AHHH ! sorry, i suck at editing this before i post; sorry for the confusion !

yes, i know, its TUESDAY, not Wednesday, but i feel bad that ive been getting these up so late on Wednesday nights that i thought i'd post this chapter a day early. besides, i'm anxious to get the chapter AFTER this one up, so maybe you wont have to wait as long for the next one
i cant really say anything in this without spoiling all the fun, sooo happy reading !
as always, i love all of you for reading and reviewing; you totally make my days

enjoy ! (:
--mtc.

Chapter 20

It had been two weeks since he had last spoken to his daughter.

In his own words, that translated to two weeks of absolute misery. He tried to put it out of his mind, tried to focus on everything and anything else, but he just couldn't. Since the day that little girl had entered his life, nothing else in the world had mattered. He would do anything in his power to make her safe and happy, but now, he wasn't sure what to do anymore. He hadn't seen her pretty smile in what seemed like a century; the smile that would light up his world in the darkest of days, the one that would make him laugh when he wanted to curl up and cry. Her giggles that sounded better to him than any music playing on the radio, the way held her tiny little hand seemed to fit perfectly in his giant one no matter their difference in size. To say he missed her would be an understatement, it was eating him up inside.

He knew it was his own fault; of course it was his fault. He had walked out on her, on them, on everyone in his life, and there was nothing he could do to take that back. Since the day he had met his little girl, he thought he could put all of his regrets behind him, but ever since the day she had professed her hatred for him, they had all washed back like a tidal wave, completely drowning himself in the past. There was no way around any of it. He saw her occasionally when Lindsay brought her into work, but the cold stare that seemed like it was permanently etched into her face just made him feel worse inside. How could such a happy little girl look so lost in the world? It pained him to see her hurting so much. To keep the little girl from exploding in a fit of rage, Lindsay and Danny would try to coordinate their schedules around each other, only making his life more of a hell hole. He lived for work; being able to see the love of his life each and every day kept him at least partially sane for the time being. But he cared too much about his little girl to make her feel any worse than she already was. He couldn't go to Lindsay's to see her anymore; obviously Bailey lived there, and that would only make matters a thousand times worse. On days where Lindsay didn't bring her to the lab, they would try to see each other as much as possible, but they both knew that work was their first priority, and for the past two weeks, the crime world seemed to be teaming up against them. They rarely spoke of anything besides their case work, and once they were finished wrapping up the newest murder case, they would either get handed another or would be too tired to do anything else.

In short, his life had been hell for the past two weeks.

He lived on pictures and memories; they were the fuel that kept him going when the days grew long. When he couldn't sleep, he would often daydream about days he and his little girl had spent together, or days he wished they could spend together. Her first day of kindergarten, taking her to a Yankee's game, seeing her throw flower petals down the aisle of a church, sticking her tongue out at him as she approached the alter where he stood waiting. But as soon as he would fall asleep, the nightmares would begin. It was a similar dream to one he had had before: Lindsay and Bailey in Central Park having a picnic, his little girl jumping into his arms to whisper "I love you daddy". But as soon as she was about to whisper those coveted words, things would change. The skies would darken, the ring would disappear from Lindsay's finger, and his little girl would take her mother's hand and storm off, leaving him alone in the rain and the thunder, another man joining them as Danny watched them walk off, a brighter cloud seeming to follow them overhead. He would wake up drenched in sweat and tears, slapping himself to make sure he was awake and that it had all just been a dream. It terrified him to picture losing his girls again. He could have a gun pointed to his head, be facing death in any possible way and not be as scared as he was in those moments when he thought they would be gone from his life forever. That was his ultimate fear. Not natural disasters, not terrorist attacks, not death. Losing Bailey and Lindsay terrified him more than anything in the world.

He wished he could have one chance to talk to the little girl, try to explain himself, to tell her that he loved her more than anything and that he would do anything if she would just forgive him. But the little girl wouldn't have any of it. She refused to have any contact with him, which sent him home some nights crying. Flack tried to help him cope as much as he could, but he knew that in the end, this was Danny's battle, and he had to fight it on his own if he wanted to win it.

