Dani stomped the rest of the way to the bedroom and dropped on the bed like a petulant child. She looked at the cell phone in her hand. She knew she needed to make the call but, truth be told, she didn't want to listen to the lecture she knew she would get.

She punched in the numbers and waited for the familiar voice on the other end of the line to pick up.

"Strayer!"

"So, expected me to be dead?" Dani deadpanned as her captain answered the phone.

"You've gone way too far this time, Dani. Do you know that?" Captain Zachary Strayer, Stray for short, yelled in to the phone.

"Stray," Dani began

"No! You listen and you listen good Dani Cantrell. You're in about as deep as you can be. You're damn lucky that the cop that picked you up worked Narcotics and has a good ear for when something doesn't sound right. His captain, guy by the name of Ross, says Goren's a good egg, little unorthodox, but gets the job done. You do EXACTLY what he says or I'm done with you. You got it?"

Dani listened, head down, as Strayer talked about Goren. She knew he was now waiting for her response. She sighed heavily, before answering, "Yes, Captain."

Strayer was instantly on guard on the other end of the phone. He knew when she called him captain, her little mind was working on something. His tone grew very quiet as he addressed her again, "Dani, according to Goren, there's no record of what you're doing. If he chooses to arrest you, there's nothing, absolutely nothing, I can do to protect you. And what's more, I won't protect you." He heard her indrawn breath, "I told you not to go in the first place. That Wills was under investigation and that his informants had remained unreliable. You're on a mission to prove the innocence of guilty man and it's going to take you down, too."

"Stray, he was my partner from the time I got out of the academy. I owe him…"

He yelled into the phone again, "You don't owe him shit, Dani!"

Dani sighed again. She knew she was beat. What's more, she knew if Stray wouldn't help her, she really had run out of good will. "OK. Whatever Goren says, goes. I still feel a sense of loyalty to Wills, though, even if you think it's misplaced. He's my partner, Zach, whatever else he's done. If I can clear him, I will. If I have to arrest him, I'll do that, too."

"I want you back in Houston by the weekend, Dani. This has gone on long enough." Zach paused, "Besides, I miss you."

"Yeah, I miss you, too." Dani said quietly into the phone. Not only was Zach Strayer her commanding officer, he was also her lover. Not many knew it. They kept their distance at work, knowing it would create even bigger problems but the relationship had been going on for five years now. Strayer wanted something more serious. Dani was beginning to think the same way. "I don't know if the weekend's doable but I'll be back soon, I promise."

"OK, bye," Strayer spoke gruffly and the phone went dead.

Dani sat there a little bit longer, staring at the phone. She finally closed the cell and returned back to the living room where Goren and Eames were waiting. They stopped talking as Dani walked in. She crossed to Eames and handed her back the cell. "Thanks." She responded quietly.

Eames and Goren shared a look, wondering about the now docile Houston cop. "So, what's the plan?" Dani asked, once again breaking the silence. Goren was a bit surprised at how cowed she now seemed but he wasn't going to let her get her second wind.

"Eames is going to go change and take you back to your apartment. Once there, I want you to pack everything, including your case files, and come back here. My apartment just became command central." Dani nodded as Eames got up and walked past her to Goren's bedroom, stopping to give her a small punch to the shoulder and a smile. Dani smiled back. "We've got tonight and most of tomorrow to get a game plan together. I want no holes, no doubts. This will go like clockwork or we won't go. Got it?"

Again, Dani simply nodded, not bothering to answer. Eames came back out shortly, wearing a pair of Goren's sweats and one of his oversized t-shirts. She handed Dani a small tote bag to put the rest of her clothes in. Dani took the bag and began putting her clothes inside, and then followed behind Eames to the door, still quiet. "You girls bring back my sweats, too. I keep losing my best ones, Eames." Goren wagged his finger at his partner.

"But they're so comfortable," Eames laughed back. Dani smiled at the banter between the two but still did not engage. She again followed Eames quietly out of the building and into her vehicle.

Dani gave her the address for her temporary apartment and then, again, fell silent. Alex let her stew a little longer. "OK, are we done with the pity party?"

Dani cut Eames a sideways glance before responding, "You're pretty sharp tongued, aren't you?"

Eames only smiled, but still didn't let Dani off the hook. "I think you're acting pretty childish. From where I sit, you're lucky you're not in jail or dead."

Dani sighed again, "Yeah. Jail would not be good. Run my alias, I'll have a rap sheet."

It was Eames' turn to glance at Dani, "Want to explain that?"

"Kinda goes with why I'm here. My partner, Jake Wills, and I had been running an undercover op for over two years. Part of it linked to this DEA op that Goren heard about. We thought we had the Houston link in our sights. Wills and I moved in, made the contact, and got ready for the bust. Just as we arrived, all hell broke loose. There were two other Houston narcotics division, along with a group from the DEA and the ATF. I don't know how it happened, but shots got fired and my partner got hit. Before I could get to him, I'm being thrown down, and cuffed. When I went to central booking I used my alias, CT Rogers. Only problem with that is, it's still my fingerprints in the system."

Eames knew the rest of this story wouldn't end well. It couldn't. "My captain gets called in and he helps keep the lid on my cover. My partner took two that ended his career in the field. They assigned him to a desk shortly before I left to come here."

"You're sure this isn't personal, Dani? I know, when it's your partner, you take things a little more to heart."

"Funny, my captain thinks it's personal, too." Dani looked seriously at Eames. "When it becomes personal, and not a job, that's when you have to get out. I've been undercover for two years. I want to see this through. My captain says trust your partner."

Eames smiled but Dani continued, "I already trust you." She paused and looked at Eames again, "Take it however you want, but I trusted you the minute I met you. Just a sense that you'd be the kind of officer that would tell you straight when you screw up but have your back, none the less. Hope someone thinks I'm that kind of cop someday."

Dani seemed embarrassed, as did Eames at the praise. They pulled into the parking garage and went up to Dani's apartment. She quickly packed and they both changed to be more presentable for their next appointment. Dani checked out and they were very quickly on their way to the next stop.