Notes - Thanks for the reviews. This will most likely be a slowly-written story as I don't have much time now to write, but I will continue it. Thanks as always to Mariel for betaing!

Wearily, Danny stepped off the elevator and took a deep breath before entering Anna's apartment. After taking off his jacket and tie, he draped them on the back of the sofa. He could tell by the quiet apartment that Anna wasn't home yet.

Collapsing onto the sofa, Danny put his head in his hands as he tried to figure how he was going to tell her. Before he could formulate a thought, he heard the door open.

"You're here!" she called out in an excited tone as she struggled through the door with bags in her hands.

"I'm here," he answered quietly as he stood up quickly to take the bags from her.

"Thanks," she said as she gratefully handed the bags over to him.

As he followed her to the kitchen, she kept talking. "I've had an unbelievably productive day. First, I met with Christie's interior decorator. She may be my step-monster, but she definitely has connections with the best decorator in Manhattan. Anyway, the decorator evaluated what we already have, and we've decided that all we really need is a new sofa…since this one is a bit too contemporary. She showed me three that are just beautiful. And then we talked about window treatments. She showed me the most amazing fabric…" she trailed off when she saw that Danny's focus wasn't on her, but instead he seemed to be staring at a "Congratulations on Your Engagement" card on the refrigerator.

"Hey," she said as she lifted her hand to his cheek. "You okay? You seem—"

Startled, Danny finally looked her in the eyes. "I'm fine," he replied, leaning down to kiss her lips. "You were saying something about fabric?"

Her smile turning into a frown, Anna responded, "You're having second thoughts about the condo, aren't you?"

Shaking his head, Danny pulled her closer as he pressed his forehead to hers. "There's nothing I want more than to marry you and move into that apartment," he said as he let out of small sigh. "I wish it could all happen tomorrow."

"Then what's wrong? You look—"

"Just had a long day," he whispered as his lips trailed down her forehead to her cheek, finally landing on her neck.

"Do you want to talk—"

Feeling his head shake against the curve of her neck, she stopped talking when she felt his lips on her neck again. This time, he added pressure and it was all she could do to keep breathing.

After a few minutes, his lips travelled back to her lips, and he kissed her softly before looking deep into her eyes. "Tell me more about those sofas."

XXXXXXXXXX

It was three a.m., and Danny hadn't gone to sleep yet. He'd been watching her sleep for hours. He'd tried to tell her, or rather to lie to her, about the "training" operation, but he couldn't do it. She'd been so happy telling him about all the plans for their new home that he hadn't wanted to say anything to end her happy state.

The whole idea of the undercover operation was making him nervous, and he wasn't sure he could hide that from Anna. Not to mention that he'd promised her that he'd stop lying to protect her, and now he was being ordered to do just that.

Taking a deep breath, Danny reached out to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear.

Stirring slightly, her eyes started to flutter open. Taking his hand a way quickly, Danny closed his eyes to pretend he was sleeping.

"Why on earth are you still awake?" she asked in a sleepy, irritated tone.

At first, Danny didn't respond.

"I can tell by your breathing that you're awake."

Smiling sheepishly, he opened his eyes. "Caught me."

"It's three in the morning and you look like you are wide awake. Have you slept at all?" she asked as she yawned.

"A little," he responded quietly.

"Danny, what's—"

"I love you. You know that, right?" he asked, cutting her off as he took hold of her hand.

"Of course."

"Good. Never doubt that," he said as he interlaced their fingers together.

Taking a moment to really look at him in the moonlight, she saw the worry that was firmly etched in his brow. "You're scaring me," she said as emotion crept in her voice.

"I'm sorry," he responded weakly.

"Tell me what's going on," she pleaded as she held his hand tighter.

He looked at her for a few moments, just taking in her soft features in that were highlighted by moonlight. Slowly, he leaned into her and kissed her.

"Danny…" she whimpered as he rolled her onto her back.

He kissed a path between her lips and her ear, and then he whispered, "We'll talk in the morning. Prometo, mi amor."

