It was rare for Tina to eat out but she had little time between leaving the Haven shelter and when she was due at the Cathedral for her turn at monitor duty. Even if she ate out often it would have been likely Tina would have passed over the tiny restaurant, nearly hidden on a side street behind the shops of the main road, without ever seeing it. On the outside it looked like someone's home with only a small sign reading "Peppe's" to show it was something more. Tina wondered how they managed to get any business at all, though the woman who told her about it said it was always busy.

There were seven linen-covered tables scattered around a large oaken bar in the dining area. Half a dozen barstools (one occupied) stood before a huge glass mirror surrounded by alcohol in bottles of all shapes, sizes and colors.  Tina was seated by the establishments waitress, a slim, middle-aged woman with lots of silver jewelry at wrist and throat, and told that there would be about a fifteen minute wait for the evening menu to become available. So she decided to get a soda while she waited. The other patron in the restaurant, a man in a business suit who drank down two shots in the short time it took Tina to order her drink, spotted her and got up from his barstool to head her way.

"Hi there, I couldn't help but notice you were here by yourself. Would you like some company?" He asked.

"No, thanks. I would like to be alone" Tina replied.

The door of the restaurant opened and a handsome young man entered, wearing jeans, trainers and a stylish black leather jacket over a red t-shirt. He had sparkling blue eyes and short close-cropped black hair, and while he could not help hearing the conversation going on nearby, he was immediately caught up in a joyful little hug by the waitress. "Danny!" the woman said enthusiastically, giving the young man a peck on each cheek. "Look at what the cat dragged in! I'll see if he's ready, go ahead and help yourself to a drink!" 

"Well aren't you a joy, sure and ya are," replied the man.

Her teammate.

Daniel McClain.

"I'd be ever so grateful - he's promised ta show me his recipe fer that amazin manicotti of his." The older woman tapped him playfully on the nose with an index finger and turned and headed back through a set of doors behind the bar. Danny all but bounced over behind the bar, peering up at the collection of liquors and wines with predatory keenness. 

"Are you waiting for someone?" The business man asked.

"Whether I am or not is none of your business. I would like to be alone." Tina insisted.

Seemingly not caring Tina had said she wanted to be alone the man sat down. "So, what are you drinking?"

"I think she's drinkin double shots of 'alone', with a chaser of 'go away'," Danny said from behind the bar as he poured a shot of whiskey into a heavy glass tumbler. He was still smiling as he raised his glass to Tina. "And this round's on me." 

"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to the lady." The man growled. To Tina he said, "Aren't you going to answer me, beautiful?"

Danny's entrance had not really registered with Tina until he came to her defense, then it dawned on her she recognized the lilting voice as that of a teammate. She smiled back in gratitude before realizing out of her mask Danny had no idea who she was. Sighing at the persistence of the man across from her and wondering why it seemed she attracted all the jerks she turned back to him and said. "No, I just want to be left alone."

"Sure you do." The man said moving his chair closer. "So how about I buy you dinner?"

"Alone," Danny said helpfully from behind the bar. He leaned forward onto his elbows and regarded the couple seriously. "It's an adjective. Comes from tha words 'all' and 'one'. First used in around... emmm..." he squinted as he considered "the thirteenth century, if I'm rememberin me studies right." His bright blue eyes moved from Tina to her 'guest'.

"What it means here and now is that she's not lookin fer company. Best you be getting back to whatever it is you need ta be gettin back to," he said to the business man. The fellow outweighed Danny by a good fifty pounds, and was at least five inches taller than the Irishman, but there was a softness around the jaw and a slight bulge around the tummy that said this man's prime was past.

"I said stay out of this." The man turned and measured Danny with his eyes. "The lady and I can work this out without you."

Tina knew Danny could handle himself without revealing his powers but even so she did not want to see him involved in a fight because he was trying to help her. She stood, picked up the gym bad with her costume inside, and started for the door calling over to Danny as she went, "Thanks, but I think it's best I just leave now."

