After Kathryn went back to work, Danny worried about her more and more. The first few days were incredibly hard on her. She would come home at night extremely tired and emotional. In the morning, she could barely get herself out of bed. He felt bad because he couldn't seem to help her. She felt bad because she couldn't make herself feel better. At the end of her first full week back, she came to see him at his office. The team greeted her warmly when she walked into the bullpen area. They hadn't seen her since the assault. After they all exchanged small talk, she asked Danny if they could talk. He guided her into one of the conference rooms.

"What's up?" Danny asked hesitantly.

"Well I have good news and some not so good news. What do you want hear first?"

"I could go for some good news right about now," Danny said. Part of him was terrified that she wanted to leave him.

"I gave my notice today. I'm going to finish out the week next week and then I am done with the DA's office," she said with a little sadness.

Danny looked at her confused. "Is that good news? When did you decide this?"

"I thought that it is what you wanted. I mean if I had listened to you a few months ago nothing bad would have happened to me."

"You shouldn't do this for me. And what happened to you isn't your fault," he said as he lightly stroked her arms.

"I'm not doing it for you. To be honest, I just can't face it anymore," she said as tears filled her eyes. "Before I used to feel this strength when I talked to a victim or a victim's family. I felt like nothing could touch me. I could be strong for them because I wasn't one of them. Well now, I am one of them. I know what they feel. And all I feel is weakness. I can't be strong for people when I feel like this. And I walk into that office and all I see is his face. And all I feel are his hands on me. I can't take it anymore. I can't breathe when I am there."

Kathryn started to break down as she told him how she felt. He slowly enveloped her in his arms as she finished pouring her heart out. He didn't say anything to her. He just held her until she was ready to talk again.

"I'm going to call my father and ask him about that consulting job. Something tells me it will still be open," she said as she smiled slightly.

"Are you sure?"

"No, but for now...this is for the best. I can't keep living like this. I can't put you and Michael through this anymore. The only way for me to get better is to move on. Which brings me to the not so good news."

Danny smirked and asked, "What is it?"

"Um...I ...uh...talked to the ADA handling my assault case. He said that Hane's attorney was pushing for a settlement. Hanes will commit to being in a maximum security mental hospital for at least six months. At that time, his doctor can petition the court for release if he shows improvement. And I'll have a permanent restraining order against him," she said reluctantly.

"Well, you didn't agree to it, did you? I mean you told the ADA you want the bastard prosecuted. Right?" Danny asked as his tone rose.

"It's the DA's perogative, Danny. Not mine."

"But he'll do what you want, Kathryn. If you want to testify against him...he'll let you."

"I don't want to testify."

"What?" Danny asked in frustration.

"I don't want to see him. I don't want to tell a courtroom what happened. I want all of this to go away so I can get back to normal...so we can get back to normal. I'm tired of feeling scared all the time."

"What about when he gets out in six months? What then?"

"Chances are he'd only do six months...a year tops...if we prosecuted. And then what? We'd face the same thing. Please Danny...let's just try to move on. OK?"

Danny wanted to argue. He wanted to face this guy in court. He wanted to see him do hard time for hurting Kathryn. But he also wanted to do what was best for Kathryn. So he finally relented. "Fine. We'll move on."

Kathryn smiled and kissed him lightly. "Thank you. I love you."

Danny looked in her eyes and touched her cheek. "I love you, too. Will you do me one favor so we can move on completely?"

"Of course."

"Go see your doctor and find out why you are still feeling so bad."

"I'm fine, Danny. I've just been worn out because of going back to work."

"No, it's been since before you went back. I'm worried about you. I'm not arguing about Hanes...and you know I want to. So you can't argue with me about this."

Kathryn smiled as he explained his logic. "I'll see if I can't stop by there today on my way home."

"Sounds good. I'll see you tonight."

"See you tonight," she said as she walked out to the elevators.

Danny got home that night just as Kathryn was putting Michael to sleep. He walked into Michael's room and watched as Kathryn read him a story. After she finished, he said, "Looks like I got here right in time."

Michael looked up with a big smile. "Daddy!"

Danny picked him up from Kathryn's lap and gave him him a big hug. Michael kissed him on his cheek and they laughed together. Then he laid him down in the crib as Kathryn looked on. When they walked out of the bedroom, Kathryn turned to him and put her arms around him. Then she kissed him. "How was your day?"

Danny looked down at her with a puzzled expression. She hadn't been like this with him since before the assault. "Um...it was fine. Are you OK?"

"Yeah...I'm really good," she replied as she took his hand and lead him into the living room.

"Clearly...you should quit your job more often," he said as he sat down on the couch.

She was standing in front of him with her robe on. Slowly, she removed the robe. She was wearing a black silk nightie. Then she straddled his lap and started to remove his tie as she kissed him deeply. Danny was a little shocked, but he kissed her back and helped her remove his shirt. Before they went any further, he had to ask, "I almost hate to interrupt this, but did you go to the doctor? And what kind of drug did she give you to prompt this?"

Kathryn laughed as she kissed his neck and the sensitive area behind his ear. "No drugs. I just have some more good news."

"Did she give you a clean bill of health?" he asked as he looked in her eyes.

"Yes...and then some," she said as she smiled.

"You lost me, baby. What's going on?"

"Everything's been so crazy...I didn't even realize. My doctor knew even before the test came back."

"The test? Are you...Are we..."

"We're going to have a baby. It's why I've been so tired. It's why my hormones have been haywire. I completely forgot how it felt the first time. Are you happy?" she asked hesitantly as she kissed him again..

Danny smiled. "Am I happy? Baby, I'm crazy happy. This is the best news," he said as he wrapped her in his arms.

Note: Believe it or not, this is still the beginning of the story. Stay tuned for more.