Author's Notes: Finally! I'm sorry that this took so long to write, but with school ending, my time magically disappeared on me. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this, and find that it was worth the wait.
Chapter Twenty-One
Minutes after the temple had collapsed entirely, the Montecito group could only stand in stunned silence and stare at the massive pile of stone that now lie before them. There was too much dust still in the air to see clearly, but there was also no sign of movement within the cloud, leading the group to believe that the worst had happened to Danny and Ed.
"No." Sam whispered in a broken voice, shaking her head. "No, they can't be…"
"They're not." a firm Mike rejected, also shaking his head. "Mr. D.'s like freaking MacGyver. If anyone could have survived that, he could!" The bald, usually jovial man suddenly noticed Mary rushing forward and grabbed her to stop her. "Mary, no!"
"Let me go, Mike!" the frantic red-haired woman screamed, trying her hardest to wiggle out of his grasp. "I need to go! I need to find Danny! He could be hurt!"
"It's not safe, Mary." Nessa pointed out, shaking her head. "Danny wouldn't want you to put yourself in danger!"
"She's right, honey." Jillian agreed, putting aside her own worries about her husband for the moment. "I want to go and look for Eddie just as much as you want to look for Danny, but they wouldn't want us to endanger ourselves in the process." She put her hand on Mary's shoulder. "I'm afraid that all we can do right now is wait and hope." A silent Mary just collapsed against the older woman, sobbing hysterically. "I know. I know."
"God…" the facedown Danny groaned, drifting back into consciousness and realizing that not only did his body feel like nothing but one big, throbbing pain, but that he also felt a great weight on his back. "Huh?"
"You all right, kid?" a concerned Ed asked from somewhere behind him. The great weight began to lift from his back, and Danny then remembered that Ed had tackled him to the ground from behind when the implosion had started. "Danny?"
"I'm fine, Ed." Danny finally answered, rolling onto his back and sitting up. Coughing because of the dust, Danny took a moment to silently survey the rubble surrounded the two men before looking up at Ed. "Did we really survive that?"
"I don't know." Ed grinned, "Let me see." Suddenly, Danny felt Ed's foot collide heavily with a certain part of his anatomy, causing the younger man to yowl in pain and roll back onto his side, holding his midsection. "Don't ask anymore stupid questions!"
"I won't." Danny promised, his voice slightly higher than normal.
"Serves you right." Ed chuckled, looking down at the younger man before his blue eyes shifted to their surroundings. The dust was starting to clear slightly and he could see a group of people standing nearby. He squinted, but he could swear that one of them was… "Jillian?"
"Eddie?" a surprised Jillian asked, thinking that she heard her husband's voice. Her eyes darted around; looking for the source before she suddenly spotted the sight of a figure standing amongst the dust and rubble. "Eddie!"
"Jillian!" an overjoyed Ed shouted, exchanging glances with a beaming Danny.
"Eddie!" Jillian exclaimed, starting to run towards the figure. As she broke through the barrier of dust, the older, blonde-haired woman could see the form she had seen was, in fact, her shirtless husband. Tears started to flow from her eyes and her speed increased. "Eddie!" Suddenly, the heel of her shoe caught on something and she went stumbling forward. "Whoa!"
"Gotcha!" Ed exclaimed, rushing forward and catching Jillian before she hit the ground. As the woman in his arms looked up into his blue eyes, a wide smile appeared on the gray-haired, former CIA agent's wrinkled features. "Hey there, angel."
"Oh, God! ED!" Jillian sobbed, hugging her husband tightly as if to prevent some imminent threat from taking him away from her again. "I thought that I'd never see you again!"
"What?" Ed chuckled, smoothing the woman's blonde hair with his hand. He hoped that no one would see the few tears that were escaping his own blue eyes. "Like I'd be stupid enough to leave something as good as you? Get real!"
Jillian's only reply was to touch Ed's lips with her own, causing a passionate kiss to suddenly erupt between the old, married couple. Watching silently on, Danny could only smile as he pushed himself onto a nearby pile of rubble, his left leg still too injured to stand on. However, it wasn't long before the former Marine lieutenant found himself engulfed in an embrace of his own. He didn't have time to see the face of the person who had grabbed him, but Danny knew that he would know that red hair anywhere.
"Mary." he smiled, hugging the sobbing woman back.
"I thought that I had lost you." the woman quietly replied, her face still buried in his chest.
"Hey, I promised you that I would turn out all right." Danny reassured, gently massaging her back. A fond gleam appeared in his brown eyes as a memory suddenly appeared in his mind. "Remember that time in 3rd grade? When I fell out of Ms. Stegeman's tree?"
