Disclaimers in Part One.
Danny arrived at CJ's apartment exactly two minutes after she did, giving her
just enough time to sweep through the rooms and make sure there was nothing
embarrassing or incriminating hanging about. There wasn't, naturally - at
home she was neat almost to a fault. He knocked quietly, almost as if he
were afraid of drawing attention to himself. When she opened the door he
gave her a smile that she would nearly describe as shy.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi." She stepped back and opened the door a little wider. "Come in."
He stepped in, shrugging out of his coat as he did so. "Did you call Josh?"
She gave him a look.
He held out his hands, coat draped over one arm. "Not even a pencil here,
CJ."
She sighed and blew her bangs off her forehead in frustration. "I left four
messages on his machine before church. He hasn't answered."
"Four?" Danny repeated, coming all the way into the apartment and pushing the
door shut behind him. He watched with interest as CJ moved around him to
lock the three latches on the inside of the door. "You called him four
times?"
She looked a little sheepish, but still definitely worried. "I thought maybe
he was screening. He could have thought I was Leo or something."
He tossed his coat over a chair and stepped closer to her. "You know, they
could still be at the emergency room. Isn't that where Leo said Donna was
taking him?" She nodded, and he continued, "An inner-city ER on Christmas
Eve? Packed. They could still be waiting."
She brightened. "That's true. And he might not have checked his messages."
"Why don't you call now?"
"Do you -"
"I said I wouldn't mind."
She nodded. "Okay. I'll call now."
He grinned at her. "Do you want me to hold your hand?"
CJ shot him a glare of death. "No."
He laughed. "Okay."
He perched himself on the arm of her couch so he could watch her dial the
phone. She turned her back to him as it began ringing, but he could still
see her posture stiffen. She said hastily into the phone, "Josh, it's me
again. Are you there?" She waited for a second before saying, "Okay, well,
please call me." She hung up and turