Danny McCoy watched the monitor closely, zeroing in on the guy in the powder blue, polyester suit at the black jack table. He cleared his throat and stifled a yawn that had been building ever since he'd come to work. No way he could be tired, since he'd slept well over eight hours the night before. Oh well, he squinted his eyes just as polyester suit man made his move. Danny flew out of the security office door to apprehend the cheater.

"Montecito Security, would you come with me, please?" Danny said, noticing how out of breath and hoarse he suddenly sounded. A jog like that shouldn't leave him so winded, he thought. He grabbed the suspect by the elbow, and the guy stared back at him, wide eyed. That was one of the things Danny loved most about his job at the Las Vegas resort and casino. He enjoyed seeing the fear and guilt on someone's face when they got caught, and he loved to be the one to catch them.

"I didn't do anything, honest," the guy whimpered.

"We'll go discuss it. Come on," Danny said casually, trying, but failing to conceal his smirk.

Just as he was about to escort his cheater to the security office, Mary Connell walked by and then stopped. She smiled warmly at Danny, and he felt a pang of heartache at the sight of her. Even though what they'd had together was long since over, that didn't mean that it didn't hurt to see her. Unfortunately, they did see each other a lot at the casino, because they both worked there.

"Hey, Danny. Everything okay, here?" she asked, gently touching his left arm.

"Just bringing this guy in for a few questions, nothing I can't handle," he said, his voice sounding deeper than usual, and then he coughed. Damn it, he really hated showing any kind of weakness in front of anyone, especially suspects and Mary. He then took another deep breath through his nostrils to try and fight off another yawn. Unfortunately, that set off some tickles in his nose that he couldn't avoid. He sneezed powerfully into a fist, "Ehhttsschuuu!"

"Bless you, Danny," Mary said, looking at him with her big, sympathetic, doe eyes.

"Thanks," he said, clearing his throat again and emitting a small groan. His throat was beginning to throb and ache. The last thing he needed was to come down with something, so he simply ignored his symptoms for the time being. Mary still watched him, and tightened her grip on his arm. Danny knew he should get his charge back to the offices so he could get it over with and also avoid Mary's touch and her questioning glances. "Let's go, buddy."

The polyester suit guy tried wriggling out of Danny's firm grip, so Danny responded by tightening it.

"You're hurting me," the guy moaned.

"I don't care, now move," Danny said, nudging the guy forward. "Bye Mary."

"Bye Danny," she said, still showing concern in the way she looked at him.

That was his biggest reason for trying to avoid seeing her. He didn't want her worrying about him. Danny was fine. He didn't need her concern. Plus, it still really did hurt to see her so much.

Danny and the cheater started walking through the crowd of people. Danny's nose started to itch again, badly. He rubbed it forcefully to try and rid the tickle, but it was no use. He gave up, and tried to keep his tight hold on the cheater as he sneezed again.

"Hettsshhuuu! Isshhhhuuuu!"

The sneezes rocked Danny on his feet, and his grip must've loosened on polyester guy. The man took off like a racehorse at the starting gate and disappeared through the sea of gamblers.

"Shit," Danny whispered under his breath and then ran after the guy.

He pushed through the crowd, whispering, "excuse me" and "pardon me" as he elbowed people out of his way. The powder blue suit was in sight, and he wasn't going to let the guy get away. One thing was sure, the guy was fast, and Danny was having trouble following him.

With his lungs on fire, Danny finally caught the guy heading into one of the elevators.

He coughed, and cleared his throat again before speaking. He was once again out of breath after his little run. "Listen, buddy, let's just get you to the office for a few questions. No more running off, huh?"

"Too much exercise for you?" the guy sneered.

Danny clenched the guy's arm, causing him to whimper in pain, which made Danny smile. Winded or not, he was still stronger than the wimp cheater.

On the way to Ed Deline's office, Danny passed Mike Cannon, the other security specialist at the resort.

"Hey, Danny, nice catch there," Mike remarked.

