Disclaimer: I don't own ABC, NYPD Blue, etc. This is just for fun and I'm not making any money off this.

A sequel to "Only Human."

*

Part 1

Diane impatiently stood among the others who were awaiting the passengers to disembark from flight 602, Denver to New York. The plane had been on the ground for 25 minutes and many of those around her were grumbling about the wait. Finally the concourse door opened and a flight attendant emerged followed by two elderly women. One was rather spry but the other was being pushed in a wheelchair. After them came a man on crutches. There was a momentary pause and then the rest of the passengers began to stream out the door.

She stood a bit off to the side as the two groups merged amid hugs and smiles. Her view was blocked for a moment as a very tall man swept the woman standing directly in front of her; Diane thought that she couldn't have been over 5 foot two, into a passionate embrace. Amused and a little envious she stepped around them, avoiding the woman's dangling feet, in time to see Jill come through the door.

Jill's blonde hair was longer, cut in a sleek wedge that swung just below her jaw line. She had on a cream, v-neck, long sleeved T-shirt that tucked into the waist of a pair of loose fitting jeans. A thin gold chain at her neck and a pair of gold hoops were her only jewelry. She carried a small brown leather suitcase, a beautifully tooled leather shoulder bag and a denim jacket slung over one arm. She was stunning, and Diane sighed in relief. Jill had called her every few months to reassure her that she and the boys were OK, but afterwards Diane had always had the frustrating feeling that she should be doing something more. That there were a great many difficulties in Jill's life that she wasn't telling her about. Well, she told herself whatever she should or shouldn't have done was moot. Jill was here and she looked wonderful. At that moment Jill looked towards Diane and her face lit with a smile.

With an answering smile of her own Diane pushed her way through the crowd to meet her friend. Both women's eyes were moist when they met in a warm embrace. When they separated they laughed at the tears they were both shedding and hugged again.

"So don't hold out on me!" Diane teased, "Let me see it!" but her astonished, "Ohhh!!" was genuine when Jill raised her left hand for her to see a platinum engagement band set with a flawless 2 K blue-white diamond solitaire. "That is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen," she said, wrapping her arms around her friend again. "I am so happy for you Jill."

Parting they laughed at themselves once again as they both fished for Kleenex to wipe their eyes and blow their noses.

"Thanks Diane, you don't know how much it means to me, to hear you say that. Bill's a wonderful guy and I'm nuts about him. I can't wait for you to meet him."

"Me too, any chance that might happen before the wedding? I was hoping he might be coming with you this trip."

"No, not this time. He has the merger keeping him busy in Denver, and this trip is my chance to see you, and to clear up some old business." They both looked solemn at that. "I'll tell you all about that later." Jill took her hand, "Let's not talk here, besides I'm starving."

"Don't they feed you hotshots in first class?" Diane teased.

"Yeah but the food isn't much better than coach, plus I've been saving up the calories to blow on a plate of fetticini. You wouldn't believe what passes for pasta west of the Ohio. And cheesecake! Don't even get me started on that."

Diane laughed and nodded her head, "Right, dinner first. There's a place in my neighborhood that serves the best alfredo you've ever tasted. So we'll go there, then we'll get you settled in my guest room and we'll talk."

"That sounds good. But you're sure I won't be in the way? I can stay at a hotel."

Diane stopped in her tracks. "If you do, you'll have to find another maid of honor."

"OK, you win. I hate hotels anyway."

"So let's go, partner."

They left the airport and as Diane drove back into the city they talked of the boys, of Kyle's soccer and Frank's little league.

"That's how I met Bill, his brother Tom's little boy Davie is on Frank's team and when their coach got transferred Tom asked Bill to take over coaching the team. Turns out he went to college on a baseball scholarship."

"I always thought only geeks ran successful computer companies and now you're telling me that one of them can actually run and throw a ball at the same time?"

Jill laughed "Oh there's lot's of things he can do at the same time and he does everything very, very well."

"Lucky you."

