{Author's notes: Writer's block, internet problems and my lack of patience dealing said problems = not good. My deepest apologies for how late this is! It wasn't intentional}
Chapter Thirteen: The Awakening
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Danny's first conscious thought was that he had definitely fulfilled his lifelong quota for being knocked out during these past few days. The tall man's second thought was the wish that whatever was throwing the party in his head with the stereo bass up full blast would knock it off. As he opened his eyes, a plain white ceiling came into view, which only revealed to Danny that he had been moved from the patio.
Worry began to wash through the ex-Marine as the Professor's words about being falsely arrested by the Nevada State police department repeated into his mind. Was that were he was now? Hearing the faint sound of someone writing with a pen, the ex-Marine tried to lift his head from the couch he was lying on, but groaned in pain as his body clearly disagreed with that decision. However, he had seen enough to determine that he was laying on the sofa that Ed always kept in his office at the Montecito. The writing stopped instantly.
"About time you woke your lazy ass up." Ed remarked, rolling his desk chair over to the younger man. A smile crossed the older man's face. "How are you feeling, Danny?"
"Like a nuclear war is going on in my head." Danny replied honestly as he put a hand to his temple. "How long have I been out?"
"Just a few hours." Ed answered, glancing at his watch. "You could have been out a lot longer." He shook his gray-haired head. "That was some pretty potent stuff he got you with."
"Hmm." Danny nodded, digesting that information. "What happened after I blacked out?" He dropped his hand after remembering that a ball bat-wielding Ed had been left alone with the Professor. "What did you do to the Professor?"
"Not what I wanted to do." Ed admitted with a grin.
"Meaning?" a curious Danny asked.
"Meaning I came to the realization that his ass wasn't worth the time in jail for assault or possibly murder." Ed shrugged casually, "Our friend is alive and well in the care of the Nevada State police department."
Hearing those last four words, Danny felt a surge of fear fill him as he recalled the paper trail the Professor had fabricated to make it look like Danny was behind all of his crimes. He had to tell Ed before it was too late to do anything about it and the Professor walked free.
"Something wrong?" a concerned Ed asked, noticing that his protégé had tensed up.
"Possibly." Danny admitted, looking into Ed's blue eyes. "The Professor said that he created some sort of paper trail that pins everything on me." McCoy tried to sit up again. "I've got to tell Luis about it before that bastard walks free again."
"Settle down." Ed replied, pinning Danny's shoulder to the couch. "The authorities already know about that." Another grin flashed across the older man's face. "You wouldn't believe how many of his cronies were willing to save their own hides by ratting him out."
"Well, I can't imagine that he attracts the most loyal bunch." Danny chuckled, causing Ed to also laugh. McCoy stopped laughing as the image of Leah lying on the ground, bleeding to death suddenly entered his mind. "How's Leah?"
"I, uh, wish that I had better news to tell you, kid." Ed replied, squeezing Danny's shoulder. "The doctors are doing everything they can for her." The older man paused for a brief moment. "However, she's still unconscious and they don't know…"
"Oh." Danny sighed, looking at his feet. He was thankful that Leah was still alive, and he prayed that she would make a full recovery.
"Why didn't you just tell me what you were doing, Danny?" Ed asked, looking at his protégé.
"It had be realistic, Ed." Danny replied, looking back at his mentor. "It wasn't like when you and Nessa fooled him. He was naturally going to be more suspicious this time." He shook his head. "It was more believable that you didn't know."
"I see." Ed nodded.
"I came close to telling you the truth out in the desert." Danny continued, looking up at the ceiling. "However, I knew that you would probably think that I was just making it up to get out of what you were doing to me." He turned his gaze towards his mentor once more. "I just hope that you and everyone else can forgive me for doing what I did."
"Just never go behind my back again, Danny." Ed warned with a nod. "Or next time, I really will kill you." A smile crossed the older man's face as he stood up. "Why don't you get some more rest up here? I'm going go walk the floor, and see if that fax terminating your suspension has been sent yet."
"Suspension?" a surprised Danny asked, "You didn't fire me?"
"I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt until I heard the whole story." Ed shrugged casually.
"Thanks." Danny said, watching the other man head for the door. "Hey, Ed?"
"Yeah?" Ed replied, stopping in the doorway.
"What happened to your monitor?" a puzzled Danny asked, nodding at the empty space on the older man's desk that was usually occupied by a computer screen.
"Well, you know how frustrated I get with computers, kid." Ed grinned, deciding not to tell Danny about how he had thrown the monitor to floor in a fit of rage.
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A small headache was the only symptom that Danny had a few hours later after a good, long nap in Ed's office. The tall, above-average looking man was forced to wince as he emerged from the innards of the Montecito and onto the noise and light filled casino floor. Feeling someone's hand on his arm, he looked over to see Mary smiling at him.
"You all right?" she asked, surveying his body.
"Just a small headache." Danny replied with a shrug. "But my suspension doesn't clear until tomorrow, so I can't really do anything here anyway."
"You deserve a break." Mary smiled, tightening her friend's loose tie. "You have for quite awhile."
"There you are!" Sam shouted before Danny could respond to Mary's comment. Both heads turned to look at the feisty woman with shoulder length dark hair as she marched over to them and began playfully punching Danny in the arm. "I swear to God, if you ever punk us like that again, I'll…"
"You and all 30 pounds of you will do what?" Danny inquired with a teasing smile. Chuckling, he had to duck as Sam took a swipe at his head.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Mike said, grabbing Sam's arms. "No killing him before I get a chance to apologize!"
"Apologize?" a puzzled Danny asked, looking at Mike. "For what?"
"I'm sorry for turning you in like that, man." Mike replied, shaking his head. "I didn't want to…"
"That's all right, man." Danny waved off as Nessa joined the group. "You two did what you thought was best." He shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, it all worked out in the end anyway, didn't it?"
"It always seems to." Nessa nodded with a smile.
"Just don't expect me to save your ass the next time Ed gets the urge to beat you down." a smiling Danny said, looking directly at Mike.
"Which I might do if you all don't get back to work." the gruff voice of Ed Deline interrupted as the older, gray-haired man walked up behind Mike, Nessa and Sam. He gently clapped a hand on Mike's shoulder. "Last I checked, you three were still on shift, so unless you don't want to get paid…"
Nessa, Sam and Mike quietly dispersed back to their various jobs as Ed turned his unreadable blue eyes on Danny and Mary. The older man simply looked at the younger for a moment, and from the look on his face, Danny knew that Ed was trying to figure out how to phrase something.
"Ed?" Danny urged with a concerned look.
"Luis just called from the hospital…"
To be continued...