Almost rolling her eyes, she just nodded slightly, took a short breath, and then let herself relax beneath him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, Danny was gone. He'd left a note saying that he'd gotten called in to work, but Anna was still feeling uneasy. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong, so she made her way over to his office during her lunch hour. She's called him while on her way, and since she hadn't given him the option of refusing her, he'd agreed to meet her at the coffee shop across from his office building.

Sitting at a table, Anna sipped hot coffee as she waited for him to arrive. Finally, after waiting for twenty minutes, he hurried in the door. Raising his eyebrows, he gave her a nod as he walked towards her.

"Hey," he greeted, leaning down to kiss her forehead before sitting across from her. "I don't have much time. We have to—"

"This won't take long," she interrupted. "Actually, it's up to you how long it takes because you're the one who has to explain—"

"Not now. Okay? I would've talked to you this morning, but then I got called—"

"What is going on, Danny? Why are you being so damn cryptic? I'm not leaving until you talk to me," she pleaded.

Taking a deep breath, Danny ran his hand over his jaw. "I, um, I have to leave for a while…for work."

Frowning, Anna almost laughed. "What? Are…are you serious? You go away on cases all the time—"

"This isn't a case. It's…it's a training operation," he interrupted in as convincing a tone as he could muster, "and I'll be gone for at least a month."

Her frowned deepened as she sat back in her seat. Tightening her lips into a thin line, she processed what he'd just told her. "A…a month? Why kind of operation?"

Danny shrugged. "It's hard to explain. Um, I don't even know much about it yet. I just know that I'll have to go at the end of this week."

Her eyes revealed complete shock as she responded, "This week?"

Danny nodded. "I just didn't want to tell you after we'd just made the plans about the wedding and the apartment."

"A month? Can you come back on the weekends at least?" she asked. The prospect of him going away was hitting her hard as tears welled in her eyes.

Reaching out, he grasped both of her hands in his. "I can't come home until the training operation ends, but I'll be home before you know it. Don't…don't cry," he replied as he gently stroked her hands.

"I'm sorry," she said as her voice cracked with emotion. "Its just…things were going so well and we were making plans. What about the wedding?"

"I'll be back in time for the wedding and I'll be back in time to move into the apartment. Think about it this way: At least now, you can decorate it however you want it. You won't have me telling you we can't afford something."

Shaking her head, she took one of hands from his to wipe the corner of her eyes. "I like running things past you and finding ways to talk you into things," she said with a small smile.

Returning her smile, Danny reached out and touched her cheek. "I'll be back as soon as I can and we'll start our life together just like we've planned."

XXXXXXXXX

Twenty minutes later, Danny found himself driving to New Jersey with Martin. In the middle of trying to convince Anna that everything would be okay, Martin had called to say they needed to get to New Jersey to pursue a suspect.

"You okay?" Martin asked after they'd ridden in relative silence for almost fifteen minutes.

Danny nodded. "I'm fine."

"Did you tell her? Is that why you were meeting Anna at the coffee shop?"

Glancing over at Martin, Danny took a short breath. "Yeah. I'd been avoiding telling her. She finally cornered me into explaining."

"How'd she take it?"

"Not well," he replied in a short tone.

"I'm sure you'll be back in plenty of time."

"I hope so, but in the meantime, can I ask you a favor?"

"Name it."

"Just…um…check in on her every once in a while? She has her Dad and step-mother close by, but—"

"You don't even have to ask, Danny. I'll take care of it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that night

After finishing with their latest case, Danny hurried back to his apartment to grab a clean suit and check his messages. He never stayed at his apartment anymore, but stopped by every few days to check on it. Most of his clothes had made their way into Anna's closet.

Suit in hand, he opened his front door to find Jack on the other side with his fist up read to knock.

"Hey," Danny said in a surprised tone.

Jack nodded. "Hey. I…uh…I was hoping to catch you here, outside the office. I was going to call—"

"What's going on? What's wrong?" Danny asked.

