Notes: Thanks for the reviews. I never know ifreaders like these non-case file stories or not.This is much longer than I ever intended so I hope people still like it.

Mariel: Thanks for your help.

Right before Anna was due to meet with Jack and Olczyk, Danny's phone rang while he was standing on the balcony.

"Taylor."

"Hey, it's Rafael."

Danny sighed. "Raffi, I don't have time--"

Rafael interrupted. "Please don't hang up. I know you are busy, but I really need to talk to you. It's really important."

"What do you want?"

"I'm actually at the coffee shop right across from the federal building. Can you meet me here?"

Danny hesitated. He didn't want to deal with Rafael, but he knew he couldn't do anything at work anyway. And somewhere deep in his heart, he knew he couldn't let Raffi go completely. He wanted to forgive him. He wanted his brother back, but he didn't want to be hurt or disappointed again. "I'll be down in five minutes."

"Great. Thanks, Danny."

A few minutes later, Danny walked into the coffee shop and slid into the booth seat across from Rafael.

"What's up?" Danny asked.

"You want a coffee or something?" Rafael asked.

"No, I'm fine. Just tell me what you want so I can get back to work."

Rafael sighed. He could see that Danny was very agitated and distracted. He almost didn't want to say what he came to say, but knew he couldn't put it off any longer. "I need to apologize to you. And I also owe your girlfriend an apology, but I know you don't want me to go near her so…"

"Why are you sorry?" he asked in an icy tone.

"I was drunk when I went to her apartment that night. When I walked in there and saw the way you lived--saw everything you have--I got jealous. Just like I'm jealous that my son doesn't look up to me like he looks up to you. You were right. I didn't think it was fair so I wanted to ruin it for you. I intentionally made her feel uncomfortable. I'll never do it again. I promise--"

"Tell me what you did."

"I crossed the line with her, Danny. I know I scared her," Raffi admitted.

Danny sat back in his chair as he felt anger simmer inside him. He hated the thought of Raffi doing anything to Anna, but he had to know the truth. "Tell me what you did," he demanded again.

"I could tell she didn't feel right about me being up there. And I wanted to get the money from her. So I kind of repeated my performance from the wedding. I put my arms around her, and she's so polite…she didn't stop me. I held her a little too tight. After that, I knew she just wanted me out of there so I asked for the money. She couldn't give it to me fast enough. I was bastard, Danny. I drank too much before I went over there, and I wasn't thinking clearly. It won't ever happen again."

Danny agitation level rose to a new height when heard Raffi's admission, but he remained composed. He shook his head as he thought about the futility that was his brother. Now he wasn't sure if he even wanted to forgive him. "You're right. It won't…because you won't ever be alone with her again. How can you expect me to ever trust you after you do something like that? How can you sit there and just expect me to accept your apology?"

"You always make the right choices. You always do the right thing. And even when you do get into trouble, you find a way out. You have everything, Danny. I have nothing."

"How can you say that, Raffi? You have a beautiful wife and son. And you're free to make the right choices now," he pleaded. He hesitated for a moment and then continued. "And I haven't been making the right choices lately. You'll be happy to know that I'm about to lose everything…my job…Anna…everything."

"What? That doesn't make me happy. What's wrong?"

Danny looked up and started to explain, but then stopped. "It's…it's nothing. I just…we aren't so different, Raffi. Seeing you now—that's painfully clear to me."

Danny's words stung him, but he reached out anyway. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked genuinely.

Danny shook his head. "No, not for me anyway. What you can do is make the most of this fresh start and stop dwelling on the past and what you don't have. Do the best you can for yourself, your wife and son. If you can do that, then maybe I can trust you again."

"I'll try, Danny. I really will. And I do need to apologize to your girlfriend. I know that I scared her that night. I don't want her to feel scared around me. And I know I need to pay her back."

"I already gave the money back to her. So don't worry about that. If she and I can work things out, then I'll tell her you're sorry."

"Work things out? Are things really that bad?"

"I don't know. I've made a real mess of things. Sometimes I think she'd be better off without me."

"I doubt that. She loves you, man. You're lucky to have each other."

Danny felt uneasy and skeptical about Raffi's sudden show of support. "Listen…I…um…I have to get back," he said as he rose from the table.

Raffi stood with him. "We will see you sometime soon?"

"I don't know, Raffi. I have a lot going on, but we'll see."

"Okay. Thanks, Danny."

"Yeah. Bye," Danny said as he headed out the door.

When Danny returned to work, he stopped by Jack's office.

"Is Anna still here?" he asked hesitantly as he stood in Jack's doorway.

Jack shook his head. "No. She left a few minutes ago. Why don't you sit down for a minute," he suggested as he pointed to a chair.

Danny sighed as he walked into the office and took a seat. "How'd she take it?"

"She was surprised to say the least. Olczyk was pretty hard on you. For what's its worth, she defended you admirably. Of course, she couldn't offer you much in the way of an alibi."

"You make me sound like a criminal, Jack," he said solemnly.

Jack looked at him and then closed his eyes for a moment. "Poor choice of words. Sorry."

"Yeah," Danny said as he rose from the chair. "If it's okay, I'm going to take off. There's not a lot for me to do here."

"It's fine. We'll get this straightened out. I hope things are okay with Anna."

"Me, too," he answered quietly as he walked out the door.

After struggling through the invasive interview with Jack and Olczyk, Anna desperately just wanted to go home. She knew she should try to find Danny before she left the federal building, but she wasn't sure what she would say to him. And she didn't feel like getting into an intense, emotional conversation with him at work, so she left without even looking for him. Her plan to go straight home was foiled after she received a phone call from the Rape Crisis Center. One of the volunteers called to tell her a client was asking to speak to her and her alone. So Anna headed back to her office to meet with the client.

A few hours later, she finally made it home. She warily entered her building and headed up to her apartment. As the elevator doors opened, she shuddered a little when she found Danny sitting in front of her door. She took a deep breath before stepping off the elevator. She'd seen Danny in some sorry states in the past when he'd been hangover, but nothing like this. He looked desperate and broken with his hair disheveled, tie untied, and a 5 o'clock shadow. Her first inclination had been to be angry with him, but looking at him now, she just wanted to hold him.

"What are you doing out here, Danny? Why didn't you use your key?" she asked as she looked down at him.

"I didn't want to assume that I would be welcome so I didn't go in. I tried to call you at your office after Jack said you'd left, but someone at the center said you were busy. I figured you were avoiding me."

"No…I mean maybe a little, but I did have an emergency client this afternoon. I couldn't be interrupted."

He nodded. "How'd the meeting go with Jack and Olczyk?"

Anna sighed heavily. "Let's go inside," she said as she held out her hand to help him to his feet.

He stood up in front her and ended up standing closer to her than he'd intended. They stood just inches from each other as she looked up at him. He let his fingertips trace over her cheek as she bit her bottom lip. Looking into his deeply wounded eyes was almost too much for her to bear. Part of her didn't want to talk at all because she was so afraid of hearing something that she wouldn't be able to overcome. She just wanted to hold him and tell him that everything would be okay. But she knew she couldn't do that. She needed answers.