Author's Notes – I think I'm on the D/E bandwagon now. I wasn't sure about it at first, but I love the sweetness it brings out in Danny. This is a post-episode fic for The Beginning.
Wearily rubbing his eyes, Danny walked up the last couple of flights to the third floor. He hadn't been back here in two months, and even though he felt good about being there, he hated the circumstances under which he had been invited.Two Months Ago
Danny smiled as he put the pink Disney princess cup and plate in the dishwasher. This was definitely different for him, spending an evening with a gorgeous woman and her adorable, precocious daughter, but that's just what he'd been doing for the last month. He'd been seeing Elena outside of work for almost a month, and they still hadn't been on what he would call a regular date. No late night dinners, dancing at clubs or long, intimate evenings alone, but that was fine with him. He was finding that spending any time with Elena and Sophie, in any capacity, was more than enough. He hadn't felt this excited and happy about anything in a very long time.
"You don't have to do that," he heard Elena say from behind him as she entered the kitchen.
Danny turned around and smiled. "It was just a couple of dishes."
Elena returned the smile. "Sorry that took so long. She couldn't stop talking about the concert."
Danny smirked. "I can understand why. I'll be hearing that girl's voice in my sleep for months."
Laughing, Elena closed the distance between them. "You deserve a medal for sitting through that. Now you know what I go through every night when she puts in that CD."
"Poor you," he replied as he snaked his hands around the small of her back to pull her against him.
Her breath caught at the just the feeling of his body so close to hers. Biting her lip, she raised up on her tiptoes.
Slowly, Danny lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers. She parted her lips and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss as he turned her around and backed her against the kitchen counter.
She almost giggled as he moved his lips down to her neck. Very quickly, their encounter became heated and passionate as his hands roamed over her body.
They'd only slept together twice since that first time he'd kissed her in the office, both times at his apartment while her mother was with Sophie. And she had yet to spend a night with him, feeling too guilty about leaving Sophie all night. Their limited physical contact meant that each kiss, each caress was agonizing – knowing that they wouldn't get to spend the kind of time together that they both wanted.
As Elena felt Danny's hand slide up the back of her blouse, she tensed slightly when he started to unhook her bra.
"What?" he breathed against her ear.
"Nothing…I…just…" she started, but didn't want to finish. She didn't want to tell him to stop.
"…want me to stop?" he asked, as he looked in her eyes.
"I don't want you to, but…"
Danny smiled as he kissed her on the forehead. "It's okay. I got it," he responded as he removed his hand and put a little distance between them.
"Maybe I can stop by your place this weekend? Sophie has a birthday party to go to. It's only a couple of hours, but—"
Danny put his finger against her lips. "It's okay, Elena. Don't worry. We have time."
Smiling gratefully, Elena wrapped her arms around his neck and they held each other tightly.
Danny shook his head as he thought about the last time he was in Elena's apartment. Looking back, they really hadn't had any time all. So much had happened in the last couple of months. He was honestly beginning to think that he had lost any chance with her after the debacle of Sophie's kidnapping. But now, the tide had turned. Carlos had been set free and Elena had asked him to come over for Sophie's sake and for hers. He hated that Carlos was out there somewhere, but he couldn't help but feel happy to be with them again.
Taking a short breath, he knocked on the door. After a few moments, the door opened and Elena welcomed him with a relieved smile.
"Hey," she greeted in a quiet tone.
"Hey," he replied as he stepped inside the apartment.
As she closed the door, they just stood and stared at each other for a moment. Even though they'd gotten very close, very fast, now they couldn't help but feel a little awkward since he hadn't been there since Sophie's kidnapping.
Trying to break the ice, Danny smiled and started to take a step towards Elena, when he heard the unmistakable sound of Sophie.
"Danny!" she exclaimed as she came out of her bedroom.
Turning quickly, Danny locked eyes with the small child. Without hesitation, she ran into his outstretched arms.
"Como estas, chica," he said as he stroked her long, black hair.
"I've missed you. Why don't you come see us anymore?" Sophie asked innocently as she pulled away and looked at him with huge, brown eyes.
"Baby—" Elena started to explain, but Danny interrupted.
"Things have been crazy for your mom and me at work. But things have calmed down now, and I missed you terribly, so here I am."
Sophie smiled excitedly. "Guess what!"
"What?" Danny asked, enchanted by the look in her eyes.
"Mommy bought me the new Hannah Montana CD. You want to come listen to it with me?"
Elena sighed heavily. "Sophie, baby—"
But Danny interrupted again. "I'd love to! Lead the way," he said as he took Sophie's hand and tossed Elena an amused glance.
Elena laughed as she called out to them. "Don't mind me. I'm just going to finish dinner."
"Danny?"
"Si, mija," he replied as he turned down her bed.
They'd had a wonderful evening. They'd eaten dinner and then spent time talking and laughing. Danny had even read her a couple of books. Then, Elena forced Sophie to tear herself away from Danny to take a bath and get ready for bed. As Elena cleaned up after the bath, Danny was helping Sophie into bed.
"Will you stay with us tonight?" Sophie asked as she slid into her bed.
After pulling the blanket over her, Danny sat on the edge of the bed. "Why would you ask that?"
"Daddy is out of jail. I don't want him to take me away from Mommy again. If you're here, you won't let him."
Danny reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Sophie, sweetheart, you're safe here with your mom. She can protect you. Remember, she was there to get you when your dad took you to that house."
"You were there, too," Sophie reminded him.
"I was and I didn't want to be anywhere else, but it was your mom who got you out of there. You don't have anything to be scared of," he assured in a calming tone.
