A/N: Hey! Thanks for the one person who reviewed, I am definitely still working on this so if you're reviewing, please continue so I know you're reading, and if you've just stopped by to read the fic, hey, thanks a lot. So here ya go, guys!
One Last Wish in Las Vegas
Total Vartan Lover
Part VIII
"Gawd, this is going to be awkward," Danny groaned as he headed over to the big heavy silver door that was still being guarded by two of the heaviest men in the casino.
But he found the door surrounded by a mob of people, a mob of friendly people that he knew. Mary, Mike, Delinda, Nessa and hey, even Sam had decided to show.
"Hey, glad you're all here."
"Course we came, Danny," Delinda cooed and put her long arms around him. "We're your friends, Danny."
Mike nodded in his cool, "we homies," manner while Nessa gave him a very nice smile. Only Sam ruined the moment when she gulped, "we also wanted to witness it if you fell on your face during the first personal job Ed assigned you."
"SAM!" Nessa squealed.
"What?"
"The poor guy's hurtin," she added sympathetically.
"But you all do want to see if he messes up, don't you?" she taunted, when she got no response she repeated, "come on, you all know you…"
"Honestly Sam, all of us have our Danny issues whether we hate him so much, you gotta love him or vice versa but right now is not the time to think about that. Danny reached out to us because he needs our help," Delinda retorted, getting pretty annoyed with the ethnic beauty's negativeness. "Why can't you just be a team player for once."
Sam folded her arms and looked around her. All of them except Danny and Mary were looking at her.
"What is this, the national gang up on Sam day?" she grumbled tossing her chocolate strands to show off her muscular bronzed shoulders.
"Yeah, we created one in your honor," Mike joked, "in fact," He came up behind Delinda and placed his hands on her shoulders, which resulted in an annoyed, "what?'
"Well, just wanted to let the world know that there is a Taunt Delinda day. You all knew about it didn't you?"
He got a few sorry nods from his attractive co-workers, except Danny and Mary.
"So there's probably a Reject Mike day too, right," she shot back, looking quite proud of her comeback.
"Oh Dee, that's cold," Mike shuddered. "That's real cold. Uh hey Danny, I think you should take this young lady away for defacing her co-worker, hey Danny?"
But the head of security was currently in the arms of his best friend who never failed to come through for him and right now, she was baby-talking Danny who was having second thoughts about addressing Belle himself.
"What if she has a heart attack?"
"Danny, you are nowhere near intimidating enough to cause someone's heart to stop," Mary cooed as she smoothed his hair back. "But if you do with your drop dead gorgeous looks, no one can blame you."
He couldn't help it, he bushed. But none of the worry went away. "But I did scare her I saw the footage, she's crying."
"Then you'll do the right thing and get her to stop crying," Mary added, refusing to let her hunky crush admit defeat and squeezed his hands tightly.
Danny immediately felt very warm and loved. "Nobody believe in me like you do, Mary."
"Ditto," she replied which earned her a kiss on the forehead.
"Ahem! You two want to head over and do this?"
Mary and Danny stayed entranced in each other for a moment longer but then he did turn to the rest of the group who were eyeing them restlessly. "Oh sorry, I just…never mind. Okay," he boomed, "the situation is we have is a…"
"…Belle Sears, pretty young thing, not quite old enough to be in the casino you caught trying to break in," Sam interrupted in a nasal tone. A nerve in Danny's forehead bulged.
"Thank you, Sam. So, usually we would just say, no, you can't come and that they'll have to wait till they're eighteen but because…"
"…she's Danny new infatuation and because he thinks he owes her something for making her cry, we had to leave our precious jobs so we can sit in this room, where she deserves to be an come up with an elaborate out of policy vacation because Danny thinks he's supposed to do that," Sam rattled on, smirking at Danny the way she did when she liked to mess with his head.
Danny was used to being made fun of so usually he didn't make a big deal out of it but today, he was not having any of it. Danny didn't know whether it was because he'd been wishing he'd gotten another chance to help a dying woman since he'd unearthed the wishes he hadn't been able to grant for his mother because she died…whatever the reason, he had made it personal before he'd realized it. And it upset him more than anything that Sam thought he was a joke.
