Disclaimer; I do not own Las Vegas the Series or any of its characters.

Spoilers; None really. Set during season two but is a bit AU.

Notes; I'm still working on Untitled but wanted to give this a try first. This part may be a little boring, but it's mostly exposition.

Content; Danny/Mary (eventually), Mary/Original Character

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Mary Connell sat at a table in Cuppa Joe's eating her lunch. Alone.

Danny was supposed to meet her there but he was running very late.

"Something must've come up", she mumbled to herself. Sighing, she continued to eat. She had become increasingly frustrated with her best friend, Danny McCoy.

She had been in love with him forever and he was finally starting to return her feelings. Ever since he got back from the war, they had been closer than ever. Yet whenever they made plans to spend some time together, Danny would always cancel for some reason. Whether it was work or Ed, it seemed like the forces were against them getting together.

"Excuse me?"

She turned her head at the masculine voice coming from behind her. "Yes?"

"Are you Mary Connell?"

She wiped her mouth with a napkin and tucked a lock of her reddish hair behind her ear. "Yes."

The man gave her a big gorgeous smile. "Well I'll be. I thought that was you."

Mary froze and gulped. She recognized that smile. "Oh my God", she whispered. "Jeff? Jeff Cooper?"

He nodded. "You remembered my name."

Mary stuttered. "S-sure. How could I forget?"

Jeff stood up from his table and sat down at hers. "Do you mind?" She shook her head. He gave her an appreciative once over. "Wow. Mary, you look fantastic."

She blushed and laughed nervously. "Thanks. So do you." 'Really fantastic', she thought to herself. 'Am I drooling?', she unconsciously wiped at her mouth again.

He winked. "I try. So how have you been?"

"Great! I work here at the Montecito, I'm a Special Events Coordinator."

"Nice", he replied in an impressed tone.

"What about you?"

"I'm a musician. I'm actually gonna perform here and wanted to check the place out."

Mary raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Oh really?"

"Yeah. I met a Delinda Deline at one of my shows last week and she invited me here to play at the Mystique."

"I know Delinda." 'So he's the musician she was going ga-ga over, huh?', her jealous mind raged. "Uh, is it just you or are you in a band?"

"It's just me, although I do have a backup band. I play guitar and sing. I mostly play small gigs as I don't have a record deal yet. This will actually be my biggest gig yet. I've never played in a resort before. I'm kind of nervous", he chuckled.

She smiled. "Well if Delinda likes you enough to invite you here, I'm sure you're great."

"You're gonna come to the show, right? It's this Friday night."

"I'd love to."

"Cool. Listen to me going on and on about myself. I must be boring you."

"No. No you're not boring me at all. I'm enjoying the company", she said honestly.

Jeff smiled. "So are you married? Any kids?"

Mary shook her head in the negative. "No to both. You?"

"Same. But hey, we're still young. There's no rush, right?"

Silence decended on them for a brief moment. "I can't believe you remembered my name, it's not like I was around for very long", Jeff said in disbelief.

Mary giggled. "I can't believe you remembered mine."

"There's no way I can ever forget my first."

"And there's no way I can ever forget mine."

They stared into each other's eyes with matching smiles on their faces. Then Jeff cleared his throat. "Who would've thought? Of all the people to run into..."

"I know", Mary slightly ducked her head down in embarrassment.

"It's almost like this was... fate."

Mary raised her head and gave him a small smile.

Jeff continued, "So do you keep in touch with anyone else from high school?"

Mary's eyes widened for a bit. "Uh yeah. Do you remember Luis Perez?"

"Yeah."

"Well he's a detective now for the Las Vegas PD."

"Cool. I remember how much he was into being the hall monitor."

She laughed. "Yeah, and there's Danny McCoy", she rushed out.

Jeff furrowed his brow. "McCoy? Oh right! Weren't you like best friends with him?"

"Yeah. I still am", she licked her suddenly dry lips. For some reason it made her uncomfortable to talk to Jeff about Danny. She reached for her water and took a sip. "He works here too. He's in charge of Security."

"Wow. It sounds like everyone's doing well for themselves. Didn't McCoy hate me?"

She scrunched her face up in confusion. "Uh, no. I don't think so. Why would he hate you, he barely knew you."

Jeff shrugged. "Maybe I'm mistaken. But I always got a vibe from him. Anyway, I should get going."

They both stood up from the table. "It was really great seeing you, Mary"

"You too." They gave each other an awkward hug, which Mary relished. 'He smells so good', she thought and closed her eyes in satisfaction for a brief moment.

The embrace ended and Jeff pulled back. "Um, listen. Do you maybe want to go out for dinner later?"

Mary hesitated before answering, but agreed. "Sure. Sounds like fun."

"Great. I'll pick you up at 7?"

"Yeah." She scribbled down her number and address on one of her clean napkins and gave it to him. "Here."

"Excellent." He flashed her that Jeff Cooper smile that she had always loved so much. "See you then."

"Bye." She watched him walk away with a goofy grin on her face and sunk back down into her chair.

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Danny watched Mary's lunch with the mysterious man on the screens in the surveilance room.

With narrowed eyes, he asked himself in an angry tone, "who the hell is that guy?"