Michelle spent the remainder of her flight lulling herself into thinking she was an ordinary girl on her way to the state of Texas, but that illusion was quickly shattered the moment that she and Sarah parted company.

Reality came crashing back the minute she saw the man in the dark gray suit holding out a sign that read Melanie Branson. In the brief plane ride Michelle had let herself believe that she could really do this. Listening to Sarah and her resolved had enabled her to think that she could make it on her own. But now that she was faced with the cold harsh truth as it was she was afraid all over again.

Michelle looked over her shoulder as Sarah milled about the people waiting at the gate for their loved ones. Her heart went out to her. No one was there to greet her. As much as Michelle hated to admit it, she had been luckier then Sarah at least she had someone there for her. Even if he had been paid to be.

"Miss Branson?" The agent remarked as Michelle approached him.

"Yes." her talk with Sarah on the plane made it easier for Michelle to remember her new name but she was still having trouble seeing that person when she looked at herself in the mirror.

"I'm agent Lucas. I will be your contact here in Texas."

"Contact?" Michelle questioned unsure of his meaning.

"Yes, I will be here to aid you in this transition."

"I was told that after today I was on my own."

"Those weren't the orders that I received from my superiors. Apparently agent Reynolds felt that you would need some assistance getting settled."

Michelle let a smile pass across her face as she thought back to his words as she walked up the gangway. Agent Reynolds was making sure that she would end up with the dark cloud with that silver lining yet.

"That was very nice of him," she commented.

"Yours is a unique circumstance so he thought that it deserved a special way of being handled."

"Meaning?" she was curious.

"Well most relocations are for an entire family. That makes it a bit easier for everyone. Seeing as how you have come here alone that makes it all the more stressful. He and I both," Jeremy Lucas had taken one look at this beautiful girl before him and understood Reynolds insistence. For once he was thrilled with his assignment. Looking after Michelle Bauer would be his pleasure, "want you to be comfortable here and acclimate to your surroundings before we leave you to your own devices."

"Thank you," she let out a sigh of relief, "I have to tell you that I was petrified about all of this."

"Understandable. How about we go grab your bags and get started on making the rounds necessary to get you settled here?"

"Okay." Michelle's demeanor had changed considerably. As much as she hadn't wanted to admit it but being out of Springfield was a relief. There was no longer the constant need to be looking over her shoulder or fear opening the door to see who was standing on the other side. The ever-present threat to her and her family as well was no more. It was as though a weight had been lifted and she could breathe again.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Ask away."

"How will you explain my dropping out of sight. I mean I had many friends in Springfield. Won't my disappearing act draw attention to me even more?" This was the first time in weeks that Michelle had been thinking clearly enough to piece these thoughts together to form a logical question.

"That has already been taken care of. Your brother and his wife have been given a cover story to use if anyone asks about you."

"Cover story?" Michelle echoed, "What kind of story?"

"That I really don't know. It's better that way. The less you know about your past life the easier it will be for you to move ahead with this one, Melanie," he returned pointedly.

"I just want my family to be safe."

"I assure you that they will be."

Michelle watched as agent Lucas picked up her bags from the carrousel. They looked like any other young couple in the airport that day. It was such a mystery to her how on the surface everything could look so neat and tidy but underneath lies so much more to everyone's story.

"Here," he handed her a folder as he placed her things in the trunk of the car.

"What's this?"

"It's your background information. It tells the world who Melanie Branson is. Read it....memorize it....then burn it."

"Burn it?" she questioned.

"Yes. There can be no trace of that information. You have to commit everything....even the minutest piece of information to memory. You have to appear as though you have been Melanie Branson for the past nineteen years."

"That's going to be tougher then you all expect it to be. I haven't been that person," Michelle stated, "You want me to recreate myself in a matter of hours. I think that you are expecting miracles."

"It has to be done. For this to work and be effective for your safety....you have to follow the procedures. The witness protection program has been around for a long time. They have worked out all the bugs so it runs like a well-oiled machine. The powers that be know what they are doing really."

Michelle gave a half hearted laughed as she absently thumbed through what appeared to be a mountain of information on the person she now was.

"We really should be going. They are expecting us at the bank and it closes in less then an hour."

