Slipping silently into the Tudor style brick house, Angel hoped Danny hadn't moved any of the furniture as she closed the front door and moved in the dark house. Heading down the hallway past the stairs on the left side of the entryway, Angel was about to go into the den on the right when something hard was pressed into the small of her back and a hand roughly grabbed her left arm.
"Take another step and I shoot you." Danny's voice growled in the dark. Inhaling deeply to slow her heart rate, which had sped up as much for attraction as for fright, Angel cursed herself for forgetting that Danny's FBI training made him very alert and allowed him to have a pistol around the house.
"And I thought our separation was amicable...I had no idea you wanted to shoot me, Danny."
His grip pulled her back against him in surprise before he quickly let go, recognizing the voice and sarcasm.
Lights suddenly brightened the hall as Danny hit the switch and the pair blinked trying to adjust their eyes. Crossing his arms over his bare chest, Danny looked completely at ease holding his silver pistol as he stood in only black silk boxers. Dressed in all black from her turtleneck and leather jacket to her jeans and boots, Angel somehow felt stripped under his brown eyed gaze.
"What are you doing here?" Danny demanded, his face showing no emotion or reaction.
Swallowing hard, Angel's mind raced for an excuse to give her waiting husband.
Seeing a frantic look in Angel's blue eyes for a fraction of a second, Danny might doubt seeing it with someone else, but knowing how well Angel hid her emotions, his eyes narrowed and he wondered just what she was frantic about.
"I just wanted to...uh, discuss a piece of furniture I, uh, wanted."
While she spoke, Angel attempted to move toward the front door and frowned as Danny moved to block her way.
"At this time of night?! What piece of furniture?" Danny asked sharply, not believing her for a second.
"The uh...coffee table. You're right...It can wait 'til morning. I was just, you know, up and figured..."
Gulping, Angel smiled weakly.
"I'll go now."
Trying to slip past without touching him, Angel let out a yelp of surprise as Danny's arm snaked around her waist and pulled her against him.
"What's really going on?" He murmured, not letting her look away. The physical attraction of their relationship had never been a problem and as Danny held Angel close, she had to fight to concentrate.
"Nothing's 'going on.' I just...I should go now." She stated thickly, raising her chin stubbornly.
Pausing himself as he felt the urge to run his fingers through her auburn hair, Danny realized what was probably going on. Tightening his hold, his eyes flashed with anger.
"Who called you?" He demanded.
"I beg your pardon?" Angel asked, confused for a moment by the change of subject.
"That's' why you're here, isn't it? Someone called to tell you about our last case. Who was it?! Sam? Viv?"
"I don't know what you mean." Angel replied, her expression set in a look that he recognized and once teasingly called her 'mule impression.'
Pausing to decide how to proceed, Danny thought about kissing her to throw her off guard, but it showed in his expression and Angel bit her lip with concern. Deciding against it, Danny let her go and raked a hand through his black hair.
"Never mind. I'm too tired and emotionally drained to play this with you, amante."
Angel's eyes widened at his unconscious use of the endearment and her guard immediately weakened.
"Someone from the office did call, but I shan't say who. Do you want to...talk about it?"
He wasn't sure he wanted to bring up the emotions involved in this case and its link to his own past, but glancing at Angel and seeing how open and worried she was, Danny found himself nodding in hopes that this might somehow help bring her back.
Sitting on the couch in the den, Danny now in a black robe, they sipped hot tea from blue mugs. Glancing at her husband, Angel wondered how he wasn't freezing as she pulled her jacket closer and slid her bare feet up under her as she listened. The missing person had been a sixteen year old girl named Clare, who had got help in fleeing the State mental institution. She'd had a breakdown to put her there and upon leaving, discovered that she'd accidentally killed her own mother at age ten by knocking her off a second story balcony. Danny's voice deepened with emotion as he told how the FBI missing persons unit had found her on a lake pier planning to kill herself with a knife she'd stolen. Going in alone, he'd talked her out of it by telling how he actually knew what she was going through. His parents had died in a car crash when he was eleven. Hearing his father yelling at his mother again, Danny had yelled for him to stop. His father turned to yell back at him and swerved, crashing. Aware that Danny had blamed himself for their deaths, Angel's eyes filled with tears as her husband began to cry. Always a 'manly man,' Danny had never cried in Angel's memory and she took his mug and her own, setting them on the table before pulling Danny close to her as she would a small boy and letting him cry against her shoulder.
Inhaling deeply as she woke up, Angel started as the room came into focus and she realized it wasn't her apartment bedroom. A beautiful room, it was done in cherry wood and pale blues. The wood on the four poster bed, armoire, dressers and small bedside tables was a dark cherry with silver accents. The walls were a sky blue and matched the comforter and curtains that she and Danny and picked, painted and put together just after getting married. At the moment the bed was a mess and her clothes littered the wood floor that Danny normally kept spotless. Remembering how far she'd gone last night to comfort him and as she was always bluntly honest with herself, just as much because she missed him and knew only he could make her feel whole and needy all at once, Angel flushed with embarrassment. She'd let her barriers down and the punishment of breaking it off again would hurt her probably more than her more 'worldly' husband.
Realizing at that moment that she was alone in the bed, Angel grabbed Danny's robe from the floor near the bed and donned it as she got up and began picking up her clothing trailed across the room.
"Good, you're awake. I didn't want to go without talking to you."
Jerking her head up, Angel saw Danny standing in the doorway and caught her breath. Getting ready to go to the office, he had on a charcoal gray suit with a lavender dress shirt that was still unbuttoned, the matching silk tie hanging untied around his neck.
When she didn't answer like he seemed to expect, Danny continued in a soft voice like he'd use with a scared kidnap victim.
"If I call you at the museum later, can we have lunch?"
"Yes!"
The answer was out before Angel thought about it and she bit her lip, pushing her thick hair off her face. The regret disappeared as Danny's face lit with a smile and he pulled her close, kissing her with demanding passion before pulling away and offering her the use of the house as he headed down the stairs, buttoning his shirt.
She'd had to dig her FBI building pass from out of the bottom of her desk at the Metropolitan Museum and looking at the long line at the Visitor's counter, Angel was thankful, knowing she'd probably chicken out if she had to wait in line. Walking onto the Missing Persons floor, Angel paused, smoothed her black suit jacket and nervously checked the lay of her white silk shirt collar as she looked over the division's floor. The floor was lit by the full windowed side of the building and had glass walled offices opposite where Angel could see Danny's boss, Jack Malone, sitting at his desk doing paper work. Cubicles filled the space in-between, except where a conference table sat near the windows, a white dry erase board at one end for the kidnap victim's timeline. Someone stepped in front of her and Angel met the incredibly bright blue eyes of a brown haired man, a few inches taller than herself, wearing a white dress shirt, small print blue tie and slacks.
"Can I help you, miss?" He asked politely, interest in his eyes.
"I'm here to..."
"Angel!"
Both Angel and the man turned to see Jack approaching, his suit jacket unbuttoned and tie loose in his normal laid back manner. About four inches shorter than Danny, but stockier, Jack had been like an older brother to Angel and she embraced the black haired man warmly.
"I have a lot of paperwork, but I'm sure the newest member of the team, Martin Fitzgerald, will take care of you. Okay?"
"Yes, Jack. Thank you."
Angel smiled and nodded as Jack raised an eyebrow at Martin, who promptly placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her toward one of the desks.
"I haven't been here in over a year."
"Were you assigned here?" Martin asked curiously, sitting at his desk as she sat in the chair beside it. Smiling sardonically, Angel shook her head.
"I'm not in the FBI. I'm head of the Irish history department at the Metro Museum."
"You certainly look the part. Are you Irish?"
"A little, but mostly Cornish and German. Still, I look good for the exhibit when I'm in Tourists' sights."
"Angel! Sorry, I'm late." Danny interrupted warmly, reaching his wife as she got to her feet and giving her an intimate hug. Martin glanced at Danny warily as he waited to discover their exact relationship and when Danny looked at Angel with question on how to introduce her, Angel's look said "he's your coworker" and she let him squirm with uncertainty.
"How have you been?!" A woman's voice called. Turning, Angel was happy to see Vivian Johnson, a small black woman in her forties who'd actually kept in touch with Angel since she and Danny separated.
"Hey, Viv." Angel replied, hugging her friend.
"What brings you back here?" Vivian asked, joining the circle. Danny lifted an eyebrow at that, realizing Vivian hadn't clued Angel in to his reaction to Clare's case and Angel resisted the urge to make a face at him as she might have teasingly done when he used to go 'detective' on her.
"We're having lunch." Danny answered for her.
"That's great!" Vivian exclaimed, trying not to look as thrilled about what it could represent as Angel knew she felt."I was planning to eat with...oh, here she comes."
Turning, Angel saw Samantha Spade crossing the room towards them and she couldn't help remembering the first and last time she'd seen her.
The light came on and Angel straightened, looking like a deer caught in a headlight, dropping a shirt onto the suitcase already nearly filled with clothes.
"I thought as head of the department, you wouldn't have to travel." Danny stated. She could see he was almost desperate to believe that was why she was packing a suitcase and Angel had to turn to hide her tears as she shook her head.
"I don't have to travel. I'm...leaving. If I'd wanted a roommate, I'd have put an ad in the Times."
She heard him move, but Angel still gasped as Danny grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him and she was glad she'd gotten control of her tears.
"You can't be serious!" He exclaimed with disbelief.
"When did we last make love, Danny?"
The question threw him off and he looked at her in confusion.
"It was nearly two months ago! Our last real conversation was on the night of our first anniversary about the same time and you still left in the middle of dinner!"
On a roll now, Angel pulled away, disturbed by how just his touch on her arm made her feel and need him.
"We pass in the halls with all the acknowledgment of people living in the same apartment building! You used to always kiss me good-bye before you left and...I don't remember when that last happened! I-I can't do this anymore!"
Shoving down the lid of the suitcase, Angel closed it and bit the inside of her mouth to keep from crying as Danny watched her silently. Picking it up and moving toward the bedroom door, Angel paused as he spoke softly, tears making his voice raw and deep.
"We made a commitment before God to make this work...even when it goes bad. Are you really willing to throw it away? Don't you love me at all?"