She had only taken a step or two when she felt a hand close on her wrist. "Hey beautiful, you didn't finish your drink." ? 

To look at Martin Brown, you wouldn't think he was a successful restaurateur. The 56 year old Tampa native was small, round, with an ever-present sunburned bald spot surrounded by iron gray hair, shrewd hazel eyes nestled in a web of crows feet above a bulbous red nose. He looked, in fact, like an alcoholic Santa Claus, if a short one. Standing at just 5'3", Martin was not a man who cut an imposing figure.

His wife, the driving force for him starting up "Peppe's" twenty seven years ago, had introduced him to the joys of Italian cuisine when they had dated in college, even taking him home to her native Sicily every year to visit the family vineyard, where he was plied with foodstuffs from all across the lower valley region. Liena Centoffanti (cum Brown) had been a vivacious woman with a rapier wit and a fearless ruthlessness in business. It was her families recipes that had started the first Peppe's in Florida those many years ago, and it was those recipes that continued to grace the menu today, five years after her passing from breast cancer, and 5000 miles away from it's original location.

He was wiping his hands on a hand towel as he came up from behind the bar, just in time to see one of his glass tumblers ping off the back of one of his customer's heads. This man, Tony Esposito, a local PI lawyer and ambulance chaser, had his hand around the wrist of a small but cute woman that was holding a gym bag. The woman looked annoyed.

When he turned his head, Martin saw Daniel McClain leaping silently as a panther over his polished oaken bar, a look of amused focus on his young face. Danny pivoted his body on one hand, tucking his legs up and over, and landed firmly just before the bar. He tugged at his jacket to straighten it, looked down at his glass, (which had fallen to the carpeted floor and was rolling back towards him), and then back up at the PI lawyer, who was bellowing in pain and reaching around to grab at the back of his head.

"Oh dear." Danny said politely. "Y've gone and made me spill my whiskey." 

Tina had to hide a smile at her teammate's remark as the lawyer let go of her wrist and whirled on Danny. She debated finding somewhere to change into her costume but knew Danny could handle himself and the confrontation would most likely be over by the time she returned. Instead she moved away from the two men giving Danny more room to maneuver and taking herself out of the spotlight in case she need to act without being seen.

"What the hell was that for, you stupid mick." The lawyer was feeling the back of his head where the glass had hit him. "If ya haven't figured it out by now, me tellin ya won't make any difference," Danny replied. "Now. I think it's best fer ya ta be off about yer way, so's I don't have to embarrass meself in front of Martin and Olivia." Danny jerked a chin towards the door, his hands held loosely at his side, his body relaxed. Tina recognized that stance from her Judo lessons, and wondered if the lawyer would end up on the bar or under the tables before it was all said and done.

Something in Danny's eyes caused the larger man to back down. "You'll be hearing from me. That was assault and if you think you're going to get away with it you have another think coming. I'll have you up on charges." He turned and stormed out pushing past Tina as he went.

Tina watched him leave then walked over to Danny. "Thanks for coming to my rescue. It seems like I always attract all the jerks." She said with a smile. Danny held one hand over his heart, and held the other one up, palm facing her. "I, Daniel McClain, swear that I am not a jerk," he recited solemnly. He nodded, winked at Tina, then bent down and scooped up the glass tumbler. 

Danny's antics made Tina want to laugh. She silently admitted, in the short time she had known him he had never once acted like a jerk. He had also proved to be a patient teacher when it came to inept students in his judo classes. Hiding her amusement the best she could she started to introduce herself when she was interrupted.

"Tell me you didn't throw a glass at one of my customers, Dan," said Martin Brown, shaking his head and folding his arms across his ample belly. "I didn't throw a glass at one of yer customers," Daniel intoned, setting the glass in question carefully back on the bar top. "I bet he did," said the waitress, who had to be Olivia. "Slander and calumny!" Daniel exclaimed. "Did ya hear that vicious attack upon me character, nice lady-with-a-gym-bag?" Danny looked wounded to the core, and had clutched at his heart again, exaggerating outrageously. "It's a wonder this place has any customers at all, with this she-wolf driven em all away!"