Michelle opened the passenger door when she caught sight of Sarah out of the corner of her eye. There she was standing on the curb completely alone. No one even vaguely resembling the photo she had showed her was anywhere around. Michelle swallowed hard around the lump in her throat. Sarah looked so lost at the moment.

"Do you think it would be a problem if we dropped someone somewhere?" she asked nonchalantly never averting her eyes from this girl she felt a kinship to.

"Excuse me?" he asked not understanding what Michelle was actually asking him.

"Do we have time to take someone somewhere before we go to the bank?" she said doing her best not to sound annoyed.

"SOMEONE?!?!?.......SOMEWHERE?!?!? Can I ask who the hell you know in Galveston Texas? I mean this spot was picked for the very reason that you had no connections here."

"It's a girl I met on the plane. She's having a rough go of it. I just thought if we could help her........."

"Okay let's get on thing straight right now is not the time to be playing 'Dear Abby' !!"

Michelle quickly thought back to all the times that she had used that same line on her sister-in-law. It had been too cute of comparison to pass up.

"How the hell do you know that she isn't a plant for the Santos Family?" he questioned.

"Apparently if she is you and your people haven't done a great job of keeping my safe!" Michelle retorted with her usual fire.

"Very funny!" he quipped thinking back to what else Reynolds had told him about this young woman. She was a spitfire at times. It was easy to see why he had thought that.

"So can we pick her up or not?" Michelle continued with her original idea.

"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he said with disbelief that she had even asked the question again.

"Why?"

"Get in the damn car!" he forced completely ignoring her inquiry.

"I just wanted to help."

"How about you just stick to helping yourself?"

"Whatever," she retorted in the way that had always made Rick's hair stand on end.

She couldn't help but stare as they drove past Sarah Wainwright perched on her suitcase on the sidewalk. The tears that wet Sarah's face glistened in the sunlight. Her father had let her down again.

Danny was anxious as he walked away from the plane. It was one thing to talk about starting a new life but it was completely different thing to be actually doing it.

He wondered just how much like his family he really was. Could he actually break free from all the things that Carmen had instilled in him? There had been ten or more years of lessons drummed into his head. Danny didn't want to disappoint his uncle and certainly didn't want to endanger the life that he had built.

Danny caught sight of the man that looked so much like his father that the resemblance stopped him dead in his tracks. If he hadn't known better he would have sworn that Miguel Santos was standing before him.

"Daniel," Albert came forward to embrace his nephew.

"Where's aunt Jenny?"

"At home readying the place for your arrival," Albert couldn't bring himself to tell Danny that Jenny was still reluctant to have him as a houseguest.

"She shouldn't have gone to any trouble. I promise that as soon as I can I will find my own place."

"It's no trouble really. And you are welcome to stay for as long as you like. There is no hurry for you to leave us." Albert hugged him again. It was so wonderful to have a tiny piece of his family around him again. He loved Jenny but there were times when he craved the company of people who understood him in a way that she would never be able to.

"It's wonderful to see you again." Danny said feeling for the first time that he was in the presence of the one family member who he had anything remotely in common with. Looking at his uncle gone were the doubts that he had as he exited the plane.

There was more to him then the lessons that Carmen had taught. He was a person of a much stronger character then his mother had ever imagined.

"You too Daniel.....you too son.

Albert used the drive from the airport to his home to fill Danny in on his life. Albert and Jenny have been living in Texas for fifteen or so odd years and there was so much that Danny knew nothing about.

"I'd love it if we could stop at the restaurant on our way to the house," Danny mentioned when Albert launched into a monologue about how his restaurant was on the verge of busting at the seams.

"That will keep. I want you to get settled first besides my manger Carl can handle things for the day. This is our time to get reacquainted Daniel."

"Uncle Albert......." Danny hesitated.

"Yes?"

"Would you please call me Danny. Daniel was something that my mother called me........................."

"I understand. Jenny and I haven't been Santos' in many years. I found it much easier to start fresh without the name sake hanging over our heads."

"What?" Danny asked quizzically.

"I am not Albert Santos any longer. We are Mr. and Mrs. Albert Sampson. I know that you father went to great lengths to insure us a new life but you mustn't forget that I was well aware of what I was leaving behind and I took steps to further our safety. You can be anyone you want to be Danny. Don't let the name you were born with pigeonhole you into a place you don't want to be in or better yet don't belong in. You can take our name if that's something that you want to do. I would welcome the thought of having a son again."

