Welcome to my third Dino story, carrying on a little after we left off last time... For those of you that like Dino - don't worry - things are not as bad as they may seem...

Enjoy

Lucy

Gaby stared out of the small oval window at the night-time Manhattan skyline as the plane lifted off the ground, tears streaming down her face

Gaby stared out of the small oval window at the night-time Manhattan skyline as the plane lifted off the ground, tears streaming down her face. She had come to love New York and it had certainly given her new friends and a new purpose in life. Yet for all that it had done for her, she could no longer stay because the one thing that she needed more than anything else was over. Dino no longer loved her.

Thinking of him set off a new round of tears, but she stayed silent, not wanting to attract the attention of the stewardess. She still couldn't work out what had happened, why things had changed so much. For two years the two of them had grown together, Gaby knowing that Dino needed time after losing Cass, not pushing him into anything, though in her own heart she knew there would never be another man in her life. Dino gave her everything she needed.

Then, six months ago, things had started to go wrong, first at home, little things then bigger things. Then the problems had started in the office, until at the meeting she had had last week with Dino and Terry, he had put her down harshly for a suggestion she had made. Even Terry had been stunned at Dino's attack, not knowing what to say.

The following day, Dino had left for Europe, the negotiating team out there had run into trouble and needed help. In the past, she had joined him, helping the family of the victim, talking to them, lending a shoulder to cry on where necessary. Dino had said that they were a good team, but this time, he had told her she wasn't needed. When she opened her mouth to ask why, he had angrily retorted that he didn't want her there.

Once again she tried to make sense of things in her mind. What had happened to make him so angry – almost violent? What had she done?

Again she tried to see into the past, to see where she had made her mistakes. Again she came up with no answers. She had tried to fit in with his life, become the woman that he wanted her to be and yet, it had all been for nothing. She had spoken to Jackie several times – one person who knew Dino well, but Jackie could not give her answers and was also mystified as to Dino's more recent behaviour, admitting that it was not like him.

Pulling the blanket up around her shoulders, she continued to stare out of the window, the tears continuing to flow. She had tried so hard to fix things that she had no energy left to fight anymore, the only thing that was left was to run…

Gaby had almost never run away from anything in her life. Hidden, yes, run… Apart from only one other occasion, never, it was not in her nature, but here she was running away from the place she considered home, running away from the man she loved, running to the only place that might help to heal her heart. It had been her sanctuary before, and would be again…

Argentina…

&

Eduardo was troubled; he had received a call from Gaby to say she was on her way. Initially, he had been happy, she and Dino made a point of coming to the hacienda at least once a year, but when he picked her up from the airport and saw her face, he realized that things were different.

After a quiet drive, Gaby staring out of the window, they had arrived home. Consuella had come running out to give Gaby a hug, welcoming her home. Later as they were relaxing on the sofa, she and Eduardo had spoken quietly, after Gaby had made her excuses and retired to her rooms.

"So, what's wrong? Why won't she speak to me? We've always been able to talk."

Consuella sighed and snuggled into her husband, "All I can get out of her is that Dino no longer loves her… and that she won't go back…"

"Should I talk to her?"

Consuella shook her head, "Not for now, leave her alone, she's confused and upset. She can't work out what went wrong. One thing I do know… She's heartbroken."

Eduardo swore to himself but said nothing, when Dino and Gaby had come to visit, they were inseparable and Gaby had come in for a lot of teasing from the Artemis teams. She had softened considerably, the teams saying that she had been 'tamed' at last. Gaby had taken it all in fun and laughed, Eduardo relieved to see her so happy.

Thinking for a moment, he knew Gaby would speak to him in her own time and that he shouldn't push her for answers. He resolved to make a call the following morning, Gaby wouldn't talk to him yet, but he wanted answers and he knew where he might get some… Terry Thorne.

"I'm sorry Eduardo, I really don't know what's going on." Terry was almost as confused as Eduardo was. He knew how much Dino loved Gaby… teased him about it… To the extent that at one point he had taken to humming the wedding march when Gaby was not around… receiving a few hand made missiles for his trouble – but it was worth it… Just to see the blush on Dino's face.

Eduardo pulled a face, "Can't you tell me anything?"

