Notes: This takes place right before The Road Home. Thanks, as always, to Mariel for being such a thorough beta. And thanks to those that review. They mean the world to me and inspire me to keep going with this.


They hadn't really talked in over a week. There had been brief conversations with Danny not saying anything of importance, and cryptic voicemail messages where he'd say he was too busy to talk. Halfway through Katie's impromptu spring break vacation, she'd almost regretted leaving Danny at home alone.

Her father had sprung the idea on her at the last minute. After telling him that she had no plans for her spring break vacation, he had surprised her with a trip to the South Pacific. He'd invited Danny as well, but Danny could never just take off from work like that on a moment's notice.

At first, Katie had said she didn't want to go without him, but of course, Danny had insisted. He'd told her that he would feel awful if she missed out on the opportunity because of him, and it was only a week. They'd been through far longer separations and Danny had made the point that going on a vacation with Katie's father his new girlfriend as chaperones wasn't all that romantic. Katie had finally agreed to go when Danny had said that they would take that long-promised vacation during the summer.

Danny had seemed fine when she'd left. She was fairly certain he still hadn't dealt with the Martin thing, but he had seemed close to doing so. Katie was confused as to why he was so hesitant. His friend and colleague were in trouble. His co-workers were in danger because of this colleague, and yet, Danny seemed determined to drag his heels. He'd talked a good game saying that he was in the best position to help Martin, but he seemed almost unwilling to take action. Katie didn't understand it and was beginning to wonder if he had just told her what she wanted to hear. She wanted to help Danny, but had no idea how to do it. The man she was supposed to know better than anyone in the world had these hidden facets to his personality. He always seemed okay on the surface, but something was going on inside of him that made him pull away from everyone, even her. Katie's concern had grown by the minute on her vacation.

It didn't help that her father had this passive aggressive way of talking about Danny. Whenever he could, he'd drop in comments about the fact that they weren't married yet and that Danny was wasting opportunities by staying an FBI agent. At first, Katie had felt defensive, but eventually she internally started to question Danny's actions as well. Why was he so hesitant about getting married and starting a family? He still seemed to get tense whenever Katie talked about the future and kids. Why wouldn't he consider a career that would be more beneficial for their future? She'd always tried to be supportive of his choices, but now his choices were directly affecting her, and she wanted what was best for both of them. She appreciated the fact that Danny had a difficult upbringing, but at some point, she'd hope he could leave the past in the past and focus on what was best for their future.

These were the thoughts swirling through her head on the airplane ride back to New York. She knew she was probably overreacting. She'd get back to New York and find out that Danny had done the right thing. He'd usually always do the right thing when it had mattered the most, but Katie still couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he'd been avoiding her calls the past week for a reason.

After her father dropped her off at their apartment building, she made her way up the stairs. As she walked through the front door, she was disheartened to find that Danny wasn't home as he'd said he'd be. Figuring that he got caught at work again, Katie started to unpack.

After unpacking, she proceeded to start the shower. After spending all day on planes, she desperately needed it. She spent what felt like an hour underneath the hot spray. Finally finding the willpower, she stepped out, dried herself off, and put on one of Danny's dress shirts that was hanging on the bathroom door. He'd likely worn it the day before and she found his scent slightly intoxicating. Smiling to herself, she momentarily forgot about her lingering worries about him.

The worries returned when she walked out into the living room to find Danny sitting on the couch, still dressed in his suit with his tie loosened around his neck. Wearily rubbing his eyes, he looked like he hadn't slept.

"Hey stranger," she called out quietly with a hesitant smile.

Looking up quickly, the weary expression from seconds earlier transformed into a welcoming smile. Immediately rising, Danny crossed the room in just a few long strides.

"Hey, baby," he said, taking her in his arms and kissing her lightly. "You're a sight for sore eyes."

"I can see that. Are you feeling okay?" Katie asked voice full of concern as laid her palm against his stubbled cheek.

"Me? Yeah. I'm great," Danny responded, shrugging off her question. "Just had a long day, that's all. How was your flight back?"" he asked, still keeping a firm grip on her.

"Long. Very long. But I feel better after a shower. You should have joined me," she said, giving him another peck on his lips.

"I just walked in the door, or believe me, I would have," he said before leaning down again and kissing her more passionately.

Feeling his hands make contact with her skin under his dress shirt, Katie immediately felt weak in the knees. God, how she missed him when they were apart. Even though part of her wanted to get lost in the way he was making her feel, the nagging voice in her head wanted to find out how he was really doing.

"Hey," she said as she tried to ignore the soft feeling of his lips on her neck. "You left me a message earlier that said you'd be here when I got home. Where were you? Working late again?"

Pulling away from her slightly, he answered as he looked into her eyes. "No. I…uh…I went to an extra meeting tonight. It ran later than usual."

""Oh," Katie responded and then asked hopefully, "Does that mean that you are helping Martin? Was he with you?"

Frowning, Danny shook his head. "No, but I couldn't tell you that even if he was. That's not the way it works."

"Right. I'm sorry. I know that," she replied, voice remorseful.

