Eight months later...........................

Ray stood in the foyer watching Danny from a distance. It was the same scene day in and day out. Empty scotch bottles littered the floor. He had for gone with the glass and had now taken to drinking straight from the bottle. Ray observed Danny polishing off but another bottle sending the empty careening across the room blowing to bits as it made contact with the wall.

He looked on as Danny made his way to the mantle. The mantle had been his shrine to Caitlyn. Ray could hear Danny's sobs as he brought the photos to his chest.

Killing Rico Sanchez had not done anything to ease his suffering. Danny had hunted him down like the animal that he was. Ray had tried to no avail to get Danny to let Roberto do his job. Let him be the one to dispose of Rico. Danny would have no such thing.

"This is personal! I intend on taking care of this myself! There won't be any room for error!!!!" Ray was still able to hear the calculating way Danny had spoken and the cold vacant look in his black eyes. That had been an ever present look since the afternoon that Caitlyn had been killed.

Danny had taken his revenge in a the same way that Caitlyn had died. He watched the terror in Rico's eyes as he sat bound and gagged in the front seat of his sedan with Danny howling like the mad man he was at that very moment. Danny toyed with him heightening the anxiety. First holding his 9mm in his temple but then showing Rico his real method of destruction.

Danny pulled out a remote control from his pocket. It was wired to the explosive device that Danny had planted beneath the car. The very same thing that had taken Caitlyn's life. There would be nothing left for Carlos Sanchez to bury. Just the way it had been for Danny. He saw Rico's eyes dart about looking for anyone that could help him. Anyone to come to his rescue. That wouldn't be the case. Danny had made sure of that.

"YOU WILL FEEL ALL THE PAIN MY CAITLYN FELT!!!!!!" Danny hissed as he pushed the blinking red light causing the car to erupt before him.

The instant sensation of pleasure hadn't been as gratifying as he believed it would be. Yes he had disposed of his enemy but that wasn't about to change the fact that Caitlyn was lost to him forever. He would never again delight in her. Never hold her in his arms again or kiss her sweet lips. That all had been destroyed. Danny may as well have blown himself sky high. He was as dead as Rico was right now. Life as he had known it ceased to exist the second that she had been taken from him.

That night Danny crawled into a bottle of scotch and had yet to emerge. He completely shut down. On numerous occasions Ray had tried to get Danny to talk, each one ending in a drunken rage. He was at a loss for how to help Danny. Nothing he did or said made any difference.

Bernard had been worried as well. Bernard had taken Danny under his wing when his parents had been taken from him. He had showed Danny all the things that his father hadn't gotten the chance to. Bernard had groomed Danny to be the head on the Santos Empire. Groomed him to rule along side him making them a force to be reckoned with. Watching Danny crumble before his eyes was more then he could stand.

Ray waited for Bernard to arrive. He wasn't able to stop thinking of this as an ambush. He knew that there wasn't any other way but Ray also was certain that Danny wasn't about to go quietly.

"How is he?" Bernard asked as Maria took his coat.

"Same," Ray returned flatly. "I'm not so sure about this Bernard."

"Ray what choice do we have? He can't keep on this way. It's destroying him. He is annihilating himself while we stand to the side and watch."

"I know," Ray hung his head. He wished for the days before any of this had happened. Back to the days before Danny had been forced into a life that he knew nothing about. The here and now had Ray yearning for Bernard to have just scooped up the Santos part of the organization leaving Danny to have a normal life.

"Ray....you are with me on this?" he questioned, "I can't do this alone. I need your help. Danny needs your help."

"Yes," he murmured not really wanting to do what was about to come next.

Bernard followed Ray into the expansive living room. It reeked of stale alcohol and cigarettes.

"Danny," Ray said.

He turned on his heel starring right through the twosome. The last thing he wanted was to have another go around with Ray. It looked as though he had secured some backup this time around.

