Disclaimer: I'm not Randall Wallace; I didn't come up with the original plot. No characters my own. All that jazz.

"Now We Know"

Danny sat thinking, thinking of Evelyn. He needed her now, needed her comfort. For three days he'd been the strong one, the one who helped others cry. He knew that she would help him to cry. For the first time since Rafe's death, his real death, he would be able to cry.
There would be no hope this time, no secret wish that he'd turn up alive, like last time. Danny had been there with him, held him in his arms while he'd slipped under, resurfacing only once to tell him to take care of her. That was how close they were. Rafe knew that Danny would give up hope, stop living, if he didn't remind him of Evelyn. Rafe had passed to Danny his love of her-Danny would love her that much more for it. Rafe had lived in Britain because of Evelyn, and now Danny would survive in China. After Rafe's body had been pried from his grasp and put in the wooden coffin, Danny stood over it thinking.
"Thank you, Rafe. Thanks for her love. If it weren't for you I'd never have known her. You've given me everything there is to give." God, I wish you were here. I wish you could get off this plane with me.
He'd ridden beside Rafe the whole way home. That wasn't so odd, others were doing it too. Red, staring at nothing, was absentmindedly stroking the top of Anthony's casket. Reaching over, Danny patted his shoulder. "Almost home, Red. We're almost there."
Red smiled at him, the same sad smile he'd worn for weeks now. "Then what? I mean, where do we go from there? You're a lucky guy, Danny. Don't let her out of your site." A single tear rolled slowly down his cheek, stopping halfway. Red turned away, not bothering to wipe it off. "But thanks."
At least he could cry. Billy gone, Tony and Rafe, killed. His best friends. And Betty. Nothing could fill that space for him, Danny knew. He'd felt a tiny glimmer of that when they'd left for the mission. Something in Evelyn's eyes had said that she wasn't telling him everything. For one everlasting instant he'd feared the worst: she loves him. She doesn't love me. I'm hurting them both by being selfish. But it wasn't selfish, loving her. He loved her just as much as Rafe did. Who was to say she shouldn't be his? Only her. And her declaration had bee clear. "I love you, Danny." Why did those traitorous thoughts tear at him so?
But Red had cried. He'd cried, inconsolably, at the sight of Betty and Billy's coffins. Danny hadn't cried once. He knew it was unhealthy, keeping his emotions in, but he needed her shoulder, the smell of her hair, her soft lips. He needed comfort when he finally broke down, and not the kind that Red could give, crying himself. Or Gooz, all alone in the corner, not speaking to anyone and rarely eating. No, Danny needed the comfort that only Evelyn could give, to comfort and be comforted at the same time.

* * *
They were lined up behind the coffins, watching as the medals for bravery were placed on their tops. Rafe's was the most beautifully done, with British, Chinese and American honors pinned there. He had died a hero. Just like he knew he would.
"Dismissed," came the order from Doolittle, and the ragged line broke apart violently. As the General passed him on his way to the door of the plane, Danny saw that his eyes were wet as well, wet with grief and shame.
* * *



Finally the plane landed, rolling to a stop. They had been briefed on the happenings, about the fact that they were not expected to stand at attention when they departed, about how they were to reunite with their friends and family before reporting. A more public ceremony would be held to honor them, and their fallen companions.
All of this ran through Danny's mind as he stepped off the plane, grasping the corner of Rafe's coffin behind his head, but searching the crowd desperately for the face he knew would be there. She was nowhere.
Everyone else was running to the mass, being met halfway by loved ones. Danny stood, his head and shoulders taller than most of those surrounding him. Why couldn't he find her?
And she was there. Directly in front of him, her cheeks flushed from running. In an instant his arms were around her, and her head rested on his shoulder. He felt at home for the first time in his life, and he didn't want to let the feeling, or Evelyn, go. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in its sweet aroma and drowning in her scent.
His arms slid away from her body, and he pulled her back to look at her face. His eyes searched for the consolation he'd so desperately thirsted for, but found none. Instead, her gaze had settled on the coffin behind him. Her stare changed from shock and disbelief to an accepting sadness, and finally settled in a look that Danny didn't like, couldn't stand to see. He pulled her close in another hug, but her arms hung limply at her sides and she sagged in his embrace. He put his hand on the back of her head, forcing her face into his shoulder, to tear her eyes away from Rafe's casket. She didn't resist, didn't fight him at all, but as she hid her face in his arm, he heard her whisper, "Rafe...oh, Rafe, I lost you again. I lost you. You left me."
Shoving her slightly, Danny pulled away. She staggered from the sudden lack of support, and looked up at him. His face wore such an expression, as she had never seen before. He was staring at her in disgust, shock and betrayal. His eyes were blazing. They had lost their loving gentleness and she could see no mercy at all in their darkness.
"You...he..." Danny's pathetic stutter made her want to nurture him, and she started forward to hug him. He only surged backwards again, frantic to keep at a distance from her.
"Danny..." her own voice sounded strange, thick and mottled with emotion.
"You loved him. You loved him more than me. And you...you lied to me!" The accusation was barely above a whisper, but it held all the power of a shout in her mind.
She didn't need to answer; it was all there on her face. He turned away, cradling his head in his hands. Only when he felt the burning touch of her hand on his shoulder did he whip around again. Her mouth closed when she saw his face, and the words she had been about to speak were quickly lost in the confusion of her mind. His eyes still held that glare, but his stare made her feel naked, exposed and dirty. "Well," he said, his features molded in a way that made him look powerful and weak; angry and scared, all at the same time. "Well. Now we know."
He stumbled away, out of sight, and leaned against a post. She didn't love him. It had all been a hoax, generated in his mind. Rafe had known. Everyone but him must have figured it out.
"Danny!" Clutching the rod for support, his body swaying dangerously, he turned to face the caller. It was Red, loping toward him with that sad smile back on his face. "Congratulations!" Danny closed his eyes against the brilliant sun, trying to block everything else out. He couldn't speak, couldn't move. He was frozen in time. After all, you can't survive once someone's removed your heart.
Red's hand clapped him halfheartedly on the back. "Sandra told me. Don't worry, buddy. I'm sure you'll make one hell of a daddy." And he ran off in the direction he'd come, no doubt off to mourn with what was left of his support group.
Danny lost his grip on the pole, slipping sideways and into the wall of the shack next to him. His mind spun, and he found that he could move, could react.
Leaning against the partition weakly, he found himself remembering that night, that gorgeous and life-changing night. It had seemed such a big deal at the time, but eventually lost its severity. Now that magnitude returned, violently. Danny pitched forward, retching and gagging. He had lost all of his strength now, and sank to his knees, still vomiting. As he bent over the vile puddle, he could see salty tears slipping from his face to combine with the mess.
He had been right. She helped him to cry.




What about the baby? If I get a lot of reviews I'll go on...until then this is

THE END