"So what are we doin' tonight?" Danny asked.

Maddie sat at her desk in her classroom sorting through stacks of lab reports, holding her cell phone against her shoulder. "Is that your way of asking me if I'm free tonight?" she replied.

He chuckled on the other end of the line. "Yeah, I guess it is."

Maddie sighed. Danny spent a large portion of his time on the job, so when he had some time off it was a big deal. The problem was that her job was also demanding, and often she was too tired to do much. He had been very understanding and asked her to do things on weekends instead of during the week, or would go with her to school functions instead of out on the town.

She wanted to spend time with him but wasn't sure if she was up to going out. "I know it's Friday…"

"You're tired, aren't you?" he finished for her.

She sighed again. "I am. I just don't have the energy to go out tonight," she frowned.

Her choice of words gave him an idea. "What if we don't go out?" he asked. "We can order take-out and get a movie."

"We get to stay in and I don't have to cook?" she joked.

"Hey, I cook sometimes…"

Maddie laughed. "Microwave burritos don't count."

"Oh," was all Danny said for a moment. Then, "But about tonight…"

She laughed again and looked down at her stacks of papers. "Take-out and a movie sounds great," she told him. "You want to grab dinner on your way out and I'll get the movie?"

"No chick flicks," he insisted.

She grinned. "I make one comment about Titanic and my judgment is suspect forever."

"Promise me?" he pressed.

"Only if you promise to get dinner from that little Italian place we found last weekend."

That was an easy one—the food there had been great. "Deal. My place or yours?"

"Mine," she replied. "Six o'clock?"

"Sounds good," he told her. "I got paperwork to finish up, so I'll see you later."

"Okay, me too. Bye."

A couple of hours later, Danny appeared at Maddie's door holding two large paper bags.

"Did you bring half of Italy?" she asked him as he walked into the apartment.

He smiled. ""It all smelled so good."

She pulled some plates and silverware out of the kitchen while they tried to figure out which movie to start with. The discussion was animated, as usual, but something about his demeanor didn't seem quite right. They carried their full plates into the living room and sat side by side on the couch.

"You okay?" she asked studiously not looking at him.

He glanced over at her. "Yeah, why?"

She shook her head. "You just seem like you've got something on your mind, that's all."

He frowned, wanting to talk to her about it but not wanting to interrupt their time together with work issues.

She put her plate down and turned toward him. "Danny, you know you can talk to me, right?"

He nodded. "I know." He was silent for a few minutes before he decided just to spill it. "I need to ask you somethin'."

"Okay," she replied. "What do you want to know?"

"Have you ever been shot at, at school?"

She gave him a confused look. "What's this all about?"

"It's a case I'm working," he explained. "A school shooting…" His eyes met hers and he pressed his lips together. "I was taking blood samples off lockers, picking up shell casings from classroom floors…I just kept thinking of you at Eastside, and how rough it is…"

His voice trailed off and she didn't answer right away. When she did, it wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"Yes."

"Yes?"

She nodded. "Yes, I've been shot at.

"Here? At Eastiside?" he asked, his blue eyes wide.

"No, at the school I used to work in. Kid brought a gun to school," she began quietly, staring at the TV. "We were short staffed on security and he snuck it into the building. He pulled it out in the cafeteria at lunch and waved it around. They cleared the building…cops were called…someone tried to wrestle the gun from the kid before they got there, and it went off before I got out." She looked over at him. "The bullet missed me by a couple of feet. They got the gun from the kid and no one was hurt…"

He was visibly upset, but struggled to keep control. "But you were shot at in the cafeteria at school," he repeated.

Maddie nodded slowly. "Yes."

"Has it ever happened at Eastside?"

She knew her words were less than comforting. "Not this year."

He rose from the couch and started pacing the living room floor. "Not this year? Maddie, you're not supposed to get shot at ever!"

She remained seated, watching him pace and letting him rant. From the looks of things, he had needed to do so for a while.

"Why don't you work someplace safer?" has asked. "Someplace where you don't have to worry about kids bringing weapons to school!"

"That's a problem everywhere, Danny," she told him. "In wealthier neighborhoods, in the suburbs, even out in rural areas…it's everywhere."

"But the odds are lower in other places," he continued. "Why do you have to work in such a dangerous place?"

No longer able to sit still, Maddie rose from the couch. "I could ask you the same question."

He stopped pacing and turned toward her. "Danger comes with my job," he told her. "I'm a cop, remember? A shooting is a bad day at the office, but I'm trained to deal with it."

"Believe it or not, so am I," she responded. "I've been through the in-services, the training days, the camps…I even spent a few days at the police academy. I am as prepared for the violence in my job as you are for it in yours."

He turned toward the window behind him and gazed out. "Yeah, but Maddie," he said softly, "you shouldn't have to be."

She took a few steps and stood beside him, leaning against the window sill. "You're right," she said gently. "No teacher should have to worry about being attacked at school. And I could work in a place where there were fewer problems. But those kids at Eastside…someone has to give a damn about them…"

He looked down at her and sighed. "I know." They stood together looking out over New York City for a few minutes before he spoke again. "It's one of the things I admire about you, ya know…they way you fight for your students. You care so much about them, even when they actively defy you. You never give up on 'em."

She smiled up at him. "You don't either, otherwise you'd never have brought all those supplies from the lab. You see something in 'em that's worth fighting for, too."

He smiled shyly. "I guess maybe I'm a little bit of an optimist after all. Do me a favor, though?"

"What's that?"

He slid his arm around her shoulders and lowered his lips to her ear. "Be careful," he said softly.

She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I will if you will."

He squeezed her shoulders warmly. "Deal."

They stayed at the window a moment longer before Maddie's stomach growled.

Danny laughed. "I guess we should get back to dinner."

"And we never did figure out which movie to watch…"

They settled back on the couch, sitting close together and arguing happily as they ate.

"It has to be Blackhawk Down…"

"Oh no…no war movies tonight…but I got The Shining…"