A/N -- Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Elena just lay in his arms as she could feel Danny drifting off the sleep. Her mind was racing and she didn't know what to do. Everything inside of her felt conflicted, so much so that she couldn't help but start crying. First, the tears quietly rolled from her eyes, then the dam broke so that she couldn't control her body as it shook with emotion.

Realizing that she couldn't stop crying, she tried to gently ease herself out of his arms. However, as soon as she started to move, he took hold of her hand.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked, voice sleepy, but concerned.

Shaking her head, she kept her face turned away from him. "Nothing, I—"

Hearing the emotion in her tone, Danny leaned up and gently pulled her back to the pillow so he could see her. Seeing the tears streaming down her face, he frowned as he searched her eyes. "What…what did I do? Did I—"

"No, no, it's not you," she said, reaching up to touch his cheek. "It's not you," she said as she tried to turn away from him.

"Elena, Elena, don't…don't worry, okay?" he said with desperation in his tone. "I know that you don't want anything more than this. I got it. You've made it really clear. I'm not expecting you to fall—"

Turning on her side again so that she wouldn't have to see his face, she cut him off. "I hate how I've made you feel. I hate what I've done to you…and to Sophie. I did it out of fear and I don't want to be afraid anymore. I can't…I can't live like this anymore," she sobbed.

"What fear? What are you afraid of?" he asked as he rubbed arm gently.

Sniffing, Elena wiped her eyes. "Carlos…Carlos threatened you and your family."

Pulling her back so that he could see her face. "He threatened my family? What do you mean threatened them?" he asked, voice still concerned but also laced with anger.

"He saw us together, when you spent the night at my apartment. It sent him over the edge. I tried to go through the family court to get them to make it so he couldn't watch my apartment, but I just ended up making things worse. When I saw him there, he told me that he hoped your brother would make it to his parole and that you would be devastated if something happened to him."

"Christ," Danny muttered as he rolled onto his back, suddenly overcome with worry for his brother who would be defenseless in prison.

"Don't…don't worry," she said as she propped herself up on the pillow to face him. "Martin helped me check on Rafael. He talked to the warden and warned him that Rafael could be in trouble"

"You told Martin?" Danny asked in a surprised tone.

"I…I didn't want to tell him. He caught me looking at Rafael's file. He was going to tell you about it, and then I explained what was going on. He pleaded with me to tell you, but--"

"But instead, you ended things with me," he finished, remembering the conversation in the stairwell when she said she didn't love him.

"I thought it was the only way. I still think it might be the only way as long as Carlos is out there."

Danny took a deep breath as he tried to process what she was telling him. He'd been through the wringer the last few days all because she'd been trying to protect his family. "There has to be something we can do to keep everyone safe. Maybe…maybe I should talk to Carlos."

Rolling her eyes, Elena ran a hand through her still damp hair. "You didn't see him that day. In his mind, the reason why Sophie and I aren't with him anymore is because of you. If I can't be with him, then he doesn't want me with anyone. He doesn't see you as an old friend. He just sees you as a threat."

Turning towards her, he put his hand on her cheek and then let his fingers tuck her hair behind her ear. "Let's take Carlos out of the equation—"

"We can't—"

Nodding his head, he shrugged. "I know…I know we really can't, but let's just say we're still in the fairytale land that you described to Sophie," he said with a smile. "And we didn't have to worry about crazy ex-boyfriends."

This made Elena smile as well as she took hold of his hand and intertwined their fingers. "Okay…"

"Where would we be right now? I mean, I mean…how would—"

Leaning towards him, she interrupted him with a kiss. As she pressed herself against him, he rolled on his back and pulled her on top of him as the kissed deepened between them.

Finding what little willpower he had left, he put his hand against her cheek and then slowly parted his lips from hers. Caressing her face, he just kept searching her eyes – terrified of her answer.

Giving him a small smile, Elena relaxed against his chest, tucking her head between his neck and shoulder. "That morning, in the stairwell, that was the hardest thing I've had to do in a really long time, but I thought I was doing what was for the best for everyone."

Stroking her hair, Danny responded, "I understand that, but—"

"It was especially hard because I never expected to hear you tell me that you loved me. I just didn't realize we had gotten to that point, but honestly, my focus had been on Sophie so I probably just wasn't paying attention. I—"

"Look, I never expected you to feel the same way. I know that you have higher priorities than some fledgling on-again, off-again relationship. But I just needed you to know—"

"Danny, Danny," she said as she leaned up so she could look in his eyes. "I'm glad you told me. I mean, now I'm glad you told me. For the last few days, it's given me a lot to think about. I put walls up with you because of what I knew about you in the past, because we work together, and because of Carlos. Knowing how you feel about me, and knowing how very much you care about Sophie has made it impossible for me not to…not to…well, not to fall completely in love with you. The last few days have been torture knowing that I'd hurt you so much. When you told me you loved me and you wanted us to grow into a family, I was overwhelmed. But now I know it's what I want more than anything."

