hey everyone! You all have read those disclaimers. Same goes for this story. I don't own a thing. hope you like this so far. The next chapter is the dosey. Bare with me!
Thanks!
"Hey Danny."
Danny McCoy jumped a little at the sound of a female voice and turned his head slightly to see who was catching up to him.
"Hi Mary…"
Danny didn't really know what to say to her after all they had been through. She had given him back the ring squashing his dreams in marrying her. Since then they really hadn't talked much.
"Um… how are you?"
"Fine." Danny said kind of short. He continued his swift pace out to the parking lot with Mary hot on his heels trying to keep up. He had tomorrow off and couldn't wait to put a distance between himself and the Montecito. He had loved his job so much but lately he couldn't think of anything that would keep him in that casino longer then he had to be. And deep down he knew it stemmed from the incident with Mary.
"I was wondering if we could talk." Mary said, while trying to keep her balance in her high-heeled shoes. Her feet were screaming at her letting her know these shoes weren't made for sprinting but she tried to ignore it for just a few minutes. She needed to talk to Danny.
"I'm really busy right now." He said without even looking at her. He finally reached his convertible and threw his bag in the back seat.
"Danny you're only going home right? I'm sure you have a few minutes." Her voice had a hint of desperate pleading.
Danny refused to look at her but did pause before opening the car door.
"Mary I'm late for something." His hand finally pulled open the door and he slide in the front seat.
"NO you are NOT!"
This got Danny's full attention. He hadn't remembered the last time Mary lost her temper. It had sure been a while. Danny brought his eyes up to finally look at her. What he saw wasn't what he expected. Her face was tear streaked and red. It was obviously she had been crying. He pulled himself back out of the car.
"What's wrong?" Now he was concerned. No matter what they have been through he still cared about her and wanted to protect her like he always did since they were kids.
"I… I…" Mary stammered. She didn't know how to continue. In a way she was scared to tell him her problem. Would he blow up? Would he do something drastic? Would he even care?
Danny noticed her hesitation and did something he didn't expect from himself after the recent events. He reached down and grabbed her hands trying to comfort her enough to let it out.
"Its alright Mary. What is it?"
Mary looked up into Danny's eyes accidentally letting a tear escape. She noticed the soft touch of his hands on hers but right now couldn't enjoy it. He didn't so much as look at her let alone touch her since that night. She missed him so much but of course now when she makes contact with him it isn't a time to enjoy it.
"My father's here." She blurted out and looked down in shame. She hated being scared of him and hated it even more that she had to run to Danny to feel safe.
'What?" Danny let go of her hands. "He's here in the Montecito?"
Mary nodded her head still not looking at him.
"That bastard… What nerve! I can't believe he's in the damn casino!" Mary didn't see the anger flash in the marines eyes as he spun on his heels. He ordered her to get in his car and stay there before walking with a purpose back into the main area of the casino.
Mike leaned back in his chair. He glanced at the monitors and sighed. It had been a long day of just sitting at the desk updating files and other very boring things. No real action was happening on the casino floor. It was a shockingly slow day. All he wanted to do was go home and he still had two more hours of his shift left to just sit and stare at nothing.
"Anything going on?"
Mike was thrown out of his daze by the voice of Ed Deline. Ed sat on the corner of the desk and glanced at the monitors.
"Not a thing Ed. I think the scammers are on vacation. Maybe there's a Cheating Convention going on somewhere out of town."
Ed smirked and rubbed his hands over his face.
"Its been a long day of nothing huh?"
"Ed I'm about to go into a Bored Coma here. I'm tempted to go onto the floor and start a fight or something."
Ed stared at his dumb comment and nodded slightly before standing up.
"I suppose you starting a fight would be quite entertaining but I'd refrain for trying it. Danny went home for the night?"
"Yea he stalked out of here in kind of a rush as soon as it was 10 o'clock. He hasn't been in a great mood for a couple weeks now."
"I noticed." Ed said while stuffing his hands in his pockets. He considered Danny a son and was worried about his behavior. He knew he wasn't completely over what happened in Iraq but now it seemed something else was on his mind. He was going to make a point of pulling him into his office tomorrow.
Just then Delinda walked in dressed in sweatpants, not her usual attire for work.
"Daddy I'm going home a little early ok? I handed over the club to Nessa for the night. She wanted overtime and Mystique isn't exactly hopping tonight."
"Is there a Bored Flu bug going around or something?" Mike chuckled out.
"I think so! All day I've been bored to tears." She said while pulling out her car keys.
Ed gave his daughter a hug.
"Ok honey. Be careful going home. Tell your mother I'll be home in a couple hours. I have a few things to finish up on my desk."
"Ok Daddy… Ohh and before I go… I was wondering if you could talk to Mary tomorrow?"
"Mary? About what?" Ed asked confused.
"She's been a tad distant lately and I'm just a little worried that's all. I also haven't seen her around Danny since the night they came back from their tiny vacation."
Finally Ed realized what was going on. Mary and Danny were in love and inseparable when they had the chance. He didn't know how he missed anything rotten between them.
"Damn…" he muttered under his breath. "OK sweetie. I'll talk to both of them tomorrow. What ever is between them cant interfere with their work." He added, not giving up his "Boss" routine.
"Thanks Daddy, Bye Mike."
"Bye Delinda."
Both men watched her leave the surveillance room before talking.
"So that's what this had been all about… I don't know how I could have missed that. I feel kind of bad now." Mike confessed.
"I'll talk to them tomorrow Mike. I may not be able to do anything but it's worth a shot. I'd hate to see them lose a chance together over something stupid… if that's what it is."
"If you cant talk to them no one can Ed."
"Yea… well I'm going back to finish up some stuff."
Ed headed his way back up into his office when he was stopped mid step.
"Wait Ed… Come here… I think you should see this."
Mike brought up a larger version of one of the monitors. On it was a steaming Danny stalking through the casino floor.
"I think something going on. I've seen that look in his eyes before."
"I think your right Mike… I'm heading out there."
Both men headed out of the surveillance room in a hurry...