They laughed some more and talked of Denver as Diane parked the car and they walked the short distance to the restaurant. It was softly lit, with candles glowing on tables covered in red cloth. It was a romantic, old-fashioned place. A place for lovers. As much as she liked it and as good as the food was, after that first meal Diane had settled for getting their takeout. She'd felt her singleness too keenly there. She had always wanted to share this with someone and Jill would do fine.

They looked at their menus, and placed their orders, then the waiter served them Jill's wine and Diane's soda. Jill sipped her wine appreciatively and then put down her glass.

"Enough about me," she said, leaning forward, "Tell me about everyone. How's Andy and Theo?"

"Andy's still Andy, but now that Theo's blood tests have been good for the past year he's beginning to breathe easier."

"Good, I hate to think of what Andy would do if anything were to happen to that little boy, he's lost so much as it is."

"Yeah, he has. But one good thing is, it's brought Danny and him real close."

"How is Danny?"

Diane smiled warmly, "Danny's the same sweet, funny guy. He's engaged to a terrific girl, Amy, who's managed to replace his paper-clips, in that he can barely keep his hands off of her."

"Good for him," Jill said approvingly, then she confessed "But you know part of me couldn't help hoping that you and he would get together."

"Really? Danny's great and I love him but that would never have worked. It would be like necking with your baby brother!" she grimaced.

"OK, OK, I get the idea, unfortunately. But there's got to have been somebody?"

"I've gone out with a few guys, they've been nice. Sometimes I've gone out with someone two or three times. The trouble is by then they want to take it to the next step."

"Sex."

"Yeah, sex. Only I don't want to go there. Don't get me wrong, I miss it, but none of these guys makes me feel like that. I think maybe it's too late, that it's just not in the cards for me Jill. Besides, I had my happiness. No one gets that twice."

"If there's one thing I've learned Diane, it's to never say never. I refuse to believe that love, happiness, sex, the whole package, isn't out there for you, maybe someplace you're not looking."

"Well, I'm not looking, that's for sure."

Their waiter interrupted them with their dinner and they gave it the attention it deserved while talking about the rest of the 15th. They were splitting a piece of cheesecake when Jill brought up Denby. Diane's fork paused in midair, "Why the hell would you ask about him?"

"You told me on the phone that you saw him and I was just wondering if you'd seen him again?"

"Yes, No…Yes, I've seen him a couple of times but only at a distance. Once at the grocers and once he was playing a game of hoops in a school yard."

It had been a hot, muggy Sunday in August and she had been walking to the local movie house to get into some air conditioning when she saw the game from across the street. They were playing skins and shirts and there was Harry Denby, jumping and running around like a kid in shorts and tennis shoes, and skin, lots and lots of sweaty skin, lean muscle and a thatch of black hair on his chest. That hair had shocked her, it marked him as male in a way Diane had been successfully denying. The few times she had been near him she had tried mightily to ignore her response to his masculinity. She'd tried to envision him as sexless, render him impotent. He sure as hell didn't look impotent now. She watched his muscles clench and then he leapt into the air, his arms extended, tendons flexed, the muscles of his stomach and chest standing out in fine definition, the look on his face almost feral. She could feel her groin tighten and flush with heat and something else that shocked her and snapped her out of her reverie. She mentally slapped herself a few times and walked quickly on to the theater, head down, face blazing. It was only now as she was remembering, that she realized…he'd cut his hair.

She must have gotten lost in the memory because Jill startled her with a comment of "Must have been some game."

"Look, if I see Denby, I turn around and go the other way. I can't believe you'd even ask about the prick after what he did to Frank."

"Denby? He didn't do anything to Frank."

"What do you mean? The son of a bitch helped kidnap him and then stashed him with his girlfriend upstate."

"Diane, that wasn't Denby's girlfriend. It was Don's. Believe me she made that clear when I showed up to get Frank. Denby was in the dark until I realized Don wasn't going to bring Frank home and I stormed into the place Don was holed up, demanding to know where Frank was. When I told Denby what his running buddy had done he looked sick and nearly took Don's head off. I thought he might hurt him before I got the pleasure. Denby may have a lot of things to answer for, but kidnapping Frank isn't one of them."