Inhaling deeply, Danny smiled even before opening his eyes. She was still nestled safely in his arms, her back against his chest…his long limbs practically enveloping her. They'd spent the better part of the night talking. When they weren't talking, they didn't waste time sleeping. Instead, Danny took the time to practically memorize every inch of her body. After talking about their situation, they both became painfully aware that this would be the last night they could spend together for a while. They'd both agreed that they had to find a way to deal with Carlos before going further and before getting Sophie's hopes up again.

After coming to that decision, they decided to ignore the problem for one more night and just enjoy their final hours at Cherry Hill.

While Danny knew he should feel exhausted, he couldn't help but feel like a weight had been lifted as he enjoyed holding Elena a few minutes longer. Glancing at the clock on the nightstand, Danny sighed. As much as he wanted to wake her up, he knew that they still had work to do. It was almost 6:30 a.m. It had been twelve hours since their suspect had been stabilized. Since the hospital would have called had he woken up, it was safe to assume that the doctor would be getting their suspect ready for transport.

Slowly and with great hesitation, Danny moved away from Elena and slipped out of bed. After getting his cell phone from the nightstand, he then grabbed his clothes from the closet and went into the bathroom.

The almost intoxicating aroma gently assaulted her senses. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw the steaming cup of the coffee on the nightstand. Then she felt his lips on her neck as his hand snaked around her waist.

"Morning, baby," Danny whispered.

Turning on her back to face him, Elena frowned when she saw that he was already dressed in his undershirt and pants. "You're already dressed?" she asked as she tried to sit up. "You should have woken me up, mi amor. The case—"

Taking a hold of her arms, Danny gently pushed her back on the pillow and pinned her arms to either side of her head.

Making a few half-hearted attempts to move him, Elena rolled her eyes. "Danny…we have work!"

Smiling, Danny laid a few kisses on her neck and shoulder. "I'm on it. The hospital is getting the suspect ready for the Medivac. He's still a vegetable, by the way," he said before kissing her on the lips.

Enjoying the feeling of him being above her, Elena indulged in the kiss for a moment before pulling away and pretending to struggle against his grasp. "What about the missing person? What about checking in with Jack and going back to work?"

"I told you, I'm on it. I already checked in and Jack says they have a lead on finding our guy. It seems Wilson rented a storage unit somewhere in Queens. Martin and Viv are checking it out this morning. As for going back, we'll hitch a ride on the Medivac to make sure Wilson gets back without any problem. Then we'll head back to the office to see what else we can do because we aren't getting anything out of Wilson while he's in brain surgery."

Nodding, Elena smiled. "You've thought of everything."

"You have no idea. I even had Brenda bring up breakfast," he said, nodding to the sitting room. "She was right, by the way—"

Frowning, Elena asked, "Right about what?"

"Couples that use this room never want to leave it," he said as he nuzzled her neck and finally let go of her wrists.

"Mmmmm," Elena moaned, wrapping her arms around him as she felt his breath on her neck and his clothed body against her bare skin. "What if we never left?"

Looking up at her, Danny gave her a confused glance. "What do you mean? Never leave?"

"That's not exactly what I mean. I mean, what if we could just go home, pack Sophie up and then come back here…or a place like this? Somewhere where Carlos could never find us."

Raising his eyebrows, he considered her words. "Speaking from experience, there is merit to running away and starting over. But trust me, it never solves all your problems; and for better or worse, you usually can't stay lost forever."

"I know. And it would be so hard to leave our families and put Sophie through that, but I'd do it if it meant the three of us could be together."

Danny smiled still not completely believing how much had changed in the last twelve hours. "We're going to work it all out. Trust me," he said as he planted a small kiss on the tip of her nose.

"I do," she said as she giggled in happiness. "As much as I want to stay like this, I should really get dressed."

Groaning, Danny rolled away from her. "You're right, but for the record, there's nothing hotter than seeing you like this in a heart-shaped bed."

Elena laughed as she sat up and put a robe around her naked body. "I thought these beds were only in the movies."

"I'm thinking about finding one for my place," Danny said as he got up and grabbed his dress shirt from the chair. "We could just imagine we're at Cherry Hill every time we—"

Still laughing, Elena walked toward the bathroom with her coffee in hand. "Oh no, it's not Cherry Hill unless we have Brenda and apple butter and fried steak and gorgeous mountain views. We'll just have to come back."

