couch with Bailey in his lap, his arms around the child protectively and her hands wrapped around his arms. Both were asleep as the end credits to the Flash episode they had been watching rolled across the television screen. She almost dropped her stack of files as she stared at the peaceful pair. It was just like she had always imagined, father and daughter, like they should be. It brought tears to her eyes to see them as they were. She wished she could just freeze this moment in time, and she couldn't help but wonder what her life would be like if her days were always like this. Her thoughts were interrupted by the stirring body of Danny Messer. He began to awake, but realized the child was still asleep in his arms, so he tried not to move her. Glancing up, he noticed Lindsay leaning against the frame of the door, staring at the two with a smile on her face. As soon as he returned her gaze, the look on her face turned. She had been caught. Somewhat startled, she stood up straight and tried to make the words she wanted to say come to her lips.

"Hey Montana. Busy day?"

"Uhh…uhh, y-yeah. Busy. How is she?"

"She's fine. Passed out 5 minutes into the movie. Don said you'd be back in five minutes. I think he set us up," he replied softly, with a chuckle.

The little girl in his arms began to stir. She rubbed her eyes and looked up to see that her mother was back from being out in the field.

"Hi mommy!" she said excitedly, jumping out of Danny's arms and sleepily walking over to greet the woman.

"Hey baby, did you have fun with Uncle Flack?"

"Uncle Flack had to go work, so I stayed with Danny. Did you know he has all of the Flash comic books? He said I could read them whenever I wanted!"

"That's cool Bay, but I think we'd better get going. What do you say to Danny?"

"Thank you Danny! Will you be here to play next time too?"

Lindsay gave her daughter a nervous glance, not realizing how attached the small child had become in such a short amount of time. Then again, she had fallen for him the first time she saw him.

"Well, I don't know yet. I've gotta go talk to someone about gettin a job here first. And I don't know if your mom would let me watch you again, your Uncle Flack seems to have that job down pretty well as far as I can tell."

"Please mommy? Please can I still play with Danny?"

The pleading look in her daughter's eyes made the refusal a hard thing to come by. "We'll see Bay. Danny's a busy guy, and if he's going to be working here too, I don't know how much time he's going to have to play with you."

"What if he came over for dinner then?"

Danny and Lindsay glanced over at each other. Both were stunned at the little girl's proposal, but neither knew what actions they should take. Bailey's charm was something no one could refuse, but Danny wasn't sure if Lindsay would deny her the request at her own expense. He said a silent prayer to God that she wouldn't.

"Oh please mommy? If he came over for dinner he could bring the comic books with him, and then we could all watch more of my Flash movies."

She was becoming more and more persuasive by the second, and Lindsay found that she had no choice. She had to give in.

"Well, I can't deny you a night of Flash, can I? How does Friday night work for you?" she said, looking Danny's way with a look on her face that said "if you screw this up, I will personally hunt you down and rip your throat out".

"Uhh, uhh, it, that's fine, that's fine. Friday it is."

"Yay! Friday night!" Bailey shouted enthusiastically.

"Well, we've gotta get going Bay. Grab your stuff, I gotta get dinner going."

"Okay, bye Danny! I'll see you Friday, and don't forget to bring the comic books!" she said as she gave him a hug, once again warming up his body.

"See you then kid. Don't worry, I won't forget um, I promise."

As Bailey made her way out the door, her pigtails bobbing as she skipped down the hallway, Lindsay turned back to Danny.

"Hey, you know you didn't have to do that Linds."

"I know, but I love my daughter, and I guess I can put up with you for one night for her," she said, shooting him a glance that was half serious, half playful. As she quirked her eyebrow, he caught her gaze and tried to come up with something witty to come back with.

"Well, anything that'll get you to give me another chance Montana. Thank you."

"No problem Messer. Just don't go screwing this up, or I may have to bring out the wrath with a little more than my fist this time."

They looked at each other intently for a few more seconds until the small voice of Bailey interrupted them.

"Come on mommy, Spongebob comes on at 6!"

"I'm coming sweetie," she yelled down the hallway. "Later Messer."

"See ya Montana."

He laughed as he watched her walk out the door. Checking to make sure that she had rounded the corner, he pumped his fist into the air and yelled "Hey Oh!", only to be greeted by the laugh of Don Flack.

"Have a good time Mess?"

"Oh, I didn't realize anyone was standing there," he said a little embarrassed.

"Yeah, I heard your little victory chant from a mile away," he replied with a chuckle.

"Thanks Flack."

"For what? You did this all on your own Danno. You're on the right track, just don't screw it up. I don't wanna have to arrange your dates every other week."

"Uhh yeah, sure thing Flack, I'll do my best," he said nervously.

"Now, why don't you go in and get that job of yours back?"

With a smile, Danny grabbed his jacket and made his way down the hall towards the office of Mac Taylor.

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Lindsay plopped down onto the couch. As soon as she had gotten into the car, she began rethinking what she had done. Should she really let him over to her house, just the two of them and Bailey, to have dinner and play with her daughter? Was this taking it too fast? Was this all a mistake? Sighing, she stared at her daughter who was now sitting cross legged in front of the tv singing along with the Spongebob theme song. She would just have to take things as they went. There was no turning back now. Looking over at the calendar hanging on the wall, she realized that in four days time, she would be sitting down to a meal with Danny Messer.

"Isn't Friday going to be fun mommy?" Bailey turned and asked her mother.

"I'm sure it will be," Lindsay replied. "And pretty interesting at that."

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Pacing around the carpet in Mac's office, Danny's mind was racing. He was having dinner with Lindsay and Bailey on Friday. Was he really ready for this? He sure as hell hoped he wouldn't make a fool of himself. His thought were jogged as the door behind him opened and Mac Taylor entered the room.

"Danny Messer. I heard rumor that you were back in town. Good to see you back."