Jack held up a sealed yellow envelope. "Olcyk gave me your background and orders for the undercover op."

"Why didn't you give it to me at the office earlier tonight?"

"Because once I give this to you, you can't go back to the office. Once you open this envelope, the operation will begin."

"Why are giving it to me tonight then? Olcyk said I wouldn't go until the end of the week."

Jack shook his head. "They are ready for you to start right now. Nelson wants you in Miami tomorrow morning."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Next Morning

"What time can I meet you there?" Anna asked as she finished buttoning her blouse as she balanced the phone between her ear and her shoulder. She listened to the response, and then said, "I can be there at four. I'll call Danny to see if he can meet us, but I'm betting he'll tell me that he'll like whatever I pick out. I don't think he has any desire to—"

Hearing a knock at the door, she glanced at the clock. "Who would be here at 8 a.m.? Hang on, Christie," she said to her stepmother as she walked to the door.

Opening it slightly, her eyes widened when she saw Jack Malone. "I, um, I have to go Christie. I'll call you later," she said and then hung up as she opened the door wider. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. "What's wrong, Jack?"

Danny had called her the night before to say he was working late on a case and it would be easier to crash at his place. That wasn't unusual, so Anna hadn't questioned it. But now, Jack was at her door, and that could only mean that something had happened to Danny.

"What is it? What's happened?" Anna said as emotion crept into her tone.

"Nothing. I mean, Danny's okay, but I need to tell you—"

"What? Where is he?"

"He's started his training operation. He had to leave first thing this morning."

Shaking her head, Anna turned as she walked to the sofa and sat down. "No, no, he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't leave with saying goodbye. I don't understand—"

"He wanted to say goodbye, but there wasn't any time," Jack responded as he walked into the loft and took a seat next to Anna.

"Can I talk to him now? Can I—"

Jack shook his head. "No, not right now. He's not in a place where there is cell coverage."

Giving him a confused frown, Anna shrugged. "How can that be? If it's just a training thing then why can't he make a phone call?"

Jack sighed as he carefully thought about what he was going to say next. "Think of it like military training. When I was in basic training, we couldn't use the phone for six weeks. He's in that type of environment, but he will call as soon as he gets a chance."

"This doesn't make sense, Jack," Anna said as she wiped the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry. It's a unique situation, but know that Danny was selected because he's one of the best. He'll be home soon," he said as he reached out and gently squeezed her hand.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Loosening his necktie, Martin took a deep breath as the warm Florida sun hit his face. Danny had been gone for only four days, but Jack had insisted that he go down to check on his progress.

After getting into his rental car, Martin took out the directions to the safe house that Director Nelson had given him. He drove for almost an hour before coming upon a normal, suburban-looking neighborhood. It didn't take him long to find the small house with palm trees in the front yard.

Martin exited the car and cautiously approached the house. After taking out a key, he unlocked and opened the front door.

"Hello?" he called out as he walked in the small foyer. "Hello?" he called out again.

"Hey," he heard Danny call out from a room in the back. "I'll be out in a minute."

Martin walked into the kitchen and smiled gratefully when he saw a fresh pot of coffee. He found a mug and poured himself a cup and then sat down at the kitchen table. On the table, he noticed an open file folder. Sliding the folder closer, he realized it was the records that had established Danny's cover. Martin shook his head as he read words like "aggravated assault" and "possession." According to the file, "Danny Alvarez" was a career criminal.

"Interesting reading, right?" Danny said as he walked into the kitchen.

"You could say that," Martin replied as he took a sip of his coffee. He watched as Danny poured a cup of coffee and then turned to him. Martin wasn't prepared for what he saw. "Christ! What happened to you?" Martin asked as he rose from his chair.

Danny ran his hand over his heavily bruised eye and still swollen lip. "It's not as bad as it looks," was all he said in response.

"Did you see a doctor?"

Danny nodded. "I found this free clinic downtown. They stitched above my eye, but there's not much else they could do."

"You should go—"

"I can't go to a regular hospital, Martin."