Terry sighed, "I know it probably started about 6 months ago, but I only really started to notice when they started bringing their arguments to the office. Jackie had said that Gaby was upset about something, but she couldn't work it out."

"How do you mean?"

"Something about the way Dino was treating her at home… I didn't believe it at first, but when it first happened in the office a couple of months ago, I was stunned."

Eduardo's voice became hard, "Treating Gaby badly…"

Terry interrupted, "Not at all like that Eduardo, Dino would never do that to any woman… It's as if he no longer cared about how Gaby felt, like he doesn't care about her opinion any more. In the office, she just has to do her job, nothing more."

Now Eduardo was confused, "But Dino loved the way Gaby and he worked together – him negotiating, she working to help the family. They were a great team; he told me so, said that part of it was because they understood each other so well."

Terry sighed, "I have to be honest Eduardo, Dino has changed over the last few months and I don't know why. He won't talk to me except about work, it's almost as if he's pushing everyone away – Gaby most of all. That's what I found strangest of all. When Gaby first arrived, I could see how she felt about him and how careful she was not to push him into anything. She still feels the same, that I know, it's all over her face."

"and Dino?"

"I don't know, after a couple of months, he let her in, Jackie and I used to meet them occasionally walking around Central Park. Dino always had his arm wrapped around her shoulders, at a gala, I heard him tell someone that he had never been so happy, that Gaby had helped him to live again."

Terry paused, "Eduardo, I've known Dino for a long time and I know how he felt about your sister – not just cared for her, but loved her. I was so happy for him – he hasn't had the greatest of luck with long term relationships, first his divorce, then Cass…"

"It wasn't what he said, but what he did… Always watching out for her… Doing things – just because he knew she liked it. Walking into her office to get a file when he didn't really need it, just to have an excuse to be with her… I once teased them that I should have the wall between their offices knocked down. That way they could gaze at each other all day… You can imagine the reply I got to that one…"

Eduardo chuckled, he certainly could… Gaby couldn't help but show how much she loved the red-headed ex Delta Force officer, but during the last couple of visits he had seen personally that Dino returned that love. He sighed, before Terry's voice broke through his thoughts.

"I don't know what I can do Eduardo, I'll talk to Jackie tonight – maybe between us we can put the puzzle together, otherwise I'll have to wait until Dino gets back."

"He's not there?"

Terry was surprised, "You didn't know? He left for Europe three days ago, before Gaby left for Argentina."

Eduardo thought quickly, "Does he know that Gaby is not in New York?" Terry answered in the negative making Eduardo more worried, "She's left behind his back… That's not like her… This is something much deeper than I originally thought."

Terry agreed, but there was nothing they could do now. They had to wait for Gaby to talk, and Dino to return home…

Consuella walked through the courtyard on her way to the kitchen, spring was on the way and she smiled to see the buds on the trees and plants, indicating that the coldest of the weather was over. Hearing a faint noise she stopped, realizing it was coming from near the fountain.

A quick glance revealed Gaby, sitting on the bench, head in her hands. Consuella sighed, Gaby had been at the hacienda for over a week, speaking to no-one, not even Alvaro and Joachim who had been her closest friends for many years when she led the Artemis team.

Consuella swallowed, she was a little in awe of Gaby, and secretly also a little afraid of her and the strength she had exhibited as Artemis leader. However, what she saw was someone who had been broken, and was now destroying herself from the inside, caught in a decreasing spiral of self pity and heartbreak. She had to stop this negativity.

Taking a deep breath, she walked closer; it was time for Gaby to talk.

"Gabrielle?"

The soft voice broke into Gaby's thoughts and she sighed. She had known sooner or later that someone would come to talk to her, though she was surprised that it was Consuella. She had expected her brother, or Antonio. She shifted uncomfortably on the bench, she had little contact with women, except for the girls from the office and Jackie in New York.

She had made a few friends, but none of them were that close, none of them had managed to come inside the barrier she had built to protect herself. Jackie was the closest, but even she did not know her deepest secrets, her deepest fears.

As tears slowly began to slide down her face, she felt a hand reaching for hers, then a second. "Gaby? Please, tell me what happened… I can't bear to see you like this."