"Listen Ms. Jane, I understand you have some personal vandetta to drive me insane since the moment you first met me," Danny said in a calm voice as he fixed his eyes steadily on her fact that was showing the slightest bit of fright. "But you need to understand something, I'm in charge here and I don't care what you want to do to me or how badly you want to see me mess up, you will be civil to that girl."
Sam tried hard to look away but Danny's intense gaze seemed to have burned into her mind, not that she showed him the slightest cooperation.
"You will keep this professional," Danny repeated again, folding his arms while the rest of the group looked on with anxiety. "Because if not, you can turn around and help the rich boys who have nothing better to do than look at you ass, knowing because of your unwillingness to concentrate on what's really important, you failed to make a dying girl's wish come true."
The rest of the group were stunned into silence. They'd never seen Danny so angry. As a smart ass? All the time! But Sam had to have really hit a nerve to wrack hi nerves to the point he'd blown up.
It wasn't until Mary put her hand on his slightly shaking shoulder that he came back to life. He seemed to be calmer after he took a breath. He even went as far as to grabbing her hand and rewarding her with a warm smile.
He finally addressed the two guards who stood there, looking a bit taken aback by Dan's behavior.
"You two are dismissed," he boomed confidently. "I'll take it from here."
The guards didn't hesitate to move out of the way. Danny took a moment then turned the silver handle.
The heavy mental door slowly creaked open.
Danny slowly stepped into the room followed by his comaderie. He felt a pang of pain when he saw Belle look up then immediately cast her eyes away due to fright.
"Belle?" he greeted gently as he took a seat in one of the folding chairs which he positioned on the other side of the crying girl. "Belle Sears?"
"I know who you are," she spit, folding her thing arms defiantly. "After all I said, I can't believe you left me here. You're making me feel like I killed someone. So unless you're here to let me go…leave me alone."
Danny shot a quick glance to his nice-expressioned pals and knew he couldn't lose control of the situation right now. What he'd said to Sam seemed to have sunk into a point but after they left this room, she'd never let him live it down.
"Belle, I'm sorry," Danny began. "This wasn't to punish you." "Honestly," he added when Belle smirked, her eyes still red from crying. "I just needed to prove to my boss that you were contained and that you were no longer a "threat," to the casino's business and publicity."
Belle glared at him angrily and he knew he'd made a mistake. Threat was probably not the best choice of words.
"Sorry, but it was either this or going face to face with the main honcho Ed Deline, who is the blond's father," Danny pointed out. Delinda gave a little way despite the informal way he'd addressed her. "And trust me when I say this, you ended up with the better of the two situations."
"Trust you? TRUST YOU! Why in the world would you expect me to do that when you're obviously in this with him!" Belle demanded, no longer the sweet girl but a girl going through a minor case of betrayal. "You said that I didn't appear dangerous. Why in the world did you feel you had to bring in reinforcements?"
Danny looked to his smiling and warm-expressioned pals again. They didn't look a smidgen controlling or condescending. Mary stood up and joined Danny's side, touching his hand to let her know that she was going to take it from here.
"Belle was it? You remember me, don't you?"
"Yes, I remember you acted all friendly when all you were going to do was report me to your best friend," Belle huffed and then looked over at Sam. She was too disgusted that she didn't say anything.
"Belle, listen…why don't we just forget that this morning happened," Danny suggested and motioned for his group to sit down. He stood up so Mike could sit. Immediately he grinned. Seventeen or not, he obviously liked what he saw. "Now I have brought to you the circle of people I work around and hang out with outside of work, of course because they're good people."
"Sit down golden boy," Delinda interrupted then leaned forward on her arms. "Belle, my name is Delinda Deline as Danny so wonderfully pointed out. And unfortunately it is my dad causing all these problems." She paused to wink at the camera, knowing her dada was probably watching. "Now Danny can be very condescending but seriously, he won't harm a fly, especially such a pretty one."