Meeting his eyes, Angel felt her resolve melting because she knew the answer to his question was that she loved him more than her own life.
"I..."
A shrill ring interrupted her and Angel let out a sigh recognizing Danny's cell phone. He was watching her intently and as the phone rang again, she smiled sadly.
"You'd better answer that. 'The first forty-eight hours are the most crucial in a disappearance.'"
Turning as he mechanically flipped open the phone and answered it, Angel fled down the stairs and threw open the front door.
On the step, her finger just about to push the doorbell, was a petite, fragile faced blonde woman with bright blue eyes.
"Um...Hi. Is Danny home? I-I'm Samantha Spade, FBI. We work together."
Feeling at once as if she had had her heart removed with a dull spoon and pounded with a meat tenderizing mallet, Angel could only nod. The blonde...no, 'Sam' as Danny called her, raised and eyebrow in question and Angel gathered her pride.
"He's upstairs. I was just leaving...Go on in."
Danny saw Angel pale as Sam came over and her reached for her arm in concern, only to have her snatch it away as if he burned her.
"C-Can you excuse me for a m-moment?"
Without waiting for an answer or greeting a smiling Samantha, she fled for the restroom.
Startling a woman coming out as she flew in to the bathroom, Angel didn't notice as she pushed open the door to the handicap stall and began retching over the toilet. Fighting back images of Danny making love to Samantha that had haunted her since that night, Angel was thankful for her empty stomach and leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes and letting tears escape to drip off her face. A finger gently caught one on her cheek and Angel jerked in surprise, hitting her head on the wall with a muffled curse as she opened her eyes to see Danny sitting on the cold tile floor beside her, his forearms resting on his knees comfortably.
"What are you doing in here?!"
"Checking on you."
Seeing her confusion, Danny added with a slight smile:
"It's a unisex bathroom, baby. I won't be arrested as a peeping tom."
"I don't need you to check on me!" Angel declared, rankled by his calling her 'baby.'
"Why are you fighting me on this?" Danny asked with exasperation as she awkwardly climbed to her feet. "I just want to make sure you aren't sick! I care about you if you can believe it...Actually, more than that, I'm still desperately in love with you!"
"Does Sam know about that?!" Angel shot out before she could stop herself. The heat of embarrassment swiftly flooded her face as Danny looked up at her blankly and Angel grabbed at the stall lock, fumbling to open it and flee. The door wouldn't open and she found Danny had rolled to his feet and stood behind her, his hand pressing the door closed.
"What the hell does she have to do with anything?!" Danny demanded, his voice dangerously low as he turned her around and pinned her to the stall door so all she could do in defiance was stare at his tie instead of meeting his eyes.
"Nothing." Angel declared tightly, having enough presence of mind to not try and explain the comment, only digging herself a deeper hole. Releasing a breath of exasperation, Danny paused for thought and smiled coolly, getting Angel's worried eyes to meet his calm ones.
"Then you'll stay here until you answer me."
"What?! I have work and...You can't hold me hostage in a bloody loo!"
She couldn't stop the burst of temper and Danny grinned, knowing that making her lose her temper and use Irish slang was a sign that he could win this argument.
"I can and I will." He stated, almost gleefully, causing Angel to glare at him as she moved to the other side of the stall. He could practically see her mind working and waited for her argument, knowing he'd better have a good answer for whatever it was.
"Fine. Sooner or later you'll get a call and I can go." Angel said after a moment, leaning comfortably against the wall.
"I don't think so. I'll just claim you're here for questioning and put you in a room with a guard until I get back."
"My lawyer will..." Angel began frantically.
"You wouldn't be able to call anyone for seventy-two hours. FBI prerogative." Danny informed her sweetly, crossing his arms and leaning back against the door with the obvious purpose to wait and keep her in. Slumping slightly, Angel tried to think as she had to wait it out.
Glancing at his watch, Danny lifted an eyebrow, impressed that it had been almost forty-five minutes. Angel had been silent the whole time, which didn't surprise or bother him because he knew she was likely thinking of a good lie or how to get past him. Standing and stretching his arms over his head, Danny became very aware of how his muscles flexed against his shirt as he noticed Angel miss a step in her pacing. She'd been covertly watching his every move and Danny knew he'd distracted her.
'One point for me.' He thought with satisfaction, reaching for his jacket that was hanging on the handicap rail. Turning in her pacing at that moment, Angel came up short to avoid running into him and stumbled off balance into Danny. He promptly caught her in his arms, keeping them both from falling as he steadied her.
"Sorry." Angel murmured, glancing up at him shyly. Danny was watching her with a warm expression and unconsciously smoothing her hands over his chest, Angel smiled slightly, remembering how they'd met.
Just off the Concord from London, Angel stood in the drizzling rain and desperately hoped for a cabbie who spoke English so she could find the New York Metropolitan Museum. She'd been hired in their Irish department right after getting her doctorate, but knew nothing about New York City.
'And now I'm lost.'
That bothered her much more than the rain, for she was used to constant drizzle from Ireland. Being lost in New York City, however, scared her to death. As far as she could tell, she was still safely in the nicer part of Manhattan, but the skyscrapers all looked the same and she didn't see anything that resembled the columned, statue lion guarded building of the Metropolitan museum. Turning to walk further up the street as no cab was apparent, Angel yelped, startled as she ran solidly into a black trench coat. Arms surrounded her to steady her balance, but frightened as she felt a holstered gun under his arm, Angel began to struggle, knocking off her dark green beret and sending her auburn hair cascading over her shoulders.
"Miss, calm down! I won't hurt you! Look here."
His polite tone calmed her slightly and an FBI badge and ID appeared causing Angel to flush in embarrassment at her country bumpkin reaction. Looking up to apologize, Angel and Danny would both later admit they understood at that moment what a bolt of electric attraction felt like.
"Like an electric shock." Danny murmured softly, showing that he'd followed her line of thoughts.
"Yeah..." Angel agreed, melting at the hot look in his eyes. As he bent his head and began kissing her with burning intensity, Angel found herself unable to care about the plan she'd had to use this as a distraction and escape.
While he kissed a soft trail over Angel's jaw, Danny's fingers gently tugged at the buttons of her blouse, then caused her to gasp as they brushed over the valley between her breasts. Sliding her hands under Danny's shirt to caress the muscles of his back, Angel barely heard the bathroom door open and looked up at Danny, her eyes wide and her lips moist from kissing as he pulled back a bit. Laying a finger over her lips, Danny twirled a lock of hair around his finger as they listened to someone walk across the floor.
"Danny? Angel?"
Recognizing Vivian's voice, Danny looked sorry for the interruption, but he didn't leave Vivian in the dark.
"We're in the handicap stall, Viv."
Pulling away and beginning to button her blouse, Angel remembered what she'd been planning for and hoped this meant she could leave.
"You've been in here for nearly an hour! Is Angel all right?" Vivian asked, concern in her voice.
"No, I'm not! Danny won't let me out of here!" Angel called over the stall wall with irritation.
"Actually, Angel is very sick. She's hallucinating that as well as something to do with Samantha, though she won't say what that is. I think it best that she stay here until I can get her home." Danny stated calmly.
Chuckling softly as Angel sputtered, Vivian ignored the protests she made as she left the bathroom.
"Look," Angel spoke up as Vivian left, fiddling with a button on her jacket with intense concentration, "Why can't you stop being FBI extreme about this and let me out? This is ridiculous!"
Smiling with self mockery, Danny fingered the pistol holstered in under his left arm absently.
"I've always 'FBI extreme' where you're concerned. Remember the night before our wedding?"
Wedding preparations were driving her insane and as Angel stood outside of the Irish pub that they were having the rehearsal dinner at, she sighed. The door opened behind her and catching the sight of a tall, dark haired man out of the corner of her eye, she spoke her wish.
"We should have eloped....I hate all this fuss."
His arms slid around her waist intimately and Angel gasped, jerking away in surprise. All the women in her family claimed Danny and his cousin, Eric, were practically twins, but Angel didn't see it and she'd know immediately that the arms moving to comfort her were not her fiancee's.
"What are you doing?!" She demanded, finding her breath came difficultly in her distress and confusion.
"You seemed upset. I was just trying to help." Eric answered silkily, aware that Angel could tell he and his cousin apart so it would do no good to pretend to be Danny.
"You're hands were doing more than being helpful!"
"Oh, come on, it's all in the family." Eric coaxed, "Danny won't mind you having a little fun with me on your last night of freedom."
Shuddering with disgust and disbelief, Angel started in surprise as the pub door silently and swiftly flew open, slamming into Eric and forcefully knocking him off balance. She was stunned for a moment as she watched Danny pull out his pistol and cock it, aimed steadily at his cousin, despite his obvious rage.
"I should kill you for this." Danny growled, his voice sending shivers down Angel's spine. To Angel, and especially Eric's dismay, Danny changed positions and forced the barrel of his pistol into his cousin's mouth angrily. Disturbed, Angel moved closer to her fiancee, not touching him so he wouldn't be startled.
"Baby, don't do this! I know you're upset, but a punch to his jaw would work just as well!"
Eric, sweating nervously, started to calm as Angel intervened, but stiffened as she suggested Danny punch him instead. Ignoring Eric's glare, Angel reached up slowly and caressed Danny's cheek.
"Please? Before someone comes along and tries to have you arrested the night before our wedding?"
Turning his head and kissing the palm of her hand, Danny nodded and yanked the gun away from Eric, holstering it. Before his cousin could recover from his ire and get up, Danny's fist connected with Eric's jaw and sent him sprawling on the concrete.
"What was that about, anyway?! You and Eric were practically brothers and while I thought you might be irritated by what he did, you went way above irritated. It was..."
"Sexual tension and frustration." Danny said wryly, placing his hand near Angel's head and leaning over her.
"Oh."
"Yeah, 'oh.' Now, confess." Danny ordered gently, tracing a finger over her jaw and lips seductively.
"C-Confess?" Angel breathed, wide eyed and disoriented by Danny's nearness as he gave her the lopsided smile she adored.
"I'd like to know why it is that I am getting the idea you think something is going on with me and Sam...or we had something." Danny added with a thoughtful expression. Angel stiffened immediately and ducked under his arm, moving away in the small space.
