Synopsis: At the end of Viuda Negra (Season 4, Episode 6) Jack and Danny discover that they can't get a flight home until the following afternoon. That got me wondering……..what might have happened in the hours until they got on the plane back to New York...?

Disclaimer: I don't own WaT or the characters etc etc

Reviews: Always welcome

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Flashback

Jack stood at the hotel reception desk and watched as Danny walked towards him talking on the phone

'Right, thanks'

Danny ended the call and joined Jack at the reception desk , 'So, the hospital wants to keep James overnight and the earliest flight out of here isn't until tomorrow afternoon' the beginnings of a smile hovered over Danny's lips

'Is that a bad thing?'

'No' Danny was making no attempt to stop the smile now as he realised that Jack was not exactly upset at having to spend some more time in Puerto Muerlos.

'Good because I could do with a nap' Jack turned away from the reception desk a smirk appearing on his face.

Danny turned and walked with him, 'I'm thinking a couple of lounge chairs by the pool……..'

'Now you're talking chico'

End of Flashback

He could feel the heat of the sun on his face and hear the ocean in the distance; he sensed movement next to him and lazily opened one eye to see Jack sit down on the lounge chair next to him. He turned his head and lowered his sunglasses raising one eyebrow in a silent question;

He observed the grin spreading across Jacks face and started to smile himself; 'Not happy then?'

'Martin said he hoped we had a 'nice time' which I took to mean that he hopes we both get food poisoning'

Danny stretched and yawned; 'they'll get over it'; he knew he sounded smug but hell, who cared? No plane until tomorrow afternoon was just a matter of luck; whether it was good or bad luck depended upon your point of view, or in this case, geographical location.

Jack sat back in the seat next to him and Danny saw his eyes follow an attractive blonde who was walking past. Danny gave her a once over; blondes had never really been his cup of tea but he could see why a man would give her a second, third or even a fourth look.

He looked back and saw that Jack was still watching her as she headed inside the hotel; 'Enjoying the view?'

He saw a smile tug at the corner of his mouth, 'Just appreciating the beauty and, er, contours of the local scenery'

Danny grinned; 'Contours huh, well there are certainly plenty of those'; his gaze wandered around the pool and he heard Jack laugh

'I guess this is what you would consider a 'target rich' environment?'

'And what, you don't? You're not that old Jack'

Danny could feel Jack looking at him and could imagine the expression on his face but didn't turn his head, preferring to watch a very pretty Mexican girl climbing out of the pool. She was looking at him and smiling; he considered heading over and offering to buy her a drink…………..

'Damn it'

Jack and Danny both looked around to see a brunette in an emerald green bikini and sarong crouched down a few feet away from them, the contents of her bag spread around her. Her face was obscured by her long dark brown hair; Danny decided that if her face matched her body it would be well worth a look.

A lipstick and a pen had landed next to Danny's chair and he bent down to pick them up

'I think these are yours'

She turned around looking for who had spoken

'Thank you………………..Danny?'

Danny was on his feet without realizing that he had even moved, staring at her in disbelief;

'Gabi?'

'I take it you know each other then' Jacks wry tone bought Danny's attention back to him for a moment before his head turned back to look at Gabi.

He saw her raise her eyebrows and turn to look at Jack and then back to him again, a question in her eyes; 'Er, yes, yes we do…….Jack Malone meet Gabi Johnson', he paused looking at Gabi, a question in his eyes, 'or did you marry Pete? Should I be saying Gabi Reynolds?'

She looked at him for a second, not missing the slight edge to his voice and then turned to Jack and held out her hand; 'pleased to meet you Jack Malone'

Jack was grinning and Danny noticed the enthusiasm with which he stepped forward to shake her hand; 'it's a pleasure Gabi…..?' he let his voice trail away, the question evident both in his tone and the expression on his face.

