{Author's note: I didn't think that I would actually have this done this early, but after watching the season finale, I was just inspired to write...so here it is: the last chapter to what I hope was an interesting and fun read. Thanks again for just taking time out of your lives to read this, and don't worry. I've got a few more Vegas fic ideas in my idea, so this isn't the last you'll hear of me...unless I get struck down by a bus or something tomorrow. :)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter Eighteen: The Ordinary World
----------------------------------------------------------------
As his feet carefully stepped off of the last step and onto the runway, Ed scoured the nearby scenery with his eyes. He stood still immediately upon catching a glimpse of the nearby Las Vegas strip, and his blue eyes darted among the buildings that were visible. A smile crossed his usually grim face as he noticed the Montecito itself standing amongst the group. Ed truly was home, a place that had seemed so far away at times during the past few days.
"Eddie!" a woman's voice shouted as footsteps were heard. With an even wider smile on his face, Deline turned around just in time to catch his sobbing wife in his arms.
"Hey there, beautiful." Ed greeted as he began to feel Jillian's tears of happiness soak through his shirt. He gently lifted her chin, and looked at her square in the eye. She reached up and caressed his cheek lightly, as if she was checking to make sure that he was actually real.
"I've missed you so much." Jillian said through her tears.
Saying nothing in response, Ed grabbed his wife and pulled her closer towards him. It wasn't long before the couple was engaged in a passionate kiss that was only broken by the cry of "Daddy!" coming from behind them. Separating from Jillian, Ed smiled at his wife before embracing a freshly arrived Delinda tightly.
"I love happy endings." Mary commented as she rested her head against Danny's arm. The two sat on the steps into the plane, watching the Deline reunion play out in front of them. With a smile, Danny simply nodded and wrapped his arm around Mary, who moved her head to his chest. A smile appeared on her own face as she began to feel the familiar feeling of security that had always seemed to come from Danny.
"I'm just glad that everyone's all right." Danny replied, looking into her eyes. In his head, he heard himself say "you especially", but the words never came out of his mouth. He simply rubbed her opposite arm slowly.
"I am too." Mary agreed before noticing a figure walking over towards them. As the dark-haired, older man came closer into view, Mary lightly nudged her best friend. "Danny."
"Huh?" Danny said, looking up to see his father walking over. Grinning at Mary, the tall, brown-haired man got up from his seat and went to meet his father. There was an awkward moment of silence between the two men as McCoy the elder simply stared at his son.
"This was as careful as you could be?" Larry asked in amazement, looking at the various bumps and bruises that now covered his son
"It doesn't hurt as bad as it looks." Danny offered with a shrug of his shoulders. With a wide smile, the older man embraced him tightly, causing Danny to wince as a pain flared up in his ribs. However, he decided that he could deal with the pain for the time being, and hugged his father back.
"I was so worried about you, Danny boy." Larry said, not letting go. "I must have asked your mother to watch over you about five million times." He let go, but kept his hands on his son's shoulders. "Seems like she felt you needed to be punished a little for even going in the first place."
"Yeah." Danny chuckled in agreement as he felt someone grab his arm. He turned to see Delinda standing next to him. "Hey Delinda!"
"Can we talk?" Delinda inquired, looking sincerely at him.
"Well…" Danny started, looking at his father.
"Go ahead." Larry said, stepping back with a smile. "I'm going to go talk to Mary and Luis."
"All right." Danny said as he watched his father walk off. He turned his eyes back to Delinda, who was looking at the ground.
"I'm really sorry, Danny." Delinda said softly, "I didn't mean to say…"
"It's all right." Danny assured with a smile. He lifted her chin so that she looked up at him. "I know that you didn't mean those things." He sighed. "I shouldn't have told you that you would only get in the way either."
"I wouldn't have been much help." Delinda admitted. Slowly, a grin found its way to her face. "Besides, we both know that Daddy would have murdered you when he found out."
"Yeah." Danny laughed, "He gave me enough crap already for bringing the others along."
"Hmm." Delinda said, sharing his chuckle. Suddenly, she spotted Nessa deboarding the plane, squealed in delight, and ran over to the jet. As Danny watched her tackle Sam and Nessa to the ground, he felt a rough hand on his shoulder. McCoy knew it instinctively to be Ed's, and turned to look at his mentor.
"You and Delinda work out your problem?" Ed asked.