"What is it this time?" he questioned bringing the bottle to his lips once more. The amber liquid burning it's way down his throat.

"Daniel," Bernard returned in his fatherly tone, "Daniel, look at what you are doing to yourself."

"What......what am I doing?" He threw his arms in the air.

"Daniel...please listen to me. We only want to help you," Bernard insisted.

"FUCK YOU!!!!!" Danny shouted, "Keep your fucking sentiments!"

"Danny," Ray pleaded.

This is the way it always went. Danny was so full of grief, so full of hate nothing else was able to make it's way past the surface.

"You know Ray.......just leave me alone.......JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!" he bellowed clearing the desk with his arms, "GET OUT!!!!!"

"Daniel..........."

"GO!" Danny spat.

"I'm sorry Danny," Ray said as Max and Lucky entered the room.

"WHAT?!?!?!!? WHAT THE FUCK'S GOING ON HERE?" He watched as Bernard's men came to stand on either side of him.

"Daniel, this is for your own good. Ray and I discussed........."

"Ray!?!?!" Danny's voice was full of contempt.

"I'm sorry man," his voice trailed.

"SORRY?!?!!? You're sorry?" Danny wrestled out of Lucky's grasp. "WHAT THE HELL'S HAPPENING HERE?!?!?"

"Daniel, please......" Bernard implored, "I can't see any other way to help you. Not if you won't help yourself.," he sighed.

"I'm fine. I'm fine really," he tried to fane composure.

"This is fine? Look around you, Daniel. THIS ISN'T FINE!!! YOU HAVE DRANK YOURSELF INTO OBLIVION!!!! I'm sorry you lost Caitlyn...sorry that we couldn't protect her but........."

"You're sorry?" he whispered in disbelief, "Sorry? FUCK YOU, BERNARD.......FUCK YOU, MAN!" Danny fell to his knees choking back the tears. The room spun around him. The events of that awful day came down again crushing him beneath them. He reached for the bottle perched beside the desk. He gulped as the steady stream of hot liquid flowed into his stomach.

"DANIEL!!!" Bernard's anger knocked the bottle from Danny's hands. "I CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! I can't let to slip away," For the first time since losing his wife, Bernard felt the tears escaping his eyes. Watching Danny obliterate himself day after day, something in him had snapped. He couldn't let Danny do this to himself any longer. He didn't care if Danny hated him for the rest of his life, at least he would have a life.

"Danny, please," Ray begged, "Please let us help you."

"I'M FINE!!!!" he screamed hurling another bottle past Ray's face.

"Danny!"

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!!!!!! ALL OF YOU!"

"Daniel, we can do this the easy way or the hard way but either way we are doing this!" Bernard stood firm in his conviction.

"What....what are you committing me?" Danny half laughed looking around at the men standing before him.

"If we have to."

"THIS IS RIDICULOUS! You can't force me to do this!!!"

"Danny, it's been already taken care of," Ray felt like a traitor standing before his childhood pal. "Please.....I didn't want it to be like this man. We just want you to......" Ray searched for the words to somehow make Danny understand.

"WHAT? What is it that you want from me?" Danny's anger faded as he looked into the eyes of his cousin and friend.

"I want you to find Danny again. That's what I want." He forced Danny to gaze at his reflection in the mirror above the mantle. "Take a good look. This isn't the guy I know and love. It's only a shell of the man you once were."

Danny was aghast at the person who looked back at him. Sullen eyes outlined with dark circles, his clothes hung on his frame from lack of food.

"Man, Caitlyn wouldn't want this for you," Ray spoke softly from behind Danny, "She wouldn't want you to disappear like some ghost," Ray's voice filled with the pain he felt for Danny.

"Ray, it hurts so much. I can't get the ache to go away. No matter what I do.....I keep thinking it should have been me. I should have been the one to die not her," he cried, "She was........" the rest of his words were covered by his cries.

