A KISS IS JUST A KISS

A/N: Hey, ladies! Sorry it's been a minute since I posted anything here. I have been SO busy lately! After a year of not working, I'm suddenly doing training full time, and driving 80 miles each way. I start teaching this week. I'm excited about seeing kiddos again and about moving to a bigger, nicer (and definitely CLOSER place!) next weekend. But I've also got a million things to get done! Thankfully, Katrina and our friend from Florida who lives here now got back in town and came over yesterday and they helped me do some packing. Katrina is coming with me Tuesday to check out the new place in person. You know my little decorator wants to get decor ideas! Lol! Anyway, I just sort of needed a brain break, so this is what popped out of my imagination. Hope you enjoy! Take care!

As she waited until the man (finally!) left and saw that Daniel was once again, coming into the men's room, she saw her chance and popped out of the stall she had been hiding in for the past half hour, "BETTY!? What the HELL are you doing in the men's room? You do realize this is the MEN'S bathroom, right?" he almost sounded like his old self, teasing her gently.

She took courage from that, grabbing his hand and pulling him behind her quickly, "YES! After having to stalk you in here just to talk to you alone without your guard dogs around...trust me, I know how desperate we all are to save you! Now, PLEASE, Daniel, if you EVER valued our friendship and believe how much I care about you, don't ask any questions, just...come with me?"

The pleading tone in her voice and the genuine care and concern he saw in her eyes as she stopped in the stairwell, holding him firmly by his arms, convinced him to hear her out and he nodded, following her willingly as she tried to be stealthy.

He tried not to laugh as he heard her panting after they had quickly descended five floors. He rolled his eyes, and pulled her toward the service elevator, pushed the button for the basement, and crossed his arms over his chest, raising one eyebrow, "I take it you and my mother have a car waiting to "rescue me or something? Is that what's going on, Betty? You know, I'm fine! Nobody's holding me prisoner!"

"NO! You're NOT fine, Daniel! Snap out of it! Are they drugging you?" She slapped him, then pulled apart his ugly beaded necklace, and when it scattered onto the floor of the elevator, she began picking up the beads, looking at them carefully, and sniffing them curiously.

"NO! OW! HEY! That hurt!" He put his hand to his red cheek.

"Maybe it's that crazy 'Phoenix water' they have you drinking all the time!"

"Doubtful, since it makes me pee so often, it's not really staying in my system long enough to make me crazy. Hence, the REASON I assume you figured stalking me in the men's room was your best shot at 'saving me'?"

He smirked, as he got down to help her pick up the beads off the floor, then threw them into a trash can as she spied the waiting town car and he trotted behind her, surprised at how fast she was rushing now. With her shorter legs, he usually had no trouble keeping up with her.

Once they were in the car, she handed him a baseball cap and sunglasses and told the driver, "GO NOW! Please?" Her tone softened immediately, and she threw herself into Daniel's arms, sobbing, "Thank you for trusting me, Daniel! I'm sorry I had to do that!"

He found himself stroking the back of her hair, as he mumbled, "It's okay, Betty. But you didn't...HAVE to…"

"YES! I did! You don't see it, honey, because Bennet is a very smart man and he uses your grief to take advantage of you. They're stealing from you! They don't care about helping you deal with your loss. All they care about is your money!

I know Natalie is genuinely in pain, too, so I'm sure Bennet is somehow using her to help trick you, but...those people are ...criminals! Matt got involved with one of their branches when he was in Canada a few years ago and he barely got out of it. He said they are drugging people, some people have been seriously hurt, some have even DIED! I can't...I can't LOSE YOU, Daniel! I...I…"

Daniel looked at her in confusion, "What? Who died? But I don't understand...I know some of their 'level' stuff is kind of new age-y, and trust me, I've had my own questions, but…"

"You were right to have questions! They are fake! They aren't a real place, they pack up and move along as soon as someone gets hurt or somebody starts asking too many questions, or they finally get done, soaking all the rich people in a certain area. They're like...some kind of old-time charlatans with their traveling show, selling their snake oil or like … locusts!"

"Locusts who steal from rich people?"

She narrowed her eyes, and hit his arm, "Whatever! Mock me all you want, Daniel. Do you have any clue how insane they are? Heck, even Amanda said they made no sense!"