"Thanks, gotta get him to Ed's office." Danny tried to stifle it, but another cough snuck out.

"Hey, you don't sound so good. You okay, Danny?"

"I'm fine," he growled. He didn't want anyone to think he was even remotely sick.

"Okay, take it easy."

"You, too," Danny said through a fake smile. Then he marched his prisoner right through to his boss' office.

Once inside, Danny cleared his throat to let Ed know they were there. Ed swung around in his chair and nodded at Danny.

"Have a seat, please, Mr. uh?"

Polyester suit man slowly sat down, with Danny forcing him down by the shoulders.

"Smith, Jack Smith."

"Well, Jack, Danny here caught you cheating at our black jack table, isn't that right, Danny?"

"Yes, sir."

"I wasn't cheating," Jack protested.

"Well, let's just have a look at what the security camera caught, shall we?" Ed said in his calm, but patronizing tone. Danny saw Jack Smith run a hand over his face, which looked a lot like an admission of guilt.

As Ed played back the tape for Mr. Smith, Danny felt a sneeze coming again. Sneezing in front of Mary was bad enough, but Danny just couldn't sneeze in front of Ed. He held his breath, and kept the sneeze at bay. He was glad, because he was afraid his sneeze would shatter the silence of the room.

"So, Mr. Smith, what do you have to say for yourself now?" Ed asked casually, as Mr. Smith wriggled uncomfortably in his chair.

"I, uh, well..."

"The cops are on their way," Ed told Danny.

Jack Smith groaned, and Danny bit his tongue so he wouldn't burst out laughing. Then he felt the sneezy sensation return, and barely covered his face with the back of his hand before it came barreling forth, "Heh-chmpf!"

"Bless you," Ed said gruffly.

"Thaks," Danny said, sniffing. He avoided Ed's stare, and then yawned. In fact, he continued yawning, coughing, and sneezing as they waited for the police to show up. Several times, he caught Ed eyeing him suspiciously. His nose began to run so bad, he finally was forced into grabbing a few tissues off of Ed's desk to wipe it. After sneezing into one, Danny gave a few hard, noisy blows. Ed sighed.

The cops finally arrived and arrested Mr. Smith. Once they were gone, Ed folded his hands and gave Danny a hard look.

"What?" Danny asked through the second tissue, and then blew his nose again.

"Go home, Danny."

"What for?"

"It's obvious that you're sick, so go home and rest. Hopefully, no one else around here will catch it if you leave now," Ed demanded.

"But-"

"No buts, Danny, go on and get outta here. I don't want to see you back here until you're 100% better. You hear me?"

"Yes, Ed," Danny grumbled. Slightly frustrated, he marched out of the office and almost ran right into Mary on his way out. "Oh, hey, sorry about that."

"No big deal," she said, laughing. Then she frowned slightly. "Is Ed sending you home?"

"Yeah," Danny said dejectedly, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Well, I'm sure it's for your own good," she said, obviously trying to be encouraging. Danny scowled. "Danny, you know Ed would never send you home unless he was honestly worried about you."

"I know," he sighed, resigning himself to the fact that everyone was right. He was definitely coming down with a cold, and he felt like shit. Going home and resting was probably the best thing for him to do. He yawned and then rubbed his hand over his face.

"Let me drive you home."

"You don't have to do that. I can drive myself," he groaned and then yawned again.

"I want to make sure you get home in one piece, and that you are comfortable and have everything that you need."

That was the whole reason Danny didn't want anyone to know he might be sick. He didn't want Mary fussing over him. It was just a cold for cryin' out loud.

"Huhhhttsshhhuuu! Etttshhhhuuu!"

"Bless you."

"Uh, thaks," he said, realizing that a part of him was looking forward to a little bit of TLC from Mary. He shouldn't feel that way, because Mary was seeing someone, and so was he. Then he thought, ah what the hell, who cares?

"So, am I taking you home, then?"