"I don't think I could do that," Danny returned hesitantly. It was one thing to want to be removed from the lifestyle that had been forced upon him but it was a completely different thing to erase Danny Santos from the world.

"You do what you feel is best, but the offer is on the table should you change your mind."

"Thank you." Danny turned to watch the scenery pass by him. He couldn't remember seeing a flatter place before. It was a stark contrast to the place he had just left in more ways then one.

"Here we are," Albert said turning up his drive. The house was nothing like Casa Santos and for that Danny had been grateful. It was by no means merger but it was inviting in a way that his home had never been. The house was bright and welcoming rather then dark and foreboding as Carmen had always kept theirs.

"You have a beautiful home."

"Thank you. We do our best."

Jenny steeled herself at the door upon hearing Albert's car come to a stop before the house. She had wanted more then anything to be supportive of her husband's decision but she couldn't. The very thought of letting Carmen's son live with them made her skin crawl.

She hadn't cared about all the things that Albert had told her. She had been more then content for them to live their life without ever hearing the name Santos again.

"How was your flight?" she asked pasting on her best smile.

"Fine once I figured out what was going on," Danny returned referring to the mix up in his original plan.

"Are you hungry?" Jenny was pulling out all the stops to be a gracious host but Albert read his wife like an old novel. He knew that she was doing her utmost to make Danny feel welcome all the while biting her tongue.

"Please don't go to any trouble. I want you to pretend like I'm not even here."

"I fear that might be rather difficult to do," the edge in her voice was noticeable to both men.

"I came here to be a help to your expand your restaurant aunt Jenny...nothing more," he stressed.

"Albert tells me you have some interesting things planned for the club part of the business," she said avoiding the obvious direction that Danny wanted the conversation to take. She wasn't ready to go there just yet. She needed time to size up Danny Santos for herself.

Michelle was having a difficult time keeping her thoughts on the task before her. She had visions of Sarah crying as she was left to fend for herself at the airport parading through her head. In many ways she and Sarah shared similar experiences. Both had lost their mothers and both had absentee fathers. Sarah's father may have walked away before she had been old enough to remember him and Michelle didn't know if that was better or worse then the way in which her father had left them.

Ed Bauer had had the time to know his family and he still chose to walk away without as much a single thought for their well being. Michelle knew that she was being harsh. She had known all the reasons why her father had gone but looking at them through her eyes each one seemed trivial.

"Melanie," Agent Lucas said calling her back to the real world.

"What......ah I'm sorry. Still trying to adjust to the time zone change," she said thinking how easily she was beginning to be able to embellish the truth.

"Miss Branson," the older gentleman behind the desk said again, "Here is your account information. This ATM card will give you access to both the checking and savings account that have been provided for you. As it stands right now there is a five thousand dollar balance in each account."

"Five thousand dollars......in each account!?!?!?!" there was no hiding the shock in Michelle's voice.

"Yes. That's how it's usually arranged. If you would require more for one reason or another agent Lucas would have to handle the paper work."

"More????? You have got to be kidding right? Have you forgotten that I'm nineteen years old? That's more money then I have ever seen in my savings account not to mention my checking."

Michelle thought back to her measly account back in Springfield. She had been lucky if she had two thousand dollars between both of those accounts back home.

"Do you have any other questions?" the man asked pushing the account information towards Michelle.

"I don't think so."

"Good, if you need anything please be sure to contact me....at least until you feel comfortable."

"Thank you I will do that."

"Nice to see you again John," Agent Lucas said shaking the man's hand as he stood to leave.

"You too Jeremy."

"Ten thousand dollars," Michelle said again in disbelief as they made their way to the car again.

"You're pretty stuck on that number aren't you?" he couldn't help but laugh.

"I have never had this much money at one time!"

"Come on......your father was a doctor for heaven sakes. You mean to tell me that you didn't have access to money?"

"Not like this," she retorted angered by this man's assumption on her life.

"I had you figured for a daddy's little girl."

"Well then you were guessing wrong," she stressed. "You must have forgotten to read between the lines of that file you have on me. Somewhere it should say that my father is off saving the world and to hell with his family."

"What?" he returned quizzically.

"Never mind," she said deciding to not go on any further with this conversation. What did it matter anyway? As of a few hours ago Michelle Bauer and her family stopped existing.