Ray embraced him as Danny shook, "I know man.....I know. Please let us help you. Do it for Caitlyn." Ray was either going to sink or swim with that statement. He was hoping for the latter.

"Fine," he relented rubbing his hands over his face sighing. "Fine, I'll do this." Danny's eyes trailed to the pictures of Caitlyn. The last thing he wanted to do was fail her yet again.

Bernard breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Ray and Danny walk up the stairs. His conscience had been put to rest. He hadn't wanted to have to muscle Danny into going to the center, but he also wasn't about to let him continue down the present path.

The ride to the Hillman Treatment Center was a strained one at best. Danny focused on the scenery as it passed by all the time never making eye contact with Bernard. He had felt completely betrayed by this man who had become like a father to him. It was unbelievable to him that Bernard actually had brought his men to the house. Thinking that he could brawn his way into getting Danny to comply with his wishes. Danny felt his blood rising again thinking how Bernard was as responsible for Caitlyn's death as he had been. Bernard had known just how ruthless the Sanchez's were but had waited until it had been too late to do anything about their envision. Forcing Danny to come face to face with his adversary the first time unprepared. From that point forward the game of cat and mouse had begun. Danny lucky enough to play the role of cat more times then not. Unfortunately, in the final game Danny played no role at all. He was a bystander unable to stop the heinous act taking place right before his eyes.

Danny felt his body shudder at the mere thought of that day once more. It was like a bad movie that he wasn't able to stop from playing. Over and over again the reels sped through his mind. He pictured himself again and again as his endeavor to get to her was lost. The roaring sound of the blaze was ever present in his thoughts.

"Daniel," Bernard's voice pierced his thoughts, "We are here."

Danny looked at the spread before him. It resembled a country club more then a hospital. Bernard had certainly pull out all the stops on this one.

Ray stood along side of Danny wishing he knew what he was thinking. It had be such a long time since the two had known what was in the other's head. Ray longed for those times again. He prayed that he had done the right thing by agreeing to do this.

"Let's go son……."

"Don't call me that ever again!" Danny spat pulling his arm from Bernard's grasp, "You lost that right the day Caitlyn died!"

"They are waiting for us inside," he continued not letting on how much Danny's words had stung him.

"Bernard," Ray began, "I think that I can take it from here," Ray's instincts told him the further that Bernard was from all of this the better it would be for Danny.

"Ray," Bernard pushed all the while Ray stared him down. He wasn't about to let Bernard back him into a corner here. Without him Bernard had nothing. No way of getting Danny the help he needed. It was time that he understood that he wasn't the one running the show anymore.

As much as he had known that Danny needed help, Ray wasn't about to let Bernard bully him into it. It would never work that way. As stubborn as Danny was it would only serve to push him further over the edge.

"This is the man you need to speak with," Bernard handed over the paperwork, "His name is Dr. Chajson. He will keep me informed of Daniel's progress."

"That won't be necessary," Ray countered.

"WHAT!?!?!?" he bellowed not believing what he heard.

Ray pulled him to the side, "Bernard, you are a constant reminder of what happened. I don't think that Danny wants or needs you around."

"Listen here!" Bernard's voice grew hard unaccustomed to being spoken to in that manner.

"NO, BERNARD!!! You listen to me. If you expect Danny to get clean and sober and get some help dealing with losing Caitlyn you back off. BACK OFF NOW!!! Or I'm out of here and you know DAMN well Danny will follow."

Ray was looking at this as an opportunity to free Danny of these chains. Give him the freedom that hadn't been afforded him all those years ago. He wanted Danny to be a normal man. With normal concerns and normal dreams. That wasn't going to happen if Bernard kept poking his nose in at every turn.

"Ray, you know I only want what's best for Danny."

"Then back off….please. I can handle this now. You have done your part. I will do mine."

Bernard stood back not knowing what to do now. He had wanted Danny to get well but he certainly didn't like being out of the loop.

"Fine Ray, we will do this your way for now. But so help me if this doesn't……."

