Huge thanks to anmodo for betaing this chapter. As a big thank you to everyone that has reviewed.

Chapter 13

Danny stood nervously outside the federal building. He hadn't stepped foot in the building for almost a year; the majority of the people that worked there probably thought he was dead. This building that just eleven months ago felt more like home to him than his apartment, now felt foreign to him. He found himself just standing there in the warm spring sunshine trying to gather the courage to walk in. He didn't believe this moment would happen, but now that it had, he didn't know what to do. He had vaguely noticed a few strange looks he was getting. He didn't know whether that was from him standing, staring at the building or if it was that they thought they recognised him. He couldn't walk away now, but he didn't think he could take another step forward.

As Jack walked through Federal Plaza, he noticed the solitary, statuesque figure of Danny Taylor. He hadn't forgotten it was Danny's first day back after nearly a year-long absence. Jack smiled as he thought about how good it would be to have Danny back on the team. They had defiantly missed his presence. During the last year, missing children cases had been more emotionally hard than usual for the team. Not just because it was a child that was missing, but because it always highlighted who else was missing.

Jack quietly approached Danny, who appeared to be lost in thought. "Are you coming to work, or are you just going to stand out here all day?"

Danny jumped slightly and spun around. "U-mm," Danny said as he tried to put a sentence together.

Jack turned to face his obviously nervous agent. "It's alright, Danny. You belong here." He paused as he looked Danny up and down. "Shall we go in?"

"If you say so." Danny managed to say as he tried to put one foot in front of the other and walk into the building. "So how many people know?"

"How many people know that you are alive?" Jack asked smiling, "well, a part from you, me, the director of the FBI, a couple of high level FBI, DEA, CIA agents, Sam, Martin and Viv, no one else knows."

"So no one in this building, a part from the team, knows I am alive?" Danny asked in shock.

"That's right. Pity it's not Halloween, 'cos you'd have a damn good costume" Jack said as he entered the building. He smiled as he saw the confused expressions around him. As he entered the elevator, he saw Danny hanging back with a wide-eyed look. "Danny it's going to be alright. I promise."

Danny slowly slid into the elevator next to Jack. "Sorry," Danny said remorsefully. "It's just-"

"You just have a bad case of nerves, which is understandable." Jack looked at Danny and still felt guilty. The guilt that he hadn't helped Danny from the beginning. The guilt that Danny had been shot because of him, the guilt that still was eating away at his soul. "How's the shoulder?"

"It's fine" Danny lied.

"Danny!" Jack chastised lightly.

Running his hands through his hair, Danny tried to lie convincingly to Jack. He didn't want to add to the guilt that he knew Jack was already carrying; Jack had already done more than enough for him. The fact that he was about to start his first day back at work was evidence enough.

"It hurts from time to time, but its getting better" Danny replied hoping Jack would be convinced.

"Good" Jack replied sceptically. "Look, you can always crash on the couch in my office if you start feeling tired or in pain or even if it's just to get away from everything. You know that, don't you?"

Danny was just about to reply when the elevator stopped. The agent who got in glanced at Jack before staring at Danny in complete awe. Feeling intimidated by Jack's glare, the agent looked down at his feet for the rest of the ride. The elevator stopped again and the newcomer quickly exited.

Jack smirked. "Well I guess counter terrorism is taken care of."

Despite his apprehensiveness, Danny found himself grinning. "You can see him telling his boss that he just saw Danny Taylor." Danny said chucking, "and his boss sending him down to the psyche department to be checked out."

Jack laughed. As the elevator stopped he turned to face Danny. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I will ever be." Danny replied as he took a deep breath and stepped back into his life. He found the familiar hustle and bustle of the violent crimes comforting. He was home again; he had missed this since the day he'd left—eleven months and two weeks ago. Even thought he knew he was home, he still felt a little lost. Feeling Jack's supportive tap on the back, he followed him as though he was in a daze.

