The next morning came all too quickly, and Lindsay buried her face in her pillow with a groan. Adam's hand came over and rubbed her shoulders for few minutes while she pried her eyes open.

"I don't want to get up."

"I don't want you to."

"Then we're agreed."

"You gotta get up."

"I hate life," she said, rolling over and cuddling into him. "Can we postpone it for an hour?"

He smiled and gently pushed her hair away from her face, taking a minute to look into the eyes he hadn't seen in almost 24 hours.

"Hey baby."

"Hi."

She smiled as he took her hand, lacing their fingers together and leaning down to kiss her. After a moment he rolled over and pulled her up onto his chest, his arms wrapping around her in a tight hug. She closed her eyes and imagined that she was melting into him, so she would never have to go. His hand splayed over the small of her back, his thumb stroking up and down her spine. She moaned into his neck, her lips pressing to his skin for a split second before she peeled herself away from him and sat up.

"I gotta go."

His hands stayed on her hips, his thumbs making small circles on her stomach. They smiled at each other and she shook her head.

"I won't be home as late tonight as I was last night, I promise."

"I'm holding you to that," he said, giving her a little squeeze before letting her go. She climbed off the bed and rubbed her eyes, then turned around and kissed him gently.

"Thanks for making me wanna play hooky."

"Anytime."

She went into the bathroom and showered quickly, letting the water wake her up and get her mind back into the case. She ran through what they had so far, needing to be at the top of her game as soon she stepped into the lab. The fact that the body was in the closet still bothered her a little. Who would take the time to stuff a body in such a small space unless they really needed to? Of course it was meant to be concealed, but inside a closed house wouldn't it be concealed enough? She sighed and rinsed the conditioner out of her hair, then stepped out of the shower and managed to be ready to go out the door in fifteen minutes.

Adam and Colton were on the couch watching the morning news and playing with toys, and the picture gave her pause. Colton squealed when he caught sight of her, reaching his hands out until she picked him up.

"I'll cuddle you for a couple hours when I get home tonight okay? Do we have a deal?"

He grinned and drooled a little and she kissed his forehead.

"Go see daddy," she said, reluctantly lowering him back to the couch. He grunted his frustration and she knew it would be seconds before he started to cry.

"Okay, I need to go. I'll call you later."

She slipped out the door and towards the elevator, despite hearing her son's distressed wails. Her stomach tightened and her heart clenched at the sound, and she wanted to curl up beside him and match his cries. But she had a job to do, and she needed to get her head in the game, or it was going to be another long night.

"Hey Danny, do you have the over alls from the scene?"

"Yeah, they're in the office. You've got that look. What are you thinkin' Linds?"

"There's something that doesn't fit. I want to know why he put her in the closet."

"Cuz he's one sick puppy?"

"Well besides that," she said, rolling her eyes and opening the door to their office. Austin was sitting at Danny's desk with her feet propped up on an open drawer.

"If you're gonna hide her in here, you at least have to feed her," Lindsay admonished, sitting down at her own desk.

"She must have followed me here. Can I keep her?"

"Long as she don't got fleas."

"Pickin' on a pregnant lady? You'll be hearing from my bleeding heart lawyer."

"So what'cha doin' here Graceless?" Danny asked, pulling a chair over and propping his feet up next to his wife's.

"I got bored sitting at home," she answered with a shrug. "Are you aware of the kind of crap that is on TV during the day? I sat there for an hour and saw about seventeen life insurance ads, twelve for AARP, and nine for Metamucil. I feel like I'm 75. So in the interest of not collecting life insurance by proxy, I figured I would hang out down here. What'cha workin' on?"

"Some thing from yesterday. Lindsay's got a theory."

"Not a full grown theory. It's like a… larval theory."

"Wait, lava?" Danny asked, receiving four raised eyebrows in return.

"Did he really just ask that?"

"He's your husband."

"Hold me."

"I die."

"What?"

"Never mind Danny. So you were talking about a larval theory?"

"I was thinking that maybe we're looking at this from a totally wrong angle. The pencil is obviously in play, but what if the piece of envelope doesn't matter? Maybe this is someone who knew her and they presented themselves as a student, but their real intention was murder? We haven't looked that far into her life yet."

"So why'd you need the pictures?"

"Because I remembered something. Her purse was sitting open on the chair by the fireplace. Now I know Austin can't back me up on this, but that is not a normal place for a purse. There was a couple bucks in there, but not a lot. What if she was actually going to give this person money, but didn't have much cash?"

"So what are you gonna do?"

"First I'm going to call Ghostbusters, and then I am going to talk to Flack and have him track down some of her family. We haven't really looked at her life. We just looked at this one event and figured it was a fluke, because it didn't seem to fit in with the little old lady."

"You're probably right Linds. As usual."

"Oh don't be so bitter Danny. Do you remember that bruise on her foot that Sid thought might be a shoeprint? It was. I've got it in the system looking for an exact match so that might give us somewhere to start."