Tuesday rolled around, another day that Bailey would be in the lab, and as anxious as Danny was to see her, he was also dreading it. No doubt in the world he loved his little girl, but he hated seeing that look on her face. It wasn't her. His baby girl was hidden somewhere behind that hateful stare, fighting to get out, and he wished he could help her escape. He busied himself with paperwork, knowing that Lindsay would be in eventually to inform him that Bailey was with Flack; they had decided that staying with his was the best situation for all of them. As if right on cue, he could feel her presence lingering in the room and he glanced up to see her tired smile looking back at him. She bent down to place a soft kiss on his lips before he pulled her into his lap to hug her tightly. It had been so long since he had felt her warm embrace; it felt good to have her in his arms again.

"Hey cowboy," she said sadly, trying to be enthusiastic but knowing that she couldn't hide anything from him.

"Hey," he replied, trying to be strong for her. "What's got you down?"

Sighing, she tried to give him an answer without hurting him. "Bailey," she started out. He smiled at the mention of their daughter's name, but it also pained him to hear the hurt in Lindsay's voice. "She's not as happy as she used to be Danny, and it's killing me."

He let out a sigh of his own. "It's my fault." His words were only slightly above a whisper, his muttering causing her to sadden inside. She gently stroked his arm trying to comfort him, but knowing the only thing that could truly make him whole again was to see that little girl smile. Both knowing they had to get back to work, Lindsay removed herself from the comfort of his arms to her own desk across the room, starting on her stack of files. She would glance up occasionally, only adding to her own upset, to see Danny frustratingly attempting work, but knowing that there was only one thing on his mind. She knew all too well that that one thing was not the dead bodies that filled his files.

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Bailey Monroe sat atop her Uncle Flack's desk trying to entertain herself with the Flash coloring book that was sitting open in front of her. Her uncle sat in his office chair, thumbing through files as he attempted to close a case. She watched him intently, figuring that he would eventually catch her stare, but to her dismay he was much too enthralled with the case file sitting in front of him. She sighed dramatically, resting her head in her hands as she checked his reaction. Still, he read through his files, completely oblivious to the fact that she was trying to catch his attention.

"I said 'hmmmmm'," she repeated herself, growing impatient, sighing louder this time. She smiled when she notice his head perk up. Success.

"What's got you down monkey?" he asked her, concern in his eyes.

"Men," she replied with a sigh. At this, he had to chuckle.

"Really?" She nodded in response, egging him to go on. "You got boy troubles at preschool? Someone stealin' your cookie at snack time?"

She rolled her eyes at his petty attempt to joke. "Uncle Flack, I'm being serious," she shot back. "I mean actual men. First Uncle Cameron, now Danny. I don't think I can trust anybody anymore."

He pulled her into his lap, giving her a comforting hug before turning her around so she could face him.

"You can always trust me kiddo, I've always got your back."

"If I had a cookie for every time I've heard that one," she replied, rolling her eyes. He chuckled, but noticed the look of seriousness in her eyes. He had to help her, but he had to think of a way that would carry the least amount of pain for all involved.

"Sweetie, you've gotta trust me on this one, your daddy loves you with all his heart. He never meant to hurt you or your mommy."

"Oh yeah? Then why did he leave? He could have at least sent us a postcard or something."

Flack sighed heavily. "I know he should've, but you've got to understand where he's coming from. Your daddy, he…something really awful happened to him. If you were older, he'd probably explain it more to you, but you're too little to understand how much pain he went through. It's not like he fell off his tricycle and skinned his knee, it was a lot more painful than that."

"Uncle Flack, I'm not a baby, I ride a big girl bike now," she replied. He laughed at her innocence. Here he was trying to help her out, and all she could understand was that he had insulted her by suggesting that she owned a tricycle.

"Alright, I'm sorry, a big boy bike. But it's a lot more complicated than that. Some pretty horrible things happened to your daddy, and he had to go away for a little while. Granted he shouldn't have taken as much time as he did, but he came back for you guys. You know he loves you, you can't deny that, can you?"