"There's nothing to discuss." She lied, her voice wavering as she rested her head against the cool metal of the stall, closing her eyes protectively.
"Amante..."
Danny reached a hand toward her in concern and Angel turned, her eyes welling with tears and freezing him in place.
"Please. I can't. Not right now."
Dropping his hand, Danny searched her face before nodding with obvious regret and raking a hand through his dark hair.
"You'd better hurry if you want to get back to work. Lunch is over."
"W-What?"
He only lifted an eyebrow at her question and when Angel finally moved to the door, made no move to stop her. Opening it, Angel paused for a moment and turned back to gently kiss Danny's cheek before leaving.
"That's great!" Angel called, pulling open the door to her apartment as U2 began playing from the stereo. To her surprise, Danny dropped a kiss on her open mouth and came inside carrying take out bags from her favorite Irish restaurant.
"What..."
"I'm starving!" Danny exclaimed cheerfully, setting the bags on the table as Angel shut her door mechanically.
"What do you want on the pizza?"
A petite, Mexican woman came out of the kitchen and froze in confusion to see Danny taking off his trench coat and suit jacket, hanging them both on a dining room chair.
"Hey, Lin. How've you been?" Danny asked Angel's best friend pleasantly. Linda glanced at Angel, who could only shrug in mystification as Danny began pulling cartons out of the bags.
"I've been good. What..."
"I've got enough food for you as well. Feel like Irish fare?" Danny interrupted, opening some containers to send the smell of Irish stew and corned beef through the apartment.
"Perhaps we're going out." Angel protested tightly, trying to ignore how her mouth watered or how attractive Danny looked as he pulled off his tie and undid the top buttons of his shirt.
"Angel just might have a date I'm helping her get ready for!" Linda pointed out, her brown eyes flashing at his affront to her friend. Stopping the careful rolling up of his sleeves, Danny spun on Linda, his pained, angry expression causing her to step back in surprise despite the large space between them.
"Don't ever suggest such a thing!" He growled vehemently, "We both know she wouldn't date...at least not until the divorce was final."
"Least you remember that's occurring." Linda muttered, ignoring Danny's frustrated glare.
"'At least'?!" Angel repeated angrily, "What, you think I have some man lined up for the second you sign the papers?!"
Sighing, Danny shook his head and walked over to his wife, taking her hands in his.
"That's not what I meant, amante. Let's just eat, hmm? Please?" Bending his head slightly as he searched her eyes, Danny smiled engagingly and watched as Angel fought a returning smile that tugged at her lips before nodding slightly.
"Good."
Tugging her to him, Danny hugged Angel spontaneously and kissed her forehead.
"Now, Angel gets the Irish stew. Who gets the fresh cod?" He asked pleasantly, going back to the table.
Gasping, Angel's eyes flew open and she sat up in a sweat as her heart raced. She'd had a dream about Danny and Samantha Spade again and it always managed to ruin her chances to go back to sleep. Laying back down and turning away from the sun lit window, Angel was thankful it was Saturday morning as tears of heartache seeped from her eyes. Her chest ached with need to cry and as much as she hated it, Angel couldn't stop the onrush of tears as she began to sob. Trying to muffle the sounds against her pillow, she jumped as someone touched her back soothingly and just managed to force back a scream in her throat. Before she could fully react, Angel was lifted, blankets and all and found herself nestled in Danny's arms as he carried her into the living room and sat on the couch with her in his lap as if she weighed nothing.
"What are you doing here?! How did you get in?!" Angel demanded, trying to fight her way out of the tangle of sheets and blankets.
"Linda's key. She'll regret it later, but I was right in figuring she'd be too tired from Gab's premiere in 'The Producers' last night to think too clearly." Danny answered, ignoring her first question and finally letting Angel pull free and get to her feet, angrily pushing her tear and sweat dampened hair from her face.
"Fine, but why?!"
Leaning back comfortably with his arm along the back of the couch, Danny lifted an eyebrow with a grin as he looked her over.
"That is reason enough." He commented mischievously. Glancing down at her attire of only a thin strapped tank top and underwear, Angel flushed and mentally cursed herself for being too tired last night to search for the boxers she normally slept in. She moved to snatch up the sheet or comforter, only to have Danny throw them out of reach and then catch her by the waist, tackling her beneath him on the white futon sofa.
"Danny, get off me, you cad!" Angel protested, pushing against his blue silk shirt and trying to see through her mussed hair.
"Cad?! You wound me to the heart!" He lamented, brushing her hair from her face and grinning to belay his supposed pain.
"You're a rogue, an oaf, a..."
Danny was listening with a contemplative expression, but Angel broke off as his left hand moved up her hip and began tracing the skin just covered by her shirt, which was the only place where Angel was extremely ticklish. Gritting her teeth, Angel glared up at him defiantly.
"No, you don't!"
A giggle escaped as he increased his efforts and Angel began trying to push him off. Her left hand slipped against the slick material of his shirt and Danny let out an oath, falling onto the floor and just missing the coffee table as he held his eye. Gasping with embarrassment, Angel leaned over and tried to see his eye, but her husband wouldn't let her near it.
"Let me look!" She ordered, moving onto the floor in the small space and leaning over him to pull his hand off his eye.
"Ow!"
"Sorry. Stop complaining!" Angel muttered, gently probing his eye.
"Your knee is digging into my ribs!" He declared, moving her until they were both situated to his liking and Angel found herself laying on top of him as Danny put his hands behind his head comfortably.
"If you'd go sit at the table, this would be easier!" Angel muttered, steadying her hands on the floor near his arms.
"Easier, but not as much fun." Danny shot back naughtily. Snorting in exasperation, Angel shifted her weight so she could reach his eyes and began looking again, purposing less gentle. Danny clenched his jaw, but didn't give her the satisfaction of commenting on the pain.
"You'll need ice...It's a shiner, darling." She informed him finally, biting her lip in chagrin.
"That'll frighten the kids at the park." Danny commented easily, shifting her so they lay on their sides facing one each other.
"Kids?" Angel asked in confusion as Danny put a lock of hair behind her ear and then gently tugged her earlobe.
"We're going to have a picnic in Central Park."
"But..."
"You'd better go shower and get dressed before I'm tempted to scratch going out for staying in." Danny added softly, his darkening eyes causing Angel to scramble to her feet and head to the bedroom.
Sitting on the blanket in the Park, Angel licked a piece of cotton candy off her finger and suppressed a grin of amusement as women walking on the paths nearby nearly stopped in their tracks to see Danny in his blue shirt and khakis laying on an elbow and drinking iced tea beside her, his black eye giving him an attractively roguish look. She wasn't sure if he'd noticed, but as a couple of women old enough to be his mother whispered amongst themselves and tittered as he glanced their way, he smiled lazily.
"This black eye is good for my ego...Not sure why, but it's getting women's attention."
"They probably decided on a romantic story of you defending my honor and beating up some thug." Angel commented with a laugh.
"Don't I seem the type?" Danny asked, squinting up at her with a smile as the sun framed her hair in gold. The question knocked the smile from her face and Angel nodded.
"But I've also seen you with a gun and you're dangerous."
"Angel..." Danny began quietly.
He broke off as she leaned down and kissed him gently, her lips tasting of cotton candy and the strawberries they'd had earlier. She smiled softly as she pulled away and Danny groaned in his throat, sliding his hand up behind her neck and pulling her back down, only to freeze as a phone rang.
"Please don't be mine." He moaned, reaching for the picnic basket. His cell phone rang again as he picked it up and Danny glanced at the display.
"Damn."
Jack met Danny and Angel as they got out of her blue corvette at the small kids' playground and seeing that she'd given Danny a ride, Jack shook his head apologetically.
"I'm sorry to call you in on your day off, Danny. Angel, I wouldn't interrupt if it weren't..."
"Important. I know." She finished, smiling weakly
"Jack..." Martin said, coming over in a navy FBI windbreaker and handing Danny one. "Wow, nice black eye! How'd you come by that?"
"All I'm saying is you should see the other guy." Danny answered, slipping into the jacket. Angel made a coughing noise, but couldn't suppress her laughter and Martin grinned.
"What really happened?"
Jack was quietly filling Danny in on the case now, but Angel could see Danny was half listening with masculine unease for her answer.
"We were messing around and I accidentally hit him." Angel answered sweetly, not correcting whatever assumption Martin made as his eyebrow shot up. Smoothing her spaghetti strapped sundress demurely and looking around at the scene, Angel froze as she spotted a couple about her own age, clinging to one another as the brunette woman cried and her blonde husband, his face haggard and desolate, tried to answer questions from a policeman.
"Sad, isn't it?" Martin interrupted her study quietly. "Their two year old son disappeared from the park with a baby sitter a few hours ago. We've got to find out now if the sitter took off with the child or they were both taken by someone else."
At that moment, Danny approached the couple, greeting the man with a reassuring look and putting a comforting hand on the woman's arm as he explained to them what was going on, his expression soft and understanding as he listened to what they had to say. Watching him, Angel was hit with a wave of love and remembered why his job was so important to him, why she'd been so proud of it in the first place and shame at her past behavior hit her like a fist in the stomach.
'He deserves better.' She thought sickeningly, turning and walking blindly to her car.
"Angel, wait a sec!" Danny called out. Turning, she saw him jogging toward her and a tear slid down her cheek.
"Hey, what's this?" He asked, gently wiping it away.
"Danny, I'm so sorry." Angel whispered, looking up at him contritely.
"For what? I should be apologizing to you for breaking our date." Danny returned gallantly, his eyes showing his confusion over her behavior.
"No, baby." Angel replied, smiling weakly as she reached up and brushed some of his hair back in place. "I let myself forget how important your job is and...Find that little boy and bring him home."
He obviously wanted to object to her self blame, but seeing the look on her face, decided against it and nodded instead.
"Find me when you solve this case. If I'm not at work or my apartment, check with Linda."
Unsure what to say about the new events, Danny nodded again, causing Angel to grin before reaching up and giving him a kiss full of promise and then getting in her car and driving off.
"Does this mean you two are finally back together?"
Turning to find Jack watching him, his arms crossed authoritatively, Danny shrugged.
"I'm not sure." He confessed.