"Sounds like you've got it under control. I'm just going to take a little rest in here," Danny replied as she started to leave the room.

"Austin, smack him for me."

"OW!"

Lindsay was teetering on the edge of exhausted by the time the shift was over, and because of the lack of progress with the case, she was also firmly planted in frustration. It was going to be days and weeks of interviews with friends and family unless the evidence pointed them in a new direction. It seemed so simple, yet they were running into tiny dead ends with every step.

Colton's cries from that morning still rang in her ears and she wanted so badly to go home she could almost taste it. She rested her head on her desk, figuring she would take a few minutes to get her thoughts back in line before filing her paperwork for the day.

"Here buddy," Austin said, setting a cup of tea down on the desk.

"Well aren't your mothering instincts taking over?" Lindsay teased, sitting up and grabbing the Styrofoam cup.

"Don't say it so loud. You look stressed."

"I am. Or tired. Or both. I can't differentiate my emotions anymore."

"No offense, but you look like dead woman walking."

"I slept about three hours last night and about five or less the few nights before that."

"Adam was on graves?"

"I can't sleep without him, and yes, I do understand the hilarity of that fact after I made fun of you for the exact same thing."

"Turn about is fair play. Danny and Flack are taking me out for dinner. Want to come?"

"I need to get home to the boys."

"Bring the boys. I think Mac and Stella are coming too."

"I'll ask Adam. We probably won't stay long though."

"That's okay."

"Hey, have you been here all day?"

"No, I left for a few hours, went home and took a marathon nap, then came back because I was bored again."

"It's moments like these I remember why we're best friends."

"Aw, only in moments like these?"

"Okay, well sometimes when you tell me things like "I think my underwear is on inside out" I might remember then too."

"That was only that one time."

"True. Hey, do you want to do some of this paperwork for me?"

"I don't love you that much. Hurry up though. We're gonna be at the place around the corner."

"The one with the magical cheese fries?"

"That's right."

"I'm there. Just give me twenty minutes."

"Hey Scooter Britches!" Lindsay greeted as Adam and Colton came into the restaurant and joined the rest of the group at the table.

"I hope you're talking to the kid," Danny chuckled.

"Of course I am," Lindsay replied while Colton squealed and used every ounce of strength he had to propel himself from Adam's arms into hers. She chuckled and aided in his escape, pressing a kiss to the top of his head while he babbled against her shoulder.

"You're the favorite," Adam said giving her a quick peck.

"I am not."

"He doesn't sit by my shoes and frown for hours on end when I'm gone, does he?"

"No, I guess not."

"He'll like me better once he figures out how to play video games."

"Because you're going to be easy to beat?"

"And she's feisty. Where does this come from?"

"I'll give you one guess and it starts with Austin," Danny answered, earning a fist to the shoulder from his wife.

"Can it, Daddy-o."

"So how's the case?" Adam asked quietly, sliding his arm around Lindsay's shoulders and stealing a fry off of her plate.

"Slow. Not much we can do at the moment, just lots of interviews."

"I know you hate that."

"Yes I do."

He smiled and kissed her forehead and they continued a wordless conversation despite the actual conversation around them. She reached under the table and squeezed his hand while they kept a smiling eye contact. Truth be told, they really did miss each other during the day, and not just in the "I wish you were here" kind of way, but in the "I turned to say something to you and you weren't there" kind of way. They could function apart, but they would rather be together most of the time.

They fell back into the conversation, but Adam kept a close watch on Lindsay, noting the dark circles under her eyes and the split second of lag time before she fully processed a joke. She was tired, and it was more than just working. She needed a real break, a vacation. They were planning to go to Arizona in September, but he thought that wasn't soon enough. She just needed a weekend away from the city, maybe just the three of them at an inn in a small town somewhere. She just needed to breathe. It was one of the things he loved most about her, the ability she had to surrender herself completely to the natural calm of the earth, to relax and hold steady and accept the natural quiet. He often teased her about being a modern hippie, but he knew it had more to do with her upbringing than anything. Away from a city, nothing to interrupt, she really did feel at peace. He needed to figure out a way to give that to her, even in small doses every once in a while.

He'd never known someone who he so enjoyed caring for, who he would sacrifice his own happiness and comfort just to know she was content. It wasn't like his actions went unrewarded, but even if they did, he would do it anyway. He never imagined he would be this lucky, not without the world rotating on its axis, pigs flying, hell freezing over, and all other proverbial impossibilities. The thought of it made him love her even more in that moment and he couldn't help tightening his grip on her and kissing her temple. She turned to him and smiled, understanding his thoughts in the embrace, giving him a slight wink to let him know that she was right on track with him. He didn't have to verbalize how much he loved her, or how he was proud of her for being a mother and working and being his partner in every aspect of life. She knew it, and it was something that she would never forget.