AN~ Hey you guys, sorry it's taken me so long to get the new chapter published, was sort of stuck with a block for a bit but found a way to work through it. PLEASE please please let me know what you think of this and feel free to write a review. Enjoy! - Sixx

Following the employee outing, Danny and Mia both felt compelled to go check on Dahlia. They stopped at food storage to get a bucket of frozen goat cuts and headed out to Paddock Eleven.

"So how'd your talk with Owen go?" Danny said. Mia glanced his way.

"It went fine. I think I'm developing a better rapport with him, I think it could really help us out," She responded. Danny gave her an unimpressed look and Mia narrowed her eyes.

"Stop it."

"What?"

"Come on, you're giving me the 'traitor' face," Mia pointed out. Danny shrugged indifferently.

"No, I'm not," He responded. "Just… be careful. I saw the way he was looking at you, and I know how guys think; especially guys like Owen."

"What are you talking about? It was a totally normal conversation." Mia looked at him incredulously.

"That's how it always starts out. I know how guys like that operate because I was the same way when I was Owen's age. I have quite a few more years on you, Mia, just trust me on this," Danny said. Mia rolled her eyes before looking back at him.

"You're not really pulling the age card on me,"

"I'm not trying to, but it's true. I've seen this shit before. He's a cocky guy, thinks you're an attractive girl but that's all he's really going to see. His ego is too wrapped up in his own work to really have any respect for you as his colleague,"

"Then what do you call what you're doing now?" Mia countered.

"What do you mean?"

"Danny, I can't learn or grow as an animal behaviorist or handler if you don't let me? You've taught me just about everything I know but if you keep hovering over me and treating me like an intern, that's all I'm ever going to be. This is my livelihood, my job. I love working with you, you and I make a great team but I need to improve. I need to learn for myself. I can't keep doing this if you can't trust me and regard me like a colleague instead of an apprentice." She said.

Danny had opened his mouth to refute, but instead said nothing. He had nothing. There was no valid argument that he could defend himself with once he came to find out how Mia felt and that there was a chance that she was in fact right.

Mia studied him for a moment then sighed, picking up the bucket. "Let's go check on Dahlia then head back," She muttered. She was annoyed and felt dejected, and Danny felt like an asshole. He hadn't ever intended to make her feel like she was incompetent by just trying to protect her, and that was something he thought more about during their silent ride back to housing. A few hours later, Mia was sitting crosslegged on her bed with her laptop in front of her, still irritated by her argument with Danny, but it upset her that they even had come to that in the first place. She didn't like fighting with him. They knew each other so well and worked so closely with each other that it was inevitable, but the hard part was that usually if she had a problem or was upset by something, Danny was the first person she went to, and he to her. This time made that difficult.

A knock on her door caught her attention and she looked up.

"It's open."

When she realized it was Danny who had knocked and now opened the door, she gave a quick glance upward at him but otherwise kept her attention on her laptop. Danny wasn't going to let her ignore him, however, and went over to her bed, sitting on the edge of it as he studied her, trying to will her to meet his gaze by staring at her.

"Did you want something?" Mia mumbled, glancing at him and Danny exhaled slowly.

"I wasn't trying to make you feel like you were incompetent," He told her. "You're one of the most capable handlers I know. I was only looking out for you. I just don't want to see anything bad happen to you. I know I can be stubborn and sort of a jerk, and you're one of the few people that put up with me for it. I care about you and I just get sort of protective of you. You know me, you know I can get sort of irrational, but it's only because I care."

Mia's expression softened and she sighed, closing her laptop and set it down over on the bedside table before turning back to him. "I'm not planning on hooking up with Owen, Dan, it's just a working relationship,"

"I know," Danny said, exhaling slowly and rubbed his eyes. "I think I've just been a little more uptight lately. This whole divorce process has gotten me all worked up, I've been hearing from her the past couple of days and it's just been arguing, back and forth,"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Mia asked. Danny shook his head, eyes fixed on the far corner of the room.

"Because that's all you've been hearing about from me, I didn't want to drag you even further into my problems."

"Oh come on, we both come to each other about the bullshit that goes on in our lives," Mia told him. "And yours especially, Danny. This is a big part of your life that's suddenly changed. You're sort of experiencing a death; the death of your marriage and the death of a relationship with a woman you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with,"

Danny nodded slowly, seeming to think over everything. "I think what's been bugging me the past few weeks is how easily I was sort of just, replaced. She's already started dating that same guy she was cheating on me with. It's just sort of made me feel like I'm totally expendable."

Mia came to realize just how much Danny's insecurity caused by his ex wife was playing into what was going on now. It was messing with his head, and it occurred to her that the only reason was that he did care about her, their relationship at work and their friendship. He had invested a lot into teaching her and working with her, and because it happened with one important person in his life, he felt like he could just be replaced by another person he cared about, and it really got to him. She closed a hand over his own.

"Hey, look at me," She said, finding his eyes and Danny seemed to reluctantly do so. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you. I'm not replacing you with anybody. I couldn't possibly. You mean a lot to me, Danny, as my mentor, colleague and friend. No one, especially not Owen, is going to change that."

Danny studied her for a moment, and nodded before a light grin crossed his face, feeling a little uncomfortable with the vulnerability he was exposing. "I don't know how happy any future boyfriend of yours is going to be with that."

"Oh, shut up, come here," Mia rolled her eyes and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. Danny hugged her back, lowering his eyes as he found himself a little more reassured, but didn't want to completely let that show.

"You still mad at me?"He said lightheartedly, giving her a light squeeze.

"Maybe a little bit," Mia said, her tone lightly teasing but she decided she'd drag it out a little further as she and Danny pulled away, and he rolled his eyes.

"Okay, what's it going to take?" He said.

"Horror movie?" She said. "If you watch The Omen with me I might be more inclined to forgive you. It's on On Demand."

"Oh, you're really going to make me suffer, aren't you?" Danny responded, feigning exasperation and torment.

"It'll be like old times waiting for that elephant to calf." Mia said with a sheepish grin, poking out her lower lip. "Please?"

Danny caved, though it didn't really take much, grinning as he pretended to reluctantly crawl onto the bed next to her. "Fine."

Mia grinned, handing him another pillow and Danny lay propped partially up so they could watch the movie, and Mia flipped on the TV, settling back and curled up with her head against his collarbone. Relief has washed over the both of them that everything was worked out, though Danny still wasn't sure how to relay to her how much her support meant to him and how much reassurance her words had brought him earlier. She was right, though. He was going through one of the toughest points in his life, and he couldn't believe how lucky he was to have ended up crossing paths with the bright, hazel eyed intern with a sharp wit and enthusiasm for her job, and who would mean more to Danny than he ever anticipated.