Liz POV

I made it through the lunch hour on autopilot.

I couldn't wrap my brain around the fact that Danny was alive, and even more troubling, I couldn't understand why Mike was so sure that it spelled disaster for the two of us.

So what if Danny's not dead?

I mean, good, he's not dead.

That's great.

Great for his boys, and for the people who love him.

I'm just not one of those people.

So while I'm thrilled to death that he's one less person in the book of people I know who've crossed to the other side, it doesn't change anything about my relationship with Mike.

The really strange thing is that Alex said Danny wanted me back.

Where'd he get that idea from?

He wasn't worried about me before, even when we were dating, so why the sudden change of heart?

At the end of our lunch hour, I kissed Mike goodbye – a purposeful, emotional kiss meant to reassure him – and then I went back to the morgue.

I knew that at some point, Danny would likely stop by.

But I wasn't expecting him to be lurking in the hallway waiting for me.

"You look even more beautiful than I remembered."

I stopped in my tracks and took in the sight of him.

He looked exactly as I remembered him.

Except maybe a little older…a little more gray in his hair.

"And you're not surprised to see me. I guess Eames let the cat out of the bag. Are you friends with her now or something?"

"It's Captain Eames," I said, his seemingly intentional avoidance of using her title serving to annoy me. "And yes, she and I are friends."

"You're not the least bit happy to see me? To know that I'm alive?"

"Knowing that a year ago would've been nice," I said, and then I let out a sigh and took a step closer to him. "But yes, I'm happy to see you. I'm glad you're okay."

At my words, he approached me and then held out his arms, and I had to give him a hug.

And I mean had to because like I said…I was glad that to see that he's alive.

"I don't get it, though," I admitted as I stepped back from him, wanting to put distance between us again.

"Don't get what?"

"I saw you. I was there that night."

"I warned them you'd be the hardest to fool," he said with a wry smile. Then he moved closer to me, and to my surprise, he reached out his hand and touched my cheek. "I heard that you cried for me."

"Cried?" I repeated incredulously. "You were shot down in cold blood. Or at least, that's what we thought. Of course I cried."

I backed up again, to escape his touch, and he looked at me curiously.

"You know, I've been gone for a year. And do you know what I thought about the whole time? Getting back to you."

"But…why? We weren't together anymore."

"I had time to think, Liz. About all of the mistakes I made when I was with you, and I realized that you're the best thing that ever happened to me. And now I'm back. And I want you back. I'll make it right this time, I promise."

"It's too late," I said, moving past him so that I could go into the autopsy suite.

"Don't say that," he said as he followed me inside. "Liz…"

I turned around to hit the light switch and he was right there and then suddenly he was kissing me.

I was so shocked that it took me a second or two to react, but then I brought my hands up to his chest and shoved him away.

"Danny…you don't get it. It's too late. I'm with someone now."

"Oh, I get it. You need time to think about it, and to explain the situation to him," he said easily. "I understand. I mean, I've been gone a long time, and you're a beautiful woman…."

"Stop saying that!" I interrupted, raising my voice and then quickly dropping it again when an assistant came into the autopsy suite through the side door. "There's nothing to explain. I'm happy with my life. I don't want to change it."

"You shouldn't settle for second best. You and me…we were good together, Liz."

"No, we weren't," I said roughly, and then I turned around and hoped that if I ignored him long enough, he'd go away.

Where had this attitude come from?

I mean, he was always a little condescending, but now he had this seriously overblown ego, like he just couldn't fathom why I wouldn't want to be with him.

Well, I could.

Two words.

Mike Logan.

No, actually it's not even about Mike. I wouldn't want to get back with Danny anyway. I could never trust him, and he always made me feel like I should be grateful to be with him.

Mike has shown me that it doesn't have to be like that.

"Looks like you're pretty busy down here," he commented as I gloved up and went back to work.

"Some things never change."

"So, Eames told me that she was partly responsible for Hassan," he stated, his tone suggesting that he didn't really believe it. "Something about her and Goren going undercover?"

I dropped my hands down to the table and stared at him hard.

"You know, you make it really hard for people to like you."

"What? Why?"

"You don't even care what everyone else went through. I understand that you've probably had a difficult year. You had to let everyone who loves you think that you're dead…you had to live in a new city, probably take on a new name…"

"I can't talk about it."

"I'm not asking you to!" I yelled in annoyance. "All I'm saying is that it's not all about you, okay? Your former detectives, good hard-working people who you routinely treated like crap, put their lives on hold for you. And you don't even care enough about that to say thank you…or gee, I didn't consider what you did for me…or even congratulate Alex for the fact that she's become the new star of the NYPD. Come on, Danny, don't you care about these people at all?"

"I care about you. And I'll tell them thank you. I just…today was strange, and Eames got so ticked, and…"

"And you got mad because she didn't throw her arms around you and give you the keys to the captain's office," I finished for him.

He sighed and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, so I went back to searching the body for trace evidence.

I was making a third pass on the victims in Bobby and Mike's case, in hopes of finding…something.

"It didn't occur to me that she was the captain of Major Case," he said after a minute.

"You don't watch the news?"

