It Had To Be You
Pairing: Danny/Mary
Disclaimer: I don't own Las Vegas. Things would be a lot different if I did. Also, I was not alive in the 60's so if anything is not historically accurate then I apologize.
Summary: This story takes place in 1962, immediately following the 60's portion of the episode Everything Old is You Again. It's a bit of fluff about a budding romance between Danny and Mary with some mobster drama thrown in for fun.
Rating: PG-13
-6-
Danny had been miserable all night. He'd begged out of going to the fight with his buddies in favor of sitting at the bar at the Jubilee and drowning his sorrows in liquor.
"What the hell is my problem," he said to no one in particular, "This is what I wanted-- no commitment, no attachments, just me… on my own,"
"Sure buddy, whatever you say," the bartender humored him as he poured another drink.
Danny shot him a dirty look before downing the amber liquid.
"Okay, I'm here. Your message said it was urgent," a female voice said from behind him.
"Sammy! Long time no see…," Danny told the brunette as he glanced at her and then back to his now empty glass.
"Are you drunk? What the hell is going on, Danny? I thought this had something to do with a client," she questioned him, slightly annoyed.
"It does," Danny assured, nodding his head emphatically.
"Well, where is he?"
Danny gave her a slight wave, an inebriated smirk plastered on his face.
"You? Are you serious? Do you realize this is the busiest day of the year for me, Danny. I don't have time for freebies today."
"Ah, ah, ah, Sam. I'm a paying customer," Danny told her as he pulled out a fistful of bills and threw them on the bar.
"Gee, you really know how to make a girl feel special," Sam said, picking up the money and stuffing it in her purse.
"What the hell happened to you anyway? You look like hell."
"I'm celebrating," Danny told her.
"Celebrating what?"
"Freedom, my dear girl, freedom," Danny announced, raising his glass in the air.
Sam rolled her eyes as she perched on the bar stool next to Danny.
"Do you have a cigarette?"
"Of course, I do," Danny gestured dramatically, reaching into the breast pocket of his coat, "in fact I have several. And they're all in my shiny new case. It's even engraved. 'DM' right there in perfect letters."
"Nice," Sam commented as she took one from the box, "looks expensive."
"Probably was. She probably spent her whole damn paycheck on it," Danny said, staring intently at the beautiful gift, "Why would she do something like that?"
"Maybe she likes you," Sam replied sarcastically, taking a drag and exhaling.
"She shouldn't. I'm mean and horrible and she deserves someone ten times better."
"Well, we girls don't always know what's good for us," Sam responded dryly.
"Yeah, well, it's best this way. I mean—I'm not the marrying kind, Sam," Danny insisted.
"Of course you're not."
"And I don't like people making me feel guilty," he continued.
"No one does."
"I mean, who the hell is Mary Connell to tell me what I can or can't do?" Danny said loudly, standing up and knocking his chair to the floor.
"Take it easy, buddy," the bartender said, trying to calm the intoxicated man.
"This isn't the 40's—I can do whatever I want," he boomed, "if I want to bed a hooker, I'll damn well bed a hooker—I'll bed 10 hookers."
"So what are you waiting for?" Sam asked quietly, a look of sympathy on her face.
Suddenly, all the fight went out of him. He leaned both arms on the bar and rested his head in his hands.
"I don't want to," he said, barely above a whisper, "all I want is her."
"Well, then, seems like my work here is done," Sam said as she finished her drink and stood up to leave.
She placed her hand on Danny's shoulder and gently tugged him upright.
"One more word of advice, loverboy. You better get your ass sobered up and start groveling because it looks like Miss Connell's decided to give you a little taste of your own medicine," Sam said as she cocked her head towards the opposite end of the bar where Mary and Delinda had entered with a gaggle of would-be suitors.
Delinda was obviously enjoying the attention, but Mary seemed a little less comfortable. She scanned the bar nervously, but when her eyes settled on Danny and Sam, they flashed gold with anger and hurt. Sam realized instantly what it must look like and she quickly removed her hand from Danny's arm before hastily making her exit, "Call me later, Danny…or… not."
Danny heard Sam's words, but he couldn't take his eyes off Mary's stricken face. She finally tore her gaze from his and turned her attention back to the group, whispering something to Delinda before quickly exiting the bar in tears.