Danny saw her shoot him a quick sideway look and then smile at Jack; 'Johnson, Gabi Johnson'

Danny looked at her left hand; there were no rings and he couldn't see any marks to show that she had taken them off recently. Before he had time to think about that she turned

'And to answer your questions, yes I did marry Pete, yes you were right it was a huge mistake, yes we are divorced, no we didn't have any children, and yes, I am still using my maiden name'; there was a challenge in her eyes as she reeled this off

'Hmm, I think if my memory serves me correctly you'll find the only question I asked you was whether you married Pete'; Danny had a broad grin on his face;

She gave him an appraising look and smiled a 'you're really not fooling me' smile; 'Yes, but you would have asked and so I'm saving you the trouble'; her eyes dared him to contradict her and he held his hands up in a gesture of surrender

'OK, OK, you're right I would have asked you', he indicated the unoccupied chair next to them, 'join us, Jack was just going to get us some drinks'

He saw Jack raise his eyebrows and send him a look that clearly said 'don't push your luck' then he turned to Gabi and held out the chair, 'yes do join us and do have a drink it's on Danny's room bill'

She laughed but hesitated a moment, looking around the pool area quickly, 'I'd love to join you but I'm waiting for someone……' she paused and Danny saw her smile and wave at someone coming out of the hotel. He turned expecting to see a boyfriend but instead he saw the blonde that Jack had admired earlier wave back and start to head in their direction.

While Gabi was distracted Danny caught Jack's eye and grinned; he saw the answering smirk as Gabi turned back toward them as the blonde arrived

'This is Helen O'Grady; Helen this is Danny Taylor and Jack Malone'

Jack held out the chair for Helen as Danny did the same for Gabi, 'Ladies, what can we get you to drink?'

'Is anyone having wine?' Helen looked questioningly between Danny and Jack

'I'll join you in some wine, red or white?'

Helen smiled, 'I'll have what you're having Jack'; Danny noticed Gabi look away quickly as if she was trying not to laugh.

Jack turned to Gabi, 'what you like to drink?'

'I'll just have a club soda with lime please'

He nodded and sent Danny a look that had him jumping to his feet; 'I'll help Jack with the drinks, back in a minute'

'So, what's the story?'

Danny checked behind him quickly to make sure they were out of earshot

'Gabi and I were at law school together. She dated one of the guy's I shared the apartment with…..'

'Pete Reynolds'

'Yes. She and I were………..well, study buddies I guess; she was the smartest student in the class; I probably wouldn't have got through without her help'

Danny saw Jack's raised eyebrow and grinned; 'the drink, you know, it was pretty bad toward the end. She never had a go, other people were telling me I had a problem and should get it sorted but she was different'

He saw the question on Jacks face, 'oh I don't mean she didn't think I had a problem, she knew I did and I knew she knew I did, but she just said to me that until I knew that I needed help with the drinking there wasn't anything anyone could do for me but she could make sure I got my degree, so that's what she did'

'And you and she…..you never….'

They reached the bar and Danny attracted the barman's attention; he ordered the drinks and then looked at Jack

'Oh I tried but she knocked me back, said she wasn't going to cheat on Pete for the sake of a one night stand'

Jack nodded thoughtfully, staring back across the pool area to where Gabi and Helen were sitting, laughing.

'So who's Helen?'

Danny shrugged and signed the drinks check, 'you're a hot shot investigator Jack, why don't you have some fun finding out'

Jack looked at him over the top of his sunglasses, 'so you can see if you can talk Gabi into a one night stand I suppose'

Danny put an injured expression on his face, 'all I want to do is catch up with someone I haven't seen in a long time…..'

'Yeah, yeah' Jack sounded unconvinced

Danny grinned, 'I'll do you a deal; we agree that what happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico'

Jack grinned, 'deal'

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'For the love of god, how long does it take you to get ready?'

Danny emerged from the bathroom an offended look on his face, 'Jack, Jack, when will you learn that a little time and effort increases your chances of a payback'

Jack snorted, 'the time it takes you to get ready you should be looking for a 100 percent return my friend'

Danny sent him a smug look, ran his fingers through his hair to achieve the right 'messy' look he was going for and then opened the door

'Does that mean you are finally ready?'

'Yes it does; now come on; you don't want to keep the lovely Helen waiting do you?'

