No one would have ever had guessed it, but Danny had been nervous, so nervous that he'd almost gotten on the wrong subway train on the way to the interview. So nervous that he'd had to stop in the men's room before the interview to splash cold water on his face because he had been certain that he was going to be sick. Not that he'd had the stomach to eat anything all day.

It wasn't the job or not thinking he could do the job that had made him nervous. Even though he'd struggled to get through law school because he partied too hard, he had excelled at it. He knew he'd be good in the courtroom. He knew he'd be good at interpreting the law, since he'd been doing it as an FBI agent for years. None of that made him nervous.

It had been the high-rise office building and all the important-looking people in $2000 suits. It had been that nagging voice inside that kept reminding him of the person he used to be…and where he came from. Danny Alvarez would never get an interview for a job like this. Hell, Danny Alvarez probably couldn't even get into the door of the building. And if Danny was really honest with himself, he knew that he only got an interview at all because of Martin.

Yet as he sat in the interview with two of the law firm partners and three senior associates, he gained more and more confidence with each question he answered. Pretty soon, the nauseous, nervous feeling was replaced with his easy-going, charming demeanor. He answered the questions seriously, but also added a bit of humor when it felt right. By the end of the interview, he was kicking himself for suffering through the day as a nervous wreck.

"Very impressive, Danny. I could tell the partners really liked you," Camille said as she escorted him to the elevators.

Danny smiled as he glanced her way. "They made it really easy. I really like the way you guys handle things here."

"Well, now the hard part begins. The partners are notorious for taking forever to make a decision, but you did great in the interview. I'll keep you posted," Camille said as she held out her hand.

Shaking her hand, Danny replied. "Thank you so much. This would have been much harder without your help."

"Martin spoke really highly of you and, after meeting you, I understand why," she said as Danny stepped on the elevator. "Tell him that I will get in touch with him soon. With as infrequently as we see each other, you'd never guess we live in the same city."

"I will. Take care, Camille," Danny said as the doors closed. Taking a deep breath, Danny leaned back against the wall of the elevator as all the tension left his shoulders. This could be a life-changing experience, he thought, in more ways than just changing careers.

"Tell me something, Danny, how would you feel about working out of a different office?"

Danny was taken off guard by the question. The senior partner had been asking him about the type of law he was interested in practicing. The firm wanted him to work on their criminal cases, but also wanted to know if he would be interested in other types of law. He'd told them that he completely understood them wanting his expertise on criminal cases, but ultimately he'd like to get into civil litigation or family law. They seemed very receptive to his plan, but then they opened a whole other can of worms with the 'different office' question.

"I'm sorry, sir. Another location?" Danny asked.

Camille interjected. "We have offices in San Francisco, Boston and Miami. Sometimes, we'll ask associates to put in some time in those locations. Many times, the associates love it so much that they want to stay. But there are some that can't wait to get back to New York."

Danny smiled. "Well, I honestly hadn't thought about moving," he said as the wheels started to turn in his brain. Maybe this was the answer. Elena had said that she wanted to pack Sophie up and leave so that Carlos couldn't find them. Maybe she and Sophie would go with him. "But now that you mention it, I'd see it as a great opportunity…a challenge. Don't get me wrong. I love this city, but I could definitely see myself going to any one of those places."

The senior partner's eyes lit up at Danny's enthusiasm. "Good. Very good."

As Danny walked out of the building, he suddenly felt more optimistic than he had in weeks. Maybe things would finally come together for him, Elena and Sophie.

Walking down the steps of the closest subway station, Danny pulled out his cell phone and turned it on. He'd told Jack about the interview, so he wasn't expecting messages about work. However, as he checked the display he noticed that there were two voicemails. Anxious to catch the next train, he hurried through the turnstile. He made the train, but had to wait to check the messages until he got off the subway.

Four stops later, he got off the train and hurried up the steps to the sidewalk. Dialing his voicemail, he listened to the messages.

"Hey, it's me. You probably won't get this before the interview, but I wanted to wish you good luck again. You'll do great. And I also wanted to tell you that Sophie's counselor thinks Carlos is ready to talk to Sophie this afternoon. So I'm bringing Sophie to her office after work…just in case you don't hear from me. I'll be thinking of you, mi amor."