Gaby shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, not able to speak. Consuella frowned, her sister in law was locking away her feelings and soon no-one would be able to reach her. She had come across just in time…

"Come with me…" Pulling Gaby to her feet, she led her to her room and took a few things from her drawer, "Change – I'll be back in a moment." She waited until she saw Gaby begin to change – albeit somewhat mechanically, before heading to her own room to do the same.

When ready, she spoke to one of the hacienda workers and gave him a message, before returning to Gaby. "Ok, let's go."

Gaby looked up from where she was sitting on the bed, curious, "Go where?"

Consuella grinned, "It is much too nice a day to stay inside, and I fancy some company."

As they walked outside, Consuella heard a slight gasp from Gaby's throat when she saw what was in front of them. Gaby's favourite horse, Condor was tacked up and ready to go, standing next to him was Bianca… Consuella was just as good a rider as Gaby, but wanted to shock her into talking and had decided to ride the grey mare to do just that.

Gaby swallowed, around the hacienda, Bianca was regarded as being Dino's horse and seeing her brought back a lot of memories. She knew that the mare was used when she and Dino weren't there… but…

"C'mon Gaby, let's go… or we won't have time for a decent ride before lunch."

As Gaby swung onto Condor's back, Consuella gave a little smile, first she would allow Gaby time to relax, but then she would start asking questions…

Gaby reined in her horse as she approached the river and sighed, Consuella had been right, it was too much of a nice day to be spent indoors. In the distance she could hear the crack of rifle fire as Eduardo put the Artemis teams through their training.

Smiling sadly, she thought back to her time with the organization and the work she had done. The people they had helped, especially the refugees, still sent messages of thanks at Christmas time through a contact point in Buenos Aires.

She sighed again, the teams were now closed to her – yes they were still part of who she was, but she was no longer part of them and could feel the line that had come between her and the members, even those who had been on her own team. She was quite happy about that, she had been able to move on with her life which she would never have done if Dino…

The tears started again, why did everything remind her of him…? Hearing hoof beats behind her, she resisted the urge to turn – knowing that the sight of Bianca without Dino in the saddle would make her breakdown completely.

Consuella quietly brought Bianca alongside Condor, saying nothing. She had deliberately held Bianca back to a steady canter, while Gaby galloped on ahead, hoping the change of scenery and atmosphere would help. Glancing across at Gaby's face she became worried, seeing the tears that were once again falling down her sister in law's face.

Reaching across for Gaby's hand, she quietly asked her question, "What happened?"

Gaby shook her head, fighting to control the helplessness she felt inside, "I don't know…"

Consuella was confused, Gaby's answer was barely a whisper, but she couldn't understand… Surely there must have been some kind of warning that things were not going well…

Climbing down from Bianca's saddle, Consuella persuaded Gaby to do the same and the two of them walked to the edge of the river bank and sat down. "Look… Why don't we start from the beginning…? When you went to New York… Dino was happy to see you… right?"

Gaby nodded her head but still said nothing. Consuella bit her lip, she knew this was going to be hard, but now she realized how hard. She and Gaby were not really that close, though they enjoyed each other's company when Gaby had come home for a visit. How could she get Gaby to talk?

&

Terry walked into his apartment and sighed, the new secretary had started today, taking over the more basic of jobs while Paula had taken over Gaby's work. Apart from Jackie, Paula was probably Gaby's closest friend in New York, and while the boys were working away on negotiations often had lunch and dinner together with Jackie.

A thought came to his mind, and after hanging his coat he headed for the kitchen, looking for his wife. "I need to ask you something…"

Jackie looked up in surprise, Terry's tone of voice was serious, yet cautious too, as if he was about to ask something that he didn't really want to hear the answer to. "What is it?"

"When Dino and I were both away… Did Gaby always come here or meet you and Paula for dinner?"

Jackie became thoughtful for a moment, Terry had told her about Eduardo's phone call and she had been trying to think what may have happened between their friends. "Most of the time, yes, she hated it when he was away, hated to be alone. That's why she used to go with him if it looked like a negotiation was going to take a while…"

"Do you think she hated it enough to try and persuade him to stop…?"

Dino looked up and down the road outside the airport, where the hell was Gaby? He had managed to wrap up the negotiation the night before and left a message on the answer machine at home telling her when to pick him up, but there was no sign of her.

