Dani remembered the day Crews came for her, like it was an event from the distant past, although it was still happening. She vaguely realized it must be the sedative, the paramedics gave it to her as the whole event turned into a circus. Shortly after Crews "rescued" her, that's what Tidwell kept calling it, the moment vanished. She just wanted a little more time, but there was no time. There was nothing but time, but none for them. There were too many people. Too many other eyes. Even as she was staring into Crews' eyes through the windshield, she could feel Agent Bodner there, in that same moment with them.

As Reese was ushered into a car for a trip to the hospital, she watched as they led Crews away again. She thought he seemed more concerned as they put him in the back of the unmarked, than when Roman's men took him away. Of course, Crews had no reason to trust the LAPD, did he? They had sold him down the river before.

He held her eyes, just like before, until an officer put his hand on Crews neck and forced him down into the car. His eyes were the dark pewter gray of a storm cloud. Tidwell was instructing the officers to take her to the hospital and telling he'd be right behind her, but all she could think to say to him was "Crews".

"I know" he said. "I have to go there first to deal with this. He's in the mess because of me. I sent him to find you because I knew he was the only one with a chance of pulling this off. I'll get him out of it Dani, I mean Detective." His eyes made a solemn promise that he would not leave Crews hanging and Dani believed him, she believed in him. She knew Kevin Tidwell had a lot flaws but disloyalty was not among them. She nodded and let herself be led away.

At the hospital, there was so much noise, so much light. Not the bright, warm, clean light of the sun, but the greenish, harsh, glaring light of fluorescent fixtures accompanied by the offensive smells of rubber gloves and antiseptic. After a week of being kept in basement, under a hood, the light, the constant noise and all the people in aqua drab rushing everywhere – it was just too much. Dani began to shut down. She needed some Zen to get through this Dani thought absently, knowing what she really needed was Crews.

The doctors wanted to examine her for signs of the things Roman might have done to her, they wouldn't accept that Roman never touched her. He was content to use her - to get to Crews. Sure he leered at her, taunted her and even raked his fingers over certain areas deliberately, but he didn't abuse her. Even Roman was unsure enough of Crews to go that far. She could sense it in him and she used it to provoke him.

"What is it Roman? Things not going according to plan? He's getting closer isn't he? He's out there, but he's getting closer…and you're hiding in this basement. Connection by connection…until he's right in front of you." She'd said.

"That is where I want him" Roman scream back at her, as if to convince himself he was still control.

"Sounds like you're in love, Roman" she taunted him in return, prompting a vicious backhand from him. Tears sprang unbidden to her eyes from the sting, fooling him into thinking he'd made her cry, but Dani Reese did not cry easily. Not even when Roman told her he'd killed her father.

Her hospital room was a whirlwind of activity. Police brass and doctors, people she didn't know talking in hushed tones into cell phones – which were not even permitted in hospital, but were in her room in abundance. She was there, but not there and wondered where Crews was.

Then Tidwell arrived as promised about an hour later, with her mother in tow. Dani complained bitterly, when the nurse informed them both she was "resting comfortably being held overnight for observation". Cursing in Farsi, Dani switched to English to advise everyone she "just wanted to go home", prompting the nurse to take Tidwell outside.

Dani had been administered a sedative and the room was darkened to help her sleep. Her circle of appreciable stimuli began to diminish, until she could only really focus on things inside the small the circle of yellow light cast by the bedside lamp. She began to drift in and out. Her long nightmare over, Dani began to give herself over to sleep. Her mother sat beside her stroking her hair as she had when Dani was a child.

"Dani, are you well?" she asked. She had plenty of anger, but none for her long suffering mother. She sighed and looked at her mother "Yes, mom. I'm fine inshallah" almost as an after thought. The Arabic for 'as god wills' a saying from her mother's culture that Dani hardly used except with her.

"Crews came for me" she confided.

They spoke in hushed tones in the dark, but had never had a more serious conversation. "This man, this Kevin. He is your boyfriend?" her mother inquired softly.

"Yes… well, sort of….yes" Dani settled on, averting her eyes.

"He seems very concerned for you, but this man Charlie, he comes to rescue you from this monster, Roman?" Dani's mother asked. "What is he to you?"