Danny checked his watch. The interview had gone much longer than he thought it would, so it was almost 6 p.m. Elena and Sophie were probably with the counselor right now. Turning the corner, Danny approached his building as he advanced to the next voicemail.

"Danny!" Elena started in a frantic tone. "Call me…as soon as you get this. Carlos---"

"Hey, Danny boy!"

Looking up, Danny didn't hear the rest of the message. Instead, he stopped in his tracks when he saw that Carlos was sitting on the front steps of his apartment building.

"Hey," Danny replied cautiously as he put his phone in his pocket. On instinct, his hand grazed his right hip to check for his gun before he realized that he'd left his gun in his office drawer since he was going to the interview. "What're you doing here?"

Standing up, Carlos casually stretched as if he'd been sitting there a long time. "Well, I figure you and me have a few things to talk about, amigo. You and me…we really haven't gotten a chance to hash things out…and I think it's about time we do."

Shaking his head, Danny ran his hand over his chin as he shrugged. "What the hell do we have to talk about? You wanted me out of Elena's life, and I'm out. It's done…over," he said in as convincing a tone as he could muster.

"Yeah, I heard about that. So sad," Carlos replied with a sinister smile. "But see, even though you say you're out…and she says you're out, I still have to hear about your sorry, back-stabbing ass every chance I get."

Danny frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about, man."

"No? You don't know?" Carlos replied, shaking his head. "Well let me enlighten you…I go today to try to make things right with my little girl and…and…once again, you're right there."

Carlos sat at a table with Sophie and Andrea, her counselor, while Elena and the mediator sat on a sofa behind Sophie. Very slowly, Andrea started to draw Sophie out of her shell of fear from being in Carlos's presence.

"Sophie, you're safe here," Andrea said in a calming tone. "Your mom is here. I'm here. Nothing bad can happen to you. And your dad, he really wants to talk to you. He really wants you to understand what he was going through a few months ago."

Sophie shrugged as she continued to look at her hands.

Carlos sighed and started to speak when Andrea held up her hand to stop him.

"Sophie, honey, we aren't going to do anything that you aren't ready for," Andrea continued. "A few days ago, you told me that you might want to hear what your dad has to say. Is that still true?"

Sophie nodded as she looked at Andrea, but still didn't make eye contact with Carlos.

"Okay," Andrea said. "Then we're going to listen to him, okay?"

Very hesitantly, Sophie turned so that she was facing Carlos. He gave her a small, non-threatening smile.

"Sophita, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that I scared you. I'm sorry that I scared your mom. I would never hurt either one of you. What I did…when I took you away from your mom…that was wrong. And it will never happen again. Do you understand, baby?"

Sophie nodded as her eyes filled with tears.

"It wasn't your fault. I was angry with your mom and I made a big mistake."

"You've made mistakes before, haven't you Sophie?" Andrea asked in a soothing tone.

Sophie nodded.

"You've done things without thinking first and gotten into trouble? Yes?" Andrea asked again.

"Uh-huh," Sophie replied quietly.

"What do you do when you do something wrong?" she asked, gently.

"Say I'm sorry," Sophie answered, her tone barely audible.

"That's right. When people say they're sorry, we do our best to forgive them. Right, Sophie?"

Sophie nodded again as she looked at Carlos. "I'll try to forgive you, Daddy, but you scared us," she said as she turned and looked at Elena who was doing her best not to cry.

"I'm so sorry I scared you, baby. I didn't mean to. I swear I didn't. And you don't have to forgive me today, but I just want to make sure that you don't feel guilty or scared. None of this was your fault. You understand?" Carlos asked.

Sophie nodded. "I understand."

"Good, good, baby," Carlos replied. "I just want to be a little part of your life again. Just maybe visit you every once in a while, if that's okay."

Sophie sighed uneasily as she looked back at Elena again as if asking her mother what she thought.

"Sophie, honey, its okay if you want to spend time with your dad. We can make sure your safe and we can take things slow," Elena responded to Sophie's silent question.

Sophie looked back at her counselor and then at Carlos. "What about Danny?" she asked in almost a whisper.

Carlos's eyes narrowed as he quickly glanced at Elena. Trying to keep himself under control, he looked back at Sophie. "What about him, sweetheart?"

"Will you get mad again if he's with mommy?"

