Author's Notes: Well, here we are at the end of yet another fic. I just want to thank everyone who took time to read this story, especially with me taking a break from it to complete the Christmas fic. And extra special thank you to those of you that took the time to review. Your kind words only motivate me to write more. And extra EXTRA special thank you to Leah (Swiperfox) and Elyse (VegasSinner) for being my girls. :D I've already started working on my next fic (a Mike-centered piece), so this isn't the last you'll hear from me.

By the way, in my head, the part of Antonio has always been played by Mr. Al Pacino, so that's why his last line is what it is. :D Enjoy!


Chapter Seven
"Doing better, Danny Boy?" Antonio asked, jumping off of his bunk the next morning. McCoy was still lying face-up in bed, but his eyes were open so Malocchio could tell that he was awake.

"Not really." Danny sighed, still feeling hopeless despite spending the whole night thinking about what the older man had told him.

"Hey, none of that, all right?" a stern Antonio said, lightly hitting him. "You going to get up and go to breakfast or what?"

"Not hungry." Danny replied, rolling onto his side away from Malocchio.

"All right." Antonio sighed, shaking his head in defeat.

As the cell door slammed shut behind the older man, Danny let out an audible sigh. As the days went on, he could feel the hope of getting out of prison slipping away from him. The brown-haired man began to feel as if he was just going to have to accept that he was stuck here for the rest of life; paying for a crime he didn't commit.

Hearing the door open again, Danny quickly closed his eyes. He knew that it was probably a guard coming to check on him to see why he didn't go to breakfast, so he pretended to still be asleep. His brown eyes opened immediately upon feeling the stranger throw something on him.

"What the..." Danny exclaimed, sitting up instantly. "Ed!"

"God, what a miserable place." the gray-haired man remarked, looking around at the small cell. He smiled at his protégé. "How have you been, kid?"

"What are you doing here?" Danny asked before looking down and noticing that a set of clothes had been thrown across his feet. "What the..."

"You've been cleared, Danny." Ed announced happily, "Time for you to come home."

"No way." a stunned McCoy shook his head, "I've got to be dreaming this."

"This feel like a dream?" Ed smiled before punching Danny in the arm.

"AGH!" Danny exclaimed, wincing and grabbing where Ed had hit him. "That was more like a nightmare!"

"Get dressed, will you?" Ed ordered, chuckling with mirth. "This place makes me depressed."

"How'd you get back here anyway?" Danny wondered.

"What are you? A moron?" Ed asked, acting like he was going to punch Danny again. Luckily, the ex-Marine recoiled in time. "You of all people should know about my connections." He headed for the door to give Danny some privacy. "Now get dressed."


"Damn!" Danny heard Ramon comment from behind him. Leaving his tie untied, the above-average looking, tall man whirled around to see Antonio, the aforementioned Ramon and Landon all standing near the doorway to the cell. The bald, Hispanic man shook his head as he stepped forward. "No wonder he's got a harem on the outside! Look at him!"

"Looking sharp there, Danny Boy." Landon agreed, nodding his head. The big, African American man then gestured to the orange jumpsuits on the rest of them. "Get tired of this get-up or what?"

"Guys, I..." Danny started to explain.

"Don't worry." Antonio interrupted, shaking his head. "A guard caught us at the breakfast table; said that you were a free man." A smile crossed the gray and black-haired man's face. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." an appreciative Danny smiled, looking at his newfound friends. "I'm definitely going to miss you guys."

"Keep in touch, esse." Ramon nodded, clapping Danny on the shoulder.

"And see if you can find Ramon here a nice girl on the outside." Landon chimed in with a teasing grin. "God knows that he needs all the help he can get."

"Hey!" Ramon exclaimed, taking a playful swipe at him. "Not cool, big man, not cool."

"It's been a pleasure, Danny." Landon said, ignoring Ramon and enveloping Danny in a tight bear hug. Once again, McCoy found breathing a damn near impossible task. "Like Ramon said, you keep in touch, all right?"

"I will." Danny promised, taking a moment to catch his breath as Landon released him. Sensing that Antonio would want some time alone with his now-former cellmate, Landon and Ramon headed silently for the door. "See you, guys."

"What did I tell you?" Antonio chuckled as the door shut once more behind Landon and Ramon. The former spook of Italian descent shook his head. "Never doubt Ed Deline."

"You'd think that I'd know that by now." Danny nodded, admitting guilt. As a smile reappeared on his face, he offered his hand for the older man to shake. "I don't know how to thank you for everything, Antonio."

"Tell you what." Antonio grinned, pulling McCoy into a hug and somewhat surprising him. "Drop by every once in awhile and don't end up in here again, and we'll call it even, okay?"

"All right." Danny agreed as the door opened again. As Ed and a guard walked inside, the pair broke their embrace.

"The warden needs you to sign a couple of things, Mr. McCoy." the guard said, getting Danny's attention and leading him out of the room.

