Standing Stone

Part 1

By: ioanhoratio

A/N: SPOILER ALERT! Please don't read if you're waiting for the first episode of season 7 to air in order to find out what happened to Shane Casey. Ok, now that's out of the way, this is just a purely speculative story based on some of the information we've been give regarding season 7. It's my little DL shipper mind going into overload and needing an outlet! ^_^ Now, I know what you're thinking, "What is she doing starting another story when there are so many of her stories that need updating?" Well, I have committed to finish this story BEFORE the season actually premiers. I have less than three weeks to finish this and I'm kind of excited to work under a deadline! So, give it a chance and if I don't keep my promise to update frequently I will allow you all to think of a reasonable form of punishment! LOL!

"Danny?"

At the sound of his name, Danny Messer glanced up from the evidence he was analyzing and saw his boss standing in the door of the lab, the man's stoic face causing an uncomfortable feeling to form in Danny's stomach.

"Yeah Boss?" he responded, squinting his eyes as if he could discern the problem through sensory detection.

"Have you heard from Lindsay? She's an hour late for work, and I haven't heard from her," Mac stated, getting straight to the point in his typical fashion.

Danny felt his anxiety heighten, though he managed to hide it well. "Ya know, I've been so involved in this case I haven't paid any attention to my phone. I bet she left me a message askin' me ta tell ya she was runnin' late. Let me check."

Mac gave a nearly imperceptible nod, and Danny responded by peeling off his latex gloves and snatching his phone out of his pocket. His heart plummeted when his phone showed no missed calls, nor any new text messages. He shook his head at Mac. "I'll call 'er. She probably jus' got caught up in traffic or somethin'" he offered lamely. They both knew it was a flimsy excuse. Lindsay wasn't immune to the occasional tardiness, especially with having Lucy, sometimes everything worked against her and despite her best efforts she may be 10 or 15 minutes late for work. It was few and far between, but it happened. However, being an hour late was absolutely out of character; particularly having not called ahead.

Danny ignored the gnawing in his chest as he listened to the rings, counting them. He soon heard her voice announce her name and that she was unable to answer, followed by the tone indicating for him to record a message.

"Linds, Mac is wonderin' where ya are babe, an' I gotta say I'm a little worried. Give me a call soon, a'right." He flipped the phone shut, and pressed his lips tightly together. "I'll try the home phone." He again opened his phone and made the call. Mac had moved farther into the lab, but kept a bit of distance between them which was fine with Danny. The tension in his own body couldn't handle his space being invaded by another person. When their answering machine picked up, Danny had to ignore the urge to just hang up in frustration. Instead, he left a similar message and then hung up.

"She ain't answerin'" Danny said uselessly. Mac was a smart enough guy to have figured out that Lindsay hadn't answered the phone.

"Danny," Mac began, his tone firm, but understanding, "what's going on?"

Danny's immediate response was to act like he didn't know what Mac was referring to, but almost as if Mac had read his mind, the older man's eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened-daring his subordinate to lie to him.

Danny ran a hand roughly through his hair, and shrugged. "Things aren't gettin' better Mac. Sometimes I think they're gettin' worse, ya know?"

Mac's only response was a slight tilt of his head, indicating for Danny to continue.

"I thought those three months in therapy would help, but she hated every second of it, an' I don't think she told the doc anything, at least nothin' important. It's been nearly six months an' I still find her staring off into space, thinkin' about it. She's quiet," he finished softly.

"Quiet?" Mac asked, seeking clarification.

"Yeah, quiet, like before, when she wouldn't talk to me, before she left for Montana ta testify," Danny explained.

Mac's expression darkened slightly. "Has she talked to you about it at all?"

"Yeah, of course Mac, we are husband and wife. It's not really somethin' we could jus' ignore," Danny said defensively, then immediately regretted it when Mac raised an eyebrow. Danny received the nonverbal reprimand and continued in a less aggressive tone, "I know she's upset because of Casey bein' in our home, holdin' our daughter, pointin' a gun at me. I get that. I know she's never had to shoot someone, never had to kill someone, but she won't ever let me tell 'er I'm proud of her for what she did. She cuts me off every time, an' don't even get me started on the fights we've had over that medal the city gave 'er. You'd think she was bein' punished if you go by her reaction."

Mac took a deep breath and placed his hands on his hips, fortifying his position. "Look Danny, I don't want to get involved in your marriage, but I can't ignore an employee not showing up for work, and this isn't the first indication that Lindsay is having trouble at work. She's been distracted, moody..."

"I know," Danny interrupted, "This is how she gets when she's bein' chased by some demon."

Danny grew silent, and Mac allowed him his moment of quiet. Danny thought about his wife, and the pain he had seen in her eyes, the vulnerability. "I gotta find 'er Mac."

Not waiting for a response, Danny again turned to his phone and quickly dialed.

"Who are you calling?" Mac asked, his own concern for Lindsay growing.

"The sitter," Danny answered, but was cut off from any further explanation when he heard the friendly voice on the other end. "Paige? You at home with Luce?...Oh, ok...No, that's fine. Everything goin' a'right? Lucy's ok?...A'right, you guys have fun...Bye."

Danny knew, he knew he had to get to his wife as quickly as possible. It was a feeling, it was the pounding of his heart, it was the fear he felt invading his mind.