"My Dad scared me," she said, voice fearful.
Danny took a breath as he summoned the strength to ease Sophie's fears. "Your father loves you very much. Sometimes, parents get confused about how to show you that they care about you. Your dad made a terrible mistake, and I'm sure he regrets it. But, Sophie, he would never hurt you. I've known your dad a long time, and I know he would never hurt you."
Sophie smiled slightly. "You could still stay, though. Mommy said she'd make pancakes in the morning."
Danny returned the smile. "I don't--"
"Sophie, baby, it's time for bed," Elena said from behind them.
Upon hearing her voice, Danny leaned down and kissed Sophie's forehead. "Sweet dreams, mija. You're safe here. Remember that."
Sophie just nodded and smiled as Danny rose from the bed and turned toward Elena. "I'll let you…" he said as he motioned toward Sophie.
Elena sat down at the edge of the bed as Danny left the room. He waited a moment outside of Sophie's door as he listened to Elena say goodnight to her. She sang her a song and then told her that she loved her.
Minutes later, Elena came down the hall to find Danny standing by the front door.
"What are you doing?" she asked in a disappointed tone.
"Oh, I, um, I just thought I'd, you know, go…get out of your way. I think Sophie's going to be okay. And um, Jack mentioned that he was going to have a patrol unit outside your building for the next week or so, so I think—"
As Danny rambled on, Elena walked towards him. When she finally got close enough to him, she put her finger against his lips to stop the rambling. Then, slowly, she rose up on her tiptoes. Removing her finger from his lips, she then kissed him softly, hesitantly.
After a few moments, Danny broke the kiss. "What was that for?" he whispered.
Elena smiled. "Thank you for saying what you said to Sophie. Thank you for telling her that I can protect her. I'm still not really sure I can, but it's nice to hear," she said as her eyes filled with tears.
"Of course, you can," Danny said as her pulled her to him and put his arms around her. "You got her out of that house. You did that."
"I should never have let things get so bad with Carlos. I—"
"That was my fault. He lost it when I got involved."
Elena pulled away from him to look him in the eyes. "It wasn't your fault, and I'm sorry I made you feel like it was, but I didn't know what to do, Danny. I just wanted to protect Sophie. I just wanted for her to forget about what happened. I don't regret being with you. I promise, I don't. I just regret the way I handled things with Carlos."
Danny nodded as he stroked her arms. "Me, too."
Reaching up, she put her hand on his cheek. "Stay for a while?"
Smiling slightly, Danny nodded as he let her take his hand and lead him to the couch.
They hadn't said much in the last half hour. Danny stroked her hair as she rested her head against his chest. He couldn't think of anything he could say to make things better for her, so the least he could do was just be there to comfort her.
As if sensing his thoughts, Elena finally spoke. "You've been incredibly patient with all of this. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that."
"I wish I could do something, anything, to fix this for you, but—"
"Just you being here like this makes it better," she said as she nuzzled deeper into his chest. "Everyone has been so supportive. Sam, Vivian, Martin…I've never worked with people who care about me and Sophie like that."
"They're good people. We're all lucky to have each other," Danny responded in a knowing tone.
"And Jack…he was…he was a rock through the whole court thing."
Rolling his eyes, Danny smirked. "I bet he was."
Frowning, Elena looked up at him. "He was, Danny. He did everything he could—"
"Not everything," he interrupted, contempt creeping into his tone.
"What do you mean?"
Danny shook his head. "Nothing. Let's just drop it."
"No, tell me," she said as she sat up straight and looked him in the eyes. Seeing the anger in his eyes, Elena shook her head as she realized what he was referring to. "Jack was right to stop you from shooting Carlos, Danny."
"None of this would be happening, if I could have ended it that night."
Running her hands through her hair, Elena sighed deeply. "You're right. This wouldn't be happening, but what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Carlos was your friend, Danny. You couldn't shoot—"
"You and Sophie were in danger and you could be in danger again. Jack should have let me take the shot."
"If that had happened, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for what it would have done to you. This thing with Carlos will resolve eventually. He'll move on or move away…whatever. But if you had taken his life, Sophie's father's life, your old friend's life, you would have to live with that guilt forever. That's not you, Danny. Jack did the right thing."
Danny rubbed the corners of his eyes. "I wish I had the same faith that Carlos would go away."
"If he does anything, if he comes near us, he'll go back to jail," Elena said, her tone seeming more like she was trying to convince herself of that.
Seeing the uneasiness in her eyes and hearing the fear in her voice, Danny put his hand in her hair and pulled her back to wear her head was resting on his chest. "You're right. It's going to work out and everything will be okay," he soothed as he stroked her hair again.
Leaning his head back against the couch, he kept holding her until she fell asleep in his arms. When he was sure she was out, he slowly extricated himself from under her and laid her down on the sofa. Taking a blanket from the adjacent chair, he covered her. As he ran his hand through her hair one more time, her eyes fluttered slightly.
"Are you leaving?" she whispered sleepily.
"Yeah, it's late. I'll call you in the morning," he said as he leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"Okay," she responded as she closed her eyes again.
After making sure her door was locked securely, Danny made his way down the hall and down the stairs. As he walked out of the building, he looked around the quiet street and nodded to the patrol car that was parked by her building.
The pit in his stomach told him that Carlos was somewhere close by…waiting, watching. Part of him had wanted to stay, just as Sophie had asked him to, but he knew Elena wasn't ready for that. And he didn't want to give Sophie false hope that he'd be in her life for the long haul. For now, he'd just be whatever Elena needed him to be, hoping that some day she will feel the same about him that he feels about her.
