"Oh, hey Daniel, I'll get Sal-... uh, sure T's here.  Let me get him."  She glanced over at Techno with a puzzled look on her face and shrugged.

 

T grabbed the phone and said, "Yeah." There was a long pause and he sighed.  "It'll be a few minutes. M-hmm."  Then he hung up the phone. 

 

"What was that about, Techno?" Dee asked.

 

"Nothing, I gotta go.  I might be awhile." Then he turned and exited.
- - - - - - - - - - - -

 

When Techno came up for his morning coffee, Dee was quick to ask about the call.

 

"So what was Daniel's call all about?" she asked him as he stood over the pot.

 

"It's not really any of your business," he answered.

 

Sally looked up from her glass of Lucky Charms.  "Daniel called?"

 

"Yeah," Dee explained, "But he wanted to talk to Techno."  She gave him a look of suspicion.  "Then he left and wouldn't say where he was going, and didn't get back until three a.m."

 

Sally's eyes narrowed.  "What were you two boys doing until 3 am?"

 

Techno removed his coffee cup from his lips and shook his head.  "It isn't my business to tell you.  If you want to know, I suggest you ask Daniel himself."
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Sally caught up to her boyfriend while visiting Wal-Mart.

 

"Hey," she called out to him as she passed by the papergood section.

 

He looked up and smiled half-heartily.

 

"Rumor is you'd rather talk to T than me," she teased, slipping her arm around his shoulders.

 

"Yeah, well...it was just an errand."

 

She smiled at him, and realized he didn't have his usual spark.

 

"What's up?" she asked.

 

"Nothing, just getting some toilet paper."

 

"That's not what I mean.  Is something wrong?"  She eyed the scratches on his face.

 

He bent down and picked up a package of Quilted Northern.  "I gotta go.  I'll see you later."

 

"Daniel..."

 

"Sorry, but I... I gotta rush this home right away..." He held up the TP.  "Peter needs it."

 

She followed him to the checkout counter, questioning in her mind if Peter was back yet from spending Christmas in his hometown.  However, Daniel was in luck and the Speedy Checkouts had no lines.  He paid quickly and left.

 

Sally shook her head.  Men.
- - - - - - - - - -

 

"Oh my gosh! Sally!" Jessica exclaimed as the blonde entered the den where Seb and Jed were sitting on the couch enjoying the fire.

 

Sally looked at them in surprise.

 

"Have you heard from Daniel today?" Jessica asked.

 

"I just saw him at Wal-Mart," she answered plopping herself into a chair.  "And he didn't seem very happy. Actually, he more or less blew me off. Why?"

 

"Well," Sebastian looked at her as if his words would kill her.  "He was arrested last night."

 

Sally smiled.  "Yeah, right."  A big look of disbelief was obvious on her face. "For what, jaywalking?"

 

"No, seriously."  Sebastian's green eyes looked stern and concerned.  "For breaking and entering The Ole Antique Shop on Polar."

 

Her face went blank and her mouth opened slightly.  Looking into the fire she bit her lip.

 

"Sally," Jed said comfortingly, "Are you okay?"
- - - - - - - - - -

 

After a moment of silence she stood and retired to her room.  Her mind seemed completely void of thought.  But soon concern, doubt, anger, fear, frustration and betrayal all flooded her mind at once.  She stared at the ceiling and held Paul close to her.  And yet only one thought kept resurfacing: Why didn't he tell me?
- - - - - - - - - -

 

"Was it for kicks? The thrill of adrenaline of doing something illegal?"  Sally asked as she and Daniel stood in the den.  He had been bringing in firewood when she entered.

 

He glared at her.  "You wouldn't understand."  His voice was harsh.

 

"I'm trying to!" she blurted.  "But you're refusing to cooperate."

 

"Well, I don't need another lecture! Lord knows my father is already buying my burial plot, and I might be reconsidered for the Work Study."

 

"Can you just tell me why?  Why would you do something like this?" she looked at him pleadingly.

 

"Well, it's like your job," he explained. "There are some things I just can't tell you."

 

"Daniel, my internship is confidential for security reasons," she scolded.

 

"Well... so is the reason I did this," he shot back.

 

She rolled her eyes.

 

"Don't give me that!" he shouted, slightly louder than he had intended to.  "All this time I've been accepting your dodges to my questions.  Now it's your turn to accept that I have things I don't want to tell you about."

 

"This is no comparison!"

 

"Oh, hell, it's not! You're just pissed off because for once you don't know all the details and you're the one who has to just go with the flow!"

 

Her frustration and anger set in.  Sally glared at him and set her jaw.  He knew her too well and was pushing all the right buttons. "Daniel," she warned with a threatening tone.