Opening his cell he called her number, hearing it ring a couple of times before getting a recorded message, 'Out of Service'. Dino swore, Gaby had probably forgotten to charge her cell… again, she could be so dumb sometimes… He tried the house line and got the answer machine, giving a frustrated sigh, he dialed the office.

A bright young voice that he didn't recognize answered the phone, confused by his request to speak to Gaby.

"I'm sorry sir, there is no-one of that name here, would you like to speak to Mr Thorne?" Dino was about to tell the young woman off for not recognizing him, when he realized that she must be new and accepted her suggestion. A moment later, he heard Terry's voice on the end of the line.

"Jesus Terry, where the hell is Gaby? I left her a message to pick me up at the airport and there's no sign of her."

Terry swallowed, "Sorry Dino, I didn't realize you were on your way back, I would have arranged something… Give me 30 minutes, I'll come for you."

Dino pulled a face, "Sure, ok, but I still don't understand why Gaby let me down. Cass never would have done that."

Terry put the phone down slowly, what the hell did Dino mean by that last remark? More to the point, what was he going to tell him about Gaby's decision to go to Argentina?

&

A short while later, Terry was returning to the office with Dino next to him, informing him about several cases that had just come up, Dino was grumbling about Gaby's non-appearance and not really listening. Terry watched him carefully, suddenly realizing how Dino's attitude must have seemed to Gaby. Not once did his partner inquire how she was, or if something was wrong, merely assuming that Gaby had made a mistake.

Terry remained silent for a moment, trying to work out what he was going to say. Dino was not only his partner, but also his best friend and they had been through hell and back together. However, he could now partly understand why Gaby had left, though he still couldn't work out what had happened.

Taking a deep breath, Terry decided to keep it short and simple. "Dino, Gaby's left… She's not here."

Dino turned slightly in his seat and narrowed his eyes, his voice dropping, becoming quieter. "What do you mean she's left…? Where has she gone?"

Terry sighed, "Gone home, to Argentina…"

Dino began swearing under his breath, Terry waited for the questions, waited for Dino's temper to change from anger to concern. Hoped for it to change even, then at least he would know that maybe his friend would be able to reconcile his differences with his partner, but it was not to be.

If anything, Dino became even more angry, "Great, she could have told me, or sent a message. I guess I may as well come to the office, have a look at this case you were talking about, maybe I need to go back out."

His casual dismissal of Gaby's disappearance stunned Terry, what the hell had happened between him and Gaby to result in such a lack of feeling? More to the point, why had he and Jackie not seen what was going on, Terry fell silent, feeling guilty that he had not picked up on anything.

At the office, Dino ploughed into the files on his desk, frowning at the last one which was proving to be tricky. Noticing that the file had not been updated in three days, he went through to the office next door, now occupied by Paula.

"Do you have the update for the Ortega file? It seems to be missing."

Paula hesitated, "I'm not sure where it is, I'm still trying to catch up with Miss Santigo's work."

Dino turned to her, his voice cold but still polite, after all it wasn't Paula's fault that Gaby had left the office in a mess. "Don't worry about it, I'll find it myself." Slowly he leafed through the e-mails that had come in, finding the updates that he needed, annoyed to see that some of them were over five days old.

"Something wrong?"

Looking up he saw Terry watching him carefully, "Trying to find the updates for this file, Gaby is damned inconsiderate leaving like this, her office is in a mess. Cass would never have done this when she went for a break."

Terry paused for a moment, there it was again, the reference to Cass. Dino hadn't spoken about her in years, why was he doing so now? Dino's voice distracted him from his thoughts.

"So, when is she coming back? Lucky you managed to find a temp until then."

Terry swallowed, "Sally isn't a temp Dino, she's coming in full time. Gaby's not coming back; she left right after you did."

Dino straightened up and looked directly at Terry, his voice quiet but hard. "What?"

"She's gone home Dino, she said that she was going to stay there."

Dino's voice turned to ice, "Fine, if that's how she wants it…" Turning back to the e-mails, he found one that had arrived a few hours before. Reading through it quickly he pulled a face, "The Ortega case is not going well, I'll fly back out in a couple of days or so and see what I can do to help."

"Dino…"

"What? Don't hassle me Terry… If Gaby wants to go back home and play the huntress with her brother, that's her choice. My priority at the moment is this case. I'm going home to grab some food, a change of clothes and some rest, though not necessarily in that order."

