Alternate

Chapter 12: Apart

A/N: This one took a while to finish. Ran up against a writer's block wall and quite frankly was being greedy and hoping for more review...

Dedication: To my amazing reviewers Wolfhound159, DaisyDay and megspazzy.

Daniel awoke early the next morning to find Kate still nestled against him. He smiled softly as he attempted to untangle himself from her without disrupting her sleep. His best efforts were in vain however.

Kate's eyelids fluttered as a contented moan escaped her slightly parted lips "Good morning," she greeted with a smile.

"Good morning," Daniel returned the greeting before kissing her.

Kate attempted to deepen the kiss but was disappointed when Daniel pulled away "Where do you think you're going?" she questioned, her tone equal parts playful and seductive. She wrapped her legs around his and attempted to hold him there.

Daniel's body reacted immediately to her "Kate," he exhaled. He wanted so badly to stay there in bed with her, to spend the entire day romping amidst the covers with her, exploring each other's bodies with reckless abandon but he couldn't. He made a more concerted effort to separate himself from her.

She sat up with him, the sheets falling away and exposing her once again in all her nude glory "What's the rush?" she legitimately wanted to know.

"It's Monday," he reminded her "I have three lectures today. The first one starts at eight thirty."

Kate groaned "Enjoy that," she muttered as she too started to get out of bad.

"Where do you think you're going?" it was Daniel's turn to inquire.

"I'm getting up," Kate replied.

"You don't have to," Daniel assured her "Go back to sleep, enjoy your time off."

She smiled as she sat on the edge of the bed beside him "I'm not gonna lie in bed by myself," she noted.

"You really should rest," he informed her "You were shot."

"The bullet only grazed me," Kate leaned into him and gently laid her hand on his cheek "I feel fine. Besides, you're the one who was beaten nearly within an inch of his life and you're planning on taking on a full class load."

"I wasn't beaten 'nearly within an inch of my life'," Daniel attempted to shrug off her concern "I feel fine too. Just a bit sore."

Kate looked away briefly. She still felt overwhelming guilt that Daniel had been hurt and there'd been nothing she could do to prevent it.

Daniel embraced her "You know," he offered "I am free for lunch today. Why don't you show up at my office at twelve thirty?"

"Sounds great," she kissed him before standing to retrieve her clothes from the floor.

"What are your plans for today Kate?" Max questioned at breakfast.

Kate stirred her bowl of cream of wheat thoughtfully "I'm not exactly sure," she admitted "I'll probably swing by Headquarters and see if evidence has gotten everything they need from my cell phone before I meet up with Daniel for lunch."

"You're going to the office?" Daniel inquired "Shouldn't you be taking it easy?"

"I'm just going to pick up my phone," Kate assured him "I'm not gonna do much else."

"Much...?" Daniel glanced up from his crossword puzzle and affixed her with a skeptical look "Uh-huh..."

"Well as long as I'm there I might as well say hi to a few coworkers," she smiled impishly.

Daniel sighed "You'll fill me in on whatever you find out, right?"

"Of course I will," Kate promised.

Daniel returned his attention to the crossword. He really would feel better if Kate took some time to rest instead of poking around in an investigation she'd already been told she was not investigating. But he knew there was no stopping her besides he too was curious to know what if anything the FBI had uncovered about their disturbing mystery package.

"Oh before I forget," Max pulled something from his pocket and slid it across the table to Daniel.

Daniel reached for the object and scowled "Why are you giving me your cell phone?"

"That one's yours," Max explained "Brand new, fully charged and ready to go."

Daniel slid the device back across to Max "No." he said simply.

Max was unfazed "Yes," he replied as he slid the cell phone back.

Daniel glared first at Max, then at the device, then back at Max again "Lewicki," he groaned in exasperation.

"Doc, take the phone," Max's tone was all business.

"I will do no such thing," Daniel countered, the intonation of his words bordering on furious.

Max stood up from the table. The expression on his face a mix of frustration and worry. When he spoke his words were carefully measured "Either take the cell phone or I'm having you microchipped like a pet."

Daniel stared daggers at Max "What the Hell's wrong with you?" he demanded.