"Well?" Mac pushed, startling Danny, who in his emotional upheaval had forgotten about the other man.

"Sitter says she picked up Lucy an hour and a half ago, an' Linds gave her money to take Lucy to an indoor playground and then out ta lunch. Lindsay shoulda been here by now. Mac..." Danny trailed off, his question clear.

"Go," Mac responded, "I'll take over here, you've got two hours. And when you find her, we're going to have to sit down and deal with this."

"Sure," Danny said simply, pulling off his lab coat and heading for the door. He paused just before exiting and threw over his shoulder, "Thanks Mac."

"Just find her."

Danny jogged to his shared office to grab his coat, his heart racing. He knew there was the possibility that everything was fine, but his gut was telling him otherwise. The memory of last night's fight played over and over again in his mind.

"Where is it?" Danny snap.

"I said I don't know," Lindsay barked, "Just leave it alone."

"Leave it alone? I asked you to do this nearly a month ago an' you still haven't done it."

Lindsay stuck her chin out in defiance and just shook her head.

"I can't take a photograph of it if I don't have it Lindsay," Danny pointed out.

"Why do you want a photo of it anyway?"

"'Cause I wanna make sure you can show it to Lucy an' right now it's new and, I don't know, shiny. She's too young to appreciate how important it is, but when she's older I'd like for her to be able to see it, an' I'd like for her to see you wearin' it," Danny tried to explain. He had wanted to take a photo of Lindsay when she had been wearing her uniform, right after being awarded the Combat Cross Medal, but there had been a lot of handshaking and congratulations, and before he knew it they were back at the lab and she had changed.

"Well, I don't want Lucy to know about it," Lindsay confessed angrily.

He closed his eyes in frustration. They had been having the same argument since Mac had told them he'd recommended Lindsay to receive the award. Danny knew the only reason she hadn't declined was because she hadn't wanted to disappoint Mac.

"Don't close your eyes and sigh like that at me," Lindsay bit out, "I told you from the beginning I didn't want it."

"Why are you bein' like this?" he demanded, "Will it really kill you to just stand there holding the damn thing and let me snap a shot of it? I'm proud of what you did, an' I want Lucy to be proud..."

"You can't," Lindsay interrupted abruptly, her tone resolute.

"I can't what? Can't be proud of you?"

"You can't take a photo of it," Lindsay said simply.

"An' why's that?" Danny asked folding his arms across his chest.

"Because I...I don't have it," Lindsay admitted quietly.

"You mean it's at work or somethin'?" Danny wanted to know.

"I mean, it's probably in some landfill somewhere, because I threw it away."

"You what?" Danny cried, then immediately snapped his mouth shut. They had been mindful of their sleeping daughter, but this revelation had surprised him enough that reasonable thought had fled for a moment.

Lindsay shushed him harshly, and they both stood silent, listening. When it became clear that Lucy was still asleep, Danny continued in a much quieter voice, "You threw it away?"

Lindsay lowered her head to avoid his accusing gaze. She nodded, her hair falling around her face.

"Why?" Danny pleaded, his anger replaced by concern. When she gave no immediate response he tried again, "Please Lindsay, I don't understand. What you did was a good thing. You protected your family. Help me understand."

"I can't," Lindsay choked out. She turned from him and wrapped her arms around herself. "It takes so much energy to keep control of this. I don't know if I can talk about it and not lose control."

"What does that mean?"

"You've killed people," Lindsay answered, her back still to him.

Her redirect confused him, and he didn't like where this was going. He didn't like the darkness he heard in her voice. "It's the job," was all he said in response.

"It's the job," Lindsay repeated softly. Danny could hear the distance in her voice. Then she suddenly turned, her face hard. "Have you ever received an award for killing someone?"

Ignoring her question, Danny tried to argue, "It's not an award for killing someone Lindsay. It's an award for being courageous, and reacting calmly in an intense situation, and for savin' lives; the lives of your husband and daughter."

Lindsay rolled her eyes. "Having you two is reward enough. Let's just leave it at that."

Danny shoved her attempts to end the conversation aside. "Lindsay, you walk around like you've done something' wrong, like you're waiting to be punished."

"Maybe I should be," she breathed, and before he could respond she added, "I'm done talking about this. I'm tired and I just want to go to bed." She stormed off, leaving a stunned Danny standing in the middle of the living room.

Danny roughly shoved his arms into his coat. He had wanted to press her, get her to explain what she had meant, but he knew he would have only grown more frustrated with her. His wife could be surprisingly firm when she wanted to, and it was like talking to a stone statue at times. Now, in hindsight, he wished he had tried harder. She had given him the cold shoulder in bed, and he had responded by rolling over, their backs only inches apart but the distance between them much further. He had been called into work early that morning and had left with a whispered, "I love you" to his barely awake wife.

He had known things weren't right, he just hadn't realized how bad they were. On his way to the garage to grab his car, he pulled out his phone, calling for help. "Hey Adam, I need a favor, I need ya to see if you can trace a cell phone for me..."

To be continued...

Thanks for reading!

Oh, and I want to add that I know it is not that easy to track a cell phone, but I figure since they get away with it all the time on the show I could too ;)