Danny cast his gaze to the ground. He could feel that Belle wanted to look at him to register his expression but she was probably blushing from embarrassment.
"My name is Mike, no last name, at least, none you need to know pretty lady," the black guy flirted while the other girls rolled their eyes. "I'm Danny's best friend and I'm telling you, what he's doing right now has not been sanctioned by the Ed guy but it doesn't matter because he disagrees with Ed."
He then turned the floor to Nessa who held out her hand. Belle took it just to be polite. "I'm Nessa, black jack dealer. And I'm going to put this in easiest way possible, I apologize no one here at the Montecito can change the laws and no one here can magically turn you legal, but we would like to focus on what we can do."
Danny watched as each of his friends pulled out five different all expenses paid vacations that included Disneyland, a water park, a week in Beverly Hills, a week in Hawaii…damn they were good. All five of them had also offered to have her favorite restaurant serve her buffet style and she was sure he heard Mike offer to hold a party in his house in her honor if she'll be his date.
While the girls gave him an earful about him, Danny switched his focus to the girl who seemed more miserable than before. He just couldn't understand why? Was he just insensitive or was the girls' expectation that unattainable?
"Please ignore Mike, honey," Mary urged her guest and gestured once again to all the brochures. "Just say the word and your wish is my command."
"Um…th…thanks you guys but…I…I can't accept this and I know you are all going to think that I'm spoiled but…there's just no replacing or substituting for my dream, I…I'm sorry."
"W…What?" Sam gasped, ready to let her get a piece of Samantha Jane's mind. Thank god the other four were able to contain her.
"Danny?" Mary asked her handsome friend who was staring at Belle who'd begun crying, obviously puzzled and yet, he was still trying to analyze her. "Danny," she repeated.
Danny looked over at her. "Yeah, thanks guy, I'm sorry to have bothered you. You all did all you can. I'll catch up with you guys when I'm done here."
Mary nodded then ushered them out of the room, leaving the room quiet except for Belle's whimpers and sniffling
"Belle…you mind if I sit down?" Danny questioned very gently.
"No…go ahead," she replied as she rubbed at her eyes. It surprised Danny that she didn't end up with panda eyes, her eyelashes couldn't naturally be that thick or curled.
"I'm so sorry, you now see for who I am…a brat. I'm surprised you haven't called my parents."
Danny almost mentioned that it was because they didn't have the phone numbers to her parents but was able to catch his self. He knew he was dealing with a delicate situation and had to choose his words correctly.
However, he didn't know how else to say the next bit without just saying it.
"Belle Sears…you don't have to apologize. You're right. Nothing can replace your number one dream. I'm more worried that I've insulted you by doing what I did," he lamented, clasping his hands together then bent his head down. "I'm really…really…sorry."
Belle pulled her hands down from her face and looked at Danny McCoy who was no longer pretending, he genuinely felt bad for her.
"Y…you know, don't you? That's…that's why you didn't toss me away and tell me I better not darken the doorways of the entrance…" she said softly, but surprisingly she didn't feel that he was pitying her.
"Um yeah…I…I know that you're dying," Danny said quietly, saying it any louder would make tears well in his eyes. He couldn't get anymore emotional.
"How did you find out?"
"Um…your case officer from Lash Wish came and met with Ed. That case officer is also a really good friend of mine," Danny explained, trying to crack a smile.
"He told you?"
"N…not exactly," the nervous protégé admitted. "I figure it out from your card. That medical card had a lot on it so I figured something was going on." He then slowly lifted his head. "If you don't mind my asking…what do you have?"
"That's not something I ever like to discuss, Mr. McCoy," she chuckled and Danny heard a subtle hint of flirting in her voice. "I don't let my parents say it so I'm certainly not going to admit it to the…most handsome guy I've ever uh…met."
Danny couldn't believe it. She was flirting, and he was enjoying it.
"Fine, I'll never mention it again," he promised, casting his gaze down again and it landed on all the exotic-fun-loving vacations sitting before him. "You know Belle, that's probably a lot of handsomer guys you can meet in Disneyland. I mean it's the happiest place on earth."