"Like you care," Max finally exploded, turning from the table and heading for the front door "I'll be in the car," he muttered.

Kate, who had sat quietly, transfixed by the interaction, got to her feet "I'll go talk to him," she told Daniel as she hurried after Max.

"You really don't have to do that..." Daniel called meekly after her.

"Poor guy," young Daniel appeared in an empty chair "Something's obviously eating at him."

Daniel nodded as he stared at the cell phone "I hate the idea of these things," he murmured "Anyone can find you if they have a mind to."

"Anyone, anyone?" his hallucination inquired.

"FBI, CIA, anyone," Daniel confirmed.

"But if anyone can find you," his younger self hypothesized "That means the people who care about you can find you too."

"Damnit," Daniel muttered as something occurred to him. He grabbed the phone off the table and got up.

Kate had caught up with Max just outside the front door "Hey," she reached out and placed her hand on Max's forearm "What's going on?"

Max brushed off her touch "Nothing," he lied.

"Don't lie right to my face Max," Kate warned.

Max sighed heavily but said nothing, stepping past her.

Kate watched as the young man opened the driver's side door of his car and got in, leaning back in the seat and massaging the bridge of his nose. She walked over and leaned against the side of the car "Spill it," she commanded.

Max sighed "On Saturday," he began "I just accepted that he'd disappeared. I didn't even get really worried until hours later..."

Kate knelt down by the open driver's side door "You aren't responsible for anything that happened Max," she assured him.

He looked away from her "But if-"

"Stop thinking about the ifs," she told him.

"Lewicki!" Daniel called from the doorway.

Max took a deep breath "I'm being summoned," he cracked a tiny grin as he got out of the car. "What is it?" he sighed as he walked over to Daniel.

"You think you could teach me how to use this damn thing?" Daniel indicated the phone.

Max smiled "Really?" he asked, a little disbelievingly.

"Are you going to help me or not?" Daniel demanded impatiently.

"Yeah," Max's smile widened "I'll help you."

Kate smirked when she observed Daniel pat Max on the shoulder as the two men headed back inside. Men and their roundabout way of dealing with their emotions towards one another...

After a quick tutorial Daniel could use the device with something that resembled ease. Max had headed back out to the car, leaving Daniel and Kate alone in the front hall. Kate pulled Daniel into a tight hug.

"See you at lunch," she gave him a quick kiss.

"See you then," he kissed her again.

She smiled "I'm glad you're giving this cell phone thing a try," she told him.

Daniel shrugged "I figure after a week Lewicki will relax and I can chuck the thing."

Kate sighed but continued to smile at him "That figures."

"I'm sure a week or two without a kidnapping around here will make everyone feel more at ease," Daniel said, half jokingly.

Kate pulled him back into a hug "Take it easy today," she advised.

"I could say the same thing to you," he pulled back just far enough to shoot her a concerned look "Promise me you're just stopping by the office? You're not going to go kicking down doors, chasing suspects or jumping off any second story balconies?"

Kate couldn't help smiling at the memory "I promise," she told him, then as he pulled away she added "But you said nothing about third story balconies."

"Kate," he groaned.

Kate couldn't help giggling at the expression on his face. She leaned in and kissed him once more "No balcony jumping, I swear." Then as he was about to exit the house she added with a wicked grin "But fire escapes are perfectly fine, right?"

This time Daniel laughed "Goodbye Kate. I love you."

"I love you," she replied as she watched him walk to the car. He paused before sliding into the passenger's seat to wave at her. She returned the wave with a soft smile. As the car disappeared down the street she realized she already missed him.

She decided she might as well get to the office, focussing on the case would give her something to keep her mind occupied until it was time to meet Daniel for lunch. She marched herself up to the car where the agents who had been watching the house were enjoying their morning coffee and tapped on the window. She smiled politely at the agent as he rolled the window down "Can I get a ride?"

"Pizza tonight?" Sandy asked Joey over the phone as she walked through the halls of the DA's offices with a box of files destined for Donnie Ryan's desk. There had been far too many takeout dinners in their household of late but with Sandy and Joey's busy work schedules and the girls' picky eating habits it seemed like the easiest solution most nights.

"Sounds good," Joey replied "I'll try to be home on time."