The drive to her new home was a silent one. Jeremy Lucas didn't know what to say now. He realized that he had upset her but wasn't sure as to why. He had only been teasing her about her family's money and being a daddy's girl but she hadn't taken it as such.

"Here we are," he said bringing the car to rest in front of a large apartment complex building. The sign read................The Sands Apartments. "Before we head up to your apartment I want to show you your car."

"My car?"

"Yes, your car. How else do you expect to get around town?"

He led her to the parking space where a shiny emerald green Chrysler Sebring sat. Michelle ran her fingers along the hood. This was all a little too much for her. She had left a beat up Cavalier in the driveway back in Springfield. Right now it was hard to remember why it was that she had been fighting this so.

"Are you sure this is mine?"

"Yep," he handed over the keys and motioned for her to get in and start it up.

"This is totally unbelievable."

"Why?"

"This isn't what I thought it would be like."

"What did you think would happen when you got here?" he asked. He always loved to listen to exactly what each new person in the witness protection program thought they had signed on for.

"I thought I was being sent to some hole in the wall. And would be left to my own devices."

"Not hardly!"

"That's the impression that I was given." Michelle said thinking back to how horrible Ben Warren had made this all sound.

"Let's go check out your apartment now."

Michelle couldn't wait to see what she was getting next. And she was by no means disappointed. The two bedroom apartment was beautifully furnished and there wasn't anything there that she could find fault with. She explored each room as agent Lucas spoke.

"The utilities have all been put in your name and the kitchen has been well stocked. Classes at the university start shortly so you will need to be sure that you go to register. Your transfer from Springfield U has already been taken care of."

"What do I do about my tuition?" Michelle asked knowing that her money would soon be gone once that bill had been paid.

"For the first year that you are enrolled the tuition has been paid in advance."

"What?"

"It's done that way to give you the time needed to become Melanie Branson. We don't want to draw attention to you just yet with state and federal loan applications."

"I guess that makes sense," she returned.

"For the time being you need to just blend in like any other transfer student. And don't forget to read that file and burn it when you are finished."

"I will be sure to do that. So what now?"

"It's time for me to go."

"Go?" Michelle couldn't help but panic a bit. The thoughts of being alone still frightened her.

"Here's my card. My beeper number is on there. You can get in touch with me anytime of the day or night," he smiled slyly hoping she didn't notice. He was definitely gunning for a night time call.

"Thank you," she reached for the card that he held in his hand.

"You'll be just fine. In a few months you won't remember ever being anyone but Melanie Branson."

Michelle had her doubts about that as she closed the door behind him.

Danny sat down at the dining room table well aware of the tension in the room. Tension that his being there was causing. He watched as Albert and Jenny eyed one another from either end of the expansive table. Danny wanted to break the ice but hadn't a clue what to do or say.

His aunt had every right to want him gone. It was understandable that she would want nothing to do with him. He was certain that each and everytime she looked at him she saw the son that she lost. Parents were not supposed to bury their children.

"This is wonderful fettuccini Alfredo," Danny said directing his remark at Jenny.

"Thank you," she returned curtly.

"I have been trying for years to get her to cook for the restaurant....but she hasn't given in yet. She says she saves her best cooking for me," Albert said patting his middle all the while shooting his wife the evil eye. It wasn't hard to notice how uncomfortable Danny felt.

"Well you'd have to add on just to accommodate all those who came for the great cooking," Danny smiled looking for a window into this woman's heart.

"We don't need any more publicity," Jenny retorted, "We have a fine little business as it stands. Bigger isn't always better."

"Jenny," Albert said with a strained voice, "Daniel has a good head for business. I think we should see what he has in mind for us."

"I can only imagine," she quipped letting her animosity spill over.

"Aunt Jenny," Danny began.

"Let me handle this son," Albert cut him off before he could say anymore.

"No, really I think this needs to be addressed," Danny returned stopping Albert short, "I say we lay our cards on the table and clear the air." Danny's forcefulness only served to heighten Jenny's fear that he was just like all the other Santos men that they had broken free of, "Aunt Jenny, I can only imagine what you are thinking of me. Rightly so I would have to say. You know virtually nothing about me. All you know is the imagine that you have in your mind. I assure you that I am not here to bring harm to you. Or bring the families swooping down on you again. I have lived that nightmare for ten long years now and enough is enough."