"Danny said Don said…"

"Don lied. Again. Big surprise."

"But I thought…"

"We've all thought things about Denby that may or may not be true. All I know is I've made enough mistakes in my life that I'm not able to sit in judgment of anybody. Even Harry Denby."

"What about Don?"

"Don, I'll make an exception for. May he rot in Hell."

"That's my girl."

Jill insisted on covering the check and tip and they drove the short distance to Diane's apartment. After they parked in her garage they climbed the stairs to the second floor and entered Diane's home. The first thing Jill noticed was that the pictures that she had silently referred to as hotel art, like the awful bridge painting that she had always hated, were gone. They had been replaced with vibrant watercolors. Impressionistic and alive. Jill then noticed that the off white furniture had been slipcovered in soft greens and tans, there were new, old oriental rugs on the floor in muted tones that set off the beautiful golden glow of the maple floor. Pillows made out of tapestry were strewn on the couch and chairs with an ottoman covered in the same fabric pushed up against an overstuffed chair. There were white cotton tab curtains from ceiling to floor on the tall windows and healthy houseplants on the tables and standing in big clay pots throughout. It was a mellow, welcoming room. The home of a woman who loved it. Jill couldn't help but think that it was a waste that this beautiful home was the only thing in her life that Diane had to lavish her love on.

Diane showed Jill the guest room, put on a pot of decaf then went and changed into a pair of sweat pants and a big T-shirt. She still felt slightly off kilter by Jill's disclosure. But she didn't want to think about Harry Denby, she didn't want to even consider that he could be anything but a total dirt-ball. She was safer that way. Jill came out in a pair of pajamas and robe. She took the cup of coffee that Diane offered and curled up in a corner of the couch.

Diane sat in the chair, her feet stretched on the ottoman and sipped her coffee waiting for Jill to begin. She had controlled her curiosity this long, she could hold it a little longer.

"Remember in the car," Jill said "When you said I was lucky. Well I am. Finally. Bill is everything I ever wanted. We love each other, the boys love him, and he loves them. He's everything Don never was, never could be, and he's more. He's helped me face things about myself that I never wanted to see."

"Such as?"

"Such as, how I played on Don's weakness to make myself feel strong."

"Now wait a minute, don't start blaming yourself for Don's screw-ups."

"I'm not, I'm just facing my own. That's all. The truth is I got as much out of our sick little dance as he did. Hell, I made it possible."

"Jill."

"It's true Diane, if I had once, just once, really cut him loose, he would have called it quits and taken off. But I never did, and he knew I wouldn't, so he just kept calling. He knew eventually I would go to him. And I always did. Even after the women and the drugs, I did. I was as big an addict as he was."

"You loved him."

"Did I? Sometimes I remember how it was and I wonder how could I have ever thought that was love? You know I used to compare Bobby and you, to Don and me, and I hated myself for it, but I resented you, your perfect happy life. I'm sorry Diane. More sorry than I can say."

"Don't beat yourself up. Your life with Don wasn't easy. Besides, life with Bobby was good, but it wasn't perfect, and it didn't last very long. Sometimes the hand life deals us stinks. Look, it's getting late, so why don't we get to the subject we've been dancing around all evening. Are you going to make me ask?"

"You won't like the answer Diane, but go ahead, ask what you've been wanting to ever since I got off the plane."

"Why are you here, Jill?"

"I'm sorry Diane, but I'm here to see someone, to talk to him, to settle the past."

"Ahhh, Jill! Don't tell me you came all this way, after all this time, to see Don?"

"No Diane, I'm not here to see Don."

"Good."

"I'm here to see Harry Denby."

