Disclaimer: CBS owns WaT and the characters. Only the OCs are mine.

Spoilers: All Danny back-story through Season Three and episodes Off The Tracks, Endgame, and all season 4 episodes.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. This chapter is a bit melodramatic, but there is a point to all of it. This story is going to change POVs chapter by chapter. This chapter will be Danny's POV.

Mariel – Thanks for your help and inspiration

He finally pulled just far enough away to meet her eyes. "I'm so happy for you." Noticing that she didn't look very happy, he asked, "What's wrong? This is great, right?"

She pulled away from him completely and paced into the kitchen. "Yeah. Really great," she said turning away from him.

"I don't understand. You were looking for an opportunity. This opportunity just fell into your lap like it was meant to be - and you aren't happy about it?" he asked in a confused tone.

"What about us?" she uttered in barely a whisper with her back turned to him.

"Us? What do you mean what about us? We're talking about a year, right? That's nothing compared to the distance of the last ten years, and this time, we'll keep in touch."

"You don't love me, do you?" she asked finally turning to face him.

"What? Of course—"

"You care about me. You feel obligated to me. You love me because we've been through so much together, but you're not in love with me. So it's easy for you. It's easy for you to just let me go," she stated with her voice full of emotion.

"It's not easy. Nothing about this is easy," he said, his face filled with concern and shock. "How can you say I don't love you? I love you so much that I want you have everything you ever wanted. I love you so much that it's been painful to see what you've become the last ten years. I want you to get your life back, Katie. The girl who's been moping around here for the last month isn't the girl I remember. And I know there's a reason. I know what you've been through, but it doesn't mean it has to be that way forever. The only way to get out of this rut is to take a chance. Oxford is that chance, baby," he said as he reach out and stroked her arms.

As Danny spoke to her, the expression on her face changed from heartbreak to anger. She abruptly shirked out of his light grasp and stepped away from him. "Thank you, Dr. Taylor. So you don't want to be with me because I'm not the girl I was when I was sixteen? People change, Danny. I'm not moping. I've just given up everything I've ever had. I just lost my whole family in one day. I'm sorry if I'm not chipper enough for you. Why don't you head down to Starbucks? I bet Heather would be more than happy to be that girl for you. She probably has an outfit for it and everything," she said in a hurt tone as she grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

"Katie, don't leave. You don't understand—" before he could finish, she was out the door.

Danny collapsed onto the kitchen chair and raked his hands through his hair. He really thought he'd been handling the situation in the best way. He hadn't wanted to put pressure on Katie. He'd wanted her to be free to do what she wanted. She'd spent the last ten years living a life that wasn't really hers. And Danny knew it was partly his fault. He knew if hadn't gotten drunk that night that she would never have married Eric.

Keeping his distance hadn't been easy. Every morning he'd watch her sleep and ache to take her in his arms. But he knew he couldn't. When she first came back into his life, he wasn't sure how he felt about her. He knew he cared for her, but he wasn't sure he felt the same way about her that she did about him. But in the last month, everything changed. He loved coming home knowing she would be there. He loved talking to her and making her laugh. He could see himself with her forever. The more they were together, the more he realized that his feelings for her never really died. He'd just buried them so deep that it took spending time with her again for him to remember. Despite this realization, he knew she was too vulnerable to become involved in a new relationship so he'd kept his distance and just tried to be the best friend he could to her.

Being just her friend went against every natural instinct Danny had. His instinct told him to do everything he could to make her want to be with him all the time. His instinct told him to be charming and flirtatious, and to do everything he could to make her want to be physical with him. Deep down, he loved the fact that she hadn't forgotten about him. He loved that he'd had that affect on her. Katie was wrong. He was in love with her. The last few weeks had proved that to him. Coming home to her had been the best part of his day. Rising from the chair, Danny decided he had to go after her. He had to make her understand how he really felt.

A half an hour later, he walked up the steps of the New York Public Library. This trip felt very familiar to him. Katie had tried to convince him that she'd changed, but finding her in the same study carol in the Shakespeare section showed him she was still the same.

"You were wrong," Danny said as he approached her.

Startled, Katie looked up, but then her expression softened. Danny knew that she was remembering when he'd tracked her down in the same place ten years ago.

"Wrong about what?" she asked trying to keep a cold expression on her face.

"I am really good at finding the missing. I tracked you down in less than twenty minutes," he said with a smile.

"I'm not so sure it's about you being good as much as about me being predictable."

Danny flashed a mock hurt expression. "What ever the case may be, I'm glad I found you. We need to talk," he said as pulled up a chair and sat next to her.