"See Jenny isn't that what I have been telling you?" Albert questioned.

"Let the boy speak," she countered forcefully.

"There is no need for him to explain his actions. He is FAMILY and that's all we need to know!" Albert's voice boomed off the walls angered by his wife's need to continue with her distrust of Danny.

"Need I remind you that this FAMILY that you speak of with the sweetest of tones cost us our son? Have you conveniently forgotten that Richard died in your arms from a gunshot wound meant for you?!?!?!?!" The rage that grew from her core caused her body to tremble.

"No I haven't but that isn't Danny's cross to bare..............it's ours," Albert said in a controlled whisper.

Danny sat as a silent bystander in a war that he had incited. The anguish that fill his uncle's eyes at his wife's words was indescribable. Just listening to the events on Richard's death pulled out all the memories again of his own father's demise. He absently wondered if he would ever truly escape the ghosts. If all of them would carry the scars that their lives had inflicted forever.

"Please stop!" Danny called, "This is my fault. You would not be fighting if it wasn't for my being here. This was wrong of me to force my way into your home and life. I shouldn't have come," Danny pushed his chair away from the table in attempt to exit the room.

"No wait!" Albert instructed, "Please sit back down."

"But........"

"No buts you wanted to clear the air Danny so lets clear it shall we?" Jenny watched her husband take command of the situation at hand. She saw the mask of the once powerful crime boss fall over his face. What she feared most was happening right before her very eyes. "I have tried time and time again to get you to see that he," Albert pointed to Danny, "is not a threat to us. He only wants what I wanted all those years ago. I still have dreams of the night that Richard died. There isn't a night that goes by that I don't wake up in a cold sweat the visions of him crumpling to the ground at my feet! You don't have to continually remind me why that happened Jenny! I very well know why. My greed got the better of me and for that need I paid dearly. I paid with the life of my only son. That's my hell to pay for my sins. 'SINS OF THE FATHER' are a horrible thing. And if there is only one thing that I can do for my brother's son so that he doesn't have to pay for his father's sins then god damn I'm going to do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Albert had not shed a tear but as Danny looked closer he could see those that hung in his eyes.

"I can't live like this!" Jenny shouted, "I can't go back to looking around every corner waiting and wondering who is lurking there. I can't take the chance that a bullet meant for him," again Danny found a finger being pointed in his direction, "finds you!"

"STOP....both of you!" Danny brought his voice above theirs. "I don't intend on tearing this family apart. That wasn't what I can here for. I came here looking to be a part of something that was the opposite of what I left behind. Aunt Jenny, there is no need for you to worry.......my mother would never endanger the life she now leads. My continued good health ensures her the way of life she had grown to treasure. To treasure more then her children. I would have given anything to have a woman like you for a mother. Then maybe just maybe I wouldn't have had my father die in my arms or a brother who was stoned to death doing my mother's bidding!" Danny too felt the unshed tears welling in his eyes.

The room fell silent. All three pairs of eyes searching the others for any sign of understanding. Albert was the first to make a move. He walked to his wife taking her by the hand and then found his way to Danny. He brought Danny's hand into Jenny's. "We all need to heal. I think that we can help each other do that if we try hard enough."

Jenny examined the young man she saw before her. For the first time since entertaining the thought of Danny coming to stay with them, she actually tried to imagine what his life had to have been like. Carmen was never meant to be a mother. Just because biology had given her the physical capabilities she was sorely lacking in all else that made a woman a mother.

How could she punish Danny for the things his parents had done, for a life that he hadn't chosen. It had been forced on him at such a young age. Jenny could here Carmen now as she used Danny's love for his father to trap him in her spider's web. Those dark brooding eyes that looked back at her were filled with such pain that she couldn't turn him away no matter what fears were in her heart.

"I would like to try" she whispered kissing her husband gently on the cheek.

"Thank you," Danny returned, "Thank you both," he brought his aunt's hand to his lips kissing it softly.

The quiet in her new home was unsettling. Even though the apartment was far more then she had expected it to be, Michelle somehow felt disappointed. This was the first time that she had ever been anywhere on her own. She hadn't even gone away to college. Something about remaining in the Bauer house appealed to her. It was her safe haven yet that cocoon that she had built for herself had come unraveled much quicker then it had taken to build.

