Trying to suppress his grin, Danny glanced over at Martin while still leaning his head back against the headrest.

"Nothing like small-town life," Danny responded, ever the evasive one.

Shaking his head, Martin smiled. "Well, it looks like you two have gotten past any tension – at least judging by what I just witnessed."

Biting his lip for moment, Danny then sighed as he decided to come clean with Martin. After all, Elena had already involved him, and Danny needed to talk to him about that. "When we got stuck down there, I thought it was going to be torture. She and I haven't been on the best of terms the last couple of days, but ultimately, it gave us a chance to really talk and, you know, get everything out in the open," Danny said, glancing knowingly at Martin. "In fact, I understand that I owe you a thank you."

Martin took a short breath, not expecting to hear that. He wasn't sure how Danny would take him handling the Rafael situation behind his back. "I'm sorry. I…I wanted to tell, but it wasn't my place. The only thing I could do was make a few phone calls to make sure that he was safe. And he is. He's fine. I checked with my contact at the prison yesterday. There have been no issues and he's still on track for parole in the late fall."

"Don't apologize. I'm glad you could help Elena. I just wish she had told me a few days ago, so I could have handled it myself, but she was scared. And I understand that. She was doing what she thought was best."

"So does this mean that you two are back together?" Martin asked.

Danny shrugged. "We're friends and I understand where she's coming from now," he replied quietly, not wanting to tell Martin too much at this point. The less that people knew, the safer everyone would be.

"But it sounds like you had a pretty good time down there?"

"Martin, we were working!" Danny said as he pushed his sunglasses up on his head. "We were on a case. It wasn't a romantic getaway."

"Right," Martin replied as he chuckled. "Have you ever heard Virginia's motto?"

Rolling his eyes, Danny laughed. "Don't say it, man! Give me a break, all right!"

Walking out of the bullpen, Danny approached Jack's office. The last time he'd been in there, he had stormed out. This time, he was hoping to get in and out without any problems.

"Jack," Danny said, poking his head in the door. "I just e-mailed our Virginia report and I have some expense stuff for you to sign," he said as he raised a file folder.

"Come in," Jack said and then motioned to the seat in front of him. "Sit down."

Danny laid the file folder on Jack's desk and then sat down. "Wilson's still in surgery. The doctor in Virginia said that he'd be surprised if he ever regained consciousness."

Jack nodded as he looked over the expense report. "Crime never pays. Mr. Wilson probably now regrets losing his head over Kyle Wentworth's wife."

"Well it definitely looks like he lost his head all right," Danny joked and then shook his head as he smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, bad joke."

Jack laughed in spite of it as he continued to initial through the expenses, until his eyes rested on one specific entry. Without even looking up, he asked gruffly, "So, Cherry Hill, huh?"

"Yeah," Danny replied as he tried his best to shrug nonchalantly. "It was the closest thing to the hospital and the Sheriff insisted that we stay there. The innkeeper wanted to comp the whole thing for us, but I told her the federal government wouldn't be okay with that."

"So that's why she only charged you for one room?" Jack asked in a sarcastic tone, looking up through the top of his glasses.

Danny's stomach almost flipped at the question. "Um, well, it was a two-room suite actually. It was all she had left. But she gave us a discount," Danny said as he motioned to the report.

"I see that," Jack said. "I'm sorry if you guys weren't getting along. I mean, um, Viv told me that you and Elena—"

Danny cut him off. "While she and I are working together, we'll be professional no matter what has happened. That's how it's always been with us and it won't change now."

Jack nodded as he signed the last page. "Fair enough," he said as he handed the forms back to Danny. "Forward those to Accounting, will you?"

"Yeah," Danny said as he started to rise from his seat.

"One more thing," Jack said as he took off his glasses.

Taking a breath, Danny stopped in his tracks – worried that Jack would grill him some more about the night in Virginia.

"I owe you an apology—"

Silently breathing a sigh of relief, Danny cut him off, "No. You really don't—"

"Danny, just…let me get through this, okay?"

Nodding uncomfortably, he sat back down.

"I was unprofessional the other day when I confronted you about the job hunting. You have every right to look for other opportunities and I do remember our conversation when you told me about pursuing a law career. The circumstances, with what had happened with Carlos and us going at it, made me misinterpret the situation. But after really thinking about it and not acting on impulse, I realized that you would never just leave. As much as you may think this is the right decision, I'm sure it's difficult for you to actually go through with it."

Danny's eyes widened in surprised. He'd expected a half-hearted, obligatory apology from Jack, not something this sincere. "You're right. It will be extremely hard for me to go through with this. I can't imagine not working here…with you and everyone else."