"I'll talk to you later," Sandy told him as she neared Donnie's office.

"Okay, love you," Joey said as way of goodbye.

"Love you too," Sandy hung up, shifting the box of files briefly to one side as she pocketed her cell phone.

Donnie too had just got off the phone when Sandy entered the office. She could tell by the expression on his face that it hadn't been a pleasant conversation. He looked over at her and attempted to smile "Those the files I asked for?" he inquired.

"Yep," Sandy plopped the box on his desk "Everything I could get you about any and all guards that might have interacted with Rosenthal during his time in custody."

"Wonderful," Donnie reached for the box "So how's Joey?" he asked a bit awkwardly.

Sandy smiled reassuringly "Feeling like a big dope."

"Have you heard from Kate?" Donnie prodded.

"You're full of questions today," Sandy remarked "We've worked in the same office for almost two years and this is the most you've spoken to me in all that time."

Donnie looked away, knowing it was true. Knowing that Sandy was Kate's sister-in-law had played an enormous role in his conscious decision to keep his distance from her. After all, when he first returned to Chicago things between him and Kate had been frosty at best and he'd gotten the distinct feeling from how Sandy reacted to him then that she knew more than she was letting on about the situation.

He was broken from his thoughts when Sandy suddenly vomited into the trashcan beside his desk. His FBI shadow, who had remained quietly tucked into the corner until this point, was on her feet in an instant, holding out a hand to steady the other woman. Sandy looked surprised but was grateful for the support.

"Are you alright?" Donnie questioned concernedly.

"Yeah..." Sandy replied a bit shakily as she withdrew a tissue from her pocket and wiped her mouth "Just a bit of sour stomach, been doing that all morning, sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Donnie assured her.

Agent Ulrich guided Sandy to a chair. Sandy smiled sheepishly at the other woman "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"It's Samantha," Agent Ulrich introduced "Samantha Ulrich."

"Director Parson assigned Agent Ulrich to protect me," Donnie explained.

Sandy nodded "Kate mention something about that," before Donnie could say anything she added "Yes, I spoke to her while I was digging up those files for you. She called me to let me know she'd picked up her phone from evidence." Sandy extended her hand to the female agent "Nice to meet you, Sandy Moretti."

Ulrich shook Sandy's hand "You want me to get you a glass of water or something?" she offered, still eyeing the othe woman with concern.

"Nah, I'll be alright," Sandy assured, standing up "It's probably just some stomach bug. Heaven only knows what kind of disease my girls will bring home from school next," she laughed as she left the office. Only a few minutes later she was hugging a toilet in the ladies room.

As he walked to his office after his second lecture of the day there was a noticeable spring in Daniel's step. When he caught sight of Kate waiting for him outside his office, a spontaneous smile appeared on his face. His pace quickened slightly.

Kate smiled as he got closer "Hi," she greeted.

"Hi," he returned the greeting as he unlocked his office door, entered and set his briefcase on his desk "I don't suppose you changed your mind and decided to spend the morning taking it easy?"

She stepped closer to him and gathered him into a hug "I'm fine," she assured him.

"Doesn't answer my question," Daniel countered stubbornly even as he returned the embrace.

Kate chuckled "Well I did pick up my phone," she told him.

"Uh-huh," Daniel knew her well enough that he didn't need her to finish the thought "And you're going to share what you found out?"

"I promised I would," she reminded him, delicately pecking him on the lips before disentangling herself from the embrace "But for now I'm hungry."

The CLMU main dining hall wasn't all that crowded considering the midday hour and the two were able to find an empty table easily. Kate's FBI escort, which at the moment consisted only of Agent Kruger, sat two tables away.

"So," Kate began, having finished the first bite of her ham and cheese sandwich "I was able to find out that they've had no luck with tracking down the person who posted the video and there were no fingerprints on the doll or the box it came in."

"Sounds like you had a productive morning," Daniel deadpanned.

"But they did find a fingerprint on the note," Kate revealed "It belongs to a corrections officer named Duncan Morris."

Daniel leaned forward "Have they brought him in for questioning?" he asked, jabbing at his salad almost violently with his fork.