"What's there to talk about? You want me to leave—"

Taking her hand in his, he tilted her chin so that she was looking at him. "I don't want you to go anywhere. I want you here with me all the time. Moping or not, I've loved having you in my life the last month. I'll admit, at first, I wasn't sure how I felt about you, Katie. I wanted to help you, but I had buried all those feelings I had for you back then. I had to do that so I could survive. I had to let you go. You understand why, don't you?" he asked earnestly.

"Yes. I understand," she whispered.

"Then you also need to understand this. I am very much in love with you. I'm not just saying this to help you through a rough patch. Its how I really feel. And Katie, you are the only person I've ever said those words to. I've never felt like this about anyone else but you. And that scares the hell out of me, because the thought of losing you is just…" he couldn't finish.

Tightening her grip on his hand, she put her other hand on his stubbled cheek. "Then why do you want me to go? If this is how you really feel, how can you let me walk away? I want to stay, Danny. I want to be with you all the time."

"I don't want you to have any regrets. I don't want you to wake up in ten years and regret not taking this opportunity," he said with the slightest hint of insecurity in his tone. "I'm not going anywhere, baby. I'll be here when you get back."

Katie sat back in her chair and stared at their intertwined hands—Danny's thumb gently caressing the back of her hand. "How will this work? Will it be a long distance relationship or do you want to keep things open?" And now she was the one who sounded insecure.

Danny smiled as he shook his head. "You've got nothing to worry about with me, believe me. I'm ready to be committed. I'm tired of the life I've been leading. I'm tired of feeling empty all the time and finding temporary solutions to fill the emptiness. When I'm with you, I don't feel like that. But I don't want you to go to Oxford with some kind of tether on you. You missed out on experiencing that carefree time. If something happens over there, I wouldn't hold it against you."

Now Katie smiled. "You really are out of your mind. I won't miss out on anything, if I end up being with you."

As they held each other's gaze, Danny leaned in and kissed her—lightly at first—but then it became more intense, their mutual attraction, tension and affection coming out them on the third floor of the public library. They both got lost in the kiss until they heard someone clearing her throat in a very obvious way.

Danny looked up and met the eyes of a very disapproving librarian. Without missing a beat, he said, "It's this Shakespeare stuff. It does this to us every time." He gave the librarian a charming grin and her lips curved into a smile as she walked away from them.

Danny and Katie broke out into a fit of laughter and he pulled her into a warm embrace.

That night, they lay in bed together facing each other. Danny's first thought when they'd returned home was that he wanted to make love to her. He'd wanted to show her how he really felt to affirm the words he'd said to her in the library. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it had to be Katie's move to make. She still hadn't told him everything that happened between her and Eric, and until she did or until she let him know she was ready, he couldn't put that pressure on her.

"You're starting to give me a complex, Agent Taylor," she said quietly as she watched him watching her in the darkness.

"Why's that?" he asked in barely a whisper.

"We were practically making out in the public library, but now that you have me in your bed…" she didn't have to finish her statement. He knew where she was going.

"I guess I just don't quite know where you're at, with therapy and everything. It's not that I don't want you, Katie."

"I'm fine," she reassured.

"Are you? Because a month ago, you weren't. And you never want to talk about it."

Katie closed her eyes for a moment. He could tell she was struggling for the right words. "He didn't rape me, Danny. I know you think he did, but it wasn't like that. When Eric and I were first together, well you know that he was my first. Looking back, I know Eric was just pretending. He wanted me to get to my father. So he seduced me. He said all the right things to a vulnerable girl who had just lost the love of her life."

Swallowing hard, Danny took her hand in his. "Keep going."

"After we got married, things changed. He didn't have to pretend anymore, and he was angry that I cheated on him with you. He would say really awful things to me. He told me that I didn't satisfy him. He said the reason you didn't fight for me was because you didn't want me either. So I started to believe him. My therapist tells me that Eric mentally beat me down so that I wouldn't have the courage to leave. I completely shut down, so when Eric would want me – it would be painful and humiliating for me. Eventually, he gave up and started having affairs. I was left questioning if I'd ever felt anything sexual in my life. I actually started thinking that the two times we had sex were just because you felt sorry for me."

Putting his hand on her cheek, he caressed her gently. "That couldn't be further from the truth. I didn't feel sorry for you. I'd missed you so much that I wanted to be as close to you as possible. Don't you remember? I didn't want to let you go, figuratively and literally. I didn't want you to go back to him."