Turning his back on Terry, he grabbed his things and walked out of the door, announcing that he would catch a cab home.

Terry headed for his office and picked up his phone.

&

"Cass? Why would Gaby talk about Cass?" Jackie was confused, but when Terry told her what had happened that day, she became thoughtful. "You know… A few months ago, she did ask me for some recipe ideas… Said that she knew Dino liked certain meals, but wasn't sure how to do them… A couple of them were things that I know Cass liked to do."

Terry became thoughtful, "Maybe we need to dig a little deeper… If Dino has been comparing Gaby to Cass…"

Jackie agreed, "It would be understandable that she got upset, but would it be enough to send her running like she did? Gaby's much stronger than that, a comparison with Cass might hurt, but she knows what Dino went through, wouldn't she be able to shrug it off?"

Terry wasn't so sure, Gaby seemed tough on the outside – and then there was her work as Artemis, but… "I don't know Jackie, over the last couple of years I've got to know Gaby pretty well. She's not as strong as she seems."

"Granted, if someone tried to steal her purse or something she'd be able to sort them out, but emotionally? I don't know, she's not the same as the person I originally met in Argentina 5 years ago…"

&

Dino walked into the house and threw his suitcase onto the sofa before walking into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he swore at what he saw… Nothing… The fridge was completely empty… Checking, he realized that Gaby had turned it off.

The freezer next to it wasn't much better, a few steaks, frozen vegetables and a couple of pizzas, but he wanted something decent… The cupboards had the usual tinned and boxed staples, but nothing great. Taking a glass out of the cupboard, he opened another to get out a soft drink to quench his thirst, but again found nothing apart from a couple of small bottles of water.

In a rage he picked up the glass and threw it against the wall… Why? Why had Gaby done this…? Cass never would have let him down like this. Turning on his heel, he grabbed his jacket and left the house, heading for Patrick's Bar, at least he knew he'd get some good food there.

Walking in, Dino was greeted by a surprised Patrick, who hadn't seen him in a long while. He had bumped into Dino in the street on occasion and had accepted the reasons why Dino had stopped drinking at his bar. "Been busy Dino? How's your lady friend?"

Dino gave him a sour look, "Don't know, don't really care right now, can you give me something? I just got back and I'm starving."

Patrick nodded and turned to his cook, asking for a couple of steaks. Glancing back, he saw a look on Dino's face that he hadn't seen in years and it saddened him. First Cass and now Gaby, it seemed that the man was to be plagued by bad luck when it came to settling down…

He decided not to mention anything more, but offered Dino a drink, "Beer while you're waiting?"

Dino shook his head, "Scotch… and make it a large one." Dino downed the drink in one gulp, signaling to Patrick for a refill. As he finished the second, he wasn't aware that he was being watched.

Sitting in a dark corner, a dark-haired woman smiled to herself. It had been a long time since the red-head had come to Patrick's and he would make a nice change to her usual marks. Rough he could be – especially after a few drinks, but he was one of only a few that could make her job enjoyable… and profitable. Dino was one who liked to keep a woman for the night.

She would have to be careful though, she knew that he'd been about to get married when his fiancée had been killed and later he'd found someone new. However, the fact that he was here indicated that all was not well in that area.

Seeing him take a seat at a table nearby when Patrick brought out a plate of food, she smiled and made her plans.

&

Gaby reined in her horse and smiled, Condor was getting old and much of his speed was gone, but he was still sure-footed and sensitive to her touch. As Consuella caught up, she chuckled slightly, "so… are we going to begin my next counseling session?"

Consuella smiled back, "It's good to know that my studies in psychology weren't wasted…"

She and Gaby had been riding together for a week or two and slowly she had got Gaby to talk about her life with Dino, concentrating on the good things. A few days before, Gaby had broken down when talking about the day she had realized that Dino returned her love completely – not just caring for her in his own way.

"He'd taken me up to Boston for the weekend, said we needed a short break." Gaby had dropped her head and tears had started sliding down her face. "We were walking around a park when he told me how happy he was that I'd decided to stay in New York. It was when he gave me the silver locket…"

Consuella knew about the locket that Gaby always wore, but had never actually seen it close up until that day. Inside were two small pictures of Dino and Gaby, on the back, an inscription, 'Claddagh' and a heart held in two hands topped by a crown.