She sighed and placed her chin in her hands. "No, I guess not."

"And remember all the fun times you guys had together?"

"I guess you're right," she sighed again, pondering what he was saying.

"See? He's not just some deadbeat, he loves you kiddo. You've gotta give him another chance, he's really hurtin' because you won't talk to him."

"Really?" This peaked her interest.

"Really really."

"Does he cry?" she asked, now seeming interested, making Don chuckle.

"Alright, I'll let you in on a little secret if you promise not to tell anyone." Waiting for her nod of approval, he continued. "He cries himself to sleep kiddo. He's a wreck without you."

She laughed a little at first, but then grew concerned. "He really cries about me? I mean, I know I'm awesome and all, but he really cries?"

"Yup," Flack replied, nodding his head. Bailey's head turned to the side, staring out the window down the hall in the direction of Danny and Lindsay's office.

"So whaddya say? Give him another chance for me?"

"Alright," she sighed. "I'm not saying I'll give him another chance, but if he really does cry, I guess I'll talk to him."

"That's my big girl," Flack said giving her a huge hug. They hopped off the chair and Bailey grabbed his hand; he could feel the fear coursing through her hand as her tiny fingers closed tighter around his own. Squeezing back in reassurance, he started out down the long hallway, Bailey trailing one step behind him the entire way.

They reached the office, a look of concern washing over Lindsay's face as she saw Don Flack grasping the hand of her scared looking little girl, chewing on her fingernails as she entered the quiet room.

"Don, what's wrong?" she asked him quietly, trying not to add any more fear to her daughter.

"Nothin'," he replied calmly. "Little Bailey here wants to talk to Danny. We figured we could find him in here." He craned his neck to find his friend, but a look of disappointment painted his face when he realized the blonde man was nowhere to be seen. The look on Lindsay's face, however, was the happiest it had been in weeks.

"Really sweetie? You wanna talk to Danny?"

The little girl nervously nodded her head, her fingers still hovering outside her mouth.

"He just went to DNA, we might have a break in the Murry case," she replied, more to Don than to the nervous little girl that was currently staring at her feet. "I'm not sure how long he'll be, but you can wait here for him if you'd like."

"I've actually gotta get back to work myself, but I'll leave the little rugrat with you," Don chuckled, the little girl releasing her grasp on his fingers as she padded over to her mother. Lindsay gathered her little girl up in her arms as Bailey buried her head in the crook of her mother's neck. As soon as Don had exited the office and turned the corner, Lindsay sat her little girl on the edge of her desk.

"Baby, if you don't want to do this, you don't have to," she told her little girl, noticing the intense fear in her daughter's eyes.

"I have to," she replied, avoiding her mother's gaze. "He cries at night mommy, Uncle Flack told me so. I have to at least talk to him. I may be mad at him, but I don't want him to cry."

Lindsay sadly smiled at her daughter before pulling her into a tight hug. "You're a very brave little girl, you know that?" Bailey could only nod against her mother's shoulder. After settling the little girl with her coloring book and crayons, Lindsay returned to her files, leaving Bailey to think about what exactly she was going to say to her father. She wanted to think of him as "daddy" instead of Danny, but she was still so lost in all of this. She was far too young to understand any of it, but she would make him explain it so she could understand. She was a big girl; she could take whatever it was he had to say to her.

Hours passed, and still there was no sign of Danny. It was nearing time for Lindsay to be off. Bailey had school in the morning, meaning an earlier bedtime for all, something the little girl was not looking forward to in the least. They were both getting tired of waiting, and as much as Lindsay loved getting ahead on paperwork, it was also her least favorite part of the job.

"Call him," Bailey suggested, not looking up from her coloring book to speak.

"Good idea," Lindsay muttered, more to herself than anything. As she opened her phone to hit his speed dial, she noticed that she had a text; she had been so concentrated on her work that she hadn't noticed that the vibrate had gone off.