Part 2

"Diane was right. This coffee is good." Jill was a half hour early for her meeting with Denby. She'd wanted time to compose herself before she actually saw him again. Plus she needed the time away from Diane's nervous pacing. Diane was so set against this meeting. The last thing Jill wanted to do was upset her, but it was important that she do this. When she had called Denby from Denver last week to set up this meeting he had suggested this coffee shop, when he gave her the address she had realized that it must be across from Diane's apartment. There was nothing in his voice that would make her think he was aware of that fact. Jill found it interesting that he hadn't found this out. All Jill's instincts told her that there was something between those two and Harry Denby was the kind of man who was tenacious when in pursuit. Hadn't he found her in St. Louis?

She had been living with the boys in a lousy apartment, working a lousy job, barely making ends meet. Frank was getting into fights at school and Kyle was wetting the bed almost every night. They were all miserable and she was emotionally and physically exhausted. She felt like she was living in an awful haze. Then one afternoon when the kids were at school she answered the bell to find Harry Denby on her doorstep. She was immediately shocked back to an even more bitter reality. She tried to shut the door on him but he forced his way in, all the time telling her to calm down, that he wasn't going to hurt her, that she and the boys were safe, no one knew where they were but him and he wouldn't tell a soul. She'd landed a few good punches before he was able to restrain her and get her to agree to listen to him. Just 10 minutes that's all he asked and then he would go away and she would never see him again. It turned out to take almost an hour for him to convince her of the truth of what he was saying. When he put the cashiers check made out to her in the name she was using and in the amount of $7,500.00 she panicked again. So much money, how could he get his hands on so much unless it was from the drugs Don sold? Refusing it she told him she didn't want anything from Don, she didn't want the money. Denby had gently explained that he hadn't seen Don since his trial. That he and Don didn't communicate. He said that he'd cashed in his 401K's when he left the force. Rehab had taken most of it, and there had been some expenses in locating her, but this is what was left. He wished it was more, but it was hers, with no strings attached.

"Why should I believe a word you're saying? Why are you doing this?" She was sitting on the shabby couch that had come with the furnished apartment. Denby was across from her in an even shabbier chair.

"Why should you doubt it? If I was out to harm you this is a very expensive way to do it, and the motivation is obvious." He rose and paced behind the chair, gesturing with his hands. "I owe you, I'm a big part of the reason you had to leave your home and job, your friends. You lost a lot to protect your family and I feel like shit about that."

"Guilt? You're doing this out of GUILT?"

He stopped pacing. "Hell yes, I feel guilty, contrary to popular myth, I do have a conscience. Cracked and moldy with neglect as it may be."

"So if I take your money, you'll feel better?"

Leaning towards her, with both hands on the back of the chair he replied dryly, "I doubt it. I'm not that easily mollified."

Jill stared at him incredulously, "You're willing to hand me what's left of your life savings in order to ease your conscience and you'll still feel terrible?" She picked up the check "I can live with that."

He'd smiled and almost laughed, then he got up and walked to the door.

Turning he said, "Forgive me, Jill, for pulling a Columbo here, but I do have one request."

"I knew it. What do you really want Denby?"

"Assuming that you are still in contact with her, I'd appreciate it if you didn't inform Diane of what transpired here today."

"Diane? Diane. Now it's starting to make sense. You're in love with her aren't you? You're doing this for Diane."

Still standing by the door, he replied, "Only in part, unfortunately there is no way I can make amends to Diane. She hates me more than you do."

"And why do you think that is Denby?"

"Simple, she's crazy about me." Shaking his head he said, "Look, why don't you just toss all this up to my having grown tired of being an asshole."

As he opened the door to leave, he turned back again and asked, "Your boys, they're OK?"

"They will be."

He nodded and left.

Within a week she had bought a decent second-hand car, packed the boys and their few possessions into it and pointed it west. She had wanted to see the Rockies ever since she was a little girl. In Denver she found a small house in a nice working class neighborhood to rent. She hit the second hand/antique shops and furnished it cheaply but in an eclectic style she was happy with. She enrolled the boys in school, and went looking for a job. She found one with a temp service and was sent to a lawyers office to do filing. Six months later she was office manager, six months after that she was executive assistant to the head of the firm. She was more than supporting herself, the boys were happier, no more fights and then she met Frank's new baseball coach and her world tilted onto a new axis.

