AN: There are two more chapters after this, but they are done so you will see them soon. :)

Warning: There is some mild language in this chapter, really just one word used about two or three times.

Dominic didn't look up as someone sat down in the chair next to his in the waiting room. He couldn't stop staring at his hands. Despite his frantic attempts to wash Kaile's blood off, traces of it still remained. Or maybe it was just in his head. When Uncle Sheldon finally came into the hospital restroom looking for him and found him scrubbing his hands raw, he had a sympathetic look that said to Dominic that he must be overcompensating and there wasn't anything left to get off.

It was probably the guilt getting to him, the metaphorical blood that he felt he had on his hands. Dammit, if he hadn't made Kaile feel so guilty about questioning Jim Munson, maybe she wouldn't have gotten into trouble. Scagnetti had told them all back at the community center what had happened. He didn't say it explicitly, but Dominic could read between the lines. Kaile had wanted to question Jim as soon as possible, she was the one who made the decision to go to his place, and it was all likely because Dominic had made her feel bad about the situation when she had just been doing her job.

"It's not your fault." Dominic finally looked up at the person next to him, slightly startled at how it seemed like someone had been reading his thoughts. He met the blue eyes of his father, looking into the face that he would surely resemble in thirty years. Dominic opened his mouth to refute the statement, but was cut off. "She was just doing her job, son. Getting injured is unfortunately a hazard of the occupation."

Dominic leaned back in his chair and stared across the room while rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, unconsciously mimicking a move his father did often. "But this particular hazard might have been avoided if she didn't feel like she had to prove herself to me." His parents knew about his last argument with Kaile. On the ride to the hospital from the community center, his mother had managed to pull it out of him because he had been too numb to deflect her questioning.

"Bullshit." Dom's head snapped around to look at his father. "I'm sure your argument was in the back of her mind, but she's a good cop, Dominic. Don't for one second think that she would let personal issues get in the way of that." Dom looked away and contemplated his father's words. He did have a point. Dominic had never doubted Kaile's abilities as a patrol officer and then a detective. His father put a hand on his shoulder. "She got blindsided. It happens."

"Still sucks," Dominic groused.

"That it does," Danny agreed. "But it's the price of loving a strong woman." He paused for a moment. "I can still remember the first time your mother really scared the crap out of me." Dominic turned in interest to his father. He knew a lot of stories about his parents, but this sounded like one he had never heard. "We had a hostage situation with a deadline that didn't give us enough time to get an undercover cop to the location. So, your mom volunteered to go in because she fit the general profile of the person the bad guys were expecting." Dom watched as his father gazed off into the past. "Her cover was blown pretty quickly and at one point she had a gun pointed at her head. But your mom, she just dropped the flash bang we had set her up with and shielded the hostage until the room was secure. When I found her in the smoke holding her ears against the ringing, I thought I'd faint from relief. Thankfully I didn't, but I held onto her long enough for your Uncle Don to have to break us up."

Dominic winced involuntarily at the mention of his uncle. "He's going to kill me, isn't he?"

His father quirked an eyebrow. "You saved his daughter. That trumps pretty much everything, Dominic."

Restless, Dom got up and began pacing in front of the chairs. "For now, maybe. But how long until Kaile and I argue again and then Uncle Don gets ticked at me for it? I've always felt bad when I've caused tension between him and Kaile because I know how close they are and also how I would feel if someone tried to cause problems between me and you and Mom. But that's what Kaile and I do, we fight all the time." He ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe she's better off without me."

"The hell she is," Danny told him, standing up and blocking Dominic's way. "You guys fight like your mother and I do. We tease, we push, but underlying that we know we love each other and that the arguing is just how we interact. I'm Italian, I wouldn't know how to interact without that kind of element, and thankfully I was able to find a woman who could throw it right back at me." He put his hands on Dominic's shoulders. "And you didn't see Kaile months back after the two of your broke up for good. She hasn't been the same since. You guys are two halves of one whole, you always have been."

His father was making an impact, but Dominic still couldn't quite believe he hadn't screwed up everything forever. "I just…I don't know, Dad."

Danny looked sympathetically at his oldest child. "And you won't know until you talk to her. Don's had enough time with her, I'm sure he won't mind if you go into her room."

"Won't the others want to see her, too?" He looked around and realized for the first time that he and his father were alone in the waiting room.

"Mac is keeping track of the search for Connors and Jim, your mom is coordinating the processing of the various scenes, your Uncle Sheldon and Aunt Tessa are handling the media circus, and I think your siblings and your other cousins are off calling people to let them know what happened." He smirked at Dominic. "You're out of excuses for not going in there, so suck it up, son, and work things out with Kaile."

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Kaile slowly rose to consciousness and opened her eyes to find her father holding her hand. "Hi, Dad," she croaked, her throat completely dry.

Don Flack smiled gently and put his free hand against her cheek. "Hi, Princess."

She could feel tears welling up. He hadn't called her that in years. She tried to talk again but couldn't get moisture in her mouth. Her dad figured out the problem and picked up a cup that had a straw in it from a nearby table. He held it for her and she sipped enough to bring relief from the dryness. "Thanks."

Don wiped away a couple of tears that fell. "What are the tears for, kiddo?"

She closed her eyes. "I'm sorry I screwed up, Dad."

"Hey, hey, look at me." She didn't want to, but she obeyed and met her father's gaze. "You didn't screw anything up. Even Scagnetti thinks so," he tried to joke.

"He's just being nice," she replied. She glanced around the room and missed her father's incredulous look at that statement. "How did you guys find me anyway?"

"'We' didn't find you. Dominic did that pretty much all on his own."

Kaile's eyes snapped back to her father's. "Dominic is in New York? Whatever for?"

"Apparently to talk to you." Don brushed some hair back off of her forehead. "I haven't really talked to him. I think he's avoiding me because he thinks I'll be ticked at him. Is there a reason I should be mad at him even though he saved your life?"

She bit her lip and looked away. "No. We had an argument, but it was all my fault. I was worried he wouldn't want to talk to me anymore." She turned back to her father. "Is he really here?"

"He really is." Don looked down, then back up. "You really love him, huh?"

"Yeah, I really do," she admitted quietly. "But I don't know what to do about it, Dad. It just never seems to really work between us. Maybe it's just not meant to be."

"Bullshit," Don told her, unknowingly echoing Danny's line to Dominic. "I don't think either of you have really given a serious relationship a chance to develop. Maybe I'm partly to blame for that, but if the two of you love one another then you need to at least give it a real shot before you throw up your hands." He wiped a couple more tears from her cheek. "But I hope you know that whatever you decide, I'll support you." He grinned slightly, a tear or two in his own eye, which just made her want to cry even more since she had almost never seen her father cry.

"Thanks, Dad. I do know that. You've always been there for me, even when I've messed up." She took a deep breath. "Like with my anger towards Scagnetti. I should have gotten over that years ago. Instead, it takes him and me being held hostage together to get me to come to my senses."

"I knew you would eventually, hon. I always knew you held onto that grudge because of me, but I also recognized that telling you to let it go wouldn't work. You needed to work through it on your own." He paused. "Not that I think having a little anger towards the man is a bad thing. He is a pest."

Kaile laughed. "That he is." That was obviously the conclusion of the serious side of their conversation. They rarely talked long about those kinds of things; it just wasn't how their relationship worked. But she felt immense relief at knowing that she was on solid ground with her father. If everything else in her life went to hell, it would be good to have him to anchor her. And she valued his opinion, so if he thought she and Dominic should give a romantic relationship another chance, then maybe they really could make it work this time.