Leave it to her mother to cut right to quick. She considered that staying married to Jack Reese for thirty years required the patience and wisdom of a saint. What was Crews to her? She wondered. Lunatic, knife wielding, fruit obsessed, driving her crazy with his Zen exuberant ten year old boy partner or vengeful, dark, heroic partner? What kind of partner she thought absently. Partners…

Realizing she had yet to answer, Dani confessed. "Crews is…" she trailed off. "Crews is hard to explain….he's my partner, mom...He's different."

"This man Charlie risked his life to bring you home safe to us. I think he loves you very much Dani." Her mother stated flatly. "You must choose Dani, between those who say they love you and the one who proves it." Her mother pronounced.

Dani shot her mother a very dirty look, but they had the same temperament and neither woman yielded. Her mother continued "The Arab's have a saying 'he who speaks the truth should have on foot in the stirrup' – I know you will not like what I have said, but you must chose Dani or you will lose them both" her mother counseled. "I will go now" her mother said and quietly slipped out of the room and Dani let sleep overtake her.

But the damage was done, Dani slept fitfully, dreaming of Tidwell and Crews and difficult choices. She dreamed she was awake, fighting sleep, fighting to stay awake, fighting to stay in the moment. She saw people milling around, her mother talking with Tidwell, Tidwell holding her hand and talking to her, kissing her forehead and each time she fought to open her eyes, there - behind everyone else - standing quietly and still as a statue against the wall just outside the circle of light was Crews. He looked at her and he looked through her - with his piercing blue eyes, but he always held her gaze and never looked away.

In her dreams her father was there and he was saying "if you chase two rabbits you catch neither", but that was not possible, Roman said her father was dead. Then she saw her father standing in the Lieutenant's office angrily shaking his finger at Crews, threatening him, Crews was smiling. Then it wasn't her father it was Tidwell, shaking his finger at Crews, Crews was smiling.

Crews was always smiling. Her father hated Crews. Her father possibly involved with putting Crews in prison for twelve years, 241 stitches Stark had said…she saw Crews lying battered and broken on a cold prison floor. She woke up crying and still Crews was there.

It had been hours, long after visiting hours were over, the hospital was empty, dark and quiet. Crews crept into her room after hours with IAD, who did not have enough to arrest him, but then no one had found Roman's body yet either, he thought. Tidwell helped spring him from IAD, but only the specter of his earlier wrongful imprisonment kept them from locking him up again. In a cage, I can't go back in a cage, Charlie thought. I may only have a few hours, Charlie thought. He had all the money in the world and could have gone anywhere, but there was only one place he needed to be and that was with Reese. After all they had been through, a simple thing like visiting hours would not stop him.

He pulled a chair up alongside her bed and Crews watched her as she slept. For moments she was peaceful, still, angelic, very un-Reese like; then her brow knitted and she tensed, she was dreaming and it was not pleasant. She writhed in her sleep, coiled like a spring and tossed. Reese was always moving, awake or asleep, he thought. She reminded him of a wild animal placed in a cage. Charlie knew cages and he knew how Reese would hate a cage. He thought about the hell of the past few days for Reese and cursed himself for not killing Roman slower.

The wild side of Reese was just about all he'd seen, but there were glimpses of the quiet, shy, peacefulness he knew lurked deep inside her. That was all before, but Charlie could see more now, she seemed clearer to him magnified as if looking through still, deep, very clear water. She could be calm, silent, at peace, like the earth as seen from above, like a child sleeping without cares and worries. He wanted this for her. She mumbled something unintelligible in her sleep and he leaned close, smoothed her brow and touched his lips to her forehead. He spoke in a whisper "Sssh. It's okay, you're safe Reese. " When he withdrew, Reese's eyes were open and full of tears.

"What is it honey?" he asked softly. Normally, any type of endearment would have earned him a look of scorn from Reese, but she seemed not to notice it, cloaked in a veil of sedative. Instead unconvinced he was really there, she reached out for him a second time that day. Her fingers brushed gently along the side of his face and jaw. Her eyes wore the glaze of drugs and she wasn't really there at all he realized. "So much pain" she said, gently touching his face. Crews was perplexed by her reaction and rendered speechless. He opened his mouth, but no words would come. After a week of being held hostage by Roman, she was concerned about him?

