Rico sat tucked away in a corner of some dirty and dark bar. The Penguins (as their unit was called) were in Guatemala City on their first major assignment. They were looking for someone who was a threat to the military base nearby. There were two bars the man frequented. Rico sat in this one, Manfredi sat in one in another part of the city. Johnson thought that Rico's scar and Manfredi's eyepatch would help them blend in with the rather low crowd at the bars.

Rico had been sitting there nursing his drink for the past hour. He was about the call it a night and leave, when a nearby voice caught his attention. The nearness of the voice got him more than the words spoken in Spanish. People were always surprised that Rico could only speak a little Spanish. He wasn't actually Hispanic and Rico wasn't even his actual name. It was a name given to him by the kids in the street. "Rico the Freako".

He looked up to see a beautiful woman standing by his table, smiling down at him. She repeated her words. He caught the words, "hello" and "woman" but didn't know what else she said. She smiled and said in English, "Ah, we usually don't get tourists here. So again I say, hello good-looking. Buy a woman a drink?"

Good looking? Rico looked around to see if she was talking to someone else. The woman laughed, which sent shivers down Rico's spine. She gracefully sat in the chair next to him. "Yes, I'm talking to you." Her fingers slid lightly over his, causing another shiver. "Now how about a drink?"

Rico signaled the waitress to bring a drink for the woman. While they waited, she asked, "what's your name, good-looking?"

"Rico," he croaked. He saw the realization on her face as she heard his voice. But instead of looking disgusted, she smile.

"I'm Daniela, but you can call me 'Dani'. What brings you to such a place as this, Rico?"

Rico smiled. "Tou'is'." She laughed again, and placed her hand on his arm. Rico felt his breath catch. Daniela's drink arrived, and Rico used the distraction to calm himself down. He truly couldn't believe that a woman, and a beautiful one at that, was talking to him. This was completely new to him! Unconsciously, Rico reached into his pocket and switched off the communication device he was wearing.

The woman, realizing Rico's speech problem, brought out her cell phone so that Rico could type messages onto it. At first, he was rather clumsy with it, but he improved with each message he typed. Rico lost track of time. When he did notice the time, he realized that he was supposed to have reported back over an hour ago. He typed, "I have to go. My friends are expecting me" in the phone.

"I see. Will you meet me tomorrow? At the Mercado Central around 11 AM?" Rico nodded enthusiastically. She gave Rico the location and kissed him on the cheek before leaving him. Rico returned to base in a happy daze.

That daze was stopped short when he arrived at the base. Skipper was not at all happy. Rico hung his head while Skipper reprimanded him for a half hour. Johnson later told him that Skipper was angry because the man hadn't shown up at either bar. "And Skipper was worried about you. You shouldn't have turned off the communication. He thought something had happened to you. Please don't worry Skipper like that again, Rico."

"Ah righ'," he replied, feeling bad that he had worried the others. But as he lay in bed, he couldn't help but smile at the thought of Dani. He touched his cheek, reliving that moment. He fell asleep with the smile still on his face. His Ms. Perky doll sat forgotten in his bag.

Rico hopped off the bus and started making his way to the Mercado Central. He spotted Dani standing near the entrance. She took hold of his hand as they entered the market. Rico was in heaven!

They wandered the shops looking at the various items for sale. He bought Dani a beautiful shawl from one of the vendors. They ate lunch at one of the food vendors in the mercado. The entire afternoon passed quickly. Once again it was time to part, but not without a promise to meet again the next day.

The next few days passed by in a happy fog for Rico. He and Dani met every day and spent the day in different spot throughout the city. The nights were different. Skipper was getting more annoyed and angry that their guy wasn't showing up. They knew, from Recon, that he was in Guatemala City, but he seemed to be lying really low.

Still none of that mattered to Rico. His thought were mostly on Dani. The way she looked. The way she smelled. The way she moved. How her hand felt in his. He blushed every time she called him "amorcito". No one had ever used the word "love" in reference to him.

At night he still sat in the bar; though, the past few nights it was the other bar. But on this night, he was back in the bar where he first met Dani. He wasn't there long, when she showed up. She smiled when she saw him and walked gracefully to his table. But she didn't sit down. Instead she leaned down and whispered, "there's someplace I want to take you." Her lips brushed his. A jolt ran through Rico's body. She took his hand and led him, dazed, out of the bar where she hailed a taxi.

The taxi stopped outside a hotel. Dani got out of the taxi and motioned him to follow her. He followed her into the hotel and up to one of the rooms. As they entered the room, she gave him another kiss. Moving into the bathroom she said, "I'll be just a moment," and shut the bathroom door.

In his hidden earpiece he heard Skipper's voice. "Has he shown up yet?" "Uh un." "Well, let us know the moment he shows up." "Kay." Rico turned off the communication device and pulled the earpiece out. He dropped it into his pocket. Dani came out of the bathroom wearing only a negligee.

When Rico woke a few hours later, he was alone in the room. Dani was gone, along with all his clothes.