"Yeah, we will," Danny said as his smile faded, realizing that would be easier said than done.

Elena's smiled turned sad as she turned into the bathroom and shut the door.

"I think Brenda figured us out," Danny said in Elena's ear as they sat in the Medivac chopper waiting to take off.

Elena nodded, "She told me I was a lucky girl when I hugged her goodbye."

"What do you think gave us away?"

Smiling, Elena shrugged. "Hopefully, it wasn't from guest complaints about noise coming from the honeymoon suite last night."

Danny laughed as they watched the chopper pilot give the okay sign. The doctor and nurse, who were tending to Wilson, had their backs to them, so they see didn't Danny grasp Elena's hand as the helicopter started to rise. And they didn't see the gaze that passed between the two as they flew past the "Virginia is for Lovers" sign.

Less than an hour later, they landed on a helipad at St. Andrew's hospital. Danny and Elena hopped off the helicopter after the others had gotten off. After entering the hospital and making sure that Wilson went straight to surgery, Danny coordinated with an NYPD officer to make sure Wilson was guarded at all times. After finishing that, he met Elena in a deserted waiting room by the emergency room.

"Martin's here at the hospital…somewhere," Elena said as Danny approached. "We can get a ride back with him."

"Why is he here?" Danny asked curiously.

"They just transported our missing person here. He was found in critical condition in that storage unit. Martin's talking to the family right now."

"Well that is good news," Danny responded. "So all that's left is the paper work?"

Elena nodded, "So it seems."

He took a moment to just stare at her.

"What are you looking at?" she asked as she ran her hand over her hair. She'd a hard time taming it that morning because she hadn't dried it before falling into bed with Danny. She could only knot it in a pony tail, but that didn't control the waviness that made it look like bed head.

Shaking his head, he smiled as he leaned into her. "I'm thinking I'm not ready to let you go just yet," he said as he kissed her gently.

Feeling his tongue tease at her lips, she opened her mouth so he could deepen the kiss – his day old stubble feeling good against her cheek. After enjoying the kiss for a few moments, she pulled away as her eyes shifted around the room.

Keeping his forehead pressed against hers, he held her close for a few more moments. "We're going to work everything out. We will," he whispered.

Elena nodded as she felt tears come to her eyes. Knowing she needed to step away before breaking down completely, she put her hands against his chest to put some distance between them. Just as Danny started to back away, they heard a voice call out to them.

"Hey, guys…"

When she heard Martin's voice, she quickly removed her hands from Danny's chest. They both turned towards the door to see Martin entering.

"Hey, man," Danny greeted, sounding normal. "How's Mr. Wentworth?"

"He's stable," Martin said as he looked from Danny to Elena. "Everything go okay on your end?" he asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Elena still wasn't sure she'd be able to speak coherently, so she was glad when Danny continued, "Smooth. Wilson's in surgery, although at this point I'm not so sure he'd want to wake up considering he'll spend the rest of his life in prison."

"Well, Jack said that only one of you needed to come back the office. He just wants to file the complete report before the weekend."

"I'll take care of it," Danny said before giving Elena a chance to respond. "You can go home and pick Sophie up from school just like you told her."

Finally able to contain her emotion, Elena said, "I have plenty of time. I can do the report. It's not—"

"Elena, I got it. You can go home."

"Are you sure?" she asked in a concerned tone. "You were up so early this morning…making Wilson's arrangements—"

"I'm sure. Go home," he said with a gentle smile.

Elena returned the smile. "Thanks," she said quietly.

"Good…that's decided," Martin said in a tone that reminded them both that he was still in the room with them. "We can drop you off—"

"Oh no. I'm in the opposite direction," Elena said as they started to walk out of the waiting room and towards the exit where Martin was parked. "I'll take a cab."

"You sure?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, no problem."

They walked out of the Emergency Room entrance and found Martin's car. Danny whistled and motioned for a cab to come over and then opened the back door for her.

Elena smiled uncomfortably, knowing that Martin was too smart not to read into Danny's attentiveness. "Call me if you need any help with the report. You can always e-mail me at home."

"Okay," Danny said as he traced his fingers over hers as they rested on top of the cab door.

"Bye," she said quietly and then in a louder tone said, "See you Monday, Martin.'

"Have a good weekend," Martin said as he got into the driver's side of the car and then watched as Danny watched the cab pull away.

Moments later, Danny climbed into the passenger side. He took a deep breath and let it out as he put on his sunglasses and then let his head fall back against the headrest.

"So…what's Paris, Virginia like?" Martin asked with a slight smirk as he pulled out into traffic.

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