"Bernard, don't worry. You picked the facility and you picked the doctor. What more can you do? Ultimately, it's up to Danny."

He knew Ray spoke the truth. Yet that hadn't made it any easier to look on as Danny and Ray entered the door leaving him in the distance.

Danny pushed open the door as Ray followed him inside. He glanced at all the people that were nothing more then shadows on the wall. Some of them sitting in the corners talking to themselves or worse yet carrying on conversations with people that didn't even exist. He didn't belong here. He wasn't like any of them. He felt the panic rise into his chest. He wouldn't last a day in a place like this. Danny would have given anything right now for a drink. Something to rid him of this feeling.

"I think we should find this Dr. Chajson," Ray rested his hand on Danny's shoulder. It was hard to miss the tremors of Danny's body. Ray's gut reaction was to take Danny and get the hell out of here. He wasn't sure Danny was ready for this place. The inside was a stark opposite to the outside.

They walked through the door marked office. Danny slumped into the near by bank of chairs and let Ray do all the talking.

"I am looking for a Dr. Chajson."

"He's not here right now. He's on rounds at the hospital. Is there something that I can do for you?" the petite girl asked.

"I am admitting my cousin into Dr. Chajson's treatment program." The young girl stretched her neck to get a clear view of the man hiding behind.

"There are some forms that he needs to fill out," she said reaching under the counter.

"I'll take care of those," Ray countered.

"No, really I'm afraid that he has to do this." She hated to sound so pushy, she knew what it was like being admitted to a place like this. How scary it all was. This had been her not that long ago.

"I was told that all this had been taken care of ahead of time," Ray was trying his best to keep Danny out of harms way. Anything could spook him at the moment.

"I don't know what you have been told but....he needs to take care of this himself."

"I don't think he's ready," Ray glanced over his shoulder at Danny who hadn't bothered to move even though he certainly heard the conversation.

"No time like the present," the young woman stated. "Excuse me," she pointed her remarks at Danny. It was then that she had a clear look at him. Even thought the alcohol had taken it's toll on his body, she could see a handsome man before her. It was hard for her to focus on anything but his coal colored eyes as he raised them to look at her directly.

"What?!?!" he growled.

"I need you to fill out these forms before you can be admitted." She tried to stand tough. She hadn't been out of the program all that long and there were still times that she was a bit too jumpy.

"What if I tell you I'm not staying?" he hissed.

"Danny," Ray began.

"No! This was a mistake. I don't belong here!!!!! You can't force me to stay."

"Danny, I can," Ray regretted the words the moment they fell passed his lips.

"YOU WOULDN'T DARE!!!!!" Danny bellowed jumping to his feet. The young women backed away fearing the worst as she watched this man lunge forward forcing the other into the counter. It was hard for her not to shudder remembering all the times she had been in the very same position.

"Danny, please don't do this. Don't force my hand here, man," Ray pleaded, "You know as well as I do you can't continue doing this to yourself. You'll wind up dead."

"I'M ALREADY DEAD!" Danny slammed his fists against the cold counter. He rested his head against the smooth surface forcing the tears not to come the effort had been a fruitless one.

"Man, you need help. You have to deal with this and you can't keep drinking it away," Ray said in anguish. This wasn't going all the way he had wanted it to.

The young women forced the anxiety she was feeling deep within her as she made her way closer to the two men. This is why she had stayed on. To face her own fears head on. There was no moving forward without conquering the past.

"Danny," she spoke softly placing her hands on his arms. Danny's head shot up like a rocket as for the first time in so many months he felt an electric surge run through his body, "We can help you...if you let us."

Danny was held captive by this girls eyes. It was as if she was peering into the part of his existence that he had walled off. Everything about her held him spellbound. Then a wave of mortification passed through him. He couldn't be thinking the thoughts that were dancing through his head. He wasn't about to ever love anyone else ever again. Look where his love had gotten Caitlyn.