"Crews… "she pleaded in tears "I'm so sorry". He was still shaken by her vulnerability Crews was worried "Honey, you have nothing to be sorry for" he tried gently. "Tell me why you are crying, Reese. What did he do to you?" Crews was himself bordering on tears. Killing had been too good for Roman. If he made her cry, made Dani cry, if he hurt her…. Charlie blinked back his own tears and thumbed hers away from her cheek. "Baby, please don't cry. Tell me what to do."

"Crews…. I" she never finished as he climbed into the bed beside her and gathered her into his arms. "Sssh" he said as he pressed kisses into her hair. "Dani, please. Tell me what to do". She clung to him, grabbing at the material of his shirt, burying her face in his chest. He stroked her back and rocked her gently. He considered digging Roman up from whatever shallow roadside grave the Russians dumped him in and driving over his dead body repeatedly with a very heavy truck, regardless of the consequences. At this particular moment, nothing frightened him more than the thought of what reduced his fierce, tough, vibrant, young partner to tears.

It took a few moments for Reese to still. They sat together, unsure of what to do, she was awake now but not fully in control. She composed herself and sat back, looking at him - no, not looking at him - looking into him Crews thought. The look on her face made his heart hurt. "I should go" Crews said. The warmth of Reese, the smell of her hair and the curves of her body awakened feelings in him that partners shouldn't have for each other. He needed to put some space between them. He was prepared to leave, but she made a simple one word request that broke his heart. "Stay" she asked quietly.

Dani hated feeling needy, but she wanted him there – close - she want that more than she wanted to breath at this point. Crews said nothing as he sat back against the headboard of the small hospital bed, gathered her to his chest and held her tightly in his arms. As their, breathing patterns began to match, Dani relaxed and dozed off. As she drifted off to sleep Crews promised her "I can stay as long as you need me". He could have sworn he heard her say "forever", but he figured he was dreaming, as they both fell asleep.

Kevin Tidwell shaved, showered and dressed in the neat grey suit Dani bought him. He bought a small bouquet of flowers and stopped by the hospital, well before his shift began, to look in on his favorite Detective. When he opened the door to her room, he saw her curled against the chest of Charlie Crews, whose arms were wrapped protectively around her. Neither was awake. He sighed quietly. Tidwell had a problem.

Tidwell knew there was special link between Dani and Crews. When she was on loan to the FBI, Crews talked to Dani more than Tidwell. When Tidwell did talk to Dani, Crews frequently crept into their conversation. But when faced with the thought of losing her, Tidwell went to Crews for help. He somehow sensed the deep of feeling Crews had for Reese, though Crews was careful not to say it or show it. He was not unaware of their link and often watched them function together. They were a good team, nope, a great team. There was a degree of trust, a bond and a connection - something intangible, unnamable, something that defied definition that you could not compete with. And as much as Tidwell feared losing her to Crews, he feared her being harmed more than anything.

Tidwell knew she was out of his league when he began pursuing her, didn't really know why she decided to give him a shot, but he was glad she did. He loved her, but he had no illusions...he never knew how long it would last. But this...this was a serious problem. You didn't have a girlfriend who slept this comfortably in the arms of another man. HE had a girlfriend - and you had a problem. Crews' eyes blinked open and he looked directly at Tidwell.

They had this unspoken discussion about Dani Reese before. Sometimes in the conference room, a couple times in the hallway, but this one – this was the one. Crews levelly returned Tidwell's stare, his eyes said "mine" and dared Tidwell to come get her. Tidwell walked to the edge of the bed, holding Crews' eyes the entire way. Crews never moved, not an inch, Tidwell wasn't even sure Crews breathed, but as Tidwell placed the flowers on the bedside stand Dani stirred slightly, capturing both men's attention and eyes. The name she spoke sealed his fate.

"Crews" she said sleepily. "Sssh" he said with a whisper against her forehead "it's early, go back to sleep, honey" and to Tidwell's great surprise - she did. No discussion about her dislike of pet names and endearments, no argument, no dirty looks or raised eyebrows – just a sigh, a smile graced her relaxed features and compliance. Tidwell was a proud man, but he knew when he was beaten. He nodded twice to Crews and backed slowly out of the room. "You take care of her." He warned in a low whisper "take damned good care of her Crews" he warned. Crews smiled slightly and nodded once in the affirmative. Charlie would protect her with his life - they both knew it.