Still On Your Side
Part 10 - There's No Place Like Home
By Kitchen_Sink5 and LovelyLuka24
kitchen_sink5@yahoo.com and run-away-bride@juno.com

CATEGORY: Dave Malucci and a made up character
RATING: PG
SPOILERS: None that we can think of!
ARCHIVE: Please ask us first
DISCLAIMER: Neither one of us own the characters from the television show ER. Don't believe us? Come on, would we really spend our time writing this if we owned the ER characters. Puhlease.......


Previously in the series: Both Dave and Ally
experienced loneliness and trouble without each other.

Corrections: In a previous part, Ally's birthday was
accidentally cited as December 4th. It should
actually be October 4th.
ALSO A HUGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT IS NECESSARY TO KATIE
(CORDAY14) - SHE PROVIDED ELIZABETH CORDAY'S DIALOGUE
FOR PARTS 4 AND 5. A NOTE OF HER CONTRIBUTIONS SHOULD
HAVE APPEARED WITH THOSE PARTS, BUT FOR SOME REASON IT
DIDN'T.....OUR APOLOGIES GO OUT TO HER, AND WE
APPRECIATE YOUR HARD WORK KATIE!


The phone rang in Ally's bedroom in Paris. The
ringing woke her up, and she became annoyed that she
wasn't sleeping as she picked up the phone. "Hello?"

 "Hello - Am I speaking to Alyson Delgado?" The male
voice on the other end asked.

"Yes it is, may I ask who's calling?" She sat down,
yawning.

"This is Officer Andrews with the Chicago Police
Department. We need you to come down to the station
to identify your rapist."

Ally sat straight up. "When do you need me?"

"Today, if possible."

Ally was shocked "But I am all the way in
Paris....Well, obviously you knew that if you got my
number...I wouldn't be there until around 6 or 7
tonight"

"Okay, we will make it for 7:30 then - Can you make
it?" The officer asked.

"I will try." Ally sighed
 
"Ok, thank you, goodbye"

Ally hung up the phone....She was going to
Chicago...tonight. She wasn't sure if she was
anticipating this or dreading it.



It was a long flight but Ally finally made it. It was
already 7:15, so Ally quickly took the nearest bus
down the to the police station. Once there, she was
lead to the room where they did the police line-ups.
*Its just like the movies* She thought as she looked
through the glass.

"Which one is it, Miss Delgado?" Officer Andrews
asked.

Ally knew immediately who it was "Four - It's number
four."Ally blurted out.

"You're sure?" The Officer asked.

"I'm positive." Ally said taking a deep breath

"Alright then - We have some paper work for you to
fill out." The cop said, handing her some papers and a
pen. "Hey Murray - She identified the same guy the
doctor did."

"You mean Dave? Dr. Malucci?" Ally interrupted.

The other cop nodded, "He came in a day or two
ago...Kept telling us we didn't need to bring you in
because the man was the same person....Well, we went
against his wishes."

"Better safe than sorry, right?" She said, signing the
last page. "Well I am done with the papers - May I
go?"

"Yes, thank you Miss Delgado. If there's anything
further, we'll notify you."

Ally put her jacket back on and headed for the door,
when she heard,

"Excuse me, are you Alyson Delgado?" A young man in
uniform asked.

Ally nodded,."Yes...Why?"

"Can you hold on a second?" The cop disappeared into
his office, then reappeared holding a small box. "Hi,
I'm Sam, I'm a friend of Dave's. He was going to send
you this - said it was a birthday present, but since
he knew you were going to be here, he asked me to give
you this......So here you go. Have a good night,
Miss."

Ally took the small package and smiled. "Thanks"

Ally held the box in her lap, in a cab heading for her
hotel. Her curiosity finally got the better of her,
and she opened up the box. On top was a note,
reading:'This reminded me of you. Happy Birthday -
Love, Dave'. Moving the tissue paper to the side, she
reached into the box, pulling out a small ornament.
She held them up - the Ruby Slippers - Ally smiled as
they sparkled. Ally set the ornament back in the box.

"There's no place like home" Ally said softly

Chicago was her home...and she now knew, maybe it was
the worst decision she ever made leaving here. She
might have been blind to it at first, but even her own
mother knew...She was in love. That's why it hurt so
much when she went to Paris - That's why it hurt so
much to leave Dave.

"Excuse me?" She asked the cab driver, "Can you please
take me to County General?"

"Are you hurt?" The cab driver asked.

"No. I just need to do something I should have done a
long time ago...."



Dave walked back into the ER after his ortho
appointment. The appointment had gone well - he would
only have to wear the removable cast for another week
or two. Walking past the front desk, he saw Jerry
mouth the words 'go to the lounge'. He saw her
sitting there, on the couch, flipping through a
magazine.

"Ally? The police made you come, huh? I tried to tell
them not to.....But obviously they didn't listen."
Dave fumbled with his words.

Ally stood up, "Yeah well, that's cops for you..."
Ally set the magazine down. "I met your friend
Sam...He gave me my birthday present from you. Thank
you," Ally said smiling "I love them."

"Glad you like it," he said and smiled slightly,
resisting the urge to run over and hold her, "So when
is your flight back?"

"My flight?" Ally asked "Oh, you mean to Paris...I
haven't actually planned my flight back yet."

"Oh, so how long are you staying?" he asked

"Well, I am not sure, I just got here a few hours ago,
I haven't even thought about how and when I will go
back"

Dave felt awkward. He wasn't sure how he felt exactly
- he was glad that she was back, but he didn't want to
get too excited, because he was certain that she'd
leave him again.

Ally could tell something was wrong with Dave. They
used to be so casual, but now it felt like there was
like a wall between them.

"Dave" Ally said softly, "Is everything okay? I mean,
was I right in coming here to see you, or should I
have just gone back and you'd never have known I was
even here?" Ally blurted out, everything came out so
fast, she wondered if Dave even understood it all.
"Because, I am sorry if it was the wrong thing to do,
But I had to see you....I had to see you Dave" Ally
sighed.

"No - I'm glad you came. I, I just," he searched for
the right words, "You didn't come back for me. You
came back only because you had to, and it's killing
me, seeing you when I know you're just going to leave
me again." Dave put on his coat, "I'll see you
sometime, maybe, okay?..."

Ally pressed her lips together while listening to his
words. As he started to leave, she blurted out, "Nul
matihre comment dur, I essayer to convaincre moi-mjme
I jtre ne dans amour jtre vous, le plus I tomber dans
amour prip vous."

"What?" Dave turned around, confused. "Was that
French?"

"Yes - I'm sorry, it just kind of came out..." She
shook her head, feeling stupid. "It means 'No matter
how hard I tried to convince myself I was not in love
with you, the more I fell in love with you.'"
 
"What?" Dave heard what she was saying, but it just
didn't seem real.

"All I could think about was vous, I manquer vous so
much...Okay, I will try to stop speaking French - I
said 'All I could think about was you, I missed you so
much'"

"So you're staying?" He asked with a smile.

"Only if you want me to. I talked to Dr.Greene, and
he's going to let me have my old job back......I just
want to be with you Dave. I knew it the moment I
left, but I didn't realize it until I looked at those
slippers." She paused, "There's no place like home -
And home is with you."

"Welcome home Ally." He said, rushing over to kiss
her. "Welcome home."

END OF PART 10