 

"Don't 'Daniel' me, Miss High and Mighty!"  His eyes burned into hers. "You just can't take it that perhaps your life isn't so perfect anymore!  That your boyfriend no longer has a perfect record!"

 

A picture on the wall began to tremble slightly.

 

"Isn't that what this is all about?!" he accused. "Why you want to talk to me about it?! Not to find out why I did it, but how I could do this to you!!" he paused.  "Well?!  If you're going to answer you might have to loosen your jaw a bit!!"  He added the last line with as much hate as he could muster.

 

"I don't have to explain myself to you," she stated harshly through her teeth.

 

"No, of course not.  And I don't have to explain myself to you."  He turned and hastily grabbed his coat from the chair as he made his way out of MacMickle Mansion.

 

As he slammed the door the picture fell from the wall, hitting the floor with a loud bang.  Suddenly pillows began to whirl around the room and slam into walls and the doors and the furniture.

 

The door opened suddenly and Poopsie ducked a rampaging pillow.  "Guess it didn't go too well, huh?" she said carefully.

 

"ERG!!!" Sally screamed in frustration just as a pillow hit her full in the face. "I HATE having super strength when I'm mad;  I'm afraid I'll break something!" 
- - - - - - - - - -

 

"I'll go on rounds tonight," Sally offered.

 

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Poopsie warned.  "You're still pretty upset."

 

"I've got all this energy," she pleaded.  "Let me use it or I'll be worse than Tonya after eating the contents of a 5 quart ice cream pail."

 

Everyone looked at Tonya, who turned slightly red.

 

"Alright," Techno agreed and he gave her a look of threat if something were to happen.
- - - - - - - - - -

 

Abra Pirata stood outside The Ole Antique Shop on Polar Avenue looking for clues.  She had to know the reason behind Daniel's break-in.  And if he wasn't going to tell her, she was going to find out for herself.  But as she crouched down to investigate a footprint near the boarded up window she heard someone coming toward her down the alleyway.

 

Quickly she hid herself in the shadows just as a man came into view.  He was wearing all black and looked like he got his dressing tips from the cat burglars in the movies.

 

Suddenly he stopped and was looking right at her.  She reached down to her sword and with a metallic ring pulled a shining blade from the sheath that glistened in the low light.

 

"Ab...Abra Pirata?" asked the man, stunned.

 

The pirate stepped from the shadows and approached the man, who was either shivering from the cold or fright.  As she approached him, she recognized his features.

 

"Aren't you already in trouble for being here after hours, Daniel?" she asked, gripping her hilt tightly.

 

"Yes, but..." he looked her sword up and down.  "You saved my life once.  Don't let it be in vain by killing me now."

 

"I'm not going to kill you."  Although her anger was slightly satisfied that he was afraid she would. She lowered her sword and planted the tip on the concrete, resting her hand on the hilt.  "Now, what is it that you are doing here?  If you get caught again..."

 

"Shh..." he hushed her and pushed her against a wall, into the shadows.

 

"Wha...?" but then she heard someone else coming up the alleyway toward them.

 

He motioned for her to stay put and not intercede.

 

As a scraggly man came walking up to the rear entrance to The Ole Antique Shop, Daniel stepped from the shadows.

 

"Damn it, kid, you scared me!" The small man twitched his head as if he were nervous.

 

"Do you have it this time?" Daniel whispered harshly.

 

"Now listen here, this information don't come cheep.  I got this at great personal risk.  It weren't no vacation neither.  Pay up, or I keep the info and my life. We don't want a repeat of the last exchange."

 

"I didn't call the cops."

 

"Hey, it was your idea to meet in an alleyway, kid." The man looked the boy up and down.  "And in that get up, someone was bound to suspect something."

 

"Well, you didn't have to throw me through the window."

 

"Let's stop reminisin' and get down to business.  Where's the money?"

 

"Half now, half when the information delivers the desirable outcome." Daniel pulled a white envelope from inside his black jacket.

 

The man reached into his back pocket, retrieved a disk and held it out to Daniel.  Daniel grabbed it and tossed the envelope at the man.

 

"I don't see why you want it anyway.  I'm sure he's forgotten by now."

 

"He couldn't have," Daniel looked hopefully at the disk.

 

"If he hasn't," the man gloated as he walked away, his voice diminishing into the darkness, "then why hasn't he come for you?"

 

Daniel turned around to begin his walk back home, but found Abra standing in his path, he had almost forgotten about her.

 

"What's on the disk."
 
"I can't tell you."

 

"That wasn't a question."

 

"I... I can't tell you."

 

"I know something just went down here, I saw it with my own two eyes.  Now tell me what just happened or I will have to act as if I just witnessed a crime."

 

"Abra... I... I can't tell you."