She was in love, engaged and she owed it, in part, to Harry Denby. Jill looked at her ring and thought about how she would be flying back to Denver tomorrow. Back to her boys and back to Bill.

"Wow! Now that's a rock." Her waitress was ogling Jill's ring, "You have some guy with deep pockets crazy in love with you. You want some more coffee while you wait for him, honey?"

"Yes, thank you, but my fiancee isn't meeting me here."

"Not surprised. We don't get many Donald Trump types in here."

"Actually…your name's Rose?"

"Like the name tag says."

"I think you know the guy I'm waiting for."

"Could be, I know a lot of people. What's his name?"

"Harry Denby."

"Harry, yeah, what a sweetheart. Could charm the scales off a snake. But listen honey, you don't want to be throwing that ring away over Harry. He's got it bad, carrying a torch so big it could blind you."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, not that it'll get him anywhere. This woman he's stuck on can't stand him. Shut him down right here in front of everyone. And the language. She may be pretty with all those brown curls but the mouth she's got."

Rose stopped and looked quizzically at Jill, "How'd you know I know Harry anyway?"

"The brunette with the mouth? She's a friend of mine."

"Oh Jesus, you're not going to give him a tough time too are you?"

"I hadn't planned on it. But you know Rose, in the past Denby did give a lot of people reason to dislike him."

"Hey we've all got pasts and if anyone says that they haven't done something they regret or are ashamed of they're either lying or crazy. Nah, for me it's the here and now that counts and here and now Harry is as standup a guy as you'll ever want to meet. So don't you go kicking him in the teeth like you're friend did."

"Hey Rosie!" A rather large man sitting at the counter growled, "If you're through waxing philysophical, you think you can get me a cup of coffee in the here and now instead of the tomorrow or later?"

"Now that one," she jabbed her thumb over her shoulder, "feel free sick your friend on."

Rose went to the counter and poured the grump his coffee. The door opened and she looked up to see Harry enter. "My goodness, he does clean up nice," she thought. He was wearing a tweedy green sports coat with brown slacks, tan shirt and a muted green and brown tie. His hair looked like he'd had it trimmed again recently. After the fiasco with the brunette, he'd worn it short and the beard stubble that Rose had always thought was kind of sexy had disappeared too. Harry asked her for a cup of decaf when she had a minute and went over to the blonde's table. Rose gave him her most encouraging smile as she set his cup down and gave the blonde lady a stern look that clearly said, "Be Nice!" before she went to take care of her other customers.

Jill tried to smother her laughter but failed. Denby looked from Jill to Rose and then back to Jill again.

"Your friend is very protective of you. She told me not to bust your chops."

"I seem to bring out Rosie's maternal instincts," he said smiling fondly. "Is that why I'm here? So you can bust my chops? If so you picked the appropriate venue. Everyone here is familiar with the floor show."

"You mean Diane? I heard about that."

"Rosie exaggerates." He picked up his cup and blew on the steaming contents.

"Not from Rose. At least it was old news when Rose brought it up. No, Diane told me about it."

"Ahh, Diane on the other hand, does not exaggerate."

"No she doesn't. She's still very angry with you."

"Apparently." He sipped his coffee appreciatively.

"Doesn't that bother you?"

"Should it?" He asked quizzically.

Jill frowned, "Do you really want to waste time playing this game?"

"Is that what we're doing? I'm glad you clarified that for me because frankly I have been in a quandary since your call as to what purpose this meeting serves. Not that time spent with such a lovely and may I say, obviously taken lady, isn't a reward in itself. I must interject here that resting on your left hand is probably the finest example of how a few hundred million years and the immeasurable pressure of mother earth having an extended hot flash, can transform a simple chunk of carbon into a wonder to behold."

"Cut the clever crap, Denby."

He smiled. "Now where have I heard that before?"