"Well, it looks like a start and its about time. That case with Clare was weeks ago."
"It was you!" Danny blurted out accusingly as they headed back toward the crime scene. Jack lifted an eyebrow and he added:
"You called Angel about..."
"Oh, yeah, yeah. Who else? None of the other team members were at the pier that night. Anyway, this job has pretty much killed my marriage and I don't want it happening to you. You don't deserve it...Neither does Angel. Now lets get to work."
Turning, Angel saw Danny approaching hesitantly and she smiled in welcome. It had been three days since she'd seen him and according to the news reports, the FBI found the little boy, taken by his baby-sitter who claimed his working mother had no claim to him. The brunette had promptly quit her law firm and was now a stay at home Mom.
"Linda told me where to find you. Why here?" Danny asked, rubbing a soothing circle over the small of her back as they stood at the base of the Statue of liberty on Ellis Island and looked out over New York Harbor.
"Don't you recognize the spot?" Angel teased, turning to face him as she surprised him by moving closer and playing with the collar of his trench coat.
"Of course I do!" Danny protested, "I spent weeks trying to find the perfect spot. Considering the Irish-American history here, I thought it might be romantic for you."
Nodding shyly, Angel met Danny's eyes as she remembered.
Contentedly touring the Ellis Island Museum at a slow pace, Angel frowned slightly as Danny fidgeted once again.
"Darling, if you don't want to see this, you can go back and we can meet up later."
If it had been one of his old girlfriends, Danny would have known she didn't mean it and keep his mouth shut no matter what, but with Angel, he knew he could leave and what was more amazing, suffer no repercussions because she didn't expect everyone to love history the way she did.
"No, I just wanted to show you something."
"What's that?" Angel asked with a smile, turning her full attention to him.
"Well...If you don't mind the stairs, I used my FBI connections to get us a look form the cornet of the statue. It's been closed since 9-11, but..."
He didn't get much further as a dumbfounded Angel threw her arms around his neck, raining kisses over his face, making him laugh.
"Let's go now!" She gushed, grabbing his hand and heading excitedly through the crowd toward the Statue entrance.
The climb to the top is nearly four hundred steps and incredibly steep, but as Angel walked into the windowed cornet, all the exhaustion faded at the view of the Harbor and Atlantic Ocean from over 260 feet in the air. Awed by the sight, Angel moved to the window and gazed out for a moment before realizing the height and stepping back with a slight nervousness, only to bump into Danny. Comforted as he slid his arms around her waist, she leaned back against him with her head tucked beneath his chin. Danny was playing with something in his hands and glancing down at them, Angel froze, her hands tightening reflexively on his wrists.
"Danny, what..."
She trailed off as he opened the black velvet box to reveal a sliver ring with two diamonds surrounding as larger central diamond, all princess cut.
"Are you going to look at me when I propose or should I just ask your ear?" Danny teased, his breath warming her ear. Pulling away, Angel turned around quickly, her hands on her hips.
"What are...How long..."
"I'm proposing marriage. I decided last month after you said your coworker asked you out and I felt the need to break his jaw. If that's not love..."
He smiled self mockingly, but the smile faded as Angel only seemed perplexed.
"But...Why?!"
Danny turned intensely serious at once as he realized this wasn't going the way he'd hoped.
"I've told you I love you, correct?"
"Y-Yes."
"And do you believe me?" He persisted, sticking the ring box in his pants pocket and taking her hands in his caressingly.
"Of course!" Angel snapped, looking at him as if he were slow.
"So then why shouldn't I want to marry the woman I love?" He countered. Opening her mouth to answer, Angel promptly shut it again.
"Exactly." Danny stated with another smile. "Now, will you marry me and become mine before our families and God?"
He was serious again and pulled the ring box back out, dropping it as he took the ring out, still holding her left hand and slipping it on to find that it fit perfectly.
"Yes, of course!"
Throwing her arms around Danny's neck, Angel kissed him until they were both breathless.
"The Statue of Liberty does have a bit of Irish significance."
"Yeah," Danny agreed, dryly. Seeing Angel lift an eyebrow at his tone, he added:
"It's a great and promising welcome to a country whose people will treat them worse than dogs because they were starving in Eire and any wage is worth it for the food and freedom of not being an English lord's tenant."
"You remember that from the museum tour?!" Angel asked in disbelief.
"No...I learned about anything Irish I could get my hands on when you left...To be close to you somehow." Danny admitted, not meeting her eyes for fear she'd find him stupid or crazy.
"Oh, darling, I..." Breaking off as Danny looked up, Angel was observing something going on behind him.
"What is she doing?!" Angel demanded angrily. Turning, Danny smiled to see Sam Spade and Martin Fitzgerald.
"Kissing Martin. We were on our way back from wrapping up the toddler case and I brought them..." Trailing off, Danny was mystified by Angel's irritation.
"Doesn't that bother you at all?" She asked, searching his face in concern.
"No," Danny said with a laugh before adding: "If they want to risk Jack's ire if they break up, that's their business."
"But Samantha, she...You..."
"Aren't and have never been involved in that way." Danny finished, a guess about her thoughts confirmed. Pulling her into his arms, Danny kissed her lips softly.
"There's only one woman for me and it's never been Samantha Spade."
"Darlings, off the sofa."
The three and six year old immediately stopped jumping, landing a sitting position with giggles stifled behind their hands. Handing Linda a cup of tea, Angel smiled at the curly, black haired girls and handed them a cookie.
"Tank you!"
"Thank you, Tia Angel."
"They're adorable, Lin. Why don't you let Danny and I watch them for the night to give you a break. We can take them until Gab comes home tomorrow from filming in LA."
"I don't want to impose on Danny and..." Linda began hesitantly, rubbing her exhausted eyes tiredly.
"Danny adores them and...It'll give him practice." Angel added with a shy smile, sipping from her tea cup.
"What?!"
Linda set her cup down with a hard rattle, causing Angel to wince in concern for the Taylor family china.
"I found out today from Dr. Cox. I'm going to tell him tonight after he's had some time with your girls." Angel admitted.
"You mean after he abhors the idea of children because he's exhausted?" Lin asked, raising an eyebrow with a mocking smile.
"The girls are wonderfully behaved with us as you well know. Danny usually goes on about having children for weeks."
"That's sweet of you." Linda admitted.
To Angel's surprise, she stood and picked up the tea tray.
"You should go now. I'll do the dishes and things."
"But...He's at work and..." Angel began, bewildered as Linda pulled her to her feet and gently pushed her toward the Tudor house's front door.
"He'll want to know! He'll probably want to know why you didn't come to tell him straight from the doctor. Go on!"
Nodding, Angel picked up her black, ankle length leather jacket, purse and car keys and headed out the door.
Glancing up wearily as the older woman flirted with him again, Danny tried to hide his boredom, than shared a look of amusement with Martin as she tried to subtly tug her dress up as if the sight of her ankles would drive him, Martin and Jack to distraction. Across the floor from the conference table, men were flocking from all over the floor to the elevators and Danny raked a hand through his hair as he tried to see what was going on, unknowingly causing it to stand up like a boy who'd just gotten out of bed. Martin gave him a sidelong glance as he noticed Danny's attention wander then tried to see what was going on as well, straining his neck to see over the group as he tugged at the collar of his striped shirt. Realizing that both men had lost interest, Jack, Sam and Vivian looked at them in annoyance just as Danny's face lit up with a loving grin. Breaking free of the men with a confused furrow of her brow, Angel crossed the floor toward the table, straightening her long jacket, green turtle neck sweater and black knee length skirt in a self conscious gesture Danny recognized as he leaned back in the chair to watch her approach with obvious desire. Startling his coworkers and the witness, Danny suddenly sat up in his chair, clutching the arms as he remembered Angel had gone to the doctor after his pleading because she'd been so ill. Unconscious of his worry, Martin leaned over and smiled as his blue eyes watched Angel.
"I can see why the guys were falling all over themselves. She practically...glows somehow."
The brunette witness snorted in disdain, obviously looking down on Angel for some reason, but before anyone could comment, Angel was accepting Jack's kiss to her cheek as the men stood for her arrival.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, luvs. I was just hoping to speak to my husband for a minute. It won't take long." Angel added quietly, glancing at Jack with an apologetic smile.
"Obviously his second wife." The woman told Sam in a whisper meant for everyone to hear. Angel looked confused and hurt by the woman's tone, but to everyone's surprise, Martin spoke up with obvious dislike, making the woman flush.
"I think you should watch your mouth and tone, ma'am."
"Martin." Jack stated in rebuke, but more automatic than angry. Turning to Angel, he smiled.
"I'm sure we can all use the five minutes. Go ahead."
Enjoying the woman's embarrassed expression, Danny moved to Angel's side and led her out of earshot, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as he gazed down at her with a worried expression.
"What'd the doctor say? Are you..." He began worriedly, his hands on her arms tightening.
"I'm having a baby." Angel finished, smiling with such warmth, that combined with the news, made Danny feel as if he'd been bull cocked.
"You...A baby...my baby?!" He managed, his eyes wide with surprise.
"Unless there's been some spiritual intervention and it's God's child, yes, your baby." Angel answered wryly, reaching up and combing his mussed hair down with her fingers. Letting out an uncharacteristic whoop that surprised his co-agents as well as people nearby, Danny spun Angel around excitedly, causing her to blush.
"Put me down!" She hissed, clinging to his neck. Obeying, Danny caught her off guard again as he began to kiss her passionately, dipping her as some of the men nearby called in encouragement. Angel was bright red with embarrassment as Danny pulled back slightly, grinning stupidly with delight, his hand gently holding her waist.
"When? And are you done being sick?" He asked, suddenly serious.
"I'm two months along, so the doctor says September. I'll have morning sickness for another month."
Danny winced apologetically, causing Angel to smile as she slid his left hand over his abdomen.
"I'd be sick for nine months if it meant bringing your baby into the world, cara. Don't worry, the doctor says we're both very healthy. Now, go back to saving people."
"Are you sure?" Danny asked uncertainly, "Shouldn't we be picking names or...decorating a nursery or something?"
Laughing softly, Angel dropped a kiss on his mouth.
"No, luv, we don't even know what the baby is yet. We've got six months for that."