Jack scowled at him, 'you can talk; don't tell me you're not hoping for a bit more than college memories after tonight'; they headed down the stairs into the hotel lobby

Danny grinned but didn't answer; instead he stared appreciatively at the sight that greeted them as the elevator door opened and Helen stepped out wearing a tight fitting strapless black dress that finished on the knee with some killer high heels. She smiled at them both and Jack stepped forward,

'You look amazing'

They were smiling at each other and Danny doubted they even realized he was standing there; he decided that unless Jack seriously screwed things up between now and whenever they got back here he was definitely on a promise……..

The elevator door opened again, and this time Gabi stepped out; Danny's mouth went dry…….she had on a multi colored skirt that sat low on her hips and gently flared to just above the knee and a tight fitting low cut emerald green top that finished a good 2-3 inches above the skirt, showing her tanned, toned abdomen. She was wearing her hair down and the green of the top made the green of her eyes even more prominent. She looked amazing.

'Sorry to keep you waiting'; she spoke to Danny, ignoring Helen and Jack who were too busy flirting with each other to notice much else anyway.

Danny grinned, took her hand, lifted it to his lips and brushed a soft kiss across her finger tips; he felt a shiver run through her and noticed the heat flare in her eyes

'It's not a problem'; their eyes locked for a moment and she made no effort to remove her hand from his. The moment between them stretched…….

'Shall we go then?'

Danny dropped her hand and turned around to see Jack and Helen heading for the door, Jacks hand was in the small of Helen's back, their heads bent close together as they laughed about something.

'Hmm, your boss and my boss, quite a combination' Gabi was standing next to him watching them head out of the door.

Danny grinned, 'so tell me, how come you are on holiday with your boss?'

'She's not long split up with her boyfriend, my divorce came through a month ago; we decided that we needed a few days away, somewhere in the sun and someone recommended this place so here we are.'

They started walking, trailing some way behind Jack and Helen;

'So the divorce is quite recent then?' Danny decided he had better know the lie of the land; he had no intention of taking advantage of someone who was on the rebound after a marriage breakup……..

'It was finalized recently, but we broke up nearly three years ago. I didn't bother doing anything about it until he announced he wanted to get married again; that prompted me to sort out the paperwork',

She saw him looking at her and laughed, 'It's ok, I'm not going to cry on your shoulder, it was me that ended it……..anyway she'll make him the perfect wife…….no opinion on anything unless he gave it to her, wants to stay at home and raise squads of children and thinks that her 'duty' is all about making him feel wonderful';

He laughed at the sarcastic note in her voice and she turned to look at him; 'I should have listened to you' her mouth twisted wryly as she continued, 'I just assumed you were saying it because you wanted to get me into bed'

Their eyes met for a moment and Danny's face broke into a smile; 'I was trying to get you into bed, I was just trying the unusual tactic of telling the truth to do it'

They were both laughing; 'so I guess that didn't work so well for you huh?'

Danny shook his head, 'nope, crashed and burned, it wasn't pretty, so I went back to lying through my teeth and without wanting to be immodest, have had quite a bit of success'

'Danny Taylor, the man every guy in our class loved to hate. You should have had a revolving door fitted to your bedroom'

He looked at her quickly and she raised an eyebrow at him; 'not developing a thin skin are we?'

He grinned, 'I was a player, I admit it but since I joined AA I've been a lot better….'

'What, so you make sure you know their names now?'

He looked at her, remembering, and saw from the wicked glow in her eyes that she did too…..

Flashback

Danny stretched and yawned and looked around at his clothes scattered about his bedroom. He forced his alcohol befuddled mind to think back……….she was a blonde? No, a red head and her name was Sarah….Susan….he couldn't remember, anyway she was obviously still in the apartment because he could see various items of her clothing scattered in amongst his.

He sat on the side of the bed for a few moments trying to remember what had happened; he had gone to the bar, tequila slammers had been a half price special and he had stopped counting after eight and then he remember chatting to Sheila….Stephanie, he was sure it started with an 's' and then they had come back here. Two of his flatmates had been watching the game on TV so he and Sophie……Suzanne, maybe, had retired to his room. He seemed to remember the sex being OK and then he must have fallen asleep.

