Jack Malone crossed over behind his dark mahogany desk. As he reached over to grab a few choice files, he spared a quick glance at Danny. That was all it took to study him. Though the agent appeared as capable as always, Jack wasn’t fooled. His eyes still had traces of redness as well as heavy bags underneath them. Last night it must have all come crashing down. The last week had been hell for Danny Taylor, and from here on in things were only going to get worse.

And yet…Jack felt little desire to judge him. Jordan needed people like Danny in her life. After her father died and her mother deserted her, no other relatives had come forward to claim her. Then, placed in an orphanage in the inner city with a propensity towards controlled substances in her bloodline? She was truly one of the doomed.

When Danny stepped forward and took the initiative, part of Jack had approved. But another part, a darker part, had been waiting for the inevitable disaster to strike. He admired the young agent, even saw small traces of himself in Danny. His work was above reproach. He was a merit to his team and to the FBI. However, the ever-present fear of having to watch his agent go down in flames kept Jack especially vigilant of the entire situation.

But at the end of the day, it was never his choice. Not like it had been this morning. When the NYPD called informing him of Jordan and Jason Coliandri’s disappearance, he knew what he had to do. He knew what he was getting himself into. He just had to make sure that Danny did, too.

Once you become invested on an emotional level and allow it to dictate your reactions, you become a liability to yourself and everyone else on your team. Things get sloppy. If there was one thing Jack Malone didn’t tolerate in himself or his team, it was sloppiness.

Danny was watching him, waiting for him to say something. Finally, his agent broke the ice. “Your phone must have rung pretty early this morning.”

Jack nodded. “Yeah, it does that sometimes.”

A lull loomed between them. Danny took in a breath. “Jack. I want you to know-”

“I’m keeping you limited on this case,” Jack interrupted, keeping the exchange between them professional. “I believe if I involve you beyond questioning Sr. Corrione, it could have results that would be destructive to the outcome of this case.”

Danny’s first instinct was to frown. “Well, I don’t like being kept on the sidelines, especially with this.” He looked Jack in the eye. “But I understand why you’re doing it. In your position, I’d be doing the same thing.”

“You feel that way now,” Jack said. “Things are quiet right now. It’s easy to cooperate. But later, when things get intense, possibly fatal, I need you to continue to respect this decision.”

Danny’s face began to show that he was taking offense. “Look, Jack, if you’re going to attack judgments I haven’t made yet-”

“Your judgments are tainted by the very fact that you know this girl.”

“You think I’m going to do something brainless?”

“I think you’re going to want to do something impulsive,” Jack amended. “Just like anyone would.”

Danny stopped himself before he said anything he would regret. He turned slightly to the side, quieting his thoughts that ordered him to respond out of anger. When he looked up, Jack couldn’t turn away from the fire in his eyes. “When I started with Jordan, I may not have known what I was getting myself into. Because of that, I may not have handled it as professionally as I should have. But, if you’re implying that I would jeopardize your life or any of the lives outside this office to fulfill some kind of hero agenda, you’ve got another thing coming. I trust this team to find Jordan and her brother. There’s no team I’d trust more. And just because I wish that it was me out there bringing them home doesn’t mean I’ll put people in harm’s way to do it.”

Jack looked down at his desk. He found himself analyzing it. So spotless, so organized, so unlike the chaos that tended to surround them.

Danny never flinched. “I’d like to think you’d have known that.”

When Jack gazed upward, an apology was obvious upon his face. He let a few silent moments hang in between them. “You understand why I had to say this.”

Danny expelled a deep breath. “Yeah,” he reluctantly admitted. “Yeah, I do.”

“Okay.” Jack’s warnings and lectures stopped there. Danny was made fully aware of the circumstances. That was what the conversation had been all about. “That said…” He honed in on him. “How’re you holding up?”

Danny’s confident composure waned a little, providing a window to how distraught the agent had become. “I’m alright. It’s just been a rough couple of days, you know?”

Jack nodded, his eyes never leaving Danny. “Yeah, I do,” he said. “Whatever we find at Northeast, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Thanks.” From the path of Jack’s conversation, Danny could tell he was being dismissed, but he stayed in place. “And Jack.”

The agent looked up.

“I want to thank you for taking this case. I know you didn’t have to.”

Jack paused, unwilling to allow himself an emotional response. “You have a good friend in Frank Sanders.”

Danny couldn’t help but smile a little. “Despite everything Frank’s done to try to prove otherwise, I’m starting to see that.”

“Well…” Jack lifted his briefcase as he began to leave the room. “For some people that’s just their way of letting other people know that they care about them.”

Danny sent one of his impish grins Jack’s way. “Some people, huh?”

Jack successfully dodged the pointed question. “For other people,” he returned, looking right at Danny. “It’s completely apparent that they have affection for the people in their lives.”

Rolling his eyes a little at the comment meant just for him, Danny looked out of the window of Jack’s door. He saw Samantha, arching her neck, squinting a little, trying catch a peek inside the office. He turned to his boss, and it was clear. Jack saw her, too.

Danny looked at Samantha and then back at Jack. “It happens.”

Jack lowered his gaze. Touché, he thought. Perhaps he deserved it after the lecture he’d given Danny. Perhaps he hadn’t. Either way, his smirk was a warning in disguise. He looked to Danny. “Get back to work.”

With his apt reaction given, back to work Danny Taylor went. Martin, already prepared to leave, was waiting by the door. When Danny was ready, the two left the office for their interrogation of Sr. Rachel and those working in and around her convent.

Letting the office door close behind him, Jack Malone shrugged into his jacket and lightly tossed back his graying hair. He checked himself in the nearest window. God, he needed a haircut.

“There’s a mirror in the ladies room if you need it,” Samantha commented.

Jack smirked. “Everyone’s a wiseass.”

“I only learn from the best.” Samantha smiled, that smile that could light up a room, that smile that seemed to seize him and draw him to her.

Jack ignored it. He focused instead on the case at hand, and what finding Jordan and Jason would mean for the team…and for Danny… With a clear of his throat, he strode forward. “Let’s get to Northeast. The sooner we get there, the better.”

“Isn’t that how it always is?”

Jack took a breath as he held the door open for her. “Let me rephrase that. The sooner we get out of there, the better. Our presence there will not be welcome.”