"Oh, right...Well, I guess I'll see you tonight, amante."
Kissing her again deeply, Danny clung to her hand caressingly until she moved out of reach and left.
"Take another step and I shoot you." Danny's voice growled in the dark. Inhaling deeply to slow her heart rate, which had sped up as much for attraction as for fright, Angel cursed herself for forgetting that Danny's FBI training made him very alert and allowed him to have a pistol around the house.
"And I thought our separation was amicable...I had no idea you wanted to shoot me, Danny."
His grip pulled her back against him in surprise before he quickly let go, recognizing the voice and sarcasm.
Lights suddenly brightened the hall as Danny hit the switch and the pair blinked trying to adjust their eyes. Crossing his arms over his bare chest, Danny looked completely at ease holding his silver pistol as he stood in only black silk boxers. Dressed in all black from her turtleneck and leather jacket to her jeans and boots, Angel somehow felt stripped under his brown eyed gaze.
"What are you doing here?" Danny demanded, his face showing no emotion or reaction.
Swallowing hard, Angel's mind raced for an excuse to give her waiting husband.
Seeing a frantic look in Angel's blue eyes for a fraction of a second, Danny might doubt seeing it with someone else, but knowing how well Angel hid her emotions, his eyes narrowed and he wondered just what she was frantic about.
"I just wanted to...uh, discuss a piece of furniture I, uh, wanted."
While she spoke, Angel attempted to move toward the front door and frowned as Danny moved to block her way.
"At this time of night?! What piece of furniture?" Danny asked sharply, not believing her for a second.
"The uh...coffee table. You're right...It can wait 'til morning. I was just, you know, up and figured..."
Gulping, Angel smiled weakly.
"I'll go now."
Trying to slip past without touching him, Angel let out a yelp of surprise as Danny's arm snaked around her waist and pulled her against him.
"What's really going on?" He murmured, not letting her look away. The physical attraction of their relationship had never been a problem and as Danny held Angel close, she had to fight to concentrate.
"Nothing's 'going on.' I just...I should go now." She stated thickly, raising her chin stubbornly.
Pausing himself as he felt the urge to run his fingers through her auburn hair, Danny realized what was probably going on. Tightening his hold, his eyes flashed with anger.
"Who called you?" He demanded.
"I beg your pardon?" Angel asked, confused for a moment by the change of subject.
"That's' why you're here, isn't it? Someone called to tell you about our last case. Who was it?! Sam? Viv?"
"I don't know what you mean." Angel replied, her expression set in a look that he recognized and once teasingly called her 'mule impression.'
Pausing to decide how to proceed, Danny thought about kissing her to throw her off guard, but it showed in his expression and Angel bit her lip with concern. Deciding against it, Danny let her go and raked a hand through his black hair.
"Never mind. I'm too tired and emotionally drained to play this with you, amante."
Angel's eyes widened at his unconscious use of the endearment and her guard immediately weakened.
"Someone from the office did call, but I shan't say who. Do you want to...talk about it?"
He wasn't sure he wanted to bring up the emotions involved in this case and its link to his own past, but glancing at Angel and seeing how open and worried she was, Danny found himself nodding in hopes that this might somehow help bring her back.
Sitting on the couch in the den, Danny now in a black robe, they sipped hot tea from blue mugs. Glancing at her husband, Angel wondered how he wasn't freezing as she pulled her jacket closer and slid her bare feet up under her as she listened. The missing person had been a sixteen year old girl named Clare, who had got help in fleeing the State mental institution. She'd had a breakdown to put her there and upon leaving, discovered that she'd accidentally killed her own mother at age ten by knocking her off a second story balcony. Danny's voice deepened with emotion as he told how the FBI missing persons unit had found her on a lake pier planning to kill herself with a knife she'd stolen. Going in alone, he'd talked her out of it by telling how he actually knew what she was going through. His parents had died in a car crash when he was eleven. Hearing his father yelling at his mother again, Danny had yelled for him to stop. His father turned to yell back at him and swerved, crashing. Aware that Danny had blamed himself for their deaths, Angel's eyes filled with tears as her husband began to cry. Always a 'manly man,' Danny had never cried in Angel's memory and she took his mug and her own, setting them on the table before pulling Danny close to her as she would a small boy and letting him cry against her shoulder.
Inhaling deeply as she woke up, Angel started as the room came into focus and she realized it wasn't her apartment bedroom. A beautiful room, it was done in cherry wood and pale blues. The wood on the four poster bed, armoire, dressers and small bedside tables was a dark cherry with silver accents. The walls were a sky blue and matched the comforter and curtains that she and Danny and picked, painted and put together just after getting married. At the moment the bed was a mess and her clothes littered the wood floor that Danny normally kept spotless. Remembering how far she'd gone last night to comfort him and as she was always bluntly honest with herself, just as much because she missed him and knew only he could make her feel whole and needy all at once, Angel flushed with embarrassment. She'd let her barriers down and the punishment of breaking it off again would hurt her probably more than her more 'worldly' husband.
Realizing at that moment that she was alone in the bed, Angel grabbed Danny's robe from the floor near the bed and donned it as she got up and began picking up her clothing trailed across the room.
"Good, you're awake. I didn't want to go without talking to you."
Jerking her head up, Angel saw Danny standing in the doorway and caught her breath. Getting ready to go to the office, he had on a charcoal gray suit with a lavender dress shirt that was still unbuttoned, the matching silk tie hanging untied around his neck.
When she didn't answer like he seemed to expect, Danny continued in a soft voice like he'd use with a scared kidnap victim.
"If I call you at the museum later, can we have lunch?"
"Yes!"
The answer was out before Angel thought about it and she bit her lip, pushing her thick hair off her face. The regret disappeared as Danny's face lit with a smile and he pulled her close, kissing her with demanding passion before pulling away and offering her the use of the house as he headed down the stairs, buttoning his shirt.
She'd had to dig her FBI building pass from out of the bottom of her desk at the Metropolitan Museum and looking at the long line at the Visitor's counter, Angel was thankful, knowing she'd probably chicken out if she had to wait in line. Walking onto the Missing Persons floor, Angel paused, smoothed her black suit jacket and nervously checked the lay of her white silk shirt collar as she looked over the division's floor. The floor was lit by the full windowed side of the building and had glass walled offices opposite where Angel could see Danny's boss, Jack Malone, sitting at his desk doing paper work. Cubicles filled the space in-between, except where a conference table sat near the windows, a white dry erase board at one end for the kidnap victim's timeline. Someone stepped in front of her and Angel met the incredibly bright blue eyes of a brown haired man, a few inches taller than herself, wearing a white dress shirt, small print blue tie and slacks.
"Can I help you, miss?" He asked politely, interest in his eyes.
"I'm here to..."
"Angel!"
Both Angel and the man turned to see Jack approaching, his suit jacket unbuttoned and tie loose in his normal laid back manner. About four inches shorter than Danny, but stockier, Jack had been like an older brother to Angel and she embraced the black haired man warmly.
"I have a lot of paperwork, but I'm sure the newest member of the team, Martin Fitzgerald, will take care of you. Okay?"
"Yes, Jack. Thank you."
Angel smiled and nodded as Jack raised an eyebrow at Martin, who promptly placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her toward one of the desks.
"I haven't been here in over a year."
"Were you assigned here?" Martin asked curiously, sitting at his desk as she sat in the chair beside it. Smiling sardonically, Angel shook her head.
"I'm not in the FBI. I'm head of the Irish history department at the Metro Museum."
"You certainly look the part. Are you Irish?"
"A little, but mostly Cornish and German. Still, I look good for the exhibit when I'm in Tourists' sights."
"Angel! Sorry, I'm late." Danny interrupted warmly, reaching his wife as she got to her feet and giving her an intimate hug. Martin glanced at Danny warily as he waited to discover their exact relationship and when Danny looked at Angel with question on how to introduce her, Angel's look said "he's your coworker" and she let him squirm with uncertainty.
"How have you been?!" A woman's voice called. Turning, Angel was happy to see Vivian Johnson, a small black woman in her forties who'd actually kept in touch with Angel since she and Danny separated.
"Hey, Viv." Angel replied, hugging her friend.
"What brings you back here?" Vivian asked, joining the circle. Danny lifted an eyebrow at that, realizing Vivian hadn't clued Angel in to his reaction to Clare's case and Angel resisted the urge to make a face at him as she might have teasingly done when he used to go 'detective' on her.
"We're having lunch." Danny answered for her.
"That's great!" Vivian exclaimed, trying not to look as thrilled about what it could represent as Angel knew she felt."I was planning to eat with...oh, here she comes."
Turning, Angel saw Samantha Spade crossing the room towards them and she couldn't help remembering the first and last time she'd seen her.
The light came on and Angel straightened, looking like a deer caught in a headlight, dropping a shirt onto the suitcase already nearly filled with clothes.
"I thought as head of the department, you wouldn't have to travel." Danny stated. She could see he was almost desperate to believe that was why she was packing a suitcase and Angel had to turn to hide her tears as she shook her head.
"I don't have to travel. I'm...leaving. If I'd wanted a roommate, I'd have put an ad in the Times."
She heard him move, but Angel still gasped as Danny grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him and she was glad she'd gotten control of her tears.
"You can't be serious!" He exclaimed with disbelief.
"When did we last make love, Danny?"
The question threw him off and he looked at her in confusion.
"It was nearly two months ago! Our last real conversation was on the night of our first anniversary about the same time and you still left in the middle of dinner!"
On a roll now, Angel pulled away, disturbed by how just his touch on her arm made her feel and need him.
"We pass in the halls with all the acknowledgment of people living in the same apartment building! You used to always kiss me good-bye before you left and...I don't remember when that last happened! I-I can't do this anymore!"
Shoving down the lid of the suitcase, Angel closed it and bit the inside of her mouth to keep from crying as Danny watched her silently. Picking it up and moving toward the bedroom door, Angel paused as he spoke softly, tears making his voice raw and deep.
"We made a commitment before God to make this work...even when it goes bad. Are you really willing to throw it away? Don't you love me at all?"
Meeting his eyes, Angel felt her resolve melting because she knew the answer to his question was that she loved him more than her own life.
"I..."