"I…" Mary sniffed, pulling herself away from Danny. Looking up into his eyes, she wiped the few tears that remained on her cheek. "I remember that. You ended up only knocking the wind out of you, but Greg and I both thought that you were dead." She smiled up at him. "I almost remember you having to apologize for that for about two years straight."
"So, how long do you think I'm going to have to for this little scare?" Danny chuckled, rubbing the back of his head with his healthy, left hand.
"Oh, I'd say that this is worth at least two decades." Mary giggled, tears of happiness streaming down her cheeks. Leave it to Danny to crack a joke at a time like this.
"If you need any help making him pay up," Ed offered as he and Jillian walked over to the pair. "I'll be more than happy to help."
"Oh, boy." Danny sighed worriedly, knowing full well the many things his boss was capable of doing to a man.
"Oh, come on, Eddie." Jillian chuckled, lightly elbowing her husband in the stomach. "I think that the poor boy's been through enough." Suddenly, the older woman wrapped her arms around Danny. "Oh, I'm so glad that you're both all right."
"All right being a relative term." Danny winced, putting a little weight back on his injured leg.
"Oh, my God, sweetheart." a concerned Ed replied, looking at the bandage around Mary's head. "What in the hell happened to you?" "I was trying to stop the Professor from shooting Danny," Mary explained, rubbing the side of her head. "And he threw me into a marble pillar."
"That bastard." Ed growled, anger clearly showing in his blue eyes.
"Don't worry, Daddy." Delinda reassured as the rest of the Montecito gang walked over. The relief of seeing that Danny and Ed had both survived the temple imploding in on them clear on their faces. "Danny already made sure that Professor paid for that."
"You did?" a surprised Ed asked as Delinda wrapped her arms around him.
"Oh, man." an overjoyed Mike replied, "Dude made him pay with interest! Old bastard was barely alive the last time we saw him."
"Really?" Ed remarked, looking at Danny while hugging Delinda back. "Pretty boy like you actually injured somebody that badly, huh? Wonders never cease."
"You're lucky that I'm beat up, old man." Danny smiled, leaning on Mike for support. "Otherwise, I'd take you out right now too."
"Keep dreaming." Ed replied, returning Danny's smile. "Come on, guys. Let's go home."
As the Montecito group filed past the wreckage of the temple, Ed, from where he stood in between Delinda and Jillian, had to pause as he noticed Interpol agents arresting Leo and Senator Henderson and loading them in a van. With a glance to his wife and daughter, Ed walked over to the blonde-haired, former senator.
"You!" Henderson growled, "I WILL make you pay, Ed."
"Not where you're going." a grinning Ed shook his head before punching the blonde-haired man in the jaw. As the senator fell to the side, Ed simply chuckled, turned and walked away. "Damn! That felt good."
Smiling at the sleeping forms of Delinda and Jillian in front of him, Ed wearily got up from his seat on the plane and headed forward. The Deline family had been given the entire back half of the plane to themselves, so that they could get reacquainted with each other without the interference of the others. Father, mother, and daughter had been doing so for the past hour until the latter two had fallen asleep.
As he entered the front section of the plane, Ed could see that Jillian and Delinda weren't the only two that had fallen asleep on the flight back to Vegas. Sam, Nessa, and Mike were fast asleep in their seats, while Mary lay in Danny's arms on the couch. Looking around, the gray-haired, former CIA agent couldn't help but smile proudly at the assorted men and women around him; the ones he considered to be almost like sons and daughters to him.
"Thanks, guys." An appreciative Deline whispered before making his way into the cockpit. "So, how long until we reach Vegas?"
"Not for another couple of hours." Jack Keller replied, glancing up at Ed as he climbed into the co-pilot's seat. The dark-haired, slightly younger man smiled as he turned back to the window in front of him. "How's everyone?"
"Sleeping." Ed replied, staring at the vast landscape visible through the window in front of the two men. A wide smile appeared on his face. "Seems like we're the only ones with stamina around here, partner."
"Seems like." Keller chuckled in agreement. He suddenly smiled at the older man sitting next to him. "Thanks again for using your resources to get me off the hook this time, Ed. I really appreciate it." He chuckled again. "Of course, I don't understand why you did it, but I really appreciate it."
"Are you kidding?" Ed smiled at his long-time partner. "You popping up every once in awhile is good for my heart. Besides, we both know that there is no way a guy like you would survive prison, Jack. Not without becoming somebody's boyfriend."