"They have," she confirmed "Unfortunately, try as I might I couldn't get near him. Though I was able to figure out that he never had any direct contact with Rosenthal, so if he is the guy, he's not doing this alone."

Daniel nodded before changing the subject "I've been thinking," he began hesitantly "Maybe instead of Donnie having to find a new place to stay... you could... move in with me?"

Kate had to laugh at how sheepish he suddenly looked. She reached across the table and intertwined her fingers with his "That's an interesting suggestion," she observed with a soft smile "A little sudden though..."

Daniel nodded and looked away. He wanted to explain to her that it had felt so right to wake up with her beside him, that he wanted to start every morning like that from now on. But it did seem like things were happening too fast "Maybe we should talk about this another time," he shrugged dismissively.

"Chicken!" his younger self had appeared and taken the empty seat beside Kate. Young Daniel began making soft clucking noises.

"We can talk about it now," Kate told him. She suddenly felt as though she'd done something wrong, caused him to shy away from or reconsider their relationship. It had only just occurred to her that in the span of a few short days she had gone from almost marrying one man to falling into bed with another.

It was difficult for her to think of hers and Daniel's relationship as being so new. After all she'd thought of him as more than a friend for quite a while. But their romantic relationship was in fact a barely budding flower and as much as her head was spinning with delight she needed to slow things down and gently nurture that bud or risk it being trampled to nothingness.

"I don't want to scare you off," Daniel admitted. With this admission his hallucination ceased clucking, rose from the table and walked away.

Kate felt reassured by this. It seemed as though Daniel was just as frightened of this new territory as she was. She smiled at him as she leaned across the table "I won't run if you won't," she told him.

Daniel cupped her face in his hand and was in the process of bringing his lips to meet hers when something over Kate's shoulder gave him pause. He looked questioningly at Kate "I think Kruger just gave me the thumbs up..." he murmured.

Kate turned just in time to catch the other agent in the act "I have a hand gesture or two for him," she muttered. She walked around to Daniel's side of the table and sat beside him thereby removing the thirty or so inches of tabletop she'd previously been leaning across.

"I think the moment has been sufficiently killed," Daniel remarked.

Kate nodded "Wanna try and ditch him?" she suggested with a wicked glint in her eye.

"Tempting as that sounds," and Daniel was most assuredly tempted "There's a reason he's here. With our luck we'd run into trouble the second we managed to sneak away."

Kate laughed "You have a point," she conceded.

The pair finished their meal in a mostly companionable silence broken every now and then by idle conversation about this and that. Afterwards they returned to Daniel's office where thankfully Kruger was content to wait in the hall.

"How long until your next lecture?" Kate questioned idly as she stretched out on the sofa with her head in Daniel's lap.

"Almost an hour and a half," Daniel replied with a quick glance at his watch.

Kate sighed contentedly and closed her eyes. The next thing she knew Daniel was gently shaking her awake. Her eyes fluttered and she could see Max and Kruger standing across from the sofa.

"How long was I out?" she asked.

"About an hour and fifteen minutes," Daniel informed her.

"Yikes," Kate observed as she sat up.

"Kruger's gonna take you home," Daniel told her as he stood up and extended a hand to her "And I want you to promise me you'll take it easy when you get there."

She smiled sheepishly as she wrapped her arms around him "Promise," she gave him a chaste kiss as way of parting.

He patted her arm "I'll see you in a few hours," he assured her.

Kate and Kruger departed and Daniel began preparing for his final lecture of the day.

It was after five and Daniel was walking across campus to meet Max so they could drive home. His thoughts drifted to Kate. He hoped she was taking it easy but with Kate he could never be sure. He smiled to himself knowing he would see her soon.

"Excuse me, Doctor Pierce?" Daniel turned to see a man he was unfamiliar with approaching.

"Yes, can I help you?" Daniel was eager to get this exchange over with.

"I'm gonna need you to come with me sir," the man stated.

Daniel was beginning to suspect this was one of his hallucinations but the discourse had not attracted the curious looks of passers by as it often did when he paused to talk to himself. "Absolutely not," Daniel replied to the man's request.

The next thing Daniel knew, there was a gun jammed in his ribs. "I'm afraid I'm gonna have to insist," the man sneered.