A shrill ring interrupted her and Angel let out a sigh recognizing Danny's cell phone. He was watching her intently and as the phone rang again, she smiled sadly.
"You'd better answer that. 'The first forty-eight hours are the most crucial in a disappearance.'"
Turning as he mechanically flipped open the phone and answered it, Angel fled down the stairs and threw open the front door.
On the step, her finger just about to push the doorbell, was a petite, fragile faced blonde woman with bright blue eyes.
"Um...Hi. Is Danny home? I-I'm Samantha Spade, FBI. We work together."
Feeling at once as if she had had her heart removed with a dull spoon and pounded with a meat tenderizing mallet, Angel could only nod. The blonde...no, 'Sam' as Danny called her, raised and eyebrow in question and Angel gathered her pride.
"He's upstairs. I was just leaving...Go on in."
Danny saw Angel pale as Sam came over and her reached for her arm in concern, only to have her snatch it away as if he burned her.
"C-Can you excuse me for a m-moment?"
Without waiting for an answer or greeting a smiling Samantha, she fled for the restroom.
Startling a woman coming out as she flew in to the bathroom, Angel didn't notice as she pushed open the door to the handicap stall and began retching over the toilet. Fighting back images of Danny making love to Samantha that had haunted her since that night, Angel was thankful for her empty stomach and leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes and letting tears escape to drip off her face. A finger gently caught one on her cheek and Angel jerked in surprise, hitting her head on the wall with a muffled curse as she opened her eyes to see Danny sitting on the cold tile floor beside her, his forearms resting on his knees comfortably.
"What are you doing in here?!"
"Checking on you."
Seeing her confusion, Danny added with a slight smile:
"It's a unisex bathroom, baby. I won't be arrested as a peeping tom."
"I don't need you to check on me!" Angel declared, rankled by his calling her 'baby.'
"Why are you fighting me on this?" Danny asked with exasperation as she awkwardly climbed to her feet. "I just want to make sure you aren't sick! I care about you if you can believe it...Actually, more than that, I'm still desperately in love with you!"
"Does Sam know about that?!" Angel shot out before she could stop herself. The heat of embarrassment swiftly flooded her face as Danny looked up at her blankly and Angel grabbed at the stall lock, fumbling to open it and flee. The door wouldn't open and she found Danny had rolled to his feet and stood behind her, his hand pressing the door closed.
"What the hell does she have to do with anything?!" Danny demanded, his voice dangerously low as he turned her around and pinned her to the stall door so all she could do in defiance was stare at his tie instead of meeting his eyes.
"Nothing." Angel declared tightly, having enough presence of mind to not try and explain the comment, only digging herself a deeper hole. Releasing a breath of exasperation, Danny paused for thought and smiled coolly, getting Angel's worried eyes to meet his calm ones.
"Then you'll stay here until you answer me."
"What?! I have work and...You can't hold me hostage in a bloody loo!"
She couldn't stop the burst of temper and Danny grinned, knowing that making her lose her temper and use Irish slang was a sign that he could win this argument.
"I can and I will." He stated, almost gleefully, causing Angel to glare at him as she moved to the other side of the stall. He could practically see her mind working and waited for her argument, knowing he'd better have a good answer for whatever it was.
"Fine. Sooner or later you'll get a call and I can go." Angel said after a moment, leaning comfortably against the wall.
"I don't think so. I'll just claim you're here for questioning and put you in a room with a guard until I get back."
"My lawyer will..." Angel began frantically.
"You wouldn't be able to call anyone for seventy-two hours. FBI prerogative." Danny informed her sweetly, crossing his arms and leaning back against the door with the obvious purpose to wait and keep her in. Slumping slightly, Angel tried to think as she had to wait it out.
Glancing at his watch, Danny lifted an eyebrow, impressed that it had been almost forty-five minutes. Angel had been silent the whole time, which didn't surprise or bother him because he knew she was likely thinking of a good lie or how to get past him. Standing and stretching his arms over his head, Danny became very aware of how his muscles flexed against his shirt as he noticed Angel miss a step in her pacing. She'd been covertly watching his every move and Danny knew he'd distracted her.
'One point for me.' He thought with satisfaction, reaching for his jacket that was hanging on the handicap rail. Turning in her pacing at that moment, Angel came up short to avoid running into him and stumbled off balance into Danny. He promptly caught her in his arms, keeping them both from falling as he steadied her.
"Sorry." Angel murmured, glancing up at him shyly. Danny was watching her with a warm expression and unconsciously smoothing her hands over his chest, Angel smiled slightly, remembering how they'd met.
Just off the Concord from London, Angel stood in the drizzling rain and desperately hoped for a cabbie who spoke English so she could find the New York Metropolitan Museum. She'd been hired in their Irish department right after getting her doctorate, but knew nothing about New York City.
'And now I'm lost.'
That bothered her much more than the rain, for she was used to constant drizzle from Ireland. Being lost in New York City, however, scared her to death. As far as she could tell, she was still safely in the nicer part of Manhattan, but the skyscrapers all looked the same and she didn't see anything that resembled the columned, statue lion guarded building of the Metropolitan museum. Turning to walk further up the street as no cab was apparent, Angel yelped, startled as she ran solidly into a black trench coat. Arms surrounded her to steady her balance, but frightened as she felt a holstered gun under his arm, Angel began to struggle, knocking off her dark green beret and sending her auburn hair cascading over her shoulders.
"Miss, calm down! I won't hurt you! Look here."
His polite tone calmed her slightly and an FBI badge and ID appeared causing Angel to flush in embarrassment at her country bumpkin reaction. Looking up to apologize, Angel and Danny would both later admit they understood at that moment what a bolt of electric attraction felt like.
"Like an electric shock." Danny murmured softly, showing that he'd followed her line of thoughts.
"Yeah..." Angel agreed, melting at the hot look in his eyes. As he bent his head and began kissing her with burning intensity, Angel found herself unable to care about the plan she'd had to use this as a distraction and escape.
While he kissed a soft trail over Angel's jaw, Danny's fingers gently tugged at the buttons of her blouse, then caused her to gasp as they brushed over the valley between her breasts. Sliding her hands under Danny's shirt to caress the muscles of his back, Angel barely heard the bathroom door open and looked up at Danny, her eyes wide and her lips moist from kissing as he pulled back a bit. Laying a finger over her lips, Danny twirled a lock of hair around his finger as they listened to someone walk across the floor.
"Danny? Angel?"
Recognizing Vivian's voice, Danny looked sorry for the interruption, but he didn't leave Vivian in the dark.
"We're in the handicap stall, Viv."
Pulling away and beginning to button her blouse, Angel remembered what she'd been planning for and hoped this meant she could leave.
"You've been in here for nearly an hour! Is Angel all right?" Vivian asked, concern in her voice.
"No, I'm not! Danny won't let me out of here!" Angel called over the stall wall with irritation.
"Actually, Angel is very sick. She's hallucinating that as well as something to do with Samantha, though she won't say what that is. I think it best that she stay here until I can get her home." Danny stated calmly.
Chuckling softly as Angel sputtered, Vivian ignored the protests she made as she left the bathroom.
"Look," Angel spoke up as Vivian left, fiddling with a button on her jacket with intense concentration, "Why can't you stop being FBI extreme about this and let me out? This is ridiculous!"
Smiling with self mockery, Danny fingered the pistol holstered in under his left arm absently.
"I've always 'FBI extreme' where you're concerned. Remember the night before our wedding?"
Wedding preparations were driving her insane and as Angel stood outside of the Irish pub that they were having the rehearsal dinner at, she sighed. The door opened behind her and catching the sight of a tall, dark haired man out of the corner of her eye, she spoke her wish.
"We should have eloped....I hate all this fuss."
His arms slid around her waist intimately and Angel gasped, jerking away in surprise. All the women in her family claimed Danny and his cousin, Eric, were practically twins, but Angel didn't see it and she'd know immediately that the arms moving to comfort her were not her fiancee's.
"What are you doing?!" She demanded, finding her breath came difficultly in her distress and confusion.
"You seemed upset. I was just trying to help." Eric answered silkily, aware that Angel could tell he and his cousin apart so it would do no good to pretend to be Danny.
"You're hands were doing more than being helpful!"
"Oh, come on, it's all in the family." Eric coaxed, "Danny won't mind you having a little fun with me on your last night of freedom."
Shuddering with disgust and disbelief, Angel started in surprise as the pub door silently and swiftly flew open, slamming into Eric and forcefully knocking him off balance. She was stunned for a moment as she watched Danny pull out his pistol and cock it, aimed steadily at his cousin, despite his obvious rage.
"I should kill you for this." Danny growled, his voice sending shivers down Angel's spine. To Angel, and especially Eric's dismay, Danny changed positions and forced the barrel of his pistol into his cousin's mouth angrily. Disturbed, Angel moved closer to her fiancee, not touching him so he wouldn't be startled.
"Baby, don't do this! I know you're upset, but a punch to his jaw would work just as well!"
Eric, sweating nervously, started to calm as Angel intervened, but stiffened as she suggested Danny punch him instead. Ignoring Eric's glare, Angel reached up slowly and caressed Danny's cheek.
"Please? Before someone comes along and tries to have you arrested the night before our wedding?"
Turning his head and kissing the palm of her hand, Danny nodded and yanked the gun away from Eric, holstering it. Before his cousin could recover from his ire and get up, Danny's fist connected with Eric's jaw and sent him sprawling on the concrete.
"What was that about, anyway?! You and Eric were practically brothers and while I thought you might be irritated by what he did, you went way above irritated. It was..."
"Sexual tension and frustration." Danny said wryly, placing his hand near Angel's head and leaning over her.
"Oh."
"Yeah, 'oh.' Now, confess." Danny ordered gently, tracing a finger over her jaw and lips seductively.
"C-Confess?" Angel breathed, wide eyed and disoriented by Danny's nearness as he gave her the lopsided smile she adored.
"I'd like to know why it is that I am getting the idea you think something is going on with me and Sam...or we had something." Danny added with a thoughtful expression. Angel stiffened immediately and ducked under his arm, moving away in the small space.
"There's nothing to discuss." She lied, her voice wavering as she rested her head against the cool metal of the stall, closing her eyes protectively.