"God." Keller winced, "Thanks for the mental image."
"Anytime." Ed laughed, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "So, what's next for you after this?"
"That's for me to know and for you to, possibly, find out." Keller grinned.
"It's going to be so good to see the Montecito again." Delinda remarked as she lay across the backseat of Ed's cherry red Hummer H2. "I just hope that Günter hasn't flown into a fit and destroyed Mystique while I've been gone."
"I'm sure that everything's fine, honey." Ed reassured, driving the vehicle with one hand and holding Jillian's opposite hand with the other. He smiled fondly at the yellow and black Camaro convertible that was driving in front of the vehicle; the driver's red hair flowing in the breeze and the passenger clearly resting. "Looks like this whole adventure has taken a lot out of Danny."
"Well, the poor guy has been through a lot the past few days." Jillian remarked with a sigh. Suddenly, the Camaro turned, heading away from the Montecito. "Where do you think that they're going?"
"Oh, I know where they're going." Ed chuckled, squeezing his wife's hand. "Don't worry. Danny and Mary will join us later."
Hearing a car pull up to the construction site, both Luis and Larry looked over from where they had been speaking. The former had just informed the latter that the Montecito group was reportedly heading back to Vegas, so Mary had perfect timing in pulling the yellow and black Camaro convertible onto the site. Clapping a hand on Luis' shoulder, Larry went running over as Danny limped out of the car. There was a brief moment of silence as father simply looked over son.
"I've really got to stop telling you to be careful." Larry remarked before suddenly enveloping Danny in a hug. "You always come back more beat up than you left, Danny Boy."
"I'm sorry, Dad." Danny smiled as he hugged his father back. "But don't worry. This should be the last time Ed and I have to go on one of our little missions."
"I'm holding you to that, man." Luis commented with a wide grin. The brown-haired detective's grin suddenly faded when he caught sight of the bandage around Mary's head. "Oh, my God, Mary! What happened to you?"
"I kind of got thrown into a pillar." Mary shrugged, "No big deal."
"It was a very big deal," Danny corrected as the two McCoy men finally broke their embrace. "Or it would have been if Mary wasn't so tough."
"So, I finally earned your respect?" Mary assumed with a smile.
"Well, you did prove that you're not the little girl that went running inside during those fake camp-outs." Danny said, rubbing the back of his head.
"You mean the ones where you screamed like a little girl if you heard the slightest noise?" a grinning Luis asked, folding his arms across his chest.
"Well, I, uh…" Danny fumbled, scratching the side of his head. "That was Greg?"
As Larry, Mary and Luis all started laughing, Danny could do little more than blush and stuff his healthy, left hand into his pants pocket.
"MMM." Mike said through a mouthful of food, "Delinda, you have got to give Günter my compliments on this!" The black, bald man swallowed a bit. "It is absolutely delicious!"
"What's the matter with you?" Ed asked from the chair next to him, hitting Mike in the back of the head. "Didn't your parents ever teach you not to talk with your mouth full?"
From where they sat around the table, Delinda, Nessa, Jillian and Sam could only laugh as Mike shrank in his seat. Upon reaching the casino, Ed had ordered that a huge feast and some of his wine collection be set up on the Montecito's rooftop, a celebration for both those rescued and the rescuers. The door from the inside of the casino slowly swung open, getting the party's attention.
"Well, look who's here." Jillian smiled as Danny and Mary walked out through the door.
"Sorry, we're late." Danny apologized, "I wanted to…"
"It's all right, kid." Ed reassured with a nod, "How's your dad doing?"
"Good." Danny replied, nodding his head back. "However, I made the mistake of saying that this was probably our last mission, and Luis overheard me. He said that he's going to hold us to that."
"Well, what in the hell did you go and do a stupid thing like that for?" a curious, angry Ed asked before feeling Jillian nudge him in the ribs. "Ow!"
"Because this was your last, little mission, Edward Melvin Deline." an authoritative Jillian said with a look that proclaimed her the boss. "So, get used to it!"
"Yeah, yeah." Ed blushed as his employees took a moment to laugh at his expense. The gray-haired man coughed, both to clear his throat and warn his employees that whomever kept laughing would find themselves with a pink slip in hand, before raising his glass of wine. "To a job well done."
"And to friends that are more like family." Jillian said, raising her glass.
As the light from the slowly setting sun behind them began to fade, the six younger adults around the table joined Ed and Jillian in raising their glasses joyfully.
"Salute!" Ed proclaimed as all eight glasses clinked in the center of the table.
The End