"Yeah." Danny nodded.
"So, what exactly was it anyway?" Ed inquired, watching the scene play out in front of him.
"She wanted to go to Panama with us." Danny replied, thinking that he should refrain from telling Ed that Delinda had blamed the ex-Marine for the whole mess.
"Oh." Ed replied as if Danny had simply stated what the current weather was like. "And what did you tell her?"
"Exactly what you would have wanted me to." Danny said.
"Good." Ed nodded in approval. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed two cars parked on the airstrip: a cherry red Hummer and a black and yellow Camero convertible. "Give me your honest opinion on something?"
"Sure." Danny replied eagerly.
"Which one do you think will get back to the Montecito faster?" Ed proposed, nodding at the two vehicles. Danny smiled at the sight.
"Want to find out?" he asked mischievously.
----------------------------------------------------------
"He hasn't been out of his office for a couple of hours now." Mitch commented, looking up at the office that loomed above the surveillance room. The wheelchair-bound man looked at Danny, who stood near him. "What do you think he's doing?"
"Ripping Brunson a new one." Danny replied with a smile. He turned to Mitch. "Did we miss much?"
"Same old, same old." Mitch answered with a shrug.
Nodding, Danny walked up the stairs to Ed's office and lightly knocked on the door. Upon not getting a response, he walked in just in time to see his mentor forcefully slam down the phone.
"How'd it go with Brunson?" Danny inquired, sitting down in the seat in front of Ed's desk.
"Like you'd expect." Ed said, walking over to the window to the surveillance room. "How were things around here?"
"Mitch said it was the same as always." Danny replied, putting his feet up on Ed's desk. Suddenly, the phone on the desk rang again, and Danny quickly answered it. "Ed Deline's office."
"You two may have won the battle, kid," the familiar voice of Keller said, "But the war is far from over."
Danny was about to make a come back when the line went dead. He looked over to see that a smirking Ed had hung up. He shook his head in disgust as Danny could tell that he somehow knew who had called.
"They really should look at taking away that one phone call privilege for some of them." Ed commented with a smile.
"Yeah." Danny agreed with a nod.
"Oh, Danny?" Ed said as he walked back over to the window.
"Yeah?" Danny asked curiously.
"Get your feet off of my desk." Ed ordered, not turning around. Not wanting to incur the wrath of Ed Deline, McCoy immediately did what he was told.
The End
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter Eighteen: The Ordinary World
----------------------------------------------------------------
As his feet carefully stepped off of the last step and onto the runway, Ed scoured the nearby scenery with his eyes. He stood still immediately upon catching a glimpse of the nearby Las Vegas strip, and his blue eyes darted among the buildings that were visible. A smile crossed his usually grim face as he noticed the Montecito itself standing amongst the group. Ed truly was home, a place that had seemed so far away at times during the past few days.
"Eddie!" a woman's voice shouted as footsteps were heard. With an even wider smile on his face, Deline turned around just in time to catch his sobbing wife in his arms.
"Hey there, beautiful." Ed greeted as he began to feel Jillian's tears of happiness soak through his shirt. He gently lifted her chin, and looked at her square in the eye. She reached up and caressed his cheek lightly, as if she was checking to make sure that he was actually real.
"I've missed you so much." Jillian said through her tears.
Saying nothing in response, Ed grabbed his wife and pulled her closer towards him. It wasn't long before the couple was engaged in a passionate kiss that was only broken by the cry of "Daddy!" coming from behind them. Separating from Jillian, Ed smiled at his wife before embracing a freshly arrived Delinda tightly.
"I love happy endings." Mary commented as she rested her head against Danny's arm. The two sat on the steps into the plane, watching the Deline reunion play out in front of them. With a smile, Danny simply nodded and wrapped his arm around Mary, who moved her head to his chest. A smile appeared on her own face as she began to feel the familiar feeling of security that had always seemed to come from Danny.
"I'm just glad that everyone's all right." Danny replied, looking into her eyes. In his head, he heard himself say "you especially", but the words never came out of his mouth. He simply rubbed her opposite arm slowly.
"I am too." Mary agreed before noticing a figure walking over towards them. As the dark-haired, older man came closer into view, Mary lightly nudged her best friend. "Danny."
"Huh?" Danny said, looking up to see his father walking over. Grinning at Mary, the tall, brown-haired man got up from his seat and went to meet his father. There was an awkward moment of silence between the two men as McCoy the elder simply stared at his son.