A blush crept up Tina's lovely face and she looked chagrined, thinking she had caused trouble for Danny. She turned to the owner and stammered, "I'm really sorry about that. That jerk wouldn't take no for an answer and when he grabbed me, Mr. McClain came to my rescue." She brushed back a lock of hair that had escaped the otherwise neat bun on the back of her head. Even with the severe hairstyle and lack of makeup it was easy to see she was a beautiful woman.

Olivia smacked Danny with a towel, causing the Irishman to cringe and hold up his hands in mock-terror. "See! See, she's a menace!" Danny said, laughing as Olivia let out an exasperated, "Oh you!!!!" and chased him back behind the bar, swatting at him with her towel. Martin just shook his head and pulled a chair out for Tina. "Please, sit, won't you? Are you alright? I am mortified that you were being harassed in my restaurant, and insist you sit and have whatever you like, on the house." His manner was that of a kind old uncle, and he studiously avoided the mock howls of terror and cries for mercy coming from behind the bar. 

"That's ok, really. I'm used to jerks like that." Tina said quickly. "I kind of attract them."

Taking the offered seat Tina looked up at the kind restaurateur. "I really don't know what I want. A woman I volunteer with suggested I come here and try the food. She just raved about it but she didn't suggest anything in particular. Since you're on my way to work I thought I would stop in and see what she was going on about." Tina blushed as she realized it would be possible for Martin to take her words wrong and think she was skeptical of the recommendation.

"I'm so glad you did! Here, take a look at the wines," he plucked a small, black book from the table next to Tina's and opened it for her. "I get them from everywhere: New Zealand, California, Canada, Oregon... and Italy, of course. Such a good selection you won't find in the city as this." 

Tina looked at the book then nodded toward the bar where Olivia was still terrorizing her teammate. "Does Mr. McClain work here?" She asked. From what Tina knew of Danny he was fairly well off but it was still possible he maintained a job as part of his secret identity.

'That troublemaker?" Martin snorted. "No, he just comes here trying to steal my sainted wife's recipe's, God rest her soul."

"God rest her soul," chorused Olivia and Danny solemnly, who were returning to Tina's table flushed from their battle. Martin scowled and rolled his eyes. "Neither one of your mother's raised you right, that's all I'm saying," Martin admonished them with a shaking finger. Danny and Olivia looked at each other, then at Tina. They were trying to look admonished and were failing.

"He's a bear, but his food is divine. It's the only reason I put up with him," Olivia said, pecking the portly chef on the cheek. She moved around the table and bent over Tina's shoulder, her long silver earrings brushing the younger woman's cheek. "Try the Dolcetto, it's delicious with the orange and fennel salad. Yes?" 

"I really shouldn't have any wine, I have to be at work soon and I'm a lightweight, but the salad sounds wonderful." Tina said, the enthusiasm of the people around her beginning to rub off. It had been a long time since she had been able to relax around a group of people and it felt good. "Tell you what, I'll bring you just enough to sip with the salad," said Olivia. "And a big glass of mint tea. How's that sound?" 

"That sounds great, Olivia." Tina smiled at the older woman. "Good. I'm off to get your wine and tea then," Olivia replied, and she bustled back into the kitchen, leaving Danny and Tina alone in the small dining area. Only six tables, Tina noted. How do they stay in business?

Turning to her teammate she said teasingly, "So Danny, do you make it a habit to come to the rescue of ladies in distress?" Too late she realized the name she was used to calling him around the base might be inappropriate to use with someone she supposedly just met. Danny had just released Martin from a hug in which there had been much back-slapping. "All the time," he replied, retrieving his glass from the top of the bar. He poured another couple of fingers of scotch into the tumbler and replaced the bottle on it's shelf, then took off his jacket and carefully folded it away somewhere below and out of sight.