Viv stood up as she saw Jack and Danny enter. She quickly strode across towards them and gave Danny a meaningful hug. Despite everything, he still looked well, skinny, but then she thought both boys were too skinny. "Welcome back Danny."

Danny returned Viv's hug. "Thanks Viv." He replied before he took his place at the table between Sam and Martin.

"Nice to have you back, man. Viv and Sam have been ganging up against me." Martin joked.

"Poor little Fitzy. Don't worry. I won't let the nasty, evil Sam hurt you." Danny said as he continued with the banter.

"Hey, I'm right here," Sam scolded shaking her head. She smiled and wrapped her arms around Danny's neck. "I've missed you so much."

"Sam, you saw me about two hours ago." Danny replied. Since he had been believed to be dead, he had no apartment. The team had refused to let him check into a motel. Telling him simply it would be easier if he stayed with one of them, as they'd be at the hotel every five minutes anyway. He ended up staying at Samantha's. He was surprised how many missing people had links to Queens, especially Sam's area. True to their word, someone from the team seemed to visit him for what felt like every five minutes—always using the excuse that they had a case in the neighbourhood.

"I know Danny, but- " Sam was just about to continue when she saw Jack walk towards the table with a file in his hand.

"Have you three stopped arguing?" Jack asked smiling. Watching them nod, he continued. "Karen Chappelle, 39, went missing two days ago, reported by her boss. She works at an IT support company downtown. She's not married and has no kids. I'm going to interview the boss. Viv, Sam I need you to go to her apartment. Martin… Danny I need you two to do background checks."

After Danny watched as the rest of the team filed out to their various assignments, he turned to Martin. "How long do you think before he lets me out into the field again?"

"Once you've been cleared, add two more weeks. Then you will only be out in the field with Jack—and that will last for about a month—if you are lucky. If anything happens in that month, no matter how small, you start the process again. Then he will allow you out with Sam and Viv. Going into the field alone is out of the question; none of us are allowed to do that apart from Jack. Its part of the new and improved 'Jack Malone protection policy'." Martin answered with a hint of sarcasm.

"The Jack Malone protection policy" Danny repeated with a raised eyebrow. "What about you and me paired up in the field?"

Martin laughed. "Me and you… the field… without Jack or a fully armed SWAT team?" Martin paused, "Maybe when we retire."

"So I guess I will paired with the desk or Jack" Danny laughed. But in reality, right now, he didn't care. He was back on the team working cases. Maybe a month or two down the line he would care, but then he would just think of but it might have been. He looked over at the stacks of paper and groaned, as they started to work their way though it.

Twelve hours later, the case was still hot, but Danny was tired and in pain. He was tired of everyone coming up and telling him that they thought he was dead. It had been nice, even funny at times, but now it was grating on him. He took a deep, slow breath and tried to ride through the latest wave of pain. He tried to concentrate on the papers in front of him, but fatigue and pain had other ideas. He might just take Jack up on his offer; at the very least it would offer him peace that he so badly needed to rest his haggard brain.

Picking up his notes, he crossed the room to Jack's office and slipped inside. Making his way to the couch, he collapsed and held his head in his hands. Another wave of pain travelled through his shoulder and he bit back the tears that threatened. He wished, at that moment, he hadn't thrown away the pain-killers. He felt like he had to because of his and his family's history with addiction. His father was a violent alcoholic. His mother was an alcoholic, who drank to numb the pain of his father's abuse. His brother was a junkie and an alcoholic, and he was an alcoholic. If he took those pain-killers, he was only one step away from becoming his brother, so he had tossed them. But now he really needed them. He lay down and closed his eyes tightly, hoping the pain would go away.

Jack entered his office. After not seeing Danny in the main office, he had expected to see him here. He was concerned, as he knew that Danny would only take his offer as a last resort. He looked over at the couch to see Danny looking very pale and fatigued. As he approached, he noticed the slight grey tingle to Danny's skin, the beads of sweat on his forehead and haggard breaths—all of which didn't bode well. Bending down, Jack was relived to find a strong but slightly too fast pulse.

