"Don't do this dad," Dan pleaded, but Jay didn't care.

"I didn't invite you here. Who did?!" Jay screamed.

"Dad! You can't do this to me anymore! I won't let you!" Dan said, raising his voice.

"What do you intend to do about it? You've been rejected by this family-"

"Dad, that's not true! You're the only one to reject him!" David interjected.

"-and come to think of it, you are a reject, a failure!" Jay finished.

Dan flinched. The words his father spoke cut to the bone.

"Nothing to say? Truth hurts, don't it, Danny boy?" Jay said.

Dan stumbled back a few steps and fell into a chair.

"Dad, it wasn't Dan's fault! He made some mistakes, but so did I! So did Sam, and it cost him his life!" David said pointedly.

"Shut your mouth! Don't tell me you're standing up for him, too!" Jay's rage continued.

"Mr. Rydell," Natalie said, silencing everyone in the room.

"What the hell do you want?! In fact, who are you?" Jay said, pointing an accusatory finger at her.

She drew in a slow calming breath, then started.

"Mr. Rydell, Dan works at Sports Night. He works his ass off making sure that the show that he and his partner and best friend Casey McCall put on every night goes off without a hitch. It's a fourteen hour job, and he does it well. He's been nominated for journalistic excellence and also been commended on his journalistic integrity by people like Michael Jordan, Bill O'Reily, and many more. He's stood by his partner and the whole Sports Night staff through thick and thin, and he's one of the best people I know," Natalie said.

"That doesn't change-" Jay started but Natalie continued.

"It doesn't change anything. Nothing you or Dan or David do will change the past. Sam is dead. Dan has nothing but sorrow and remorse for the death of him. But when it comes down to it, it's not his fault. Sam made a choice, and it's a choice that cost him his life. Dan didn't tell him to go drink and drive, or to get high while doing it. He's worked his whole life since Sam died to try to earn your love for him again which he shouldn't have lost in the first place. Yet you've still rejected him. He doesn't deserve this, and I can't believe that you hate him that much," Natalie finished.

Dan looked over at Natalie and in his eyes were the slightest sign of tears.

Jay stood, silenced as most everyone else did. No one had ever dared to contradict Jay Rydell, or interrupt him for that matter. Jay looked angrily at his son, and then stormed out of the house.

"Danny..." Carol, Dan and David's mother finally spoke.

"No, Mom, forget it, I've just ruined this family again. I'll just leave now," Dan said, grabbing his jacket.

Natalie watched him run out, then chased after him.