A/N: This chapter takes place right before Off the Tracks. As always, thank to Mariel for all your input. And thank you for the wonderful, inspiring reviews. They mean so much. Rozzy - You paid me the highest compliment EVERby mentioning me in the same sentence as Mariel and LadyLampetia. Thank you.
Sitting in the back of the room, Danny stared down at his hands as if they had an answer to a question he was trying to figure out. He looked up every so often to offer some kind of non-verbal support to whoever happened to be speaking at the time, but then his gaze would immediately go back to his hands. This was his AA meeting routine. He'd stopped making eye contact with people a long time ago. He never liked feeling like as though people were checking him out to see why someone like him would be an alcoholic. And he didn't particularly like to see himself in the faces of all the people there.
He usually didn't go on Friday nights, but he hadn't had a chance to make his usual meetings all week. So he found himself slipping in late to a meeting on a cold, rainy late April evening. Before he knew it, he heard the familiar chant echoing around him. This was his cue to leave. He never liked staying after to chat and eat cake, like everyone else. Slipping on his coat, he made a hasty exit out the back door and started down the hall of the drafty community center.
"Danny, my man. Long time no see."
Stopping in his tracks, Danny sighed heavily before turning around. "Ray. It's been a while," he replied. "How's your family?"
"They're great. Thanks for asking," Ray responded and then hesitated before continuing. "Friday night isn't your usual time. You okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm great, in fact. But work has been busy so I didn't get a chance to come earlier in the week. I forgot that you lead the group on Fridays."
"I'm sure you did," Ray replied in a slightly cynical, but playful tone. "You'll do anything to avoid talking to your sponsor."
"Come on, Ray. That's not true. I'm not avoiding you. Unlike you, I happen to have a life so my Fridays are usually booked, amigo," he responded, also playfully.
Ray laughed. "You have a point there. My life consists of soccer games and youth basketball. Other than that, I got nothing. But I thought you had a girlfriend? Don't tell me it's over already?"
"Not even close. She returns next week from studying at Oxford, but I still manage to get out a little even though she's not around."
"Sounds like things are going well."
"Yeah. They're okay."
"How about your brother? How's he doing? Still clean?"
"The last I head, he was fine. And still clean, as far as I know."
"Good. Good to hear," Ray said optimistically. "Listen, it'd be nice to actually hear from you,even if you aren't having problems. I'm not just here for the bad times, Danny."
"I know. But things get so busy, and there's not a whole lot to talk about. I'm going to my meetings. I'm working. I'm studying for the Bar. And I'm anxiously awaiting Katie's return. That's about my life in a nutshell. Not much to talk about. But if you ever need to talk, call me," Danny said with a smile. "I should get going."
Ray laughed. "I'll remember that. Have a good weekend, man."
"You, too," Danny replied as he walked down the hallway. "Say hi to Karla and the kids for me."
Taking a deep breath, Danny tightened his coat as he walked out the door into the unseasonably cold April air. He contemplated hailing a cab instead of walking the twelve blocks to his apartment, but instead he just quickened his pace into almost brisk walk/jog. After making his way into his building and up to his apartment, he shrugged off his coat as he casually scanned his mail. Unbuttoning his dress shirt, he slowly made his way back to his bedroom.
He hadn't been completely honest with Ray when he'd told him that he usually had plans on Friday nights. Since Katie had left Danny hadn't had much of a life outside of work. It was safer for him not to go out. He hadn't wanted to give Katie any reason to not trust him. He also hadn't been completely honest when he said things were okay. They weren't okay. Viv was sick, and Danny still hadn't had a chance to process it. Just thinking about losing her made his mind spin. He definitely wasn't ready to talk about that with Ray or anyone else for that matter.
After taking a quick shower, Danny collapsed into his bed and very quickly succumbed to the fatigue that had been building after a week of long hours at work. When Katie had first left, he'd had trouble sleeping—his bed feeling cold and empty. But as the months passed, he'd adjusted to not having her next to him at night. He'd always been able to adjust to changes because that had always been a part of his life.
Just as he drifted off, he was startled by high-pitched crying.
"Son of a bitch," Danny exclaimed as he turned on his side and put a pillow over his ear. His next-door neighbor, Sandy, had a newborn baby, and the baby had been making a habit of waking him several times a night.
Minutes later, the baby calmed, and there was blessed quiet again. Danny started to drift off again. Before falling into a deep sleep, he suddenly had the strangest feeling that he wasn't alone. He didn't feel threatened by the sensation. Instead, a sense of warmth traveled over him as he felt a soft form mold into his side. Restlessly, he stirred a little as he shifted to find out what was causing the warm sensation. Opening his eyes to half-slits, he gasped slightly as he saw the form that was currently enfolded in the crook of his arm.