"Amante..."
Danny reached a hand toward her in concern and Angel turned, her eyes welling with tears and freezing him in place.
"Please. I can't. Not right now."
Dropping his hand, Danny searched her face before nodding with obvious regret and raking a hand through his dark hair.
"You'd better hurry if you want to get back to work. Lunch is over."
"W-What?"
He only lifted an eyebrow at her question and when Angel finally moved to the door, made no move to stop her. Opening it, Angel paused for a moment and turned back to gently kiss Danny's cheek before leaving.
"That's great!" Angel called, pulling open the door to her apartment as U2 began playing from the stereo. To her surprise, Danny dropped a kiss on her open mouth and came inside carrying take out bags from her favorite Irish restaurant.
"What..."
"I'm starving!" Danny exclaimed cheerfully, setting the bags on the table as Angel shut her door mechanically.
"What do you want on the pizza?"
A petite, Mexican woman came out of the kitchen and froze in confusion to see Danny taking off his trench coat and suit jacket, hanging them both on a dining room chair.
"Hey, Lin. How've you been?" Danny asked Angel's best friend pleasantly. Linda glanced at Angel, who could only shrug in mystification as Danny began pulling cartons out of the bags.
"I've been good. What..."
"I've got enough food for you as well. Feel like Irish fare?" Danny interrupted, opening some containers to send the smell of Irish stew and corned beef through the apartment.
"Perhaps we're going out." Angel protested tightly, trying to ignore how her mouth watered or how attractive Danny looked as he pulled off his tie and undid the top buttons of his shirt.
"Angel just might have a date I'm helping her get ready for!" Linda pointed out, her brown eyes flashing at his affront to her friend. Stopping the careful rolling up of his sleeves, Danny spun on Linda, his pained, angry expression causing her to step back in surprise despite the large space between them.
"Don't ever suggest such a thing!" He growled vehemently, "We both know she wouldn't date...at least not until the divorce was final."
"Least you remember that's occurring." Linda muttered, ignoring Danny's frustrated glare.
"'At least'?!" Angel repeated angrily, "What, you think I have some man lined up for the second you sign the papers?!"
Sighing, Danny shook his head and walked over to his wife, taking her hands in his.
"That's not what I meant, amante. Let's just eat, hmm? Please?" Bending his head slightly as he searched her eyes, Danny smiled engagingly and watched as Angel fought a returning smile that tugged at her lips before nodding slightly.
"Good."
Tugging her to him, Danny hugged Angel spontaneously and kissed her forehead.
"Now, Angel gets the Irish stew. Who gets the fresh cod?" He asked pleasantly, going back to the table.
Gasping, Angel's eyes flew open and she sat up in a sweat as her heart raced. She'd had a dream about Danny and Samantha Spade again and it always managed to ruin her chances to go back to sleep. Laying back down and turning away from the sun lit window, Angel was thankful it was Saturday morning as tears of heartache seeped from her eyes. Her chest ached with need to cry and as much as she hated it, Angel couldn't stop the onrush of tears as she began to sob. Trying to muffle the sounds against her pillow, she jumped as someone touched her back soothingly and just managed to force back a scream in her throat. Before she could fully react, Angel was lifted, blankets and all and found herself nestled in Danny's arms as he carried her into the living room and sat on the couch with her in his lap as if she weighed nothing.
"What are you doing here?! How did you get in?!" Angel demanded, trying to fight her way out of the tangle of sheets and blankets.
"Linda's key. She'll regret it later, but I was right in figuring she'd be too tired from Gab's premiere in 'The Producers' last night to think too clearly." Danny answered, ignoring her first question and finally letting Angel pull free and get to her feet, angrily pushing her tear and sweat dampened hair from her face.
"Fine, but why?!"
Leaning back comfortably with his arm along the back of the couch, Danny lifted an eyebrow with a grin as he looked her over.
"That is reason enough." He commented mischievously. Glancing down at her attire of only a thin strapped tank top and underwear, Angel flushed and mentally cursed herself for being too tired last night to search for the boxers she normally slept in. She moved to snatch up the sheet or comforter, only to have Danny throw them out of reach and then catch her by the waist, tackling her beneath him on the white futon sofa.
"Danny, get off me, you cad!" Angel protested, pushing against his blue silk shirt and trying to see through her mussed hair.
"Cad?! You wound me to the heart!" He lamented, brushing her hair from her face and grinning to belay his supposed pain.
"You're a rogue, an oaf, a..."
Danny was listening with a contemplative expression, but Angel broke off as his left hand moved up her hip and began tracing the skin just covered by her shirt, which was the only place where Angel was extremely ticklish. Gritting her teeth, Angel glared up at him defiantly.
"No, you don't!"
A giggle escaped as he increased his efforts and Angel began trying to push him off. Her left hand slipped against the slick material of his shirt and Danny let out an oath, falling onto the floor and just missing the coffee table as he held his eye. Gasping with embarrassment, Angel leaned over and tried to see his eye, but her husband wouldn't let her near it.
"Let me look!" She ordered, moving onto the floor in the small space and leaning over him to pull his hand off his eye.
"Ow!"
"Sorry. Stop complaining!" Angel muttered, gently probing his eye.
"Your knee is digging into my ribs!" He declared, moving her until they were both situated to his liking and Angel found herself laying on top of him as Danny put his hands behind his head comfortably.
"If you'd go sit at the table, this would be easier!" Angel muttered, steadying her hands on the floor near his arms.
"Easier, but not as much fun." Danny shot back naughtily. Snorting in exasperation, Angel shifted her weight so she could reach his eyes and began looking again, purposing less gentle. Danny clenched his jaw, but didn't give her the satisfaction of commenting on the pain.
"You'll need ice...It's a shiner, darling." She informed him finally, biting her lip in chagrin.
"That'll frighten the kids at the park." Danny commented easily, shifting her so they lay on their sides facing one each other.
"Kids?" Angel asked in confusion as Danny put a lock of hair behind her ear and then gently tugged her earlobe.
"We're going to have a picnic in Central Park."
"But..."
"You'd better go shower and get dressed before I'm tempted to scratch going out for staying in." Danny added softly, his darkening eyes causing Angel to scramble to her feet and head to the bedroom.
Sitting on the blanket in the Park, Angel licked a piece of cotton candy off her finger and suppressed a grin of amusement as women walking on the paths nearby nearly stopped in their tracks to see Danny in his blue shirt and khakis laying on an elbow and drinking iced tea beside her, his black eye giving him an attractively roguish look. She wasn't sure if he'd noticed, but as a couple of women old enough to be his mother whispered amongst themselves and tittered as he glanced their way, he smiled lazily.
"This black eye is good for my ego...Not sure why, but it's getting women's attention."
"They probably decided on a romantic story of you defending my honor and beating up some thug." Angel commented with a laugh.
"Don't I seem the type?" Danny asked, squinting up at her with a smile as the sun framed her hair in gold. The question knocked the smile from her face and Angel nodded.
"But I've also seen you with a gun and you're dangerous."
"Angel..." Danny began quietly.
He broke off as she leaned down and kissed him gently, her lips tasting of cotton candy and the strawberries they'd had earlier. She smiled softly as she pulled away and Danny groaned in his throat, sliding his hand up behind her neck and pulling her back down, only to freeze as a phone rang.
"Please don't be mine." He moaned, reaching for the picnic basket. His cell phone rang again as he picked it up and Danny glanced at the display.
"Damn."
Jack met Danny and Angel as they got out of her blue corvette at the small kids' playground and seeing that she'd given Danny a ride, Jack shook his head apologetically.
"I'm sorry to call you in on your day off, Danny. Angel, I wouldn't interrupt if it weren't..."
"Important. I know." She finished, smiling weakly
"Jack..." Martin said, coming over in a navy FBI windbreaker and handing Danny one. "Wow, nice black eye! How'd you come by that?"
"All I'm saying is you should see the other guy." Danny answered, slipping into the jacket. Angel made a coughing noise, but couldn't suppress her laughter and Martin grinned.
"What really happened?"
Jack was quietly filling Danny in on the case now, but Angel could see Danny was half listening with masculine unease for her answer.
"We were messing around and I accidentally hit him." Angel answered sweetly, not correcting whatever assumption Martin made as his eyebrow shot up. Smoothing her spaghetti strapped sundress demurely and looking around at the scene, Angel froze as she spotted a couple about her own age, clinging to one another as the brunette woman cried and her blonde husband, his face haggard and desolate, tried to answer questions from a policeman.
"Sad, isn't it?" Martin interrupted her study quietly. "Their two year old son disappeared from the park with a baby sitter a few hours ago. We've got to find out now if the sitter took off with the child or they were both taken by someone else."
At that moment, Danny approached the couple, greeting the man with a reassuring look and putting a comforting hand on the woman's arm as he explained to them what was going on, his expression soft and understanding as he listened to what they had to say. Watching him, Angel was hit with a wave of love and remembered why his job was so important to him, why she'd been so proud of it in the first place and shame at her past behavior hit her like a fist in the stomach.
'He deserves better.' She thought sickeningly, turning and walking blindly to her car.
"Angel, wait a sec!" Danny called out. Turning, she saw him jogging toward her and a tear slid down her cheek.
"Hey, what's this?" He asked, gently wiping it away.
"Danny, I'm so sorry." Angel whispered, looking up at him contritely.
"For what? I should be apologizing to you for breaking our date." Danny returned gallantly, his eyes showing his confusion over her behavior.
"No, baby." Angel replied, smiling weakly as she reached up and brushed some of his hair back in place. "I let myself forget how important your job is and...Find that little boy and bring him home."
He obviously wanted to object to her self blame, but seeing the look on her face, decided against it and nodded instead.
"Find me when you solve this case. If I'm not at work or my apartment, check with Linda."
Unsure what to say about the new events, Danny nodded again, causing Angel to grin before reaching up and giving him a kiss full of promise and then getting in her car and driving off.
"Does this mean you two are finally back together?"
Turning to find Jack watching him, his arms crossed authoritatively, Danny shrugged.
"I'm not sure." He confessed.
"Well, it looks like a start and its about time. That case with Clare was weeks ago."
"It was you!" Danny blurted out accusingly as they headed back toward the crime scene. Jack lifted an eyebrow and he added:
"You called Angel about..."