He looked at the clock; it showed the time as 9:25am and he groaned. He needed to get to the library and finish a paper and then he had a class in the afternoon. He pulled on a pair of jeans and wandered out into the apartment. The smell of coffee and the sound of voices pulled him in the direction of the kitchen where he found whatever her name was talking to Gabi

They stopped talking as soon as he appeared and he guessed that he was the subject of their discussion. He smiled vaguely in their direction as he reached for the coffee pot and saw the sardonic look on Gabi's face;

'You and Pete stayed here last night then did you?'

She didn't bother replying, her face telling him just how stupid she thought his question was; he shifted uncomfortably, she really was the only person he knew who made him feel unsure of himself………

'Morning baby'

Whatever her name was slid her arms around his neck and kissed him. Danny returned the kiss half heartedly, wishing she would get the message and go. His eyes slid past her to Gabi; the look in her eye was cold as she watched him and Danny found himself getting annoyed; she had no right to judge him………

He felt whatever her name was step back and saw the look on her face, the same look most of them had when they realized he just wanted them to go. She looked uncertainly at Gabi who gave Danny an angry look and then smiled at whatever her name was;

'Look I've a spare toothbrush and some makeup you can borrow if you like', he watched as they headed out of the kitchen and toward the bedrooms. He hunted around for some food, eventually settling on some Cheerios and found the sports section from the previous days paper and settled down to eat his breakfast. Just as he was finishing he heard the door to the apartment slam and Gabi came back into the room, her face cold.

'Oh for god's sake, don't start on me. I don't promise them anything and we are all consenting adults' Danny knew he was sounding like a petulant child which made him even crosser. Gabi didn't say anything she just looked at him and then he saw her face change to one of resignation

She sat down next to him; 'Danny, what was her name?'

He stared at her but she just continued to look at him, her green eyes seemed darker than normal but he guessed that must be a trick of the light. He searched his memory frantically then decided to guess

'Sarah'

'No, it's Rebecca'

Rebecca? He frowned, nope, no memory of her telling him her name was Rebecca; anyway that didn't begin with an 's'. He looked at Gabi and shrugged; 'OK, so her name's Rebecca'

'Do you remember any of their names Danny?'

'Of course I do, I just forgot hers that's all' he sounded defensive, he knew he sounded defensive; she always put him on his back foot……..

'OK, let's see then shall we. Today's Friday, so let's not make this too difficult; tell me what Wednesday nights name was?'

He scowled at her and she nodded; 'thought so. What about Tuesday? Oh no, I forgot you had a night off didn't you, so lets try Monday night's guest?' He glared at her but she didn't seem bothered, instead she continued, 'No? OK, Sunday? Saturday? Last Friday? I guess that would be no, no and er, oh what a surprise, no, wouldn't it?'

'And your point is?'

'Wednesday night was Shelly, Monday night was Ruth, Sunday night was Wendy, Saturday night was Jenny and Friday night was Karen'

He stared at her; 'why do you know this, what possible interest is it to you?'

She stood up, 'You owe me $50 by the way'

Danny stood up and stared down at her totally confused; 'what for, I paid into the kitty last week?

'Yes, but the kitty doesn't cover the toothbrushes, the make up and the Kleenex that I have to provide to Rebecca, Shelly, Ruth, Wendy, Jenny and Karen, to name but a very few' she looked at him, a glint of something in her eye, 'you're just lucky I don't charge for my time'

He stared open mouthed at her, 'why the hell do you do that?'

She sighed and looked away, staring into space for a moment as if remembering something then looked back; 'one day Danny you are going to realize just how much you can hurt people and you are going to wish you could take it all back'

End of flashback

He looked at her, his face serious for a moment; 'you were right, I do wish I could take it all back'

She nodded then grinned; 'You still owe me that $50, in fact correcting for inflation, lost interest plus the continuing stream of broken hearts I ministered to I reckon you owe me a lot more than that'

'Yeah?'

'Hmm, yeah, I'll have to work it out then we can agree on a payment plan' she shot him a look that made his stomach tie itself in knots……….'

Danny looked over to see Jack and Helen already sat at the table of the Cantina. They didn't appear to be missing Danny and Gabi, so engrossed where they in their conversation;

'Come on, the tables ready' Danny grabbed her by the hand and pulled her in the direction of the Cantina.