Smiling slightly, Danny pressed his forehead against hers. "Let's go to bed. I've missed you like you wouldn't believe," he said, taking her hand and heading toward the bedroom.

But Katie didn't budge. Biting her lip, she stood her ground as he turned to face her.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked with a confused expression.

"Nothing. I just…I think we should talk," she stammered. "I think we have some things to talk about."

"About your vacation? Were things uncomfortable with your Dad and the new girlfriend?" Danny asked with a playful smile.

Shaking her head, Katie sighed. "No, and she's not his girlfriend, Danny. That's just weird. She's just a companion, of sorts, who thank God is age-appropriate. I was terrified he was going to introduce me to some perky 22 year old."

Danny laughed. "You should be more terrified of your mother finding out. I know she agreed to a divorce, but something tells me she'd flip out even more if she finds out he's moved on again."

"I don't even want to think about that," she said, closing her eyes and shaking the thought out of her mind. "No. I wanted to talk about you. You barely said anything of substance to me on the phone all week."

Danny laughed again, as his forehead creased in confusion. "You were a million miles away. What was there to talk about that we couldn't talk about when you got back?"

"Have you dealt with the thing with Martin?"

Sighing heavily, Danny sat down on the sofa. He didn't respond. Instead, the weary look from before returned to his face as he ran his hands through his hair.

"Danny. Talk to me," she urged.

"Look, I don't want to talk about that. There's nothing I can do for him," he finally replied, agitation creeping into his voice.

"That's not what you said two weeks ago. You said you were the one best prepared to help him."

"I was wrong," Danny responded, careful not to make eye contact with her. "It's not my concern. It's really none of my business. Martin doesn't need my help."

"Is he still using or not?" Katie asked as she sat down on the coffee table across from him.

Looking at her sharply, he responded, "I don't know. I told you I haven't talked to him."

"But if he is, then aren't you guys still in danger? I mean, you were almost shot that night."

"It wasn't that bad. I overreacted. I never should have talked about this with you," he replied, sounding annoyed.

"Sure you should have. Danny, you were ready to confront this before I left. What the hell happened?" she asked desperately.

"Nothing happened," he responded, voice rising. "I just realized that this isn't my problem. It's his. And I can't do any thing to help him if he's going not going to admit that he has a problem."

"Isn't that why you should talk to him? To make him realize he needs help?" Katie asked, not backing down despite the anger in Danny's voice.

Clearly trying to contain his temper, Danny took a deep breath before shaking his head and looking down at the floor. "This? It's not your concern. It's not our concern. It has nothing to do with us. So drop it," he countered, standing abruptly.

"Drop it? How can you expect me to drop it?" she replied, looking up at him.

"Because it's none of your business," he yelled as he walked towards the kitchen. "My work, the people I work with, are none of your business. I didn't open up to you that night so you could throw it back in my face every second of the day."

"I'm worried about you, Danny," she responded as she stood and slowly walked towards him. "I'm worried that you'll be in danger. If that doesn't affect us, I don't know what does" she said, her voice betraying her with emotion.

"I'm telling you not to worry. I'll be fine," he responded in a more even tone as he turned to face her.

"My God. What is wrong with you?" she asked, her voice continuing to crack. "It's like you can be doing so well, and then all of a sudden, you revert back to this person who just shuts down. Don't do that to me, Danny. You don't have to do that with me," she pleaded as she reached out to touch him.

Before she could make contact, he raised his hand and backed away. His quick motion might as well have been a slap in the face as far as she was concerned.

"I'm not shutting down. I'm just tired of talking about this with you," he said as he slipped past and headed for the front door.

"Yes. You are. It's the same thing you did last year, and I thought we got past it. You have to deal with the way you are feeling. You can't just ignore things and expect them to go away," and now her voice had risen and she was feeling more angry than emotional.

Turning around to face her again, the anger and disgust in Danny's face was palpable. "Christ!" he yelled. "Spare me that psychoanalytic crap. I've had enough, Katie. You're not my therapist. Why do you have to make everything so damn complicated? We haven't seen each other in over a week. Why couldn't you just come home and let us be together?"

Now she was hurt and angry, his words triggering every thought and emotion she'd been pondering for the last week. "Because I've spent the better part of this past week wondering how I'll be able to live like this for the rest of my life," she screamed. "I'm tired of being scared of talking about the future, and always tiptoeing around our relationship. I always accommodate what you want: where you want to live, the fact that you choose to keep a job where I constantly worry about you when you have better, safer options, and oh yeah, the fact that you don't seem to want anything more than a live-in girlfriend to keep your bed warm," she continued, disgust brimming in her voice as well. "The thing that confuses me, Danny, is that you talk such a good game. You make me believe that you are committed to our future, but then you don't deliver. Just like you said you'd come through for Martin, but now you're backing out of that, too."

Katie watched as Danny's anger fleeted momentarily, his eyes showing his hurt and pain. Just as quickly, the look of the little lost boy was replaced with boiling anger again, but he didn't respond. Instead, he grabbed his jacket from the back of the couch and his keys, and walked out.

Collapsing on the couch, Katie felt helpless as the tears started to come. She wasn't sure what made her feel worse: that he'd just walked out or that she had no desire to go after him.