Elena interjected. "Sophie, baby, we talked about this. Danny's not—"

"Danny's not with us anymore because of you," she said, looking at Carlos with wide, innocent eyes. "Mommy's afraid to be with him because it will make you angry again. But we love—"

"Sophie—" Elena interrupted sternly. "We talked about this. He's not—"

"No, no, Elena, it's okay. It's okay," Carlos said as he kept his eyes focused on Sophie's. "You know what, Sophie? If Danny makes your mom happy, then I'll be okay with that."

"You will?" Sophie asked in a hopeful tone.

"Absolutamente!"

"Something tells me you were saying that just for Sophie's and her counselor's benefit," Danny said in a sarcastic tone.

Carlos laughed as he stepped toward Danny. "You better believe it was just for their benefit because there's no way in hell I'll let you be in my daughter's life."

Smirking, Danny didn't back down as he took a step toward Carlos as well. "That sounds a little like a threat. Are…are you threatening me?"

Shaking his head as he raised his hands, Carlos took a step back. "Threaten a federal agent? No way, man. I'm just saying, Elena was on the right track when she dumped you. So keep it that way, amigo."

"Or what?" Danny asked, taking a step towards Carlos…daring him to make a move.

"You don't want to want find that out, man. I know people who know people who know people…," Carlos said as he raised his hand to hail a cab over. "Just stay away from them and everyone will be happy. You're a young, good-looking hombre, man. Don't forget, I remember how you used to operate. You could go out tonight and hook up with any senorita you wanted. Focus on that and stay the hell away from Elena and Sophie," he said as he opened the cab door and slid inside. "My daughter doesn't need another father. I'm her father. The sooner she forgets about you, the better."

Danny watched as Carlos shut the cab door as it pulled away. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head as he started up the stairs. As he opened the door to the building, he heard a car door open. Looking around, he was surprised to say the least.

"Thank God, you're here," Elena said as she crossed the sidewalk and up the steps.

Checking down the street, Danny made sure that Carlos's cab had been out of sight. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked as she stopped in front of him. "You shouldn't be here."

Elena laid her palm on his chest. "I was worried when you didn't call me back. Danny…Carlos…Sophie said something during the session…something about you. It made him so angry."

Danny's first instinct was to tell Elena that Carlos had just left, but then he decided against it. There was no reason to add to her worries. "What made him angry?" he asked, not letting on that he already knew the whole story.

Taking a deep breath, Elena relayed the events that had occurred during the session as Danny led her up to his apartment. As he let her in, she finished, "He covered really well, but I could see the anger in his eyes. After the session ended, the counselor took Sophie out of the room and he looked at me like I was the enemy. I never thought about her bringing you up like that. I shouldn't have agreed—"

"But everything else went okay, right? I mean, as far as Sophie's concerned, she's better?" he asked as he guided her over to the sofa.

Elena nodded as she took a seat and then watched as Danny took off his jacket and loosened his tie before sitting down next to her. "Much better. It was like this weight was lifted from her. She's ready to forgive him, but Danny, I don't know how I can ever let her see him if he's going to keep threatening us."

Putting his arm around her, he pulled her close so that her head rested on his chest. "Where is Sophie now?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"I haven't let her out of my sight in months, so she begged me to go to her cousin's to spend the night. My brother will watch out for her. Besides, I really hope that Carlos meant what he said today when he said he wouldn't try to take her again. We can handle this, if it's just about us. I just don't want it to be about her again."

Danny nodded in agreement as he stroked her hair. "It's like we take one step forward and two steps back."

They sat like that in silence for several minutes. And then Elena remembered. Taking his hand, she asked, "How did the interview go?"

Smiling wryly, he rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "I almost forgot about that. It went well, really well."

"What was it like? Tell me—"

Leaning forward, Danny kissed her forehead and then her lips before saying, "I'll tell you about it later. You're here now. Sophie's safe. Let's make the most of it until we have to face reality again." And then he kissed her again as he slowly pulled her into his lap.

Truthfully, he just didn't want to talk anymore. He'd just lied to her and he wasn't even sure why. Of course, he hadn't wanted to add to her worries, but he'd also come to realization that he was going to have to handle this himself, one way or another. And there was really only one person he knew that could help him do what needed to be done.

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