Michelle slipped off her sandals and made her way into the kitchen. Agent Lucas hadn't been kidding when he had said the kitchen was well stocked. There was enough food in there to feed a small army. She grabbed a diet cola from the fridge and headed back to the living room. The setting sun caught her attention. The fiery ball was beautiful. Michelle leaned against the sliding glass door watching as it steadily dropped into the horizon. She vaguely wondered if it had been an exquisite a sight back home as well. "Back home," she found herself saying to the empty room. It was hard for her not to wonder what Rick and Abby were doing right now. Were they missing her as much as she did them? Michelle didn't think that was the case. As much as she was certain that Rick and Abby loved her they were still in a place that was familiar to them. Sure a thought of her now and again most likely passed through their train of thought but the daily routine would find it's way to the surface forcing her memory to the background. But for herself she had nothing familiar to occupy her time with. No mundane routine to get lost in. The only thing she had right now was a folder that contained who she now was. There weren't any reelections of the things that were in that file. The was nothing that she could even identify with to somehow make believe that she was Melanie Branson. She found it quite laughable to think that she could just turn herself into this new person.

Reluctantly Michelle reached for the bulging file. "No time like the present," she said aloud if only to hear some noise amidst the silence.

The only similarity that Michelle found between herself and Melanie was their major in school. Thankfully they hadn't chanced that part of her life. That was the one thing that she could hang on to. The knowledge of becoming a physician. Something that she could use to identify herself with Melanie.

There was so much information that needed to be processed and cataloged in her head. She didn't know if she would ever be able to keep it all straight. According to the words on the pages before her, Melanie Branson had no family to speak of. Her parents had died in a plane crash. Their estate being left to their only child, her with the contingency that she transfer to her father's alma mater......hence the University of Texas. Well that at least explained why she was there. That should be easy enough to remember she thought. Michelle continued reading all the things about herself now. She found out that she had done volunteer work back at her home town hospital, upon reading further, Michelle felt as if she had been reading about her own life only difference was the character in the story had a different name. That thought put to rest a few of her fears. Maybe it wouldn't be so tough to step into this girls shoes after all. For all intensive purposes they had changed her home town, a few things about her background and her name but they had left the spirit of Michelle Bauer completely in tact. All the time she had spent turning herself inside out trying to come up with a way to turn off the person inside of her hadn't been necessary. Michelle sighed thankful for that. Now if she could have only had her family back this would have been a piece of cake.

Michelle pulled out the pictures that she had tucked away in secret. She couldn't have left Springfield without them. Her eyes clouded with tears as she brought her gaze to each picture. First came the pictures of her mother and father. Pictures of them hosting the annual Bauer barbecue, pictures of Michelle with Rick and Phillip in their younger days, a picture of Rick and Abby's wedding day, and lastly a picture of Jesse. Michelle didn't know what had possessed her to bring that along but a part of her heart still in some way belonged to him. Jesse Blue had been her first real boyfriend. Even though she and Bill Lewis had always kidded that they would be married one day, that was nothing compared to the feelings that Jesse had invoked in her the minute that she met him. The combination of fear and exhilaration on that day was something Michelle could still feel when she closed her eyes.

They had been Romeo and Juliet in every sense of the word. They had been from warring families without even knowing it. Jesse's father had blamed Ed Bauer for the death of his wife while she was giving birth to Jesse. The man had even gone as far as threatening to sue the Bauer's, Cedars and anyone else who happened to get in the way if Jesse didn't stop seeing Michelle. But none of that even mattered to the two star crossed lovers. Michelle had been looking for the recipient of her mother's heart and she had found that person in Jesse Blue and she wasn't about to give up the only connection she had left to her mother.

Unfortunately Drew Jacobs had had other ideas. Those thoughts from that fateful day came rushing back once more. The day that had fated her to the place she was right now. There it was, Mick's face starring her down. He wore an expression of a crazy person that day on the beach. Like he was a mad man without a conscious. It was still hard to stomach what she had done. Even though she knew that if she hadn't it would have been her body found on the beach that morning it was less than a comfort at times. She would still have to live with the fact that she had killed a man. And that was a fact that wanting to become a doctor collided with.