"Danny" Jack called as gently tapped him on the face. "Danny."

Danny groggily opened his eyes and tried to sit up, but found the room spinning violently. "J-Jack I'm sorry. I needed a rest, but I did get a chance to make some notes on the case." Danny said while fighting the urge to vomit.

Jack quickly glanced at the notes before returning his concern back to his agent. "That's great, Danny. Now where are your pain-killers?"

"I-I don't have them" Danny swallowed, "I tossed them."

"You did what!"

Danny leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes as he tried to stop the room from spinning. "You know why, Jack. I'm an addict; I couldn't take the risk."

Jack sighed, but it wasn't a sigh for anger or frustration but a sigh of concern. "You wouldn't have gotten hooked on them. I – we wouldn't have let you. I think I have some Ibuprofen lying around. You are going to take that and then you are going to rest."

"But Jack" Danny protested.

"It's you first day back, you're not a 100 and you shouldn't be working twelve plus hour days yet." Jack said as he walked over to his desk fletching the ibuprofen and a bottle of water. He stood over Danny as he took them, noticing now much his hands were shaking. "Now lie down and get some rest. You did a good job today Danny." Jack said as he watched Danny reluctantly closed his eyes. Once he was satisfied Danny was asleep, he walked over to the cupboard and pulled out the blanket he had for when Hannah and Kate stayed over. Gently laying the blanket over Danny, he picked up Danny's notes and walked over to his desk to read them.

Jack finished reading Danny's notes and immediately picked up the phone. There was an answer on the second ring. "Martin, are you at Chappelle's work place?"

"Yes" Martin replied.

"Go to the basement. Down there, there should be a room where all the computers are networked to."

"Sure I'll ring you when we get there." Martin said as he was just about to end the call.

"Oh and Martin be careful." Jack said ending the call. After about ten minutes his phone rang again and quickly answered so not to wake Danny. "Malone."

"Jack, we've found her. She's fine but can I ask how you knew that?" Martin asked.

"Don't ask me. Ask Danny." Jack replied smiling.

"He hasn't lost his touch. Anyway, Sam and I will tie things up there and we will meet you back at the office." Martin said as he ended the call.

Jack put down the phone and smiled. After damn near a year away from the job that he so obviously loved, Danny Taylor had certainly not lost his touch. He looked over at the sleeping agent, his first case back, his first day and he had cracked it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

6 weeks later

Somewhere in NY city

As Lucia woke up, she could almost smell freedom yet it had still never been so far away. The cartel had seen an opening with a rich American banker named Richard Curtis, hence the reason she was in New York City. She wanted to just run and a start a new life in this beautiful city but she couldn't. Her father's men had her son, Chris. Her father had told her that if she made the slightest wrong move that Chris would die.

Her spirit had been slowly crushed since the day AJ had left. It had been two months since he had left, and even though the possibility of him returning had dwindled, it was the only thing that kept her going through these dark days. She missed his strong arms wrapped protectively around her. She missed the nights of passion and their intimate talks. She missed his beautiful soft brown eyes. She missed him so much it hurt. She wrapped her hands around the necklace that AJ had made her and drew it to her heart. It was plaited leather with a coin threaded through it, worth nothing in monetary terms – but to Lucia it was the most valuable thing she owned.

There was a knock on the door and Lucia jumped. She quickly checked the drawer, inside was a small calibre gun. AJ had gotten it for her when they were together. She bit back tears as she checked it was loaded. She felt a tear fall as she remembered AJ teaching how to use it. How he stood behind her using his strong, protective body to support her when she fired the first round. She remembered laughing as he stroked her arms to help her relax. How he held her and told her that he was her protection, but he wanted her to feel safe when he wasn't around. She wiped the tears that had fallen, as she opened the door.