"This was as careful as you could be?" Larry asked in amazement, looking at the various bumps and bruises that now covered his son
"It doesn't hurt as bad as it looks." Danny offered with a shrug of his shoulders. With a wide smile, the older man embraced him tightly, causing Danny to wince as a pain flared up in his ribs. However, he decided that he could deal with the pain for the time being, and hugged his father back.
"I was so worried about you, Danny boy." Larry said, not letting go. "I must have asked your mother to watch over you about five million times." He let go, but kept his hands on his son's shoulders. "Seems like she felt you needed to be punished a little for even going in the first place."
"Yeah." Danny chuckled in agreement as he felt someone grab his arm. He turned to see Delinda standing next to him. "Hey Delinda!"
"Can we talk?" Delinda inquired, looking sincerely at him.
"Well…" Danny started, looking at his father.
"Go ahead." Larry said, stepping back with a smile. "I'm going to go talk to Mary and Luis."
"All right." Danny said as he watched his father walk off. He turned his eyes back to Delinda, who was looking at the ground.
"I'm really sorry, Danny." Delinda said softly, "I didn't mean to say…"
"It's all right." Danny assured with a smile. He lifted her chin so that she looked up at him. "I know that you didn't mean those things." He sighed. "I shouldn't have told you that you would only get in the way either."
"I wouldn't have been much help." Delinda admitted. Slowly, a grin found its way to her face. "Besides, we both know that Daddy would have murdered you when he found out."
"Yeah." Danny laughed, "He gave me enough crap already for bringing the others along."
"Hmm." Delinda said, sharing his chuckle. Suddenly, she spotted Nessa deboarding the plane, squealed in delight, and ran over to the jet. As Danny watched her tackle Sam and Nessa to the ground, he felt a rough hand on his shoulder. McCoy knew it instinctively to be Ed's, and turned to look at his mentor.
"You and Delinda work out your problem?" Ed asked.
"Yeah." Danny nodded.
"So, what exactly was it anyway?" Ed inquired, watching the scene play out in front of him.
"She wanted to go to Panama with us." Danny replied, thinking that he should refrain from telling Ed that Delinda had blamed the ex-Marine for the whole mess.
"Oh." Ed replied as if Danny had simply stated what the current weather was like. "And what did you tell her?"
"Exactly what you would have wanted me to." Danny said.
"Good." Ed nodded in approval. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed two cars parked on the airstrip: a cherry red Hummer and a black and yellow Camero convertible. "Give me your honest opinion on something?"
"Sure." Danny replied eagerly.
"Which one do you think will get back to the Montecito faster?" Ed proposed, nodding at the two vehicles. Danny smiled at the sight.
"Want to find out?" he asked mischievously.
----------------------------------------------------------
"He hasn't been out of his office for a couple of hours now." Mitch commented, looking up at the office that loomed above the surveillance room. The wheelchair-bound man looked at Danny, who stood near him. "What do you think he's doing?"
"Ripping Brunson a new one." Danny replied with a smile. He turned to Mitch. "Did we miss much?"
"Same old, same old." Mitch answered with a shrug.
Nodding, Danny walked up the stairs to Ed's office and lightly knocked on the door. Upon not getting a response, he walked in just in time to see his mentor forcefully slam down the phone.
"How'd it go with Brunson?" Danny inquired, sitting down in the seat in front of Ed's desk.
"Like you'd expect." Ed said, walking over to the window to the surveillance room. "How were things around here?"
"Mitch said it was the same as always." Danny replied, putting his feet up on Ed's desk. Suddenly, the phone on the desk rang again, and Danny quickly answered it. "Ed Deline's office."
"You two may have won the battle, kid," the familiar voice of Keller said, "But the war is far from over."
Danny was about to make a come back when the line went dead. He looked over to see that a smirking Ed had hung up. He shook his head in disgust as Danny could tell that he somehow knew who had called.
"They really should look at taking away that one phone call privilege for some of them." Ed commented with a smile.
"Yeah." Danny agreed with a nod.
"Oh, Danny?" Ed said as he walked back over to the window.
"Yeah?" Danny asked curiously.
"Get your feet off of my desk." Ed ordered, not turning around. Not wanting to incur the wrath of Ed Deline, McCoy immediately did what he was told.
The End