Martin snorted, patted Tina on the shoulder gently, and headed off towards the kitchen. "You just let me know if I need to come back out here and throw a glass at him!" he said as he passed the grinning Irishman. "I shall stay here at me post, and ensure that the lovely lady-with-the-gym-bag gets ta eat her meal unmolested," Danny replied.

"And that includes you!" Martin's voice replied from the doorway he'd just passed through.

Danny rolled his eyes. "D'ya see how terrible I'm treated here," he said. "Honestly, I don't know why I put up with it." 

Tina finally allowed herself to laugh and it felt good, laughing not being something she usually did. "It looks like you enjoy it to me. I probably should introduce myself so you quit calling me lady-with-the-gym-bag." Tina held out her hand, "Clementina Garcia, but I usually go by Tina."

Danny came back around the bar and took her hand, giving it a single shake. "Daniel McClain. But please, call me Danny." 

"Danny, it is. Um... would you like to sit down and join me?" Tina offered awkwardly. Danny's eyebrows shot up as he released her hand. "Are ya sure? I wouldn't want ya to be rid of one pest, only ta be saddled with another." 

Two mistakes in less than ten minutes. That's a sure way to keep your secret, Tina thought wryly as she nodded to Danny. "Um... Yes, I'm sure. I could use the company." Danny rapped the table twice with his right hand. "Done. And I promise that you'll get ta work on time." He retrieved his drink and pulled up a chair across from her just as Olivia came out with a tray bearing two salads, a bottle of wine, a loaf of bread and a large glass of something lemon colored with a sprig of mint on top.

"Well that didn't take long," she said playfully to Danny, who blushed. She set the salads and an empty wineglass before each of them, and the large glass with mint in front of Tina. A tray of bread, smelling of honey and oregano also went on the table. She then poured them each a quarter glass of wine and set the bottle on the table. "Martin's got something a little special coming for your entree's. You like fish, yes?" she asked Tina.

For the first time since losing her family Tina felt like her old self again. The playful bantering of Danny and his friends doing much to raise her spirits. Smiling up at Olivia she told the sweet waitress she did indeed like fish. "Lovely. Than you'll really like this, I think.

Olivia smiled warmly, said "Enjoy," then headed back to the kitchen. 

The front door opened, and a middle-aged couple and a young girl entered the restaurant, the girl chattering excitedly with what had to be her parents. They took a seat a couple of tables away from Tina and Danny, Olivia appearing as if summoned to take their coats and administer hugs all around. "It's a lovely place, this. Ya don't find this kind of service and attention in the larger chains, or the more posh places ya know. Yer in for a treat, if I'm any guess," Danny said, raising his glass of wine. "Yechyd da," he said. "Good health," he added, translating. 

"To good health." Tina replied, raising her glass and taking a small sip. "I'm already happy I stopped in. I don't usually eat out but I thought I would give this place a try since it was recommended and I didn't have time to cook. So how long have you been pestering these nice people?" Danny had taken a sip of his wine and was staring at it intently. "That's good stuff", he said to nobody in particular, then swirled the glass around in one hand before taking another sip and nodding. "Anyways, pesterin is such a harsh word. I've known these wonderful people for about three weeks now. Found the place whilst out gettin a feel fer the city." He set the glass down. "I'm a bit of an amateur chef meself, so I'm always on the look out for new and interestin places. I find that ya can usually run into pure gold in the smaller venues. Sure and there's some dodgy places as well, but it's worth the odd burned black bit in yer porridge to find a place like this one." 

"Well, if the food is half as good as the welcome, I know I'll be coming back. I haven't laughed like this in ages." The little girl at the other table caught her attention and a sad look settled on her face, for the moment her companion forgotten. He had said something while she as lost in her thoughts so she re-focused and put a smile back on her face. He had his fork half-way to mouth, a pile of greens and tiny mandarin orange slices dripping vinegrette onto his plate. 

