OK! I'm back! And this is kinda longer then I planned! If there are mistakes please excuse them. Its 1 am and I have to work in the morning. That's actually the reason I was late on this! I got a new Job and now currently work 7 days a week! So my time has been a little nonexsistant. So I apologize for that!

I hope you like this! Let me know!


Mary sat, surrounded by hordes of people. It seemed that was how her week was going. No one would leave her alone. There was always someone around and she hated it. She couldn't just have time to herself to except this.

She knew they cared about her and wanted to show her some support but in all honesty none of them were in a position to make anyone feel better. Delinda would burst into tears every time she'd see her. Nessa and Sam would ramble on and on about stupid things to try and take the focus off Danny. And then there was Mike. Mike hardly said a word since that day. He'd stare into space a lot and seemed lost in an other world. Mary worried about him deeply but she had no comfort to give.

Ed came around but was always distant with her. Mary knew how close Ed was to Danny. He considered him the son he never had. She figured he was taking it very hard since he couldn't even look her in the eye. Ed became so distant. He was rarely seen at work now and when he was, his office door was shut keeping out anyone that could intrude on his silent mourning.

A tear dropped from Mary's eye as the priest began the funeral. All heads bowed including her own but the thing is… she wasn't even listening. Her thoughts brought her back to that day again. She felt her best friend and the man she'd love forever, die in her arms. The look on Ed Deline's face when he walked up to them in the waiting room of the hospital said it all… but she already knew. She just stared in the face of her boss not knowing what to say. She felt numb but she clearly saw the pain in the older mans eyes.

The problem though was that he never showed it. Not even as they sat on a hilltop just outside of Las Vegas. It was absolutely beautiful up here. Mary could see the whole Las Vegas Strip especially a good view of the Montecito. This was as good a place as any. It was peaceful and it was a place Danny could always watch over them from. This was where they were about to spread his ashes.

The priest's words were garbled in her head. All she could do was stare at the gravestone and the inscription carved into it. "… Beloved son and friend. Dedicated his life to protecting not just his country but his loved ones." Mary couldn't have thought of anything better. Danny's father did a great job.

Danny's father. Oh my god she forgot all about Larry. She should have called him or visited. She threw herself out of her stare and scanned the crowd for Larry McCoy. But he was no where to be found. Why wouldn't his father be there for this?

The service was near its end now and Ed lifted himself out of his chair. Mary watched him pull a small case out of his jacket pocket and walked over to the stone.
Kneeling down on one knee, Ed slowly opened the lid and pulled out what was inside.

"You deserve this… Even though you didn't think you did." Ed's voice cracked softly as he placed the Medal that Danny refused to accept on the ledge of the Gravestone.

Mary felt the tears running down her cheeks as she watched Ed sit back down, wiping his eyes with a handkerchief. The Priest then walked over to the Erne that held what was left of the man she loved.

Just as he opened the lid over the drop off of the hill, a gust of warm wind flowed passed carrying the ash's up into the sky

Mary must have been sobbing because she felt arms embrace her tightly. She turned to see Mike who tried to calm her by smoothing her hair. She had no control as she felt the sobs wrack her body.

He was truly gone. Nothing in the world could make things better now. How could she live without him?


Ed stood silently by the gravestone, watching everyone slowly climb into their black cars and limos to head back to the Montecito. Delinda insisted that they have a little something afterwards in Mystique for all of Danny's friends… and he had a lot of them. Ed was surprised at how many people showed up to the Funeral today. Many were employees but there were also a lot of past guests and people from all over the strip. Danny had always been well liked. He did everything as fair as possible and had an eye for the genuine and innocent. Granted he was good at noticing something fishy on a casino floor but when it came to figuring a person out he was top notch.

Ed looked down at his feet and shook his head at what he kept doing in his head. He kept putting Danny in the past tense.

The older man was thrown from his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Boss… Do you want to ride with us?"

Ed turned around to find Mary looking up at him. Her eyes were red from crying so hard. He was also sure he caught a hint of exhaustion. He figured he wouldn't be off track if he accused her of not getting enough sleep. It pained him to look at her. Not after what he knew and couldn't tell her.

"No sweetie. Go on ahead without me. I'll meet you all there a little later."

Mary stared into his eyes for a moment. He knew she was trying to see something in them to tell her whether he was ok or not.

"I'm fine Mary… I just want to be alone for a bit."

A tear trickled down her cheek as she nodded.

"Ok…" her voice was almost a whisper as she turned around and headed back to the limo that held the rest of the gang waiting.

Ed waited until the last person left and bent down in front of the gravestone. He ran his fingersover the inscription. He thought it was very fitting for his young protégé. He didn't care how much it cost, he wanted it to be special for him. He was sure Danny would have been touched by what he wrote for him.

No one knew Ed was the one that set up the funeral. Danny's father had nothing to do with it. He told Ed right to his face that he didn't want to be involved with it. It wasn't right. But Ed knew this was for the best and did everything he could to make it perfect.

Ed stayed there a few more minutes letting his mind go over the past few days. It hurt him so much to look at all of his 'family' at the Montecito. He couldn't' stand seeing the pain on their faces so decided to shut himself up in his office as much as possible when he was there. He wasn't sure if he could put up with this much longer by himself.