"Why not?"

"Because Danny Alvarez wouldn't go to a hospital. Beside, this is all about how tough I am. I had to double-cross this lowlife dealer to show one of the captains in the Reyes De la Cruz crew that I could do a better job. What I didn't count on was that the lowlife had friends the size of halfbacks."

Sitting back down, Martin took a deep breath. "This isn't…this is crazy, Danny. You're here without any back up. I don't understand how Jack could—"

Danny shrugged helplessly. "He didn't have choice," he responded as he took a seat across from Martin.

Five Days Earlier

"I can't leave right now. Anna will never understand—"

"I'll talk to her. I'll make her understand. If you're going to do this, you have to go now."

"You make it sound like I have a choice, Jack. But in your office the other day, you really didn't have much to say at all."

Jack took a deep breath before sighing heavily. "I tried everything I could to stop this. I even called Martin's father, but they were desperate to get someone down there as soon as possible. The politics of this thing go very high, Danny. I think they are rushing it, but I don't have any power to help you here. You have to be careful and watch your back. I'm still going to do everything I can to get you back as soon as possible."

All of a sudden, the anxiety that Danny had been feeling about this mission doubled. Running a hand through his hair, he tried to keep his composure so he wouldn't worry Jack even more. "It's going to be okay. I'll establish my cover. I'll get them the information they want, and then I'll get the hell out."

Jack nodded, but the worried look on his face gave Danny a haunting feeling that he knew he wouldn't be able to shake.

"Maybe I should talk to my Dad—" Martin started to say after hearing about Jack's worries.

Danny interrupted quickly. "Don't worry about it. There's nothing anyone can do now. I'm already in this. It's just rougher than I thought it would be…getting close to these guys."

"How close are you?"

Taking a deep breath, Danny reached over and took a legal pad from the file that Martin had been looking out. "I've tried to make some notes…people that I've talked to…names, descriptions. You can take these and find out exactly who I'm dealing with down here. I've set up this generic e-mail account," he said as he pointed to a notation on the legal pad. "Just send whatever information you can to this account. Any additional background you can find will help me. Make sure you send it from a non-FBI computer."

"Okay. Got it. What else do you need?"

A small laugh escaped from Danny's lips. "For starters? You could come here looking a little less like a federal agent."

Martin smiled as he glanced down at his suit and then looked at Danny's beach attire of Bermuda shorts and t-shirt. "Give me a break, man. I busted my ass to get to the airport before I missed my flight. We had a tough case this week."

"Really? So what did Jack tell Viv and Sam…about me?"

"Same as he's told everyone else. You were recruited for a training op. They're both skeptical as hell, but they could tell that Jack wasn't in the mood to be questioned about it. I just pretended like I was finding out for the first time as well."

Sighing slightly, Danny stammered, "H-h-have you talked to Anna? Do you know how she took the news about…about me?"

"I haven't seen her yet, but Jack said she was pretty confused and upset…so much so that her Dad convinced her to stay with him and his wife for a few days. I planned on calling her when I got back."

Danny nodded. "Good. Thanks. Um, can you do one more personal thing?"

"Name it."

"My brother is going to start asking questions. I go to Nicky's soccer games sometimes. If I don't show up, he's bound to call Anna."

"Wouldn't that be better? If he heard the news from her?"

Danny shook his head. "No. I don't want him around her if I'm not there. We had an issue a few months ago. My brother is still…he's just not someone I completely trust, Martin. It's a long story—"

"I got it. Don't worry. I'll, um, I'll track him down first thing Monday."

Danny smirked as he shook his head. "He'd be shocked if he saw me right now."

"Your brother?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah. It's almost funny. This guy," he said as he lifted the file folder that held his new identity. "This is exactly who I never wanted to become…someone like my brother. And now, I'm pretending to be like him every day. It's just…" Danny stopped, not able to find the words.

"It's just temporary. It will be over soon," Martin said in an optimistic tone, not wanting to show Danny how worried he actually was.