"I'm thinkin," he said kindly, "that would be a great idea. My grandmother always said that if I kept that kind of a look on my face too long, it'd stick that way." He was grinning again. "And don't you know I spent the better part of a fortnight up in my room with a mirror and a torch, trying to make it so?"

Confused Tina tried to figure out what she had missed then decided to just ask. "I'm sorry, I kind of got lost in my thoughts there. What kind of face are we talking about?" She shifted in her chair so the family would not be visible. Danny set his wineglass down, became very still, and then... made the face. 

Sadness.

Sadness and longing, and a sort of on-the-outside-looking-in around the eyes, which had gone soft and shuttered. He blinked, and then it was gone. "I think it was that one." He grinned and attacked his salad again with gusto. "So you'd said you were on yer way to work after supper. Is it allright to ask what you do, without dancin too close to the specifics?" He gestured at her plate with his fork and said, "That's not going to eat itself you know." 

Tina went still, it never occurred to her Danny would ask her where she worked. She put the question off for a moment by taking a bite of her salad. "Mmmmmm, this is delicious."

The struggle on Tina's face was clear for Danny to see as she toyed with her food. Finally she seemed to come to a decision and put down her fork and there was a twinkle in her eye when she answered. "You know that old Cathedral a few blocks from here? That's where I work."

"The Cathedral?" he said, looking momentarily confused. "But... did ya just get hired on or somethin? I only ask because I work there as well and..." he lowered his fork and peered at her more closely, taking in not just her face but her body, her shape... "No way..." he finally exclaimed, a look of amazement making his features boyish. "No focking way!!"

There was a silence, broken only by the giggling of the little girl, who said "Mommie, I think he said a bad word." ... followed by a whispered "Oh damn!!", from Danny.

And then he was standing up and clapping his hand over his mouth as he took in the startled expression of the family across the room (and a glaring Olivia) "Excuse me, I'm so sorry, me mother would kill me fer sayin such in front of a child, I'm so sorry, sure and I am..." his hands were moving about in front of him as though he were pushing back an invisible force, his face gone crimson with embarrassment. 

"Sit down Danny, you're causing a scene." Tina said softly. Normally she would have admonished him for his language but she took pity on him for his obvious discomfiture. He was admonishing himself enough for the both of them. The twinkle was still in her eyes when, after he sat back down, she said, "You seem surprised"

He just stared at her. "Now why would I be surprised that one of my teammates has been sittin here playin at silly buggers?" He seemed to be pondering something, she could all but see the wheels turning in his head as he stared at her. "So tell me, miss Tina-with-a-gym-bag, am I the only one who know's what ya look like out of uniform?" 

Tina turned serious. "Yes, and I would appreciate it if this was kept between the two of us. I wasn't planning on telling anyone but you've been so nice I couldn't lie to you and make up some story about my job." Danny shook his head. "Mad." He took another fork full of salad and chewed, his bright blue eyes unfocused as he looked off into some inner landscape. "Y'know, here I was thinkin I was actually helpin some lady deal with a problem, only to find out ya could have fried his eyebrows off in a heartbeat. I probably looked like a twat." 

He laughed again, digging around in the greens for the slices of mandarin. Tina looked down at her plate and toyed with her salad, no longer hungry. She had not expected Danny to feel foolish for helping her "No, you looked like a gentleman, something of which there aren't many of in this city. You came to the rescue of someone you thought was a stranger. That's admirable, it doesn't make you look like a... twat, even if I knew I could have fried his eyebrows off you didn't. It's the thought that counts." She picked up her glass of tea and took a long drink, trying not to meet Danny's eyes, wishing she had kept her secret to herself.