"Can't you ever give a straight answer? You know very well why I wanted to see you." God this man is exasperating, she thought to herself.

Tilting his head to the side he said, "Of course I do. I naturally assumed it was to return the money I gave you."

"There, was that so painful?"

"Excruciating, but I could have saved you the airfare if you had been willing to speak of this over the phone. I don't want it. I don't need it. Keep it."

Jill took the check from out of her jacket pocket. "I can't keep it."

Leaning back in the booth he turned serious. "Donate it to your favorite charity then. Really Jill, I kept my word. I told no one where you were. The fact that you surely left St. Louis within 48 hours doesn't negate the fact that I upheld my end of the bargain."

"So what does that have to do with anything. I never agreed not to give you back the money." She shook her head in frustration. "This is ridiculous. Take the stupid check."

"At the risk of sounding redundant, I don't want it."

"Listen to me Denby," Jill leaned across the table and pointed her index finger at his chest. "This isn't about what you want. This is about what I need to do to have a clean slate. I don't want anything from the past coming back to damage the life I'm making now."

Harry reached out and captured her hand between his two. Then he gently placed it on the table and patted it. "Now that just happens to be a situation that I am more than familiar with." He picked up the check. "There, you may begin your life anew with the assurance that Harry Denby will never darken your doorstep again. Feel better?"

"Yes, Thank you, and I do mean that. Thank You, Harry."

"Don't mention it. I'm happy to be able, in my small way, to spread a little sunshine in this veil of tears."

She looked at him sadly. "You still feel terrible, don't you?"

"Do I look like a man who feels terrible?" He asked brightly.

"You look like a man who gives a great impression of giving a great impression."

"Now who's redundant?"

"OK, here's a new topic. Are you still in love with her?"

"I assume you are referring to Diane."

"I wasn't talking about Rose." She said with a smile.

Harry stared into his coffee, "I have spent every hour of every day for the past two years studiously avoiding thinking about Diane and my feelings for her." He raised his eyes to hers and what she saw there made her heart ache for the two of them. "I don't think this is the time or place to crack open the well-head of that obsession."

"You're right, it's none of my business, I just can't help sensing the undercurrents between you two."

"Undercurrents. That would be a good simile. Rip-tide would be another one." He leaned back and reached up to rub his temple, then he looked off to the side and finally returned his attention to Jill with a piercing gaze. "Of course I love her. Loving her is the only thing that's kept me from hunting her down and scratching at her door."

"I don't understand you."

"It's really very simple. One of the few things that the world and I agree on is that I'm not good enough for her."

"That's pathetic, Denby."

"Truer words may never have been spoken."

"Don't you think Diane should have a say in all this?"

"Diane has made her feelings very clear. I'm just respecting them."

"Diane doesn't even know everything, and you're acting like a chicken-shit."

"If it clucks like a duck...So I take it you haven't told her."

"Not yet."

"Leave it alone Jill. It's safer that way."

"Safer for who Harry?"

He looked at his watch, "It's been a pleasure catching up on old times, Jill, and I hate to appear dismissive, but I've got an appointment elsewhere and I'm going to be late." Rising he took a bill out of his wallet and laid it on the table.

She rose from the booth and they both said their good-byes to Rose. Then she followed him to the door, which he held open for her, and they stepped out into the September sunshine.

She stood on the sidewalk and looked closely at him, this handsome, infuriating, vulnerable man, impulsively she leaned into him and kissed him on the cheek. "You're a royal pain in the ass, Harry."

Startled by the gesture he looked at her in surprise and then he gifted her with a smile as sweet as any she had seen on the face of either of her boys. Slowly he turned and walked away.

"Harry!" she called after him. "Have you ever been to Denver?"

He turned and still smiling shook his head no.

"I think you'd like it."

He waved goodbye, hailed a cab and climbed in.

Jill turned her attention to the building across the street. There framed in one of the second floor windows, Diane stood transfixed, watching the cab drive away.

Jill took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and walked across the street, up the steps and into the building.