"Eric did everything in his power to make me forget what happened between us back then. I want to believe it wasn't me, but—"

Leaning in close to her, Danny cut her off with a kiss. He gently rolled Katie onto her back as he continued to kiss her. He took it very slow with her to make sure she was really ready. Before going any further than kissing and touching, he whispered breathlessly in her ear. "We can wait. I can wait until after you get back from Oxford, if that's what you want," he said before trailing a kiss across her jaw line and then looking deep into her eyes.

"No more waiting," she said before arching up to meet his lips again.

After that night, they spent a blissful month together. They literally seemed to try to make up for ten years of distance in one month. Danny even took two long weekends so they could get away together before they left for Oxford. Jack had been completely surprised when Danny asked for the time off. In all the years Danny had worked for him, Jack usually had to force Danny to take annual leave so he didn't lose it. Jack had asked Danny what was going on, but Danny hadn't elaborated. He wasn't ready to share his relationship with everyone yet, especially since he was about the say goodbye to Katie again.

The day before she was due to leave, Danny rushed out of the office at 5 p.m. on the nose since they didn't have a hot case going. When he walked into his apartment, his heart sank a little when he saw her suitcases lined up neatly by the door. He still felt confident in his decision to support her dream, but that didn't make watching her leave any easier.

"I see you aren't wasting any time," he called out as he removed his coat and tie and draped them over the couch and then removed his gun and handcuffs from his belt.

"You're home early!" she said in a slight panic from the bedroom. "Don't come back here yet."

"What's going on back there? It looks like you are finished packing," he said as he looked at the suitcases again.

"I'm mostly finished. I didn't want to waste time doing it tonight. We have other plans for tonight."

"Other plans, huh?" he said as he walked into the kitchen. From the aroma coming from the oven, it smelled like Italian. He opened the oven to confirm that Katie had indeed ordered takeout from their favorite Italian place. "I see you've been slaving away in the kitchen all day, as well."

He heard Katie giggle from the bedroom. "I wanted to leave you with a good memory. If I cooked for you tonight, you might not want me to come back."

"That's highly doubtful," he said as his eyes fixed on the bedroom door. "How long are you going to make me wait, anyway?"

"Mr. Impatience. Give me one more minute," she said in an exasperated tone.

Danny smiled as he looked down at his feet. All he could think about was how much he would miss her being here every night. He wasn't quite sure how he was going to get along without her.

"Okay. Come on back," she called out.

Quickly making his way to the bedroom door, he opened it to find a mass of glowing candles surrounding his bed, which had new sheets and a comforter. Letting his eyes wander around the room, they finally landed on Katie. She was a vision in a pale pink night slip and matching short robe bathed in the glow of candlelight.

Walking toward her, he started to say, "You look…" but couldn't finish before covering her mouth with his. Finally pulling away from her, he looked into her eyes. "…beautiful. So beautiful. You're seriously making me reconsider letting you out of my sight."

Katie smiled as she let her hands tangle in the back of his hair. "Now I know why you asked me if I wanted to wait until I got back to have sex. I literally can't imagine not being with you every night. Just thinking about it makes me…" she started to cry.

Pulling her into an embrace, he stroked her hair and whispered, "Shhh. Shhh. It's going to be okay. I promise. We'll talk on the phone. We'll write, or more accurately, you'll write. And just like we planned, you'll come here and I'll go there at least once. It will work."

Nodding against his chest, she responded. "I know. I promised myself I wouldn't get upset tonight. I thought I could light the candles and wear this, and we could just pretend that tomorrow wasn't going to come."

Danny pulled back to look at her in full view again. "I'm more than capable of living in the fantasy," he said with a mischievous smile.

This made her smile as she wiped her tears away. "Are you hungry? You probably haven't eaten all day."

"Not even a little," he whispered before kissing her again and backing her up toward the bed. After they collapsed on the bed, Danny pulled back from her. "What's with the new sheets?" he asked with a confused expression.

Shrugging, Katie gave him a wide-eyed look. "Something to remember me by. So every night, when you get into bed, you think of me."

Giving her a sexy smirk, he responded, "I won't need the sheets to remember you. Rest assured, I'll be thinking of you like this, every night."

"Good to know," she replied before he started to kiss her again.

As quickly as possible, she removed Danny's dress shirt and t-shirt. When her hands traveled to the top of his trousers, they were both startled by the high-pitched ring of his cell phone. Silently, Danny cursed himself for not taking the cell phone off when he removed his gun. Katie unhooked the phone from his trousers and handed it to him as he caught his breath above her. Taking the phone from her, he looked at the display. If it would have been anyone other than Jack, he wouldn't have answered.

"Taylor," he answered while still looking at Katie beneath him.