 

"Daniel, I've had a very bad day.  And if one more person tells me that I can't know or won't understand, that someone is going to die, or worse," she raised her sword, "get decapitated."

 

"Abra, if what I hope for is on this disk, I may finally be able to sleep at night.  I'll finally know the truth, whether it's good or bad."  He looked down at the object in his hands.  It was a simple 3 inch floppy, yet he held it as if it were a precious gem.  He smiled slightly. "We all have secrets that if told would hurt the ones we love the most. Lairdlot, my last name, means 'hidden face;'  It's a constant reminder of just that."

 

Abra sheathed her sword.  "Well..., don't let me catch you wondering around at night again.  And if you do," she looked him up and down, "just wear normal clothes. They can tell you're up to no good when you're dressed like that."

 

He smiled slightly.

 

"Good night."

 

"Hopefully," he smirked.
- - - - - - - - - - -

 

"It's really simple," Techno was explaining to Daniel who was sitting next to him by a laptop in the library.  "You open your encrypted document then: Edit, Select All, Edit, Insert, Pac-Man." He clicked the mouse, scrolling through menus.

 

"You called your program Pac-Man?" Daniel questioned.

 

"I invented it, I can call it whatever I damn well please.  Besides, you never want to give it a name that implies what it really does.  That's too obvious.  When I think of hacking and decryption, I picture Pac-Man chomping away; it made sense."

 

Daniel nodded.

 

"So this really works?" he asked after a moment.

 

"It'll pretty much work on any encryption, as long as it isn't just shorthand.  I haven't figured that bug out yet," he trailed off, mumbling to himself.

 

"Well, thanks for your help, T," he said as he stood.

 

"Hey don't forget this," T hit the disk ejection and handed the floppy to the gardener.

 

"You've been a big help."

 

"Forget it," T shrugged.

 

Daniel smirked. "See you."

 

As he exited the library he almost bumped into Sally.

 

"'Scuse me," he mumbled and continued down the hall.

 

The blonde stared at his back for a moment.  They hadn't spoken for a week, and he was leaving in a couple of days.  But she abandoned the thought of calling out his name, and turned to enter the library.

 

When Daniel turned back around to face her, she was nowhere in sight.  He glanced down at the floor then continued outside into the cold air.

 

"Hey, T," she called as she entered the library.  He stood by one of the tables, winding up the cords to his closed laptop.  "Didn't feel like computing in the cave today?"

 

"Oh, Daniel just wanted me to show him a decryption program."

 

"What would he want that for?"

 

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" he said calmly.

 

Sally stared at him, a coldness in her eyes.

 

"He thought he might need it for secret lab results of something at IBI."  Techno shook his head.  "I'm sure going to miss that kid."

 

Sally was slightly surprised by the one-eyed man's emotional outburst and cocked an eyebrow at him.

 

"I'm not looking forward to the spring yardwork."  He picked up his laptop and walked past the blonde.  Before he exited he turned slightly.  "Aren't you going to miss him?"  Then he stepped out into the hall and vanished around the corner.

 

Sally grabbed the notebook she had left on the chair; she turned to leave, then thought better of it.  Before she left she pulled a book from the shelf, glancing lovingly at the title as if it brought back memories. Then quietly she exited the library.
- - - - - - - - - - - -

 

At the sound of a knock, Daniel made his way through the boxes and opened the door to the apartment.

 

"Hey," he said slowly, seeing Sally standing on his threshold.

 

"Hey," she returned the casual greeting, avoiding his eyes.  "I just came by to return this to you."  She handed him the book.  "I thought you'd want to take it with you or whatever."

 

Daniel took the book and lovingly read the title. Where the Red Fern Grows.  It had been his childhood favorite, and given to him by Sally for his 21st birthday.   When she told him she hadn't read it since grade school he insisted she read his copy.

 

"Why don't you come in?" He stepped back and gestured.

 

She took a step in and he closed the door, but they stood in silence for a moment.

 

"Daniel, I'm sorry." She bit her lip and glanced over into his eyes.

 

"Sally," he returned her gaze.  "I love you, and you know what that means."  He reached out and took her hands in his.

 

"That I don't have to say 'sorry'."

 

"No, it means you'll always be forgiven," he smiled slightly and pulled her to him, wrapping her tightly in his strong arms.  She returned the embrace, squeezing them together, as close as possible.  She sighed against his shirt, happy to be back within his arms.

 

As he pulled form her, his passing lips kissed her cheek.  "Want to help me pack some boxes?"
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

"What about the furniture?" Tonya asked, eyeing the stuff Daniel had set aside to carry out to his car.  "It'll never fit in your little car."

 

"The furniture isn't going," he replied.  "Peter and I decided to rent my half of the apartment out for the semester, and a furnished half will get more money.  Besides, it's less hassle just to leave it here."