"I guess so," he said with another sigh.

Mary took him by the arm and led him to his car.

Every part of Danny's body ached by the time they reached his place. His head and sinuses throbbed, and his throat was raw and scratchy.

"Heey-ahhh-tttssschhuuu!"

God, even his sneezes were getting progressively louder and leaving him weaker and weaker. Mary immediately sent him to his room to change into some comfortable clothes, while she busied herself in his kitchen. Even though he shook with a few chills, all he put on was a pair of flannel boxer shorts. Then he proceeded to his living room where he plopped on the couch and covered himself in a fleece blanket.

"Danny, do you need me to pick up any cold medicine or anything?" she called.

"No, I think I have some Nyquil in the cabinet above the stove," he said sniffling. "AAHHH-TTSSHHHOOO!"

"Bless you!"

"Arrggghhh," he said, sniffling louder.

Mary came out into the living room, carrying a cup of tea in one hand, and a box of tissues in the other. She sat down next to him, handing him the tissues first. He plucked one out of the box and blew roughly into it.

"You may not want to sit too close or even stay," he said, chuckling.

Mary set the box and mug down on the end table next to the couch. Then she got up again and returned with the Nyquil.

"I'm not worried about your germs, Danny," she said, her voice soft and soothing.

Danny took the Nyquil, and sipped his tea while Mary sat with him. She scooted closer and began stroking the back of his head. Her fingernails gently scraped the back of his neck, and it sent fresh chills down his spine.

"Oooh, Danny, are you okay?" she asked, pulling her hands away.

He didn't want her to stop, but her touch was doing things to him that he didn't want it to.

"Sorry, just a bit cold," he said, and faked a shiver.

Mary pulled the blanket around him tighter, and gently squeezed him in a hug.

"Better?"

"Mmmm hmmmm," he mumbled, nodding.

Then his cell phone, which he'd left on one of the counters, began to chirp. Mary went and grabbed it for him.

"Dan McCoy," he said, coughing into the phone.

"Oh, Danny, you sound sick, this is Jenny."

It was Jenny Cho, the woman he was currently dating.

"Yeah, I picked up a cold or something," he said, making his voice sound even more raspy and hoarse than it already did.

"I'm so sorry. Do you need anything? I could run and get a few things and drop by."

It was very sweet of her to offer, but he felt he had everything he needed, and the Nyquil was already starting to kick in.

"I'm fine. I've got all kinds of stuff here, and I just took some medicine, so I'll be heading to bed shortly. Besides, I wouldn't want you catching this."

Mary watched him as he spoke on the phone. He felt awkward, ex-girlfriend sitting there while he was chatting with his new one. Okay, so Jenny wasn't his girlfriend yet, but Mary didn't need to know that.

"Are you sure? Because I wouldn't mind at all."

"Really, thanks, I'm going to hit the hay now. I'll call you tomorrow?"

"Okay, and call me if you need anything at all, all right?"

"I will, thanks Jenny."

He flipped his phone closed, yawned again, and then looked at Mary.

"Sorry about that."

"How is Jenny?"

"Fine, I guess. She was more worried about me, so I didn't really ask," he said, barely getting his words out before yawning again. His eyelids drooped, and he was struggling to keep them open.

"How are you doing?"

"Sleepy," he murmured, then without thinking, since the Nyquil was making his brain all fuzzy, he rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes.

"Hey, Danny, come on. You can't sleep here. Let's get you to bed," she said with a nervous laugh. It was the same laugh she used when he used to flirt with her, and that's how he knew she liked him. He liked that laugh, it meant that he made her uncomfortable just then.

"Too sleepy to move," he groaned and then flopped his head onto her lap. He was really very tired, but he was also enjoying toying around with her a bit.

"All right, Danny. I'll stay for a little while. Rest your head," she said very softly, and then did something she hadn't done for a very long time. She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. "Sleep tight."

Danny gave in to his tired condition, and with a grin on his face, fell fast asleep in her lap.