"Oh, yeah, yeah. Who else? None of the other team members were at the pier that night. Anyway, this job has pretty much killed my marriage and I don't want it happening to you. You don't deserve it...Neither does Angel. Now lets get to work."
Turning, Angel saw Danny approaching hesitantly and she smiled in welcome. It had been three days since she'd seen him and according to the news reports, the FBI found the little boy, taken by his baby-sitter who claimed his working mother had no claim to him. The brunette had promptly quit her law firm and was now a stay at home Mom.
"Linda told me where to find you. Why here?" Danny asked, rubbing a soothing circle over the small of her back as they stood at the base of the Statue of liberty on Ellis Island and looked out over New York Harbor.
"Don't you recognize the spot?" Angel teased, turning to face him as she surprised him by moving closer and playing with the collar of his trench coat.
"Of course I do!" Danny protested, "I spent weeks trying to find the perfect spot. Considering the Irish-American history here, I thought it might be romantic for you."
Nodding shyly, Angel met Danny's eyes as she remembered.
Contentedly touring the Ellis Island Museum at a slow pace, Angel frowned slightly as Danny fidgeted once again.
"Darling, if you don't want to see this, you can go back and we can meet up later."
If it had been one of his old girlfriends, Danny would have known she didn't mean it and keep his mouth shut no matter what, but with Angel, he knew he could leave and what was more amazing, suffer no repercussions because she didn't expect everyone to love history the way she did.
"No, I just wanted to show you something."
"What's that?" Angel asked with a smile, turning her full attention to him.
"Well...If you don't mind the stairs, I used my FBI connections to get us a look form the cornet of the statue. It's been closed since 9-11, but..."
He didn't get much further as a dumbfounded Angel threw her arms around his neck, raining kisses over his face, making him laugh.
"Let's go now!" She gushed, grabbing his hand and heading excitedly through the crowd toward the Statue entrance.
The climb to the top is nearly four hundred steps and incredibly steep, but as Angel walked into the windowed cornet, all the exhaustion faded at the view of the Harbor and Atlantic Ocean from over 260 feet in the air. Awed by the sight, Angel moved to the window and gazed out for a moment before realizing the height and stepping back with a slight nervousness, only to bump into Danny. Comforted as he slid his arms around her waist, she leaned back against him with her head tucked beneath his chin. Danny was playing with something in his hands and glancing down at them, Angel froze, her hands tightening reflexively on his wrists.
"Danny, what..."
She trailed off as he opened the black velvet box to reveal a sliver ring with two diamonds surrounding as larger central diamond, all princess cut.
"Are you going to look at me when I propose or should I just ask your ear?" Danny teased, his breath warming her ear. Pulling away, Angel turned around quickly, her hands on her hips.
"What are...How long..."
"I'm proposing marriage. I decided last month after you said your coworker asked you out and I felt the need to break his jaw. If that's not love..."
He smiled self mockingly, but the smile faded as Angel only seemed perplexed.
"But...Why?!"
Danny turned intensely serious at once as he realized this wasn't going the way he'd hoped.
"I've told you I love you, correct?"
"Y-Yes."
"And do you believe me?" He persisted, sticking the ring box in his pants pocket and taking her hands in his caressingly.
"Of course!" Angel snapped, looking at him as if he were slow.
"So then why shouldn't I want to marry the woman I love?" He countered. Opening her mouth to answer, Angel promptly shut it again.
"Exactly." Danny stated with another smile. "Now, will you marry me and become mine before our families and God?"
He was serious again and pulled the ring box back out, dropping it as he took the ring out, still holding her left hand and slipping it on to find that it fit perfectly.
"Yes, of course!"
Throwing her arms around Danny's neck, Angel kissed him until they were both breathless.
"The Statue of Liberty does have a bit of Irish significance."
"Yeah," Danny agreed, dryly. Seeing Angel lift an eyebrow at his tone, he added:
"It's a great and promising welcome to a country whose people will treat them worse than dogs because they were starving in Eire and any wage is worth it for the food and freedom of not being an English lord's tenant."
"You remember that from the museum tour?!" Angel asked in disbelief.
"No...I learned about anything Irish I could get my hands on when you left...To be close to you somehow." Danny admitted, not meeting her eyes for fear she'd find him stupid or crazy.
"Oh, darling, I..." Breaking off as Danny looked up, Angel was observing something going on behind him.
"What is she doing?!" Angel demanded angrily. Turning, Danny smiled to see Sam Spade and Martin Fitzgerald.
"Kissing Martin. We were on our way back from wrapping up the toddler case and I brought them..." Trailing off, Danny was mystified by Angel's irritation.
"Doesn't that bother you at all?" She asked, searching his face in concern.
"No," Danny said with a laugh before adding: "If they want to risk Jack's ire if they break up, that's their business."
"But Samantha, she...You..."
"Aren't and have never been involved in that way." Danny finished, a guess about her thoughts confirmed. Pulling her into his arms, Danny kissed her lips softly.
"There's only one woman for me and it's never been Samantha Spade."
"Darlings, off the sofa."
The three and six year old immediately stopped jumping, landing a sitting position with giggles stifled behind their hands. Handing Linda a cup of tea, Angel smiled at the curly, black haired girls and handed them a cookie.
"Tank you!"
"Thank you, Tia Angel."
"They're adorable, Lin. Why don't you let Danny and I watch them for the night to give you a break. We can take them until Gab comes home tomorrow from filming in LA."
"I don't want to impose on Danny and..." Linda began hesitantly, rubbing her exhausted eyes tiredly.
"Danny adores them and...It'll give him practice." Angel added with a shy smile, sipping from her tea cup.
"What?!"
Linda set her cup down with a hard rattle, causing Angel to wince in concern for the Taylor family china.
"I found out today from Dr. Cox. I'm going to tell him tonight after he's had some time with your girls." Angel admitted.
"You mean after he abhors the idea of children because he's exhausted?" Lin asked, raising an eyebrow with a mocking smile.
"The girls are wonderfully behaved with us as you well know. Danny usually goes on about having children for weeks."
"That's sweet of you." Linda admitted.
To Angel's surprise, she stood and picked up the tea tray.
"You should go now. I'll do the dishes and things."
"But...He's at work and..." Angel began, bewildered as Linda pulled her to her feet and gently pushed her toward the Tudor house's front door.
"He'll want to know! He'll probably want to know why you didn't come to tell him straight from the doctor. Go on!"
Nodding, Angel picked up her black, ankle length leather jacket, purse and car keys and headed out the door.
Glancing up wearily as the older woman flirted with him again, Danny tried to hide his boredom, than shared a look of amusement with Martin as she tried to subtly tug her dress up as if the sight of her ankles would drive him, Martin and Jack to distraction. Across the floor from the conference table, men were flocking from all over the floor to the elevators and Danny raked a hand through his hair as he tried to see what was going on, unknowingly causing it to stand up like a boy who'd just gotten out of bed. Martin gave him a sidelong glance as he noticed Danny's attention wander then tried to see what was going on as well, straining his neck to see over the group as he tugged at the collar of his striped shirt. Realizing that both men had lost interest, Jack, Sam and Vivian looked at them in annoyance just as Danny's face lit up with a loving grin. Breaking free of the men with a confused furrow of her brow, Angel crossed the floor toward the table, straightening her long jacket, green turtle neck sweater and black knee length skirt in a self conscious gesture Danny recognized as he leaned back in the chair to watch her approach with obvious desire. Startling his coworkers and the witness, Danny suddenly sat up in his chair, clutching the arms as he remembered Angel had gone to the doctor after his pleading because she'd been so ill. Unconscious of his worry, Martin leaned over and smiled as his blue eyes watched Angel.
"I can see why the guys were falling all over themselves. She practically...glows somehow."
The brunette witness snorted in disdain, obviously looking down on Angel for some reason, but before anyone could comment, Angel was accepting Jack's kiss to her cheek as the men stood for her arrival.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, luvs. I was just hoping to speak to my husband for a minute. It won't take long." Angel added quietly, glancing at Jack with an apologetic smile.
"Obviously his second wife." The woman told Sam in a whisper meant for everyone to hear. Angel looked confused and hurt by the woman's tone, but to everyone's surprise, Martin spoke up with obvious dislike, making the woman flush.
"I think you should watch your mouth and tone, ma'am."
"Martin." Jack stated in rebuke, but more automatic than angry. Turning to Angel, he smiled.
"I'm sure we can all use the five minutes. Go ahead."
Enjoying the woman's embarrassed expression, Danny moved to Angel's side and led her out of earshot, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as he gazed down at her with a worried expression.
"What'd the doctor say? Are you..." He began worriedly, his hands on her arms tightening.
"I'm having a baby." Angel finished, smiling with such warmth, that combined with the news, made Danny feel as if he'd been bull cocked.
"You...A baby...my baby?!" He managed, his eyes wide with surprise.
"Unless there's been some spiritual intervention and it's God's child, yes, your baby." Angel answered wryly, reaching up and combing his mussed hair down with her fingers. Letting out an uncharacteristic whoop that surprised his co-agents as well as people nearby, Danny spun Angel around excitedly, causing her to blush.
"Put me down!" She hissed, clinging to his neck. Obeying, Danny caught her off guard again as he began to kiss her passionately, dipping her as some of the men nearby called in encouragement. Angel was bright red with embarrassment as Danny pulled back slightly, grinning stupidly with delight, his hand gently holding her waist.
"When? And are you done being sick?" He asked, suddenly serious.
"I'm two months along, so the doctor says September. I'll have morning sickness for another month."
Danny winced apologetically, causing Angel to smile as she slid his left hand over his abdomen.
"I'd be sick for nine months if it meant bringing your baby into the world, cara. Don't worry, the doctor says we're both very healthy. Now, go back to saving people."
"Are you sure?" Danny asked uncertainly, "Shouldn't we be picking names or...decorating a nursery or something?"
Laughing softly, Angel dropped a kiss on his mouth.
"No, luv, we don't even know what the baby is yet. We've got six months for that."
"Oh, right...Well, I guess I'll see you tonight, amante."
Kissing her again deeply, Danny clung to her hand caressingly until she moved out of reach and left.