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, well, consider the source! How is this any different than yoga or meditation? I did go to Tibet when I scattered her...ashes. What if I would have stayed there and told you and my mom I wanted to become a Monk or something? Would that have made me crazy, too? If it helps me get…"

"Closure? Is that the word you're looking for, Daniel? See, that's the problem! Closure is good, naturally. That's what most people are looking for when they lose a loved one. That's perfectly understandable. But that's NOT what you said! You told me that they were supposed to help you still talk to...Molly. How is that possible? She's gone! You can't actually have a conversation with her, sweetie!

Don't you think I'd LOVE to do that with my dead mother? I mean, sure I go to her tombstone and I talk to her sometimes, just like you used to with Alex...okay, bad example. But you know what I mean! Anyway, I don't actually expect my mammi to start talking back to me!"

He sighed, leaning back in the seat, and looking around, "So, where are we going? Some...safehouse, while my mom and your ex call the cops on Bennet and his evil gang is that it?"

She looked down at a text, and nodded, "Pretty much. I'm really sorry that it came to this. I hope you know, we're all doing this out of...well, love for you, Daniel, and concern for your safety!"

As he opened his eyes, he thought carefully, "Love? My mother THOUGHT she was in love with that idiot, Cal Hartley, and she didn't trust me enough to tell me she had his son, even after twenty-six years! Tell me, Betty, how do I ever trust the woman again?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. You just...have to forgive her and move on! You will learn to trust her again. She's your mother! And I know she does love you, very much!"

He smirked slightly, taking her hand in his, "Honestly, you're the only person I truly trust right now, Betty. That's something that I will say I never quite bought into with the 'program'. Bennet and Natalie kept trying to get me away from you, to convince me that you were somehow a negative person and I argued with them. I don't know anyone else in my life who would literally walk through fire for me or...wait for me in a men's stinky bathroom for an hour!"

"Thirty minutes, but it seemed longer! My legs are numb because I had to put my feet up since I was wearing heels!"

He glanced down at her shoes and laughed, shrugging, "Well, it is Mode! Probably nobody would have even noticed!"

She smiled, relieved to see he seemed to be almost back to 'normal'. But of course, she knew what hell he had been through and how his anger had been replaced with all sorts of intense emotions since his young wife's death. Even when you know it's coming, it didn't make those feelings any less upsetting to deal with.

She chatted on like normal as they drove through the night. Daniel listened and smiled, as she continued to babble. No matter what kind of craziness was going on, he knew he could always depend on Betty to try and help him figure things out.

"Do you want to get a burger? Or some pizza maybe? I'm starved! So where is this 'hideout' you're taking me to, anyway? In Maine? We've been driving North forever!"

"No. Boston, actually. We're meeting an old friend of yours."

"Not Connor, obviously! Wait, you mean Becks? You told him I was mixed up with some kind of cult and HE is the one who's supposed to talk me down or something? That's a joke! He...doesn't really know me anymore, Betty. Hell, you know me better than Becks does these past four years. So let me get this straight, you think you, Bill, and Becks are going to convince me how goofy I've been acting?

You think I don't know that, Betty? I mean...of course, this stuff is crazy! I get that. I do. It's just...I...I...miss her, you know? I can't believe I fucked everything up! I should never have gone to those damn awards! Then I wouldn't have been gone when she...died. And I should have MADE her do the chemo again! She might still be alive!"

She took his hand gently, shaking her head, "Maybe. But she'd be in a lot of pain! Daniel...those things wouldn't have really helped Molly. They might have made YOU feel better at the time.

But you didn't do anything wrong! You simply tried to honor her wishes. She had been through chemo before, she didn't want to go through that again. She wanted to go on her own terms. You made her so happy, being on the cover of Mode and giving her the wedding she always wanted. You made her dreams come true.

Besides, I...watched my mom go through chemo. That's...not something you want to have to suffer through, more than once, especially if it's not likely to succeed."

He squeezed her hand and looked into her eyes, "You never talk about your mom much. I'm so sorry you had to lose her like that, Betty! I know you really miss her."

She nodded, "Yeah. Bennet tried to...freak me out, talking about my mom. That's sort of what inspired me to figure out what was going on at that place. I don't like that guy. I don't trust him!"