"I need you to meet me downtown at Barrington Daycare. We've got a possible kidnapping there that happened less than an hour ago."

Closing his eyes for a moment, Danny considered telling Jack he couldn't meet him.

"Danny…Danny…you still there?"

He opened up his eyes to find Katie's filled with tears. "Yeah, I'm here. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Okay," Jack said before ending the call.

Closing his phone, he reached down to wipe a few of Katie's tears away. "I'm so sorry. I know you put a lot of work into this."

Shaking her head, Katie tried to control her emotions. "It's happened before, right? I should be used to it. I just thought you'd be able to take a night off."

"Usually, I could, but this is a missing child, baby. I couldn't even have asked in this case," he replied as he finally eased off the bed and helped pull her to her feet. "Look, maybe it will be nothing. Maybe it will be a parental custody thing, and I'll be back here in an hour. I won't know until I get down there," he said as he pulled on his t-shirt and dress shirt.

"Okay," she said quietly as she sat down on the bed.

"I'll call you as soon as I can."

Katie nodded as he leaned down and quickly kissed her forehead before heading out the door.

As soon as Danny got to the scene, he knew it wasn't a parental custody issue. Both parents were breaking down as they spoke to Vivian. Jack nodded to Danny as he approached.

"Hey. Three-year-old boy, Jason Grant. He was taken at gunpoint from one of the daycare workers while she waited for Jason's mom to arrive in the pick-up line. I need you to talk to the daycare worker. She was and still is quite hysterical. In addition to getting whatever you can out of her, escort her back to the office and help her work with a sketch artist. Sam is checking her background right now to see if she'd have some kind of motive."

"Got it," Danny said as he quickly focused on Jack's orders. He immediately went to find the daycare worker. It wasn't until three hours later that he finally got a chance to call Katie.

"Hello," she answered warily.

"It's me. I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm going to make it home tonight. The kid's been missing four hours, the daycare worker was so freaked she couldn't give us a good sketch, and we've yet to find anyone with a motive."

When he finally stopped rambling, there was no response.

"Baby, I'm really sorry. I'll be there at the airport tomorrow—if not before."

"I understand. I do. It's just…" she couldn't finish.

Danny's heart broke at the sound of her wounded voice. "I know," was all he could say knowing that this would have been their last night together for a long time.

"Be safe, okay? And, hopefully, we'll see each other before I leave," she responded trying to sound more positive.

"I'll definitely see you before you leave. There's no question—"

"Just do what you have to do. Find that little boy. I love you, Danny," she said as she tried to stop her voice from cracking with emotion.

"I love you, too." Right after he said those words she hung up the phone.

Twelve hours later, they still hadn't found the little boy. Glancing at his watch nervously, Danny sat at the conference table as they discussed their theories. He didn't have much time. Her plane was due to leave in one hour. He'd already called her and said she should get to the airport without him and he would try to meet her at the gate.

"Okay, Danny and Martin, I need you guys to check this lead in Bristol, Connecticut. This guy matches the description—"

"I can't," Danny said after he processed Jack's order.

"What?" Jack asked not believing his ears. Samantha, Vivian and Martin all looked up in disbelief.

"I…um…I said I can't. I have to take care of something, something personal," he said as his eyes traveled from one member of the team to the next.

Samantha glanced at Martin before looking at Jack. "I'll go with Martin. Danny can finish these phone records when he…uh…gets back."

Under different circumstances, Danny would have hugged Samantha at that moment.

Jack looked at Samantha and then back to Danny. "Fine. Martin and Sam, Connecticut. Viv, go update the parents. And Danny, my office," Jack said not waiting before heading to his office.

Danny sighed as he followed Jack to his office. He took another look at his watch as he stood at attention in front of Jack's desk.

"Personal business?" Jack asked incredulously. "We have a missing three-year-old."

"I know that, Jack. Come on. You know me. I wouldn't be asking this if it wasn't important."

"More important than a missing child?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "I'll be back in two hours. I'm sorry, Jack," he said before walking quickly out of the office.

He'd wanted to tell Jack more. He'd wanted to tell him that for the first time that he could remember, there was something more in his life than just work.

Getting to the airport was nightmare. There was traffic everywhere and with each minute that ticked past, Danny knew that he would probably miss her. He'd promised her that he'd be there, and he wasn't coming through. When he finally made it to the airport and double-parked, he literally sprinted to the security area. Knowing he would probably get into serious trouble, he flashed his badge and told the security officer that he was pursuing a suspect. When he finally arrived at her gate, his breath caught as he watched the gate agent shut the boarding door.