Jack nodded. "Well, you don't have to go. If it's about Elena, then I can shift some things around--"

'It's not, I mean, it was, but it's not now. Jack, I haven't exactly figured out what I'm going to do, but I promise you'll be the first to know."

"Okay," Jack responded as he gave Danny a slight nod to let him know they were done.

Danny just smiled slightly as he got up and turned to go out the door.

"So I bet Sophie was thrilled to see you," Danny as he lay in his bed. It was still early, only 9 p.m., but he was already in bed – the activity of the past few days catching up to him. Before completely settling in for the night, he called Elena.

"She was happy because I picked her up early from school," Elena replied while curled up on a chair looking out her bedroom window. "We went to the park and I let her play and eat ice cream. Then on the way home, we did a little shoe shopping."

Danny smiled. "Really? For her or for you?"

"More for me, but Sophie loves to look at all the big girl shoes, so it was fun for both of us."

"Sounds like you had a great time."

"It would have been even better if you had been there," she responded, surprised by the longing in her tone.

Wanting to make her smile, Danny teased, "Well as much I love shopping for big girl shoes—"

Elena laughed. "Not that part, just going to the park, hanging out."

"I know."

"Oh God, Danny, we really miss you," she said, emotion creeping into her voice.

"I miss you, too, baby."

"I was thinking about what you said last night, on the balcony, about doing what the counselor said and letting Sophie hear the truth from Carlos—"

"I said that before I knew that he'd made threats, Elena. He's sounding more and more irrational by the second."

"Yeah, but maybe if he can make things right with Sophie, then he'll lay off this control thing he has with me. I mean, it's worth a shot. Yes?"

Danny shrugged as he sighed. "I don't know. Maybe the better option would be to talk to the D.A. about bringing charges against him, if not for kidnapping then for the illegal activities while he was in Vice."

"Don't you think they would have done that already, if they could?" she asked, sounding frustrated.

"I guess. I just seems like they let him off the hook for an awful lot."

"Tell me about it," she replied sadly. "Let's not talk about him anymore. It gives me a headache."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know, just something happier and less futile."

"Hmmmm…okay," he replied, thinking for a moment before grinning. "I have a question for you."

"Shoot," Elena responded, smiling at the mischievous tone of his voice.

"What are you wearing?" he asked in a low, seductive tone.

Elena giggled. "You're crazy."

"You wanted to talk about something happier. Hearing about what you're wearing or, even better, not wearing would make me much happier."

Elena closed her eyes, her cheeks feeling warm as she imagined him in his bed. From spending time with him there, she had a very clear picture of him wearing only his boxer briefs, if anything at all, with his white bed sheet lazily draped low around his hips – leaving his bare torso and chest exposed. Tingling at the thought, she finally found the desire to play his game. "I'm wearing a light pink—"

"Mommy!" Sophie called out as she knocked on Elena's door.

Elena covered her mouth as she started to laugh.

"Uh-oh…it's like she has radar," Danny teased.

"Hang on a second," Elena said into the phone, still laughing, before turning to Sophie. "What is it baby?"

"Why are you laughing? Who are you talking to?" Sophie asked, her eyes wide and innocent.

Elena knew she couldn't tell her the truth. "Just my friend, Karen, mamita. We're just talking. What do you need?"

"Can I get a drink of water?" Sophie asked.

"Sure. Go get it and I'll be there in a minute to tuck you back in," Elena said as she put the phone back to her ear and waited for Sophie to walk down the hall. "I think that's a sign that I shouldn't even try to play that game."

"Well you definitely shouldn't play it with Karen!" Danny said, still teasing.

"I had to think fast."

"Hey I'm just glad you didn't say another guy's name," he joked.

Elena smiled. "Go to bed, mi amor. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"I can't wait. Sleep well, baby," he replied in a quiet tone.

"Bye."

Danny laid his phone on the nightstand and then reached over to shut off the lamp. Turning on his side, he laid his palm on the other side of the bed. Just twenty-four hours ago, Elena lay in his arms – her back against his bare chest. Closing his eyes to remember, he could still smell the scent of her neck and her hair.

Flipping back on to his back, he opened eyes and stared at the ceiling in frustration. It wasn't fair. He'd wait too long to find this kind of happiness. He'd done everything he could to improve his life so that he could be in place where he almost felt like he deserved someone like Elena. It wasn't fair that he had to be satisfied with late night phone calls and stolen moments together…all because of Carlos.

He had to do something, because he wasn't sure how much longer he could go on like this.

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