"Good morning Mr. Curtis. Shall we get down to business?" Lucia said as she let him into the room and tried to brush away her fears.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Richard Curtis – 24 hours missing

NY FBI HQ

Jack walked passed the table towards the whiteboard and put a picture of a smiling 45 year old man up. "Richard Curtis, 45 year old banker. Made the top ten rich list for people under 30 in 1990, and now is in the top ten rich list. He was last seen by his wife yesterday morning at 7 o'clock as he left for a meeting." Jack looked at his team as they started to make notes. "Martin, Sam I want you to check his bank. Viv I need you to do background. Danny you're with me."

Danny quickly stood up and grabbed his coat as he followed Jack out. "Where are we going?" Danny asked as he quickly fell in line with Jack's pace.

"We're going to interview the wife." He replied to the smiling Danny. He knew Danny was happy to back in the field, he was glad Danny was back the field; he hadn't known how much more of the cabin-fevered Danny he could take. Sure Danny had been cleared for field work, but that didn't mean he was ready. He knew Danny saw it as some form of punishment but he couldn't lose him again.

"Ok" Danny replied as he got into the car.

As they ended the interview with the wife, Danny's cell phone rang. "Taylor" he said as he answered the phone.

"Danny its Viv, Richard Curtis made a credit card payment to the Hilton Hotel for the day he disappeared."

"Thanks Viv. We'll check it out now. Want me to nick any shampoo, towels etc?" Danny joked.

Viv laughed. It was good to have lighted-hearted side that Danny brought to the team back. "No just the pictures and the bed."

Danny laughed, "See you later Viv." Danny said ending the call. "That was Viv. Curtis paid for a room at the Hilton the day he disappeared."

"Anything else?" Jack asked.

"Nope. The last movement on any of his bank accounts was the day before he disappeared, but that was only a couple hundred dollars – for a guy like him that's small change." Danny said getting into the passenger's side knowing Jack wasn't going to let him drive yet. He was annoyed but understood Jack's overprotectiveness, but he just wanted for things to go back to what they were before everything happened. Except for one thing, well two people specifically. He still wanted Chris and Lucia in his life, but he still hadn't told anyone about them. He still feared for their safety if her father found out about them.

He shook his head as he tried to refocus on possible suspects on their latest case, pushing Lucia and Chris reluctantly to the back of his mind.

When they arrived at the Hilton, Jack was irritable and moaning something about people's ability to drive. Danny watched Jack walking in and started to question the desk clerk as he looked around. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the lobby, but he hadn't expected there to be, it was just a useful time filler.

"Once you have finished looking at the pictures, Michelangelo, we have some work to do." Jack quipped as he passed the younger agent.

Danny smirked and quickly followed Jack into the elevator. Stepping off the elevator, they quickly made their way down to room 6786 – Curtis's room. He efficiently cleared the room with Jack establishing there was no one there apart from themselves and a large blood pool—definitely enough blood to be fatal if it was from the same person. As Jack was on the phone calling the forensic unit, Danny searched the room. As the late morning sunlight shone across the room, it caught something its rays. He bent down to find he was looking at a small calibre handgun that looked very familiar to him. He'd hoped she would never have to use it. He stood up and called Jack over. "Jack I think I may have found the weapon that caused that blood."

Jack walked over, looking at the gun. "The area is secure. Forensics are on their way. There's nothing we can do here so let's head back to the office." Jack said as he turned and started to walk towards the elevator.

After another frustrating drive which left Jack cursing, Danny was relieved to arrive at the office in one piece. They both believed that Curtis was dead, but until the blood pool in the hotel room had tested positive for his blood, it was still their case. Danny walked up to the table to see the rest of the team sitting around it. "Find anything interesting?" Danny started not wanting to dishearten them with his and Jack's finding.

"His office had traces of what we believe is cocaine and this logo." Martin said as he held up the evidence photo for Danny to see.

Danny felt as though the air had been sucked from his lungs. He tried to calm himself as he turned to Jack. "Jack, I...I…I think we need to talk."