Gaby had asked what it meant, but Dino had merely said it was an Irish custom more commonly associated with rings, but that it suited their relationship. Intrigued, Gaby had started digging to find out more to find out what the symbol meant.

Finding the information that she needed more quickly than she expected, she found out that the symbol worn turned inwards signified that "someone had captured their heart"…

Consuella sighed, "I think we'd better start talking about what happened more recently Gaby… If we're going to fix this."

Gaby dropped her head knowing that her sister-in-law was right. She loved Dino, wanted to be with him, but she could not go back yet. Not until she had worked out what had happened, how could she fix something when she didn't know how it had been broken…?

Dino opened one eye and groaned, somewhere to his right he could hear his cell ringing, the sound echoing through his skull. He couldn't remember the last time when he had felt this bad. Opening his cell, his ears were assaulted by Terry's voice.

"Dino… Where the fk are you, I've been trying to reach you for the last two hours, the Ortega case has gone down and I need you to get over to Chechnya ASAP."

Dino shook his head, trying to clear his mind, Terry couldn't go to Chechnya after a deal he'd worked for Luthan Risk had turned a little sour and upset the Russians. "Ok, give me time to have a shave and a shower and I'll come in."

"Yeah – well you better move fast – your plane leaves in just over three hours." Dino could almost hear the phone slam down at the other end and winced.

Sitting up, he glanced around, a feeling of disquiet coming over him – he wasn't at home, that he could tell from the colours of the room… Hotel… Why would he have ended up in a hotel? As he got to his feet a little unsteadily, he cursed all makers of whisky that he could think of and wondered how he had got where he was. He couldn't remember a damn thing.

Turning slightly, he caught sight of the brunette that had obviously been lying next to him and swore to himself. As he looked, she began to wake up, as if aware of his scrutiny. "Morning Tiger… My... weren't we energetic last night…"

"Get your clothes and get out…" Dino growled, throwing some notes on the bed next to her, "I want you gone by the time I come out of the shower."

Standing under the shower, Dino alternated between hot and cold water, in an attempt to clear his mind enough for the day ahead. Terry was going to kill him…

&

Dino walked into the office about an hour later, he had passed by his house, thrown the dirty laundry into the basket and put clean into his bag and continued on. Putting his suitcase down to one side he walked into Terry's office.

Terry was furious, "Took your damn time…"

"I had to grab some stuff, couldn't go out with dirty clothes now could I. Sorry about not answering the phone earlier, I was out cold."

Terry couldn't believe how nonchalant Dino was and snarled at him, "Yeah and not in your own bed either from the looks of it…"

Dino bristled, "What are you talking about…?"

"You're a bard Dino… I asked Jackie to pop in on her way to work to wake you up as she passed by – or had you forgotten that you and Gaby had given us a key to keep an eye on things when you went away. She also saw Patrick in the street… He told her you dropped in to his place last night…"

Dino stared at his friend, he had indeed forgotten that Terry had a key and now he had been caught out. He opened his mouth to say something, but Terry wasn't finished. "You come home from an operation swearing at everything and treating people badly yet you don't look at yourself."

"Over the last six months you've had arguments with a couple of the extraction team members, causing them to threaten to quit… Only the Artemis teams working overseas for us have stayed totally loyal – and that's because of Gaby…"

"Why did you slam her for her idea…? Offering a counseling service after someone has been kidnapped is a damn good idea… and she should know… She had a private counselor – in you… Yet a couple of years later you're slamming her down like a nobody… No wonder she left you."

Dino stood, his temper flaring, "Don't you drag her into this…"

Terry matched his friend move for move, "Why not Dino… She's gone running home to Argentina, crying herself to sleep at night because she doesn't know what she's done wrong to make you so damn angry and all you can think of is where your next drink or the next woman is coming from."

"But I didn't intend to…"

"Go tell it to the moon Dino, I don't believe you. I used to be proud to call you my friend – and you had one hell of a woman by your side – but you've reverted back to your true colours it seems. She helped you recover from losing Cass, and this is how you treat her in return, you're a piece of st Dino… Now get out of here and on that damn plane before you screw up our business as well as your life."