"They just can't know yet." He said with a sigh as he finished tracing the words on the cold stone. He stood up straight again and picked up the Medal that he had rested on it during the service. Pulling out the black case in his pocket, he replaced the Silver Star in its place and headed in the direction of his Hummer he had parked off in the distance. He had something to do first before he met the others.


Mike sat at the Mystique bar watching everyone. He had no interest in striking up a conversation with anyone or attracting any attention. Being left alone was a great idea. This was just all wrong to him. Danny should have been there. Just a week ago he WAS. He was there with them and everything was running smoothly. Then that bastard had to come in and ruin it. And poor Mary. It was bad enough the love of her life died in her arms, but her father was the one who killed him. She'd never forgive herself for that or for not talking to Danny about giving back the ring.

Mike picked up the drink from the bar and took a sip from it slowly. The place was mobbed with crying people dressed in black. It was making him feel even worse. At that moment he decided he'd had enough and set his drink down. After tipping the bartender he grabbed his coat and headed to the door.

He was almost out when he felt himself collide with a human body, knocking both off kilter.

"Whoa Mikey… you ok?" Luis said as the two men straightened themselves out.

"Yea I'm great." Mikes tone was thick with sarcasm and it didn't go unnoticed.

"I only meant…"

"I know what you meant Luis… I'm fine."

Mike didn't leave an other opportunity for Luis to say an other word. He turned swiftly and walked out to the casino floor and out of sight.

Luis looked over at the group of girls watching what happened and gave them a confused shrug. Everyone was worried about Mary but Mike was also an issue. He just lost his Best Friend. It was hard on everyone but the two main people that would naturally hurt the most would need more help then anyone.

Mike decided to head back to the surveillance room and make sure things were going ok. He wasn't on the clock but with Danny gone and his death being so public he knew the cheaters would be out testing their 'luck' so to speak.

When he walked to the back, Mitch was still in his usual spot with his head resting on his fist. Mike didn't say a word to him and sat down in front of a pair of monitors.

He wasn't their more then 10 minutes before he caught someone on the cam near the Safe room. Mikey say up in the chair and clicked to zoom in on the figure walking from the direction opposite of the main doors.

With a couple more strides he recognized the man and his eyebrows fused together in confusion.

'Why is Big Ed in the basement near the volt right now?'

Zooming in more, he followed Ed down the hallway and into an area Mike didn't remember ever being in his whole time at the Montecito.

Ed disappeared behind a door and out of curiosity; Mike searched the Camera list looking for any way to continue following him. But there were no cams in that area.

"Weird" He said out loud, leaning back in the chair. Suddenly Mike got a bit motivated to solving this question about Big Ed. At least he found something to focus on.


Ed slid his card into the steal door and waited for the Green light to blink, signaling him to enter. After looking all around him for any possible prying eyes, Ed stepped into the room and shut the door fast behind him. The room was completely empty except for a window on the far wall and an other door right next to it. The lights were very dim but he ignored them as he slowly walked up to the window in front of him.

The sight made his stomach turn, his heart ache and his fist clench. How could he have let this happen? This was his fault. He was not any good now. He couldn't protect something he loved and that fact alone pained him deeply.

He didn't want to disturb the person inside but figured he should know how the funeral went.

With a deep breathe and a soft knock he saw "come in" being mouthed by the man on the other side.

Ed pushed the door open slowly and entered. His senses picked up the different things in the room immediately. A steady beeping filled his ears; a Medicine smell invaded his nostrils and his eyes connected with a sad view in front of him.

"How are you Larry?" Ed made sure his voice was low and calm.

"I'm pretty tired. But I wont let myself go to sleep on my watch. Ya know… Just in case."

"I understand that… I'm here now though. You can go rest. Just remember to go out the back way. Everyone is upstairs for a get together after the…"

"How was it?" Larry asked, interrupting Ed to avoid the word to come out.

"It was certainly something to mess with the emotions. It was beautiful though. A great deal of people came to pay respects to your Son Larry." He said while taking a seat across from Larry.

"It wasn't right Ed. You know that. This all isn't fair."

"We have no choice Larry. If people knew then they'd still be in danger and I cant have that. I have to control this right now. Its painful… it really is and I'm sorry for everyone's Grief. But after talking to Mary's father… We just have no choice. This has to be waited out."

"I know I know. Its still wrong though." Larry stood up and stretched a bit and hesitated a moment to look at the sight in front of him before heading for the door.

"It sure is." Ed half whispered. Larry didn't say an other word as he opened the door to the small room and headed out. Ed listened for the other door to open but it didn't come for an other few minutes. He couldn't see him but Ed knew that the heart broken father was standing behind that privacy glass staring at the figure on the bed.

He didn't make a move till he finally heard the heavy door shut. Ed sat up and leaned his arms on the bed while taking his hand and smoothing the unruly hair on the young mans head.

"They just can't know yet…" Ed whispered again. "Get better son… Then we can tell them."


So how was that? Did you see it coming! Still a lot more to come! Hopefully I can get it done by this coming weekend!