Title: Broken

Rating: T

Spoilers: Uuuh... none that I can think of.

Relationships: Daniel/Betty, Henry/Betty

Disclaimer: Are Daniel and Betty together? No? Then I don't own it!

A/N: This is my first ever UB fanfic, I only watched my first episode on Tuesday so please bear with me if there are things that aren't quite right.

Daniel watched as his heart shattered. He knew she didn't mean to do it to him heck she probably didn't even know she could do it to him but that didn't stop the sharp and entirely unwelcome pain stab through his body.

There, in the lobby of Meade publications, the person he had been slowly falling for was wrapped up in the embrace of another man looking as though she was enjoying herself immensely. Daniel was frozen to the spot unable to look away from what felt like the most painful sight of his life. He finally blinked and swallowed hard averting his eyes to the far floor his jaw tightening as he tried to regain control of his body.

He forced himself to smile weakly at Cristina who was standing off to the left of him wearing a bright smile no doubt over the moon for her friend. He thought he should at least pretend to be pleased for the couple but he simply couldn't look at them without another piece of his heart splintering. He thought it would be best for him to get out of the situation as quickly and quietly as he could possibly manage.

The thought of freedom from the images he was sure were now burnt into his mind spurred his legs to follow the instructions of his brain and he walked quickly to the exit and out into the street. He saw his limo waiting for him and he stopped uncertain what to do. He had told Betty that he would give her a ride home and now he wondered if she would still need it. He laughed bitterly to himself that was a stupid question. Henry would be sure to take her home.

He sighed and got into the limo instructing the driver to take him home.

The next morning Daniel sat in his office staring intently at his assistant who constantly had a small smile on her face. He had not seen her this happy in a long time, in fact he didn't think he had ever seen her this happy and for Betty that was saying something amazing. He chuckled to himself as he thought how happy he always thought she was despite the myriad of things in this office that could get her down. That was one of the things he loved most about her; her ability to find the bright side of things when all he could see were the negatives.

He thought back to the day before in the lobby. He was wrapped up in himself that he didn't consider how Betty felt at that moment. Yes, his heart was breaking but hers was being mended and that was what mattered. She didn't know about his feelings for her and, if he was honest with himself, he didn't think it would have made much of a difference to what happened anyway. He knew she had feelings for Henry and her happiness is what he wanted before anything else, before his own even.

Around mid afternoon Daniel saw Henry walking towards Betty's desk with a large grin. Despite his earlier musings Daniel wanted nothing more than to go and wipe that goofy grin of his smug face. What right did he have to be so happy when he was so heartbroken? As if in answer to his question Henry proceeded to lean down and kiss Betty lightly. Daniels snapped the pencil he was holding as soon as their lips touched. He couldn't watch this again and he wanted to have a word with Henry. Man to man. He asked Betty to send him in over the intercom and quickly shoved the two parts of the pencil out of sight before a confused looking Henry entered his office.

"Mr Meade?" he said as he walked closer.

"Take a seat Henry." Daniel said as pleasantly as he could manage but he could still hear a sour note to his voice. "I wanted to talk to you about Betty."

"What about her?" Henry asked glancing back at her through the glass wall with a wistful smile. Daniel resisted the urge to dig the two halves of the pencils into Henrys eyes. Just.

"As I assume the two of you are now…" it took a lot of his inner strength to continue "together, I think I should let you know" his voice dropped threateningly "if you hurt her, in any way. If you touch a hair on her head that she doesn't want touched, if you even think there's a possibility of you hurting her tell me now so I can decide how best to kill you."

"Mr Meade I-"

"I'm not finished. I care about Betty and I do not want to see her hurt so I'm warning you now- if you do anything that takes that smile away from her I will hunt you down and I will hurt you. Do you understand me?"

"Mr Meade I don't know-"

"Yes or no."

"Yes, yes I understand. I'm not going to hurt her Mr Meade; I care about her a lot."

"Good, make sure it stays that way and we don't have a problem." Daniel said leaning back in his chair. "That was all."

Henry got up without a word and walked half way to the door before he turned back to Daniel who was slouched down, eyes closed, his head held in his hands with his elbows leaning on his desk looking positively defeated. He was sure Henry could see exactly how much he was hurting but at that moment it really didn't matter to him. He had done what he needed to do and for now it was all he could manage.

"I really do care about her." he heard Henry say "I'll do everything I can to make sure I don't hurt her."

"I'm glad to hear it." Daniel said quietly unable to meet Henrys gaze. He could feel Betty looking at them through the glass. He could sense the concerned expression on her face and couldn't help but delude himself into thinking she was concerned for him instead of her… boyfriend.

Daniel heard Henry leave his office and it was several moments before he felt composed enough to open his eyes. He saw Betty and Henry talking adamantly, Betty casting quick glances at him every now and again.

All Daniel could do was watch as the woman that had captured his heart took the hand of another man and smiles that smile that he had hoped would one day become the smile she reserved for him.

He felt the last shred of his heart shatter but, he reminded himself, she was happy and that was what mattered to him.

A/N: Well, that was my first UB fanfic! What did you think? Bit angsty for me since I'm a fluff lover but this idea popped into my head at midnight and I couldn't get to sleep until I wrote it down. So here we go, the reason I won't be able to stay awake at work tomorrow:D

Please review to tell me what you thought of it :)

Just Breathing