Dino was so stunned by Terry's attack that he did what he was told, grabbing his case, he jumped in a cab and headed for the airport, case file and reports under his arm. The argument between him and Terry playing over and over in his mind… Had he really pushed people away…? He couldn't think straight, his head was pounding, what he really needed was some Tylenol and a good night's sleep, but probably wouldn't get either…

Dino curled up on his seat trying to rest; usually it was not a problem. Terry had once joked that he could sleep anywhere – even on a washing line if necessary. However, today he couldn't, he had managed to get a couple of Tylenol at the airport, which had made the thudding in his head abate slightly, but his mind was still spinning at Terry's anger.

In the time they had known each other, the two of them had rarely argued, but recently they had grown further apart and he couldn't work out why. Had he changed? He couldn't really see it, yes, he admitted to himself, he had got rather irritable with everyone over the last few months, but that was all Gaby's fault, why had she changed so much?

She was no longer the person she had been when they had first met, which wasn't a bad thing. Since coming to New York, she had softened considerably, which he had liked, but then began changing – changes he didn't like… Why did she think she needed to take Cass' place? Didn't she realize what she was doing? Sighing to himself, his mind began to wander and once again thoughts of Cass settled into his mind. Thinking of her calmed him down and somewhere over the mid-Atlantic, he began to fall asleep.

&

Gaby sighed, she and Consuella had just returned from one of their 'counseling sessions' and had identified a possible problem. Gaby had remembered a fierce argument she had had with Dino one evening over dinner, she had spent some time over it – trying something new that she knew Dino liked from a list of recipes Jackie had given her.

The food had turned out well, but she could see that Dino was becoming increasingly annoyed as they were eating. Gaby couldn't understand what was wrong, especially as she had made the effort to be what Dino wanted her to be… It was part of the reason why she had asked for the recipes.

Thinking of him no longer brought tears, but it did make her heart ache. She loved him so much, why had he pushed her away? Was there something wrong that he didn't want her to know about? Some illness that he didn't want her to worry about? Is that why he hadn't said anything to her…? She wished he had talked to her about what was troubling him.

She began to wonder how he was, what he was doing. Was he ok? She knew that she could find out by calling Terry, but was afraid to call the office in case Dino answered the phone and she didn't want either Consuella or Eduardo doing it for her, though she knew they would. Sighing to herself, she continued into her room after having a quick shower, she stretched out on the couch dozing off in a few minutes, her mind trying to search for answers.

&

Dino scowled at the weather, why did Eastern Europe always have to be so dull? Though technically Chechnya was Asia, he still associated the country with the former USSR and thought of it as a European country. The weather seemed to reflect the problems of the country, always dark and sombre, maybe one day the sun would shine and the country would begin to solve its problems.

Chechnya made him feel uncomfortable, the people here were fighting for independence – fighting for democracy, fighting for freedom… It appealed to his American self, but he disliked the way many people were trying to fulfill that dream, he knew that more peaceful ways had been tried – but that didn't mean they couldn't be tried again.

Stepping out of his taxi, he ran into the hotel to stay as dry as possible, after checking in, he went to his room and threw his case on the bed. The flight he had taken had resulted him arriving in the middle of the night and the negotiating team would not be expecting him until the morning. Kicking his shoes off, he sank onto the bed, exhausted by the journey, maybe now he would get some sleep, he certainly hadn't managed to get a lot on the plane.

&

Terry sighed, he had just told Jackie about his argument with Dino – though not the circumstances and she was worried. "Is it because of Gaby he's behaving like this – or something else?"

Terry shrugged his shoulders, "I really don't know, but if it is because of Gaby, I don't think we can help… It's something that he and Gaby will have to sort out between themselves."

Jackie looked troubled, "But the way Dino is at the moment… He's not going to make a move to fix things…"

Terry nodded, "I know… I'll have to call Eduardo and tell him what we've worked out… If Dino doesn't make a move – and Gaby really wants him back – she's going to have to do the work…"

Jackie pulled a face, "Like that's going to happen… If she thinks he's not interested – she won't do it."

Terry smiled, "That's why I need to speak to Eduardo… Consuella has her work cut out for her, but if anyone can do it… She can."