"Christ," he breathed in a startled but sleepy tone. "Am I dreaming?"
Smiling up at him, Katie planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "Nope. It's me. In the flesh."
Opening his eyes wider, he realized she'd slipped into bed next to him and was wearing absolutely nothing. "What…How did you get here?"
"Finished up early and I wanted to surprise you. Surprise," she exclaimed softly as she leaned up and they kissed.
Still not sure he wasn't dreaming, Danny propped himself up on his pillow and looked down at her. He traced his fingers down her face and neck before leaning down to kiss her again. "You should have called."
"Then it wouldn't have been a surprise," she said simply as she caressed his cheek.
"What about—"he started to say, but she cut him off with another kiss.
"We haven't been in the same county, let alone the same bed, for over six months. Is there anything you have to ask me that can't wait until later?" she asked in a seductive tone.
Danny didn't have to answer; he just continued to kiss her. He still wasn't sure this wasn't just an extremely vivid fantasy he'd invented because he'd been sleeping alone for the last year, but he was willing to go with the moment.
XXX
Two hours later, he awoke to the high-pitched crying again. The only thing that made it better was that Katie was still in his arms. It wasn't a dream. She was back and feeling her body against his was almost more than he could handle.
"What the hell is that?" he heard her ask, not moving from the spot curled against his stomach.
Tangling his fingers in her hair, he answered, "Sandy had her baby two months ago, and I haven't had a good night's sleep since."
"Mmmmm," she groaned as she pulled herself up to face him. "You're kidding? Don't they realize that I'm extremely jet-lagged?"
"Probably not," Danny replied as he kissed her neck and slowly rolled so he was hovering above her.
"Boy or girl?"
"Huh?" he asked in a distracted tone lifting his head from her shoulder.
"Did Sandy have a boy or girl?"
"Oh. A girl. Madison. She's cute when she's not screaming her head off"
Katie smiled. "How long does it usually last?"
"It's 4 am, so this is usually the long one. Thirty minutes or so."
"What could we do for thirty minutes?" Katie asked as she traced her fingers down his chest.
"Maybe we should talk. Hearing a baby cry doesn't really inspire me, you know?"
"Oh I don't know. Babies aren't inspiring?" Katie asked with a smile.
"You've been back all of three hours, baby. I'm thinking we should take it a little slow."
"Oh okay. What do you want to talk about?"
"How the hell did you get back here? I thought your flight was booked for next week."
"When I finished early, I couldn't imagine spending another minute in London when I could be with you. So I made arrangements to get here sooner," she said matter-of-factly.
"But how? The ticket was paid for. I took the day off to come get you at the airport and everything."
Smiling again, Katie hesitated for moment and then finally answered. "I called my dad. I didn't know what else to do. He sent his plane for me and had a car waiting for me at the airport."
At the mention of her father, he rolled back against his pillow. His eyes widened as he smiled. "What does he want in return?"
"Nothing. You know we've been communicating. We'd planned on reconnecting when I got back. There weren't any strings attached, Danny."
"There are always strings attached. People rarely do anything like that without expecting something in return – especially someone like your father."
"God, you are the most skeptical person I've ever known. It's brunch, okay. He wants to meet me tomorrow for brunch. Not such a big deal. And completely worth it as far as I'm concernedsince I am here with you right now."
"I guess so," Danny answered. "We should probably change the subject, talking about your dad is even less inspiring that hearing a baby cry."
Katie laughed. "Okay," she said and then thought for moment. "Hey, how's Viv? You never told me exactly what happened to her."
Sighing heavily, Danny glanced at her. "You really want bring this little welcome home party down, don't you?"
"Just tell me. I know you're worried about her."
"She has some heart condition that I can't pronounce. She's on bed-rest until she can have heart surgery in a couple of weeks."
Katie raised her hand and touched his cheek. "She'll be okay, Danny. Have faith."
He looked into her eyes and swallowed hard. "I'm trying," he whispered. Shutting his eyes for a moment, he tried to shake the thought of Vivian from his head. "So besides brunch with your dad, what are your plans for the weekend?"
"Besides staying right here with you?" she asked her voice full of concern.
Danny smiled. "Don't you have an apartment to move into?"
"Yeah. I do. Hey, why don't we meet my Dad for brunch and then, after that, we can swing by my apartment. It should only take me a couple hours to unpack, and then we can come back here and hibernate for the rest of the weekend."
"Except for the 'meeting your Dad' part, that sounds great. How about I meet you at your apartment after you guys finish?"
"I want you with me," she said sincerely.
"Your dad hasn't seen you in a year, baby. He doesn't want me with you. There will be plenty of time for him and me to deal with our issues, but tomorrow isn't the time."
"Okay then. We'll meet after," she said as she laid her head on his chest. "Hey, do you hear that?"
