Here's a couple more chapters. Thank you to those who have left reviews. They really make my day. This story has taken on a life of it's own from what I had originally intended, but it's kept me going through the long Danny/Mary drought on Las Vegas. I know it doesn't look promising right now, but I'm not giving up hope. I refuse to believe thatthe writers have decided to completely drop a relationship that they've beenthrowingat us for three years--the longing looks, the jealousy--it can't all be for nothing, right? Okay, enough rambling...

CHAPTER 37

"So, what do we know?" Ed's voice was raspy, still raw from being intubated for so long, but his condition had been upgraded to fair that morning and he'd been moved into a private room.

"I've run every check imaginable on Davis and O'Dell. They're clean. Good family guys, commendations in their files, nothing in their background that would suggest they might be involved in this." Danny was sitting in a small chair close to the bed while Mike and Casey hovered in the corner. When the small group of friends arrived back at the hospital early that morning, everyone but Mary had been surprised to see Casey sitting in the waiting room, a sleeping Sam curled against his side

"They may not know they're involved, but we still need to keep this quiet while we find out," Ed responded, his voice gaining strength with each spoken word.

"You thinkin' some kind of bug? Maybe like the one in Danny's phone?" Ed nodded his head in answer to Mike's question.

"So we need to figure out a way to check their phones without letting them know," Casey supplied, trying to be helpful.

"Yeah, because getting an FBI agent to just hand over his cell phone will be so easy," Danny rolled his eyes at the absurdity of the statement. He was still a little peeved at the display he'd witnessed earlier between Casey and his wife. After she'd greeted Sam she'd wrapped Casey in a tight embrace—whispering something in his ear that made both of them smile. He knew they'd been working together a lot but it still didn't prepare him for seeing Mary go so easily into the other man's arms. It definitely made him sympathize with his wife—even if she hadn't said anything, watching him comfort Delinda must have been unnerving. He knew there was nothing going on—just like he was sure Mary knew the same about he and Delinda, but Danny still couldn't suppress his jealousy at their comfortable relationship.

"I'm sure you'll think of something, smartass," Ed bit back.

The room fell into an awkward silent for a few moments before an idea suddenly occurred to Danny. "I think I know exactly how to get to those phones."

"How?"

"We'll use our secret weapon."

The other men stared at him confused, but Danny just smiled. Agents Davis and O'Dell were about to learn a lesson Danny had come to terms with long ago—there was absolutely no way to say "no" to Mary Connell McCoy.

---

Mary sat in the waiting room, Delinda and Sam on either side of her. After the guys had left to talk to Ed and Jillian had headed back to the hotel for some sleep, Mary had tried to mend things between the girls—carefully explaining Sam's fears to Delinda and Delinda's disappointment to Sam. While both of them claimed to understand, they still had yet to speak and Mary was trying desperately to think of something that would break the ice--getting Delinda past her hurt and Sam past her shame at not being there for her friend.

"So…Casey?"

"We're just friends," Sam was quick to reply.

Delinda snorted somewhat unattractively at Sam's response and Mary smiled inwardly. This was exactly what they needed—a little bit of girl talk.

"What?" Sam snapped, defensively.

"It's more than that and you know it," Delinda spat back.

"Fine," Sam responded.

"Fine, what?"

"Fine, it's more than that," Mary and Delinda both stared at their friend, shocked that she had given in so quickly and even moreso that she'd actually admitted to something with Casey.

"Really?" Delinda asked quietly, genuinely excited for her friend.

"Yeah," Sam smiled. "I think we might be back together."

All three girls squealed quietly in unison at Sam's revelation—Mary turning to embrace her while Delinda jumped up and moved to the other side.

"This will be the one and only girly moment I will indulge in and if either of you tell anyone I'll totally deny it." Sam was trying to be serious, but her smile just wouldn't go away. No one had ever made her feel the way she felt when she was with Casey. She didn't harbor any illusions about happily ever after—stuff like that only happened to Cinderella and Mary Connell--so for now she was content to just take it one day at a time.

The girls continued talking—some about Casey, but mostly about Ed and how different things were going to be while he was recuperating. Mary was sure Danny would be working extra hard to pick up the slack and she tried not to let that worry her. She had faith that Danny would figure out a way to balance work and home and she refused to play the role of the neglected wife.

Mary was startled out of her thoughts by a funny fluttering deep in her stomach. She squirmed a bit in her seat as she felt it again and suddenly she knew for sure what it was. She'd read about it in her books, but she wasn't prepared for the sensation. Her eyes immediately filled with tears and a hand went to cover the gasp she was sure was about to escape from her lips.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?" Sam looked at her worried.