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'You know it would probably be more comfortable on the bed'; Danny raised his head slightly and looked at Gabi

She lifted her head, and rested her chin on her hands which were resting on his naked torso. She smiled a slow satisfied smile as she moved one of her hands and started to slowly trace a pattern over his chest, down over his stomach and down further until………….

He moved quickly, rolling off the sofa and onto the floor and taking her with him, laughing at the protest that she made; he stood up and pulled her to her feet and then held her to him so that their bodies were pressed together, so that she couldn't fail to be aware of how aroused he was.

'Bed'

He dragged her with him, both laughing as they collapsed onto the bed; Danny pulled her to him again, kissing her as he rolled them so she was pinned beneath him. He propped himself up on his elbows and gently stroked her face

'Well, that was well worth waiting for, even if it was on a very uncomfortable sofa''

'It's only been, what, 6 hours since I bumped into you at the pool….'

'Closer to 9 and you know what I mean' he was grinning and saw her laughing back at him. She slid her arms around his neck and pulled him down for another long kiss………….

'Hmm, I know what you mean……….remind me again, why didn't we ever get it together at law school?' she traced a pattern on his chest as he stared down at her.

'Because I was only interested in sex without commitment and you wanted more than that?' he dropped his head and nuzzled her ear, hearing her breath hitch and making a mental note of another sensitive spot for later

'No, that wasn't it'

He pulled his head up, surprise on his face; 'it wasn't?'

She laughed at the confusion on his face, 'no Danny it was the alcohol'

He stared at her, genuinely confused now; 'Really, but you seemed……I don't know, more understanding, less judgmental than anyone else'

'Well I could hardly judge could I?'

He stared at her as confusion flooded her eyes which then changed to incredulity; 'I thought you knew' she stared at him, 'Danny I thought…..I assumed….oh my god'

He stared at her thinking back…………he had never seen her with a drink; she hadn't drunk any alcohol tonight even though Jack and Helen had ordered wine; she had stuck to water and club soda and he had assumed it was because she was thinking about him……….

'How long?'

She sighed; 'this time around, 3 years one month and 5 days'

'This time around?'

'I started drinking when I was in high school to fit in, to be one of the 'in crowd'. By the time I got to college I was drinking just to function; one morning I woke up in bed with a guy whose name I couldn't remember and realized that I didn't want to live my life like that anymore. I went to a meeting, got a sponsor and I had been clean for 2 years when we were at law school' she paused

Danny stared into her eyes and gently stroked her face again; 'go on'

She raised her hand and laid it on his as he continued to stroke her face; 'I first met Pete when I was drinking; he was a good guy, solid, reliable and he helped me when I wanted to sober up and he supported me when the prop I had used for years to help me feel confident, to feel alive was gone. In a way he became my alcohol substitute. I knew he was controlling but I sort of needed that at the time, I needed someone to keep pushing me in the right direction because when I met you I knew I was only a small step away from heading right back to where I had come from.'

She slid her hand into his hair and pulled his head down for a kiss before releasing it again and continuing; 'I knew you liked me, I liked you too but it would have been like pushing the self destruct button so I decided to be your friend, be the one woman you couldn't have, I figured that way I'd be the one woman whose name you'd remember'

He stared at her; 'you were right, you are the only woman I really remember from law school, in fact you're one of the few people I have any sort of clear memory of at all'

She nodded, 'so you see, my being understanding, my not giving you a hard time about the drinking was because I knew that something would have to happen to you to make you want to stop', she cradled his face in her hands and smiled, 'and something did'

'But you started again?' there was no accusation in his voice, just curiosity

'You were right about Pete, he did want to control my life, he didn't want me to have a career and he hated that I was smarter than him but I didn't see any of that until we were married.' Her mouth twisted at the memory

'It was awful, cold, lonely, but we never rowed; if I shouted he would just walk out until I had 'calmed down' and was behaving in a 'rational manner' and then he would talk to me as if I was six years old. We stopped having sex after about three months then one night after a particularly unpleasant episode of me screaming and him telling me I needed to see a psychiatrist I stormed out and booked myself into a hotel. I didn't want to be on my own so I headed to the bar, had one drink and didn't stop. I woke up in bed with someone whose name I didn't know and was so terrified I checked out of the hotel and drove straight to my sponsors house at 5:30 am. I had to sit outside for two hours before I could knock on the door……………..' she smiled wryly at the memory