Hey Montana, sorry I disappeared for so long, DNA's a bitch. Anyway, I'll probably be in the lab all night, so I guess I'll just see you tomorrow. Give our baby girl a kiss for me when you tuck her in tonight. I love you. D.

A tear fell from her cheek as she read the last two lines of his text message. She gazed over at her little girl who was happily coloring and humming a random tune across the room.

"I'm sorry Bay, Danny's gotta work late. Maybe you can talk to him on Thursday."

She could see the slight disappointment in her daughter's eyes as she looked up from her coloring book to listen to what her mother had to say. Trying to seem unaffected by the news, she shrugged and closed her coloring book, placing the crayons back in the box and packing up her Flash backpack.

"Are we going?"

"Yep, you've still gotta eat dinner and take a bath; you've got school in the morning."

At this news, Bailey rolled her eyes, causing Lindsay to laugh. "Stop protesting, it's only preschool," she reminded her daughter with a chuckle.

"I know, but it's so easy," she replied, exaggerating the "easy" as her mother laughed at her remarks.

"You're just an extremely smart little girl, aren't you?"

"If you say so," she replied, walking ahead of her mother down the familiar hallways that led to the parking garage. Lindsay glanced out the window before exiting the office, watching nasty storm clouds begin to roll in. It was nights like these when she wished Danny was around to take them home and to stay with them through the bad times. Of all the things any normal four year old should fear, Bailey's biggest phobia was storms. Ever since she was an infant, even the simplest of rain clouds irked the small child. The last time there had been a rain storm Danny had been there to distract the little girl until the rainbow crossed the skies outside their apartment. This time, he would be on the opposite side of town, staring out the window watching the rain mirror his own tears as he tried to fall asleep.

Before they had even made it halfway down the hallway, Bailey turned to her mother and informed her that if they didn't find a bathroom now, they were in for one uncomfortable car ride home. Rolling her eyes, Lindsay followed her little girl to the bathroom located conveniently across the hall from DNA. Before she entered, Lindsay caught Bailey's wandering eyes. She stopped as she spotted Danny across the lab; his back was turned and he was intently working on a strand of evidence. She lingered there for a moment before entering the bathroom. Lindsay waited patiently outside for her, watching Danny work. She noticed the fatigue in his move; Don was right, he really wasn't getting any sleep. She sighed as she waited for her little girl, wishing this could all just resolve itself.

Finally exiting the bathroom, Bailey's eyes automatically turned to land on Danny once again. He was still intently perched over a microscope, his glasses pushed up against his forehead as he worked the dials to focus in on his slide. Trying to stall even more, she beckoned for Lindsay to bend down to her level.

"I think I forgot something in Uncle Flack's office."

"Alright, let's go back," Lindsay replied playing along with her daughter's game. As much as she wanted to get home, she wanted exactly what her daughter wanted: to bump into the number one man in their lives. The returned to Flack's office, noticing that Bailey hadn't been lying after all. Her Finding Nemo lunchbox was lying open on top of Flack's desk, a half eaten bag of Cheeto's still inside. Handing the bag of chips to the little girl, Lindsay zipped it closed, threw it in Bailey's backpack, and followed her little girl out the door. Bailey walked in a slower pace, the bag of Cheeto's clutched in her hand as she ate them, slowing her pace even more. She stared into the window of DNA as they passed, growing concerned as she noticed that Danny was gone from the workstation he had previously been occupying. Not watching where she was going, she thudded into a giant figure, sending orange, cheesy puffs flying everywhere as two giant hands steadied her to her feet.

"You okay there kiddo?" an all too familiar voice asked her.

"Danny!" she exclaimed, holding back as she was tempted to fling her arms around his neck. She was still mad at him, but there was no doubt in her mind that she still loved him.

He smiled as he noted the enthusiasm in her voice; maybe he hadn't completely messed everything up after all. "You headin' out?"

"Yeah, I have school in the morning," she replied. "But I have to talk to you, right now."