"No…no…I just…."

"Mary, are you sure you're okay?"

"It's nothing…," Mary didn't mean to worry her friends, but it was important to her that the first person she shared this with was Danny. "I'm just going to take a walk. If Danny comes out tell him I'll be back."

"You sure you're alright?"

"I promise everything is perfectly fine."

---

Danny had been looking for Mary for almost half an hour when it suddenly occurred to him where she might be. He'd already walked around the entire hospital grounds and he had one last stop on his list before he really started to panic. Rounding the corner and passing through yet another set of double doors, he finally saw her. His breath hitched as he studied her profile. She was beautiful—peering through the large glass window outside the nursery--her features peaceful as a hint of a smile played at the corners of her mouth.

"Hey," he said quietly, trying not to startle her.

"Hey yourself," she replied with a gentle smile, her eyes never leaving the sleeping infants.

"I thought I might find you up here." Danny stood behind her, wrapping both arms around her waist and settling his chin on her shoulder.

"Aren't they beautiful?" Mary whispered, leaning back into Danny's embrace as they both stared through the nursery window.

"Not as beautiful as our baby's going to be."

Mary chuckled, turning in his arms, "I think you might be a little biased."

"I'm perfectly serious."

"I know you are and that's why I love you." She placed a soft kiss on his lips before pulling back to meet his gaze, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Speaking of babies…ours decided to make its presence known this morning."

"Oh, sweetie...," Danny spoke before Mary had a chance, "…did you get that bad gas again? I wondered why you left Delinda and Sam up there, but I can understand how you wouldn't want them to know…"

"Are you quite finished making an ass out of yourself?" She had to give him credit-- he really was trying to be understanding-- but sometimes he was just positively clueless.

Danny's brow furrowed and he looked at her confused.

"I don't have gas, Danny," Mary told him with a roll of her eyes, "The baby was moving. I felt it move this morning and I wanted you to be the first to know."

"What?" Danny asked in disbelief, his hands immediately moving to her stomach. "Omigod. What did it feel like?"

"Like a tiny little hummingbird fluttering around in my tummy. I think I've felt it before, but I didn't realize what it was until today. I just thought it was…."

"Gas?" Danny asked jokingly, grinning as he continued to apply gentle yet firm pressure to her stomach, trying desperately to feel any movement from their child.

"It'll probably be a few more weeks before you can feel anything from the outside, Danny, but it's definitely in there."

Danny looked at her then, his gaze somewhere between awe and elation. "It kinda makes it all seem real now, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," she responded, smiling through her tears.

As Danny leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, Mary felt a sudden surge of desire. She moved her hands around his neck and pulled him closer, gently nipping at his lower lip until his mouth opened and allowed her tongue inside. Danny chuckled a bit at her eagerness—he'd gotten used to the mood swings, but the second trimester had brought on a whole new hormone adventure and Danny definitely didn't mind reaping the rewards. He moaned, both in pleasure and in frustration, as he felt Mary's hand snake between them. As much as he wanted her, he knew they needed to stop.

"Mmmm, sweetie, maybe we shouldn't do this in front of the kiddos," Danny gave her a wink and tilted his head towards the nursery.

Mary blushed, embarrassed at her wanton behavior. She couldn't believe she'd practically jumped Danny in the hospital corridor, but lately it seemed like she could barely control herself.

"You're right," she sighed, putting a little bit of distance between them. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You know I love it when you get frisky," Danny waggled his eyebrows, bringing a small smile to Mary's face.

She glanced back at the nursery window before realizing that in her distraction with the baby she had yet to ask a very important question, "Oh, Danny, how's Ed?"

"Good, he'll be here the rest of the week and then they'll probably move him to that rehab hospital in Henderson. He's already ordered all of us to get our butts back to Vegas so as soon as we take care of this one thing we can head out."

"What thing?"

"It's actually something I need your help with."

Mary stood in rapt attention as Danny laid out his idea. Her arms crossed and eyebrows raised expectantly as it became clear exactly what he was asking her to do. Once he was finished, Danny smiled to himself, confident that it truly was the perfect plan.

"Daniel Ryan McCoy--you want your pregnant wife to help you steal government property from a federal agent?" Well, when she put it that way…

"Not steal, sweetie. Just borrow."

"Danny..." Mary still wasn't sure so Danny put his arm around her shoulders and led her away from the nursery and back towards the elevators.

"Come on, Mare, it'll be fun."