"He's a good kid." Antonio remarked, sitting down on Danny's old bunk.

"Pain in my ass sometimes." Ed nodded, crossing his arms across his chest. Clearing his throat, he turned around to face Antonio. "I managed to pull some strings. Williams and Gomez are looking at slightly reduced sentences. But..."

"You're not a miracle worker." Antonio nodded, knowing that Ed was about to tell him that he hadn't done the same for him.

"I'm sorry, Tony." Ed apologized, shaking his head.

"It's all right." Antonio waved off, "What's that old saying? As you made your bed, so you must lie in it."


"Hey!" an excited Mary squealed, dropping everything she was doing and running over to Danny the minute he and Ed walked into the Montecito that afternoon. The red-haired woman giggled as she threw her arms around her best friend.

"Hey, Mary." Danny greeted, exchanging smiles with Ed as he hugged her back. "Miss me?"

"I'm so glad that you're all right!" Mary nodded as Ed continued on.

"I'm so glad to be back." Danny replied as the pair slowly separated.

"Wow." Sam Marquez commented, walking by. "Looks like someone didn't drop the soap." As she followed her whale into the crowd, she shouted the next bit for the whole casino to hear. "Good job!"

"Glad to see you too." Danny laughed before turning to Mary. "I'm sure that Ed wants me up in the surveillance room."

"Oh." a disappointed Mary said, nodding in understanding.

"But how about we grab lunch later?" Danny suggested, "All that prison food made me crave Lucky Burger like you wouldn't believe."

"Okay." Mary giggled in agreement.


"Hey!" Mike greeted, getting up from his seat as Danny entered the surveillance room. The bald, African American man opened his arms. "There he is! Our own personal Nevada State Redemption!"

"Hey Mikey!" Danny replied, giving the other man a high-five.

"Glad to have you back, brother." Mike said, turning that high-five into a hug. "How was it?"

"Eh," Danny joked, "Not a vacation I'd recommend." As he pulled away from Mike, he nodded up at Ed's office. "Ed waiting for me?"

"Yeah." Mike nodded.


"So?" Danny asked, entering Ed's office. He had been asking his mentor all afternoon about who had set him up and why, but Deline had made him wait until they were at the Montecito, where they could have privacy.

"So, sit down." Ed replied, motioning to the chair in front of his desk.

"All right." Danny sighed impatiently, doing what he was told. "So?"

"So," Ed said with a sympathetic gleam in his blue eyes. "It turned out that Mr. Hewitson wasn't really dead at all, and that he and the Mrs. were the ones behind all of this."

"Why?" a puzzled Danny shook his head, "What did I ever do to them?"

"Ainsworth." Deline sighed, leaning back in his chair. "That name mean anything to you?"

"Doug." Danny nodded, remembering his fellow Marine. "He was in my unit." His voice suddenly lost its strength and the brown-haired man turned his gaze to the floor. "One of the guys I..."

"Turns out that he was Mr. Hewitson's cousin," Ed explained, "More like his brother when they were growing up." Deline paused not wanting to tell his protégé this next bit as he could tell that the incident from a few years ago where he had to call an air strike in to be basically dropped on his unit still haunted the young man. "I guess the fact that you did what you had to do and got a Silver Star for it..." A disdainful chuckle escaped Deline. "Well, you can read in the papers tomorrow what he thinks about that."

"I did what I had to do, Ed." Danny said, looking back at the older man across the desk. However, it seemed to Ed that McCoy was more reminding himself of that fact.

"Hey," Ed reassured with a smile. "I know that, buddy. Anybody with a brain knows that." He shook his head. "Just because some crazy guy doesn't..."

"I don't seem to know that either sometimes." Danny interrupted, looking at the floor once more. He shook his head slowly. "I still find myself questioning my judgment; wondering if I couldn't have found another way?"

"It's normal." Ed nodded in understanding, "Anyway, don't put any stock in what some schmuck like Richard Hewitson has to say, all right?" A smile crossed the older man's face. "I'm sure that he's getting what's coming to him right now."


"Excuse me." Antonio politely said, walking up to a table in the cafeteria where Richard Hewitson sat alone. "Are you Richard Hewitson?"

"Yeah." Hewitson replied nervously, turning around and getting to his feet. The dark-haired man's nervousness seemed to grow upon seeing Landon and Ramon standing behind Antonio, who was staring at him with a fierce look in his dark eyes.

"The same Richard Hewitson that framed Danny McCoy?" Antonio asked.

"That murdering son of a..." Hewitson growled.

"It's definitely him, man." Ramon smiled, nodding at Antonio.

"No question." Landon chimed in.

"All right then." Antonio replied, grinning at his friends. Said grin remained on his face as he turned back to Hewitson, who looked even more nervous then before. "Say hello to my little friend."

Two things seemed to happen in unison as Landon, Ramon and Antonio all punched Hewitson with everything they had: an unconscious Richard Hewitson fell to the floor and guards starting running their way.

The End