"Normally, yes, but I haven't recently. The past few days have been kind of busy, what with me being released back into the wild and all," he said jokingly. "Why?"

"She's been doing daily press conferences. She's pretty damn good, too, so you might want to beef up your resume because I'm not sure if Major Case has an opening."

"Hey," he said softly. "I understand if she's your friend that you want to protect her…"

"She is my friend. And it's not only about protection. It's just a fact. She's the best captain that department has seen since…Deakins, probably."

"Thank you," he said sardonically. "I appreciate that. You know, I never thought I'd have to work so hard to win you over."

"You thought I'd just be down here in my cave, thrilled that you decided you want to try to win my love, even though when we dated before you couldn't keep your pants zipped or your ego checked at the door?"

"Don't hold back, Liz. Say what you mean."

"Look, I'm not trying to pull punches. I'm just trying to be honest."

"One of your finer qualities."

"And the truth is that I'm in love with someone, and we're in a committed relationship."

"Committed? Like you're going to get married?"

"No, but we might as well be."

He held my gaze and nodded thoughtfully.

"Okay. Can I ask who? Is it someone I know?"

"It's Mike Logan."

I'm not sure what I expected, but laughter wasn't it.

"I see you haven't lost your sense of humor," he managed to say. "You almost had me there, Liz. Mike Logan…that's classic."

"I'm serious."

"Uh huh," he replied, still chuckling as he walked around the table to where I stood. He leaned in close and said, "I didn't know you were the type to play hard to get, but I'm game."

He brought his lips close to mine, as though he was going to kiss me again, and I brought my hand, the one holding the scalpel, up in between us.

"Uh uh," I said. "It's not a joke. And it's not a game. And you really need to take a step back."

He held his hands up in supplication and moved back a few feet.

"Mike Logan," he said as he shook his head. "Really? Did I hurt you so badly that you had to settle for someone like him? Talk about your cheating, self-centered…"

"Get out," I said forcefully.

"What?"

"Out. Now. I mean it."

"Liz…"

"You're burning all your bridges, Danny. Behind you…in front of you…keep it up and you might end up wishing you were back in witness protection."

"Because I insulted your boyfriend?" he asked mockingly.

"Because you're not the head dick around here anymore. And things aren't run like they used to be. Right now the name of the game is respect and loyalty and you haven't shown that you even know what those words mean, much less know how to exhibit the qualities. If you think you're going to slide back into the NYPD, you better rethink your plan of attack, because this entitled bullshit you've been playing today isn't working."

He stood there, staring at me for a long moment, and then he smiled.

"I really like your spunk, Liz. And I get your point. Maybe I've been a little too pushy."

"That's one word for it."

"And you're dating Logan."

"I am, yes."

"Okay, well…good for you. Even better for him."

He reached out and touched my cheek again and said, "I'll be seeing you soon. You really do look gorgeous."

I couldn't resist another jab after his derogatory remarks about Mike, so I put on a fake smile and said, "Thanks - great sex does that to a woman."

His smile faded quickly, and he dropped his hand and turned to leave.

"Danny," I called out, feeling a little guilty about this less-than-successful reunion. "You just need to ease up and let people get used to the idea that you're back, okay?"

"Even you?"

"We can be friends," I agreed. "If you rethink your steamrolling attitude. But I'm friends with Captain Eames first. And Detective Goren."

"Goren, too?"

"Of course. He and Mike are partners. They're best friends."

He rolled his eyes and looked at me with a pained expression.

"And," I added. "Goren stood up for you, he and Eames both. You need to pull the case file on Hassan. I think it'll be an eye-opening bit of bedtime reading for you. You have no idea what they sacrificed for you. Mike, too. And Captain Maas. They all went to bat for you, and let's be honest…you didn't really give Goren a reason to want to do that, did you? I mean, none of them, but especially him."

He looked as though maybe my words were sinking in with him and then he said goodbye.

I let out a long breath after he left, grateful to be alone again.

I was practically shaking.

I pulled out my phone and sent Mike a text.

I LOVE YOU.

I figured that was really all that needed to be said right now.

He knew I'd be talking with Danny, but I didn't need to get into details.

Not just yet anyway.

He's working, and I'm working, so…yeah.

I also wasn't going to tell him about that kiss just yet, either. I mean, it had been a surprise, and it'd been mostly innocent, but it certainly wasn't the kind of thing I was going to mention in a text.

I really didn't want to mention it at all because I had visions of Mike reinjuring his hand by plastering it against Danny's face.

But I had to tell him because I wasn't going to keep secrets from him.

My phone buzzed just as I started to glove up again.

I expected it to be a reply from Mike, but it was actually a call from Alex.

"I'm fine," I said when I answered.

"He was there?"

"Come and gone."

"And?"

"Can we talk about it tonight?"

"Yeah. But you're okay?"

"Mostly, yeah."

"Okay, good, because this isn't just a social call."

"Don't tell me it's another young girl."

"Um…"

I sighed heavily and said, "Okay, where?"

"This one's back at Corlears."

"A repeat dump site?" I asked in surprise.

"And another daylighter. I sure would like to get ahead of this guy."

"Have you called Goren and Logan?"

"Uh huh. They're leaving SoHo now, so they'll meet you there."

TBC...