Danny didn't hesitate before trying to follow her, but his progress was stopped by Delinda, "Leave her alone, Danny. Don't you think you've hurt her enough?"
Ignoring her comment, Danny hurried through the lobby only to be stopped again, this time by Mike, just before he reached the exit.
"Woah, Danny, slow down," Mike told his friend.
"Let me go, Mike. I have to catch her," Danny told him breathlessly.
"Danny, you're drunk and you're in no condition to be having any heart to hearts."
"But, she's upset. I don't want her to be by herself."
"She's being taken care of, I promise you. Now come on, let's get you upstairs so you can sleep this off."
Danny looked forlornly around the lobby for Mary one last time before letting Mike lead him towards the elevator.
---
Mary sat on the couch in Ed Deline's office, wringing her hands nervously while staring at the floor. How had her day gone from being one of the best of her life to being one of the worst? When she'd called Delinda not long after Danny left she'd wanted a shoulder to cry on, but her new friend's cure for the blues turned out to be a lot different than what Mary was expecting. She'd insisted they go out on the town—and if they happened to pick up a few nice-looking fellows along the way, then all the better. It was just Mary's luck that they'd run right into Danny.
"Now, Mary," Mr. Deline said as he finally entered the office, "I see one of my best employees running through the lobby in tears I think it's my duty to find out what the problem is."
"Mr. Deline," she started, but was interrupted by her boss.
"Please call me Ed."
"Ed," Mary began again nervously, "I'm sorry if I caused you any embarrassment. You have my word that it won't happen again."
"Mary, you're a good kid and one of the best damn employees I've ever had."
"Thank you, Mr…," Mary started to say, but corrected herself at the older man's expectant look, "I mean, thank you, Ed."
"Do you know that when I first found out about you and Danny, I all but ordered him not to see you?"
Mary's face was crestfallen. Even the Delines thought she wasn't good enough.
Noticing the heartbroken look on her face, Ed quickly tried to clarify, "It didn't have anything to do with you, Mary. It's just…don't get me wrong, Danny's like a son to me, but that boy's left a trail of broken hearts from here to Chicago and I didn't want to see that happen to you."
He could tell his words hadn't made her feel any better, so he decided to try again. "Needless to say, he didn't listen to me. He said you were different and the look in his eyes whenever you walked in the room told me that maybe you were."
"I thought he was different too, but I'm not so sure anymore," Mary replied in a small voice.
"Mary, honey, I know he's done something to hurt you and it probably won't be the last time he makes a stupid mistake, but I've never seen that boy look at someone the way he looks at you. You're good for him and I never thought there would be a woman who would make Danny want to be a better man, but you…," Ed trailed off, searching for the right words, "it's almost like he didn't know that something was missing until he met you. That's probably a pretty scary feeling for a kid like Danny."
"But he doesn't want to be with me," Mary cried, unable to hold back her tears anymore.
"Of course he does. He's just being pig-headed and stubborn. Unfortunately, we men have a problem with that."
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do. He was with that woman in the bar. He's probably off with her right now."
"He's not, honey, I promise. He high-tailed it out of there right after you did, but I had Mike take him upstairs and put him to bed. I figured he wasn't in the best shape to be talking to you tonight. Trust me, though, he'll wake up in the morning with as big an ache in his head as I'm sure he'll have in his heart."
Mary was stunned. She'd been so upset and then so taken aback when Mr. Deline ushered her into his office, that she hadn't even realized Danny had followed her out of the bar. She was glad Mike had been there to take care of him though. She really didn't think she would have been up to dealing with Danny at that point.
"Listen, sweetie, it's your decision, but Danny's a good boy--a bit misguided at times, but he means well. He's never given me any reason to doubt his sincerity or his loyalty to me and I'm hoping if you give him another chance he'll never give you any reason to doubt his love."
The tears flowed freely down Mary's cheeks as she realized what he meant.
"Look," Ed began again, "I've got some business in San Francisco the next couple of days. I'm going to take Danny with me--give you two a couple of days apart. Think about everything I said and if you want to give it another go then I'll make sure Danny comes back prepared to grovel."
Mary looked up into the twinkling eyes of Ed Deline and couldn't help but smile back. They both knew she'd already made her decision, but it just might do Danny McCoy a bit of good to sweat it out for a couple more days.