"Martin's gonna think ya don't like his cookin if ya don't eat a bit," he said kindly, gesturing at her forks unladen meanderings through the greens. "And then he'll blame me o'course fer hittin on ya. And then we'll have a huge row - plates may be thrown, and there might even be," here he leaned forward and lowered his voice to a whisper, "...harsh language!" 

Tina smiled and raised the bite she had on her fork to her mouth. "We wouldn't want that." She said just before popping the bite in her mouth. Danny could see she was making an effort to regain her previous cheerfulness.

"Thanks, Danny. For coming to my rescue and for making me laugh. It's been ages since I laughed and I needed it." 

"Find time ta laugh at one thing a day, even if it's just yerself," he replied. They chatted a bit over the remains of their salads, during which time an older couple came in and were seated. Their fish arrived after Olivia had seated the newcomers, and it smelled wonderful. It was Talapia, poached in a light butter cream sauce and served over rice that contained bits of carrot and almonds, the whole thing rich and delicious. Danny made a few comments on how the sauce was most likely prepared, as well as how you had to saute the almonds 'just a bit, ya know' to bring out their flavor. Tina was surprised when she put her fork to plate and found it nearly empty.

"I'm going to have to trade recipes with you, I love to cook. Though from the sound of things I think I'll be learning a lot more from you than you will be from me." Tina scooped up the last bite of food and popped it in her mouth. "Most of my fare consists of meals the whole family will like while not breaking your budget."

"How was the meal," Olivia asked Tina as she was clearing their plates. 

"Wonderful and the service even better, I'll definitely be back." Tina said. "I even like the company." She said glancing at Danny. Danny rapped the table with his knuckles. "Sure and ya do, I'm very likeable. All me girlfreind's mum's  said so," he said, laying the accent on thick and heavy. Olivia rolled her eyes, then asked "Any room for desert? We have some homemade gelato that will knock your socks off - chocolate!" 

"I'm sure I can squeeze it in, even if I'm nearly stuffed."

Danny just nodded. "Olivia does up the gelato. She's a wizard with rock salt and cream, let me tell yah." Their waitress thumped him on his head with their menu and headed over to check on the other guests. A few moments later the promised ice cream arrived, dark as sin and promising at least an extra hour in the gym to work off. 

"Heaven," Danny said, attacking his dish with gusto, "has gates of chocolate and showers of beautiful scantily-clad women, pluckin at harps." He thought a moment as he worked on the ice cream. "Or men in loin clothes for you ladies," he added, nodding. 

The blush started at Tina's neckline and raced to the top of her head. Turning her so red if she had been wearing her costume it would have been difficult to tell where the costume ended and her face began. "Um... yeah... I guess so." Tina turned her attention to the ice cream. "This is good."

Ice cream finished, Danny poured another glass of wine for himself and hovered the bottle over Tina's glass. Tina politely declined. "What time do ya have ta be back at at work," Danny asked. "I don't want ta be the cause of lateness."

Looking at her watch Tina told him she had about thirty-five minutes before she had to be at the Cathedral and that it would take about fifteen minutes to change and get there. "I probably should be going now and you probably want to get back to stealing recipes." Tina said with a grin. "Thanks for having dinner with me you're good company."

"Sure," Danny said, wiping his mouth with his napkin and standing, extending his hand. "What say you and I make a pact: dinner at a new place every Thursday before work. It'll be fun, sure and it will." 

Tina looked ready to refuse then smiled warmly. "Sure, that sounds like fun. Now I think I should thank Martin and Olivia before I leave." Tina added looking around for them. "Grand. It's a not-date then. We can work out the specifics of where and when for next week back at work, yeah? " 

"It's a deal. Though I think it's going to be hard finding another place as good as this one."

Danny put his hands on his hips, a feigned look of shock on his face. "What a terrible thing to insinuate to a man of my not considerable culinary contacts! Come with me, we'll go tell the chef how wonderful his food was, and then we can getcha on yer  way." 

Taking Danny's hand and grabbing her bag, Tina let him lead her off to find Martin.