 

"Alright then," Tonya said, lifting up a box of books.  "Let me help you with these."

 

"Those can go in the back seat," Daniel instructed her.

 

Sally turned to him.  "I can't believe you're leaving tomorrow morning."

 

"Yeah, I'm sad yet excited at the same time," he gave her a weird smile.

 

Suddenly a large thud sounded from out in the hall and Sally and Daniel rushed out of the apartment to find Tonya sitting among an array of books and papers.  Next to her laid the almost empty box.  She looked innocently up at their shocked faces through her long bangs.

 

"Oops," she muttered.

 

"Are you alright?" Daniel asked as Sally bent to start collecting the littered parchment.

 

"Yeah, I'm just clumbsy. Sorry."  Tonya reached for some books and set them back into the box.

 

"That's okay," he said as he bent to join the girls.  "There wasn't anything breakable in this box anyway."  He winked at Sally.

 

"Aww," Tonya gasped as she held up a picture she had found.  "Aren't these little pirates cute?" She handed it to Sally.

 

The picture showed two boys standing in front of a school.  It must have been Halloween because everyone was dressed in costumes, including the boys.  Their arms were draped around each other like best friends.  The boy with lighter hair was definitely Daniel.  Sally had seen only one other picture of him when he was young, and the photo she was now holding looked as if it couldn't have been a year older.  The black haired boy looked faimiliar, but Sally couldn't place him.

 

"Who's your friend?" Sally asked, showing it to Daniel.

 

"Hmm" He frowned, taking the picture.  "Just a kid I knew in school.  I don't even remember his name.  I think he moved away later that year." He stuffed the photo into his coat pocket.

 

Tonya gathered the last of the papers, set them in the box and carefully made her way down the hallway and out to Daniel's car.

 

"I hope she makes it this time," he said watching the braided girl walk away.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

 

The car was now fully loaded and parked outside MacMickle Mansion.  Daniel had wanted to pick up a few things he had left, and say goodbye to all his friends too.  He was now giving last minute plant care tips to Techno.

 

"Daniel," he stopped him in mid sentence. " I was the care taker here long before you.  I think I can handle it."

 

"Yeah, well," he sighed.  "I suppose you won't do anything I can't fix when I get back," he joked.

 

"Except pave over the whole garden," Sebastian added.

 

Daniel looked at him, horrified at the thought of all that concrete.

 

"He's just kidding," Jessica said clasping a hand on his shoulder.  "We won't let anything happen to the garden while you're gone."  She smiled then gave him a small hug. 

 

"We're going to miss you," Poopsie said as she did the same. 

 

Dee gave him a quick hug also.  "Go to Abbey Road for me okay?  And send lots of picture of all the signigicant places in Beatle History."  Daniel smiled and nodded.

 

Tonya skipped over and threw her arms aound him, squeezing him hard.  She sniffled, " I miss you already."  Then she giggled like an idiot.

 

Zarbon pried her off the suffocating botanist.  "Hey save some of that for me," he said to her.  Then he took Daniel's hand and gave him a firm handshake.

 

After all the farewells Sally walked Daniel into the foyer.

 

He held her hand in his.  Slightly grinning he looked into her eyes.  The corners of her mouth rose slightly as she returned the gaze.

 

"I'm going to miss you," he whispered without breaking his loving stare.  "But I don't want you to be sad while I'm gone."  Sally studied his face.  His hand came up to touch her chin as he leaned closer and pressed his lips gently to hers.  As she closed her eyes, Daniel deepened the kiss, his hand slipping behind her head.  Sally's arms slid around his torso, pulling his body closer.  Daniel broke the kiss, lifted his chin, and gently guided Sally's head to his shoulder, where she nuzzled his neck.

 

"I love you, Angel," he whispered into her ear.

 

"I love you too, Daniel," she answered.

 

He pulled from her and set his hands on he shoulders; his eyes again looking straight into her soul.  "Would you smile for me? That's the picture I want to take in my mind: your beautiful smiling face."  She grinned.  "Oh you can do better than that," he gave a sexy smirk and winked, knowing what her reaction would be.

 

A giddy smile enveloped her face.

 

"Beautiful," he whispered and kissed her one last time before grabbing his coat and heading out the door.

 

Sally followed and stood on the porch, her arms wrapped tightly around herself to fend off the chill. Smiling, she watched his little car drive down the driveway and then disappear between the thick tree trunks of the small forest.  As she stood there watching, a single snowflake fell and caught her attention.  It reminded her of that romantic May night that seemed so long ago.  She looked up into the sky.  It was gray; but not a drab gray, a friendly gray: the color of his beautiful eyes.  She sighed, missing him already.