He put his hand on her cheek, "I'm sorry he upset you. That wasn't right. Look, I'm really getting tired. Do you mind if I lean against you a little, and take a nap?"

She shook her head, "Of course not! Go ahead. Get some rest. I'll wake you when we get there. It'll probably be another hour or so. Then you can go right back to sleep at the hotel."

"Great! Thanks for...rescuing me, Betty." he closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, sinking gradually onto her lap as she scooted over.

He looked so peaceful, she thought, looking down at his handsome features. She jumped slightly, startled as her phone buzzed with a notification.

She read the text from Claire, "The Community of The Phoenix are where they belong, behind bars. Are you and my son somewhere safe yet? Still on your way to Boston?"

She typed back, "On our way. We should be there soon. He's sleeping now. Wait, is that okay to let him sleep? Should we take him to the hospital?"

"I have a doctor on call up there to check him out and do a tox screen. But I would imagine he's probably just tired from having to get up twenty times a night to pee! They said the water isn't drugged, they usually only go for the wealthiest targets like Daniel, and dose the tea when they do their bogus ceremony to 'see and be with' your deceased loved one.

It should have flushed out by now. I don't think they are necessarily trying to kill the golden goose! They just milk their victims as much as they feel they can, and move on, usually. But if they actually make it to what they call 'level seven', that's where it could be dangerous if they get the amounts too high. What level did he make it to?"

Betty carefully fished in his jacket pocket and pulled out some sort of token she knew they had given him at the most recent ceremony, and her eyes widened as she gulped, "Level five!"

This was so scary! She couldn't believe her best friend had been so used! She felt terrible for ever convincing him to seek "professional" help. Normally, that was a good thing, obviously. But had she told him that because she had been too wrapped up with her new job as an editor to be there for him, to listen to her best friend pour his heart out?

She should have been the one to talk to him like she and her sister and nephew had all done when they lost Rosa. Or like they had done when Hilda and Justin lost Santos.

While he slept, Betty finally closed her own eyes and drifted off as well. She roused and realized she had slid down. Daniel must have stirred and sat back up and moved his head off her lap, because they were both leaning against one another, with their heads slumped towards one another.

She moaned sleepily, "Mmm….hey!" she smiled, as he fluttered his eyes open for a second, before kissing her eagerly, "Hey, Betty, sweetie!" then his eyes closed again and he fell back asleep.

Betty's eyes on the other hand flew wide open in shock and her hand automatically touched her lips, still warm from his kiss. She sat up straight, trying to process that. What the heck just happened?!

She chewed on her bottom lip, her heart racing a mile a minute, and her thoughts totally scattered. She couldn't think straight! What should she do? Should she...tell him what he did when he was fully conscious? He obviously didn't do it on purpose! Or did he? Did he think she was Molly? He clearly had been totally out of it, unaware he was kissing her!

He had called her Betty, though. And Sweetie! What was that? Of course, she realized she had been using a few terms of endearment towards him lately, just as if she was trying to talk to her nephew, or a child, perhaps. But that kiss...was definitely not childish, that's for sure! It was…extremely INTENSE!

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they pulled up to the luxury hotel and were greeted by none other than Becks himself, tapping on the window when they parked.

"Betty? Wow! You look great! Hey, Daniel? How's it going, buddy? Are you feeling okay?"

Betty hopped out and came around the back of the car to watch as Daniel woke up and grinned, "Yeah! Hey, Becks! It's been a while. How have you been?"

"I'm good. So...listen, your mom got a huge suite, and we all have adjoining rooms. Do you think you can lean on me and Betty?"

Daniel roused himself, and stood, shaking his head and waving Becks and Betty away, "I can walk. Please stop looking at me like you're ready to lock me up in a padded cell and hand me tapioca pudding, okay? I'm fine, I tell you! "

"You sure?"

"Absolutely! I feel great! I guess I must have really needed that nap, though! I was super tired before, but I feel totally refreshed now! I must have had a great dream! Betty, honey, are you okay, though? You look really freaked out."

Becks glanced in front of and around Daniel and grinned, waving at her, "Yeah, he's right, you are sort of...blushing, Betty!"