"Most definitely, guys are always coming around wondering why I'm being pushed around in a wheelchair, being supervised 100 under my mom's eagle eye that doesn't miss anything," Belle cursed, her anger flaring again.
"Well Mr. McCoy, you're doing really well here," he thought to himself. He suddenly realized that Belle's parents had done all this to try and cheer up their sick daughter, only because of the supervision and medical precaution, she hadn't had any fun at all. "No, I guess they couldn't ask you out, especially with your dad hovering around like that."
Belle finally grinned again and Danny felt better even if the comment had been sarcastic. "So after seeing the best vacations spots eve, what is this one fantasy that hasn't been fulfilled?"
Belle immediately looked down, laughing embarrassingly. "No, you don't' want to hear this."
"Yes, I do," Danny insisted, his brows drawn close over his deep hazel eyes.
"No, you really don't," she repeated, her voice lower, her cheeks flushed a deep plum shade.
"is this another thing you don't admit out of fear that it won't come true?" Danny hinted, not wanting to push any more of her buttons.
"No…it's just embarrassing. I mean, I grew up in Vegas and I , a Vegas girl, has the same dream of everyone who doesn't live in Vegas," she blurted out then covered her mouth. Danny could still hear her muttering, "oh god!"
"Hey, no one's dream is stupid except to the one who has it," Danny stated firmly. "I'm not going to laugh. Please…tell me."
Belle stared at her hands and realized Danny had taken hold of one of them to calm them. But his touch shook her more and her heart was thudding so hard she could hear it in her ears. She was relieved that Danny didn't seem to notice.
"Okay," she began and told Danny about how her dad had crushed on her mom who'd gotten a curable cancer but that her dad wasn't taking any chances. He had whisked her out of the hospital, somehow gotten to Las Vegas, eloped despite their parents wishes. "But the miracle is that when dad finally convinced mom to check herself into the hospital, the doctor told her that he couldn't explain it but she'd entered remission. Mom told me that the doctor asked her if she'd entered into the faith and she replied, "yeah…but not the one you're thinking of." Belle continued, smiling at the memory of her mother constantly telling her this story when things got bad to convince her that as long as she held on, she could create her own miracle. "My dad even won the jackpot that night they wed. 80.000!"
Danny now understood what this was all about. She was scared. She wanted to find this Mister right who could make all her problems go way, just like her dad had done for her mother.
And apparently she didn't believe she had that much time if she was desperately trying to find him before her eighteenth birthday.
The only con to hearing the story was that the thirty-two year old former marine tough guy felt even worse now that he'd heard it. He didn't have the power to make her sickness just disappear and even Harry Potter couldn't waive his wand and create her a mister right.
"Belle…you know I would…"
"I know," she cut in, flashing him a sweet smile. "And don't worry, I wasn't expecting anything by telling you. I know you're not God and that you can't make my life perfect. I'm not disappointed."
But Danny could tell from her voice that just for a smidgen of a moment, Belle had the hope that he could make this all better and by admitting he couldn't do anything, he'd let her down.
If Ed was watching, he was never going to let him hear the end of it. And now, if he decided to ask him to let him take over another case, he could rub this incident in his face.
The sound of the chair squeaking and Belle coming to a stand interrupted her thoughts. "Belle?"
"I really appreciated your company, Danny McCoy," she told him, grinning broadly. "It's been a long time that a cute guy I talked to wasn't an intern or a substitute provider. But…I understand now, and as I'm sick, being here today has worn me out. Do you think Big Ed will be okay with his having his protégé drive me home?"
Danny got to his feet then put his coat over Belle's bare shoulders and nodded as he joined her side. "Of course I'll drive you home."
"Even if Ed has a problem with it," he thought to himself as he knocked on the door, signaling the body guards to let them out."
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AWWWWWW! How sad was that! And How sweet Was Danny! You're not going to believe to what lengths this favorite security guard is going to go to help out this girl! Please review to let me know you're reading and as always,thanks for the support!
Total Vartan Lover