He quirked an eyebrow at Lindsay who gave him an approving nod, watching as their little girl grabbed his had and pulled him into the nearest office, towards the front of the crime lab. He took a seat in a chair, placing the little girl on top of the desk in front of him. She had a look of determination in her eyes and he could tell that whatever they were about to discuss, she was completely serious.

"Whaddya need kiddo?"

"Well," she began, her eyes wandering. Now that she had him, she wasn't sure it was such a good idea. But she had to go through with it, she knew she did. Hesitantly, she began to speak again. "Danny, do you really cry at night because of me?"

Her question shocked him. Sighing deeply, he responded to her impending question. "Yeah, yeah I do. I think about you everyday kiddo."

"Then why did you leave in the first place?"

Her questions were typical of a four year old: completely straightforward. He had no choice but to give her a straightforward answer. "A very bad man did some terrible things to my family," he started out. "I went away at first because I needed to take care of them. But after that was done, I was still…I was still really upset. This man had done horrible things, and I wanted revenge. So I tried to find him and make him pay for what he did. I didn't want him to hurt anyone else I loved Bailey. I didn't want him to hurt your mommy or you."

"But you didn't even know about me."

"That's true. But I knew one day I would want to start a family with your mommy, and I didn't want him to hurt us. I had to make sure he wouldn't hurt anybody else before I could come back to your mommy. That's why I didn't call her or write to her. I was afraid that the bad man would find out and hurt her. I could never forgive myself if something bad happened to you guys. I love you too much."

"So is he gone for good? Did you take care of him?"

Danny let out a huge sigh. "I tried my best. I tried so hard to find him Bailey, and I finally did. But I couldn't hurt him. I couldn't, because if I did to him what he did to my family, I would be just like him, and I didn't want for that to happen. He's far away now though; that's why I was able to come back. And I found out about you." He reached up and gently stroked her cheek, the little girl blushing at his touch. "Bailey, if anything bad ever happened to you, I would never be able to forgive myself. Do you understand why I had to go now?"

"Kind of," she responded, confusion still written upon her face. "What did he do to your family?"

He hesitated before responding. "Very bad things; things that are unforgivable."

"So why isn't he in jail then?"

"He ran. He wasn't man enough to face what he had done, and he took off," he answered her, trying to control his anger.

"So he's a big old mean scaredy cat?"

Danny chuckled at his daughter's innocence. "Yes, he's a mean old scaredy cat that prevented me from knowing about the most amazing little girl in the world."

She smiled at his comment, knowing that he was telling the truth; she could see it in his eyes.

"You've probably gotta get home though, your mommy's gotta make you dinner and get you ready for bed. She'll have my head if you're not tucked in by eight thirty." He picked the little girl up off the desk and placed her off the floor, relaxing as she grabbed his hand once again. He had missed this, the constant feel of her little heart beating through her touch; it was nice to have her in his life again. They made their way down the hallway towards Lindsay who was waiting with an open elevator to take them to the parking garage. The little girl reluctantly released his hand, stepping back a couple of feet to smile up at him sweetly. A peace offering, he thought to himself. She understood; she wasn't angry at him anymore. They could finally get their lives back on track.

And that's when he saw him.

The man who had wreaked havoc on his life all those years ago; the one who was too much of a coward to face what he had done.

Sonny Sassone was currently staring him down. The cold eyes of the Italian man heated a fire inside of him like no other. The world seemed to move in slow motion. He saw the man raise his hand, the barrel of a gun now staring him down. But it wasn't pointed at him. It was pointed at his little girl. As he heard the shots fired, the only thought that passed in his mind was Bailey. He dove in front of his little girl, her shrill screams being the last thing he heard before his world went dark.

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A/N: yes, yes, i know i'm a bitch; the preview was the last line of the chapter, but hey, i like drama !
trust me, the next chapter will be totally worth it, promise (:

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Next Week in Come Back to Me...

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"Daniel Messer, what the hell are you doing here?"

"...Mom?"

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"Daddy, please don't leave me again." She closed her little fingers around his own and lay her head on his shoulder, her tears falling onto his chest as she silently cried, wishing this was all just a dream.