"What?" Danny asked as he traced circles on her back.
"Exactly. Silence."
Very quickly, Danny rolled her on to her back and kissed her.
"You don't want to catch up on your sleep?"
"No," he mumbled against her skin as he trailed kisses down her neck.
XXX
The next day, Danny helped Katie unpack after she had brunch with her father. And then they went back to his place and spent the next twenty-fours in bed. It took every ounce of energy Danny could muster to get out of bed on Monday morning to go to work. He'd spent so much time missing Katie that he didn't want to let her go.
"So what are your plans for today?" he asked as he put on his dress shirt.
Still lying in his bed clutching the pillow he'd just slept on, Katie answered. "Are you kidding? I think I'm still jet-lagged. Between Madison waking up every two hours and us making up for lost time, I'm quite exhausted."
"Sorry about that," Danny replied as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"Mmmm, don't apologize. I think I'll head over to my place today and try to catch up on sleep. I have a meeting with a doctoral advisor at NYU to discuss continuing my education and maybe teaching a few classes. I need to get rested so I can actually form coherent sentences tomorrow."
Rising from the bed, Danny leaned down to kiss her forehead. "So I probably won't see you tonight?"
"I wouldn't go that far, Agent Taylor. Maybe you can come over to my place, though, so we can actually get some sleep."
"Sounds good. I'll call you later," he said as he gave her a little wave before walking out the door.
Their evening plans were foiled that night because Danny had to work late. They didn't end up seeing each other again until the next night when Katie stopped by his apartment after her advisor meeting.
"Hey," Danny said as he breezed through his front door. "You beat me."
Katie rose from the kitchen chair and practically ran into his arms. "How did we ever spend a whole year a part? I swear I went through 'Danny withdrawal' today."
"That's not uncommon. I affect people like that," he said with a mischievous smile as he leaned in to kiss her. "I missed you, too. How was your meeting?" he asked as he momentarily released her so he could remove his jacket and tie.
"Productive. Very productive. I can start teaching in the summer session, and I'll start the doctoral program in the fall."
"That's great news, baby. I'm happy for you," he said as he took her back in his arms. "We should celebrate. You want to go out?"
"No. Let's just stay here," she said as she leaned in to kiss him. Very quickly, the kiss became more passionate as he guided her over to the sofa. They eased down not breaking contact for a moment. When Danny let his lips travel from her lips to her neck, Katie remembered something. "I…um…I forgot to tell you," she started in a breathy tone. "Your brother's girlfriend called right before you got home."
As soon as he heard Katie mention his brother, he stopped kissing her. "Did you talk to her?" he asked looking into her eyes.
Startled by the abrupt tone of his question, Katie hesitated for a moment.
"Did you talk to her?" Danny repeated.
"No. She left you message on your machine. I just overheard it. She sounded like she really needed to speak to you."
"She left me a message at work, too, but I was too busy to call her back," he said as he pushed away from her and sat back on the sofa.
"You can call her now. It's not too late," Katie said in a mild tone.
Rubbing his eyes and then raking a hand through his hair, he shook his head. "I don't feel like dealing with it tonight. Did she say what it was about in her message?"
"No. She just said she needed to speak to you."
"I'll call her tomorrow morning. I don't want to think about it tonight," he said as he rose from the sofa and held out his hand. "Come with me."
Taking his hand, Katie followed him into the bedroom.
XXX
Danny watched as Katie slept peacefully against his chest. She seemed to have gotten used to the baby's persistent cries because they didn't always wake her up any more? . He wasn't so lucky. He'd always been a light sleeper, so any little noise would keep him up. It was the only thing that bothered him about living in the city. Noise never stopped in Manhattan.
Rising from the bed, Danny decided he should make more productive use of his time since he obviously wasn't going to get sleep. He showered and changed into a suit, and then slipped out into the living room. Gathering his law books and study guides, he didn't hear Katie come up behind him.
"What are you doing?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.
Danny looked at her and smiled. She was wearing his Mets t-shirt and nothing else. "I was going to go into the office, but I'm rethinking that now."
Katie laughed. "The office? At four in the morning? What can you possibly do at this time of morning?"
"Study. I was supposed to study this weekend, but someone surprised me, and I haven't cracked a book since. The Bar is in less than a month."
Putting a pouty look on her face, she drifted in his arms and wrapped her arms around him. "I guess that is a good excuse."
He kissed the top of her head before breaking away from her. "I'll call you later. Have a good day."
"You, too, and don't forget to call Sylvia."
Danny smirked. "What did I do without you? I'll call her first thing this morning."
"Good," she said in a self-satisfied tone as she started to walk back to the bedroom. "Love you!" she called out.
"You, too," he said before walking out the door.
