He was on the phone when he heard her footsteps on the stairs. He watched as she peeped around the corner, then smiled at him shyly as he wrapped up the call. She was so beautiful in the morning, with her hair tousled and her face glowing with happiness. She looked like he felt. The night before had been like nothing he had ever experienced. He'd known they had amazing chemistry together, but this was so much more than just passion. He was sure - entirely sure - that she loved him, maybe even as much as he loved her, if such a thing was possible. No, they hadn't said the words (or at least she hadn't; he'd tipped his hand the other night), but sometimes words weren't needed. He was happier than he ever imagined he'd be, and he didn't bother to hide it, even though he suspected that he had a positively foolish smile on his face.

That feeling didn't last, unfortunately. He would have given almost anything for her not to find out about Alex the way she did. He had winced when Alex introduced herself as his wife, although he understood why she was being scrupulously honest and accurate about her name and legal status. The look on Dani's face, though, was something he had never hoped to see again. What killed him was the way she looked so disappointed - not at him, but at herself for not seeing this coming. For a second, she looked really, really tired, like all the light had disappeared from her face, and then the wall went up. She covered pretty well. She couldn't hide her surprise and irritation, but it would definitely appear to Connor to be the surprise and irritation of someone who found out that a good friend had kept a major secret from her, not the shock and dismay of someone who had just unknowingly had sex with a married man. That was why her marriage broke up, and now she thought he'd made her complicit in his cheating. He watched as she turned on her heel to go to the staff meeting. She didn't look back.

He wasn't able to see her to clarify until the evening, a wait that had been excruciating. He tried to explain, but she wasn't having it. She didn't like that he and Alex had a real relationship, and he was very unhappy that she had met someone he had slept with, but he got the sense that it wasn't jealousy as much as it was the idea that she was once again in the dark about something very important in his life. (He, on the other hand, was unhappy for traditional reasons that he had met so many of the men she had slept with - that idiot, Matt; that idiot, Sam; and JD, who actually didn't appear to be an idiot, but couldn't be that bright if he'd let her get away. He'd probably meet her idiot ex-husband at some point, he was sure, which might very well mean he had met ALL of her lovers. But he was getting way off track.)

What really got to him - and what he wasn't going to be able to fix easily - was that she said she didn't want to be in a relationship with someone she didn't, and wouldn't ever, really know. She had a little sob in her throat when she said that, which made him want to wrap his arms around her and comfort her, but considering that he was the cause of the pain, that wasn't a good idea. They were interrupted by Paloma, who had found Hutch, so any relationship talk would need to be tabled for the moment (and he was convinced he was in a relationship, even though Dani was keeping her distance and he had screwed up royally by not telling her about Alex - although really, when was he supposed to have told her, exactly?).

He was very happy when she called him to come over, but wasn't completely surprised when it turned out to be about Hutch. She'd gotten the smoking gun faster and more efficiently than he or the FBI could ever have done, and as always, he was impressed. He could sense she was thawing toward him because of the way she thanked him for Carl, so he decided to press the point by telling her that she knew what kind of man he was, even if she didn't know much else about him. That seemed to register on her, but she was moving way too slowly for his taste. She was frustratingly stubborn sometimes. She called to him as she was leaving, and asked her about getting a shot at Connor before the FBI reached him. He knew this was a good sign - she was asking for his help rather than trying to solve the problem herself.

When he showed up at her house, she was cramming clothes into one of many suitcases she had accumulated by the door. He wasn't surprised to see that she didn't travel light. She seemed happy to see him, and didn't hide that she was unhappy about how things were between them. He helped her zip the suitcase, and then asked her about her destination, which he assumed (correctly) was Barcelona. She in turn asked him about Dallas, but he was readying himself for the big reveal, so he didn't respond. When he told her his full name, she looked so delighted and happy that other things just started pouring out. He just needed to get used to sharing things with her. While he was talking to her, he shoved the overstuffed suitcase out of the way with his foot and moved closer to her. He hadn't had her in his arms for days, and he didn't intend for there ever to be that long of a stretch between kisses ever again. After he remedied that situation, she asked him again about Dallas, which was when he suggested they take some R&R together. She couldn't resist teasing him about his plan of driving into the sunset with her. When he said "Who said anything about driving?" he watched as her face showed the mixture of intrigued curiosity, amusement, and surprise that he had missed so much over the past year. He hadn't been sure that he'd ever see that look again. He thought it might have been too much to ask of the universe, in a way. But there it was. It had seemed greedy to expect everything, but it looked like he had it.

When she arrived at the plane, she was dressed to the nines and looked amazing in a dark crimson dress. He had suggested she get dressed up, which he knew wouldn't take much persuasion on his part (the good doctor certainly loved clothes, and who could blame her - she looked adorable in everything). When he told her the plane was his, he was gratified to see The Look again. He had to admit, he was pleased to have the upper hand for a while. He enjoyed keeping her on her toes - God knows she did the same to him. Also, she was so cute when she tried to extract information from him.

(It crossed his mind later, though, that she had seemed much more surprised about Onyx than she was about the plane. This piqued his curiosity immensely, and he knew he was going to have to find out why.)