She took one last look at the photos resting on the glass coffee table before turning off the light and heading to bed. How she longed to be turning off the light in the Bauer kitchen after a long talk and a cup of tea with Abby. Those days were in the past and she had to find a way to deal with that fact.

Danny closed to door to the guest room. The emotionally charged situation that he had just walked away from was draining. Even though he had heard Jenny say that she wanted to try he had his reservations. The pain that she carried deep in her soul wouldn't go away that easily, no matter how much his uncle had wanted it to.

And truly what right did he have to ask this woman to trust him? It roles were reversed he doubted that he would be all that trusting either.

Danny had been very young when his uncle and wife had left the family business. The little he did know about it he had overheard in hushed tones when his father hadn't thought he was listening.

He did know that "The Commission" had not willingly let Albert go. They had been forced into making that decision by his father. Danny knew all too well that the only way you walked away from the mob was in a body bag. He imagined that Jenny assumed they had been living on burrowed time ever since Miguel had been killed. For it was Miguel who had ensured their safety. In the last ten years Albert and Jenny had no contact with that way of life, and now out of the blue here he was standing on their doorstep with an unbelievable story to tell. Of course she was hesitant. He was Carmen's son and he was certain what Jenny thought about her. Hell Carmen was his mother and he knew what he thought about the woman.

The last thing he had wanted to do with his coming there was upset their lives. All he wanted was a chance to make a life for himself one strain at a time.

Albert understood his need for that. It was the same need that had driven him there in the first place. A desire for a life that wasn't filled with the violence. A life where you could walk out your door without an armed entourage. That's all that Danny wanted. To make a name for himself in the business world. He wanted to get back to the things that he loved the best.......and killing those that stood in his way wasn't part of that.

As he lay outstretched on the bed, Danny let his thoughts wander to Springfield. It was hard for him not think about the life he had left there. Danny hadn't even said good-bye to those people he was closest too. Like Ray and Jimmy, he feared that they would in some way urge him to stay on and fight the good fight. Ray, by nature saw good in everyone and Jimmy was certain that Danny had been the answer for the Santos Family second coming. Jimmy may have been under the employ of Carmen's iron hand but it was Danny who had his loyalty.

Now laying alone in the stillness of an unfamiliar house, he longed for those things familiar even if that meant the baggage that went along with that familiarity. As justified as his aunt's reaction had been unfortunately it left him feeling a bit to uneasy about his presence in their home. Danny knew that the Mafia wouldn't be descending on them to ruin their marriage but he had a feeling that he could do just as much damage.

Jenny sat at her dressing table looking at her reflection in the mirror. The person that looked back was one she didn't recognize. She hadn't seen the fury deep within her emerald eyes for years now. Danny Santos had brought it back along with the memories that she had been successful in hiding deep in her.

It was amazing how little she and Albert had actually talked about their son's death. It was as though they hadn't even had a son after arriving in Texas. They had left behind any shred of the life they had once lived. Maybe that's why having Danny there now was such a strain. It forced the pair to relive what had brought them there in the first place.

Albert's admission of his nightmares was disturbing to her. That was the first time that she had heard anything of the things he had locked inside of him. It frightened her that neither one of them had confided in the other. For there thirty-five or so years of marriage they had spent the last fifteen living together yet not really knowing one another.

She looked up to see the man she had called her one true love for the better part of half her life and now started to wonder if she ever knew him at all. He had done his best to keep her in the dark when it came to the business he conducted as under boss for the Santos family and unlike Carmen, Jenny had been content to be kept there. Seemed as though as she watched Albert and Danny together she sensed a bond that she had never truly shared with him. Now Jenny was questioning if that was what scared her the most. That Danny's presence wasn't going to bring the mob back into their life but that it was going to have Albert wanting it back.

Jenny knew how absurd that sounded. Losing Richard had effected him deeply, possibly in ways that she had never dreamed of, but seeing the glint in his eye when he spoke of family that evening had sent her mind racing.

"Jenny, it's late. Come to bed," he motioned to her, "About this evening," Albert began.

"Can we please not do this again?" she pleaded, "I said I will do my best to accept Daniel into our home. All that I ask is you give me the time and space I need to do that."

"Agreed," he said drawing her body next to his, "I love you Jenny. I love you more then life itself. I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize what we had built here."

"I know," she whispered. Yet did she really, Jenny thought to herself.