'Anyway after I spoke to him I drove home, packed my things, went into work and talked them into giving me a transfer to Boston; then I got on a plane and I'm still there. I haven't had another drink since'

'Wow, I really don't know what to say'

She grinned, 'actually you've already said it'

'Hmmm, I did? What did I say?' he started to trace kisses down her neck, onto her shoulder………

She moaned slightly; 'that this was worth waiting for and……..oh god, do that again'

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The sun was pouring in through the window when Danny woke up alone in the bed. He sat up, his heart racing, thinking she had gone….

'Do you fancy some breakfast?'

He turned his head to see her emerge from the bathroom. She climbed back onto the bed and he pulled her down into a long kiss before answering her question

'What did you have in mind?'

'Well, obviously, breakfast in bed……….' she looked at him, her eyebrows raised and he grinned;

'Obviously'

'OK so what do you want to eat' she saw the smirk on his face and thrust a piece of card at him; 'from the menu Casanova'

He tossed the card to one side and, moving quickly, flipped her over so she was pinned underneath him; 'I don't mind, you choose'

She arched her back and wriggled; Danny groaned as he felt his body respond to the wriggle and the provocative look on her face. He reached over and pulled the phone onto the bed;

'For god's sake order some food; otherwise they'll be serving lunch by the time we get around to eating'

She grinned and dialed room service; when she had ordered the food she placed the phone back and wriggled again, laughing at the groan she elicited from him; 'they reckon 20 minutes……….'

She let her hand trail down over his chest, his stomach and down further and heard him groan again……………………

Danny kissed her, feeling the heat rising between them, feeling her hands explore his body. She knew all of his most sensitive spots after the thorough mutual exploration of the previous night, just as he now knew hers. He felt her legs slide up and around his waist and then all rational thought was gone and it was just the feeling of her skin, her hair, her hands touching him, her lips kissing him until they reached the peak………………..

He lay on his back, her head on his chest, both drenched in sweat as their breathing slowly returned to normal

'So is this a one night stand then?' He tried to keep his voice sounding casual, relaxed…….

She groaned slightly as she managed to turn herself onto her stomach and pull herself up the bed slightly so that her head was level with his. She stared at him, trying to read any hidden meaning in the question then shook her head slightly; 'how would you feel if it was?'

Danny looked thoughtfully at her and considered his answer carefully; 'I think I would feel that we've missed out on an opportunity; I think there is something pretty special between us'

She stared at him but before she could say anything in reply they heard a knock on the door and the announcement that their breakfast had arrived. She slid off the bed and grabbed his dress shirt to put on as she headed for the door.

Once the waiter had left, Danny climbed out of bed and pulled on his boxer shorts and joined her at the table. She was pouring the coffee and he slid his arms around her, nuzzling the back of her neck. She put the coffee pot down and leant back, tilting her head to give him unimpeded access to the base of her throat

'Hmmmm, that feels good'

He stopped and straightened up. She looked at him in surprise until she saw the look on his face; 'you haven't answered the question'

'What, is this a one night stand?' she stared at him for a long moment, then she smiled, stepped forward and slid her arms around his waist, 'I hope it isn't, I certainly don't want it to be'

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Danny sat staring out of the window, watching as the buildings on the ground became smaller and smaller and feeling the familiar lump in the pit of his stomach; he hated flying.

Jack shifted in the seat next to him, trying to get comfortable and Danny watched in amusement as he failed to stifle a yawn and then another;

'I take it that you had a good night…..judging from the fact that you clearly didn't get much sleep?'

Jack couldn't wipe the smile from his face; 'yes thanks, you?'

Danny grinned; 'oh yes'

Jack yawned again and then looked at Danny through tired eyes; 'and we agree do we; what happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico?'

Danny shrugged, 'Sure'

'Good' Jack closed his eyes and almost immediately fell asleep.

Danny settled back in his seat and closed his eyes; what happens in Mexico stays in Mexico…….. except when she had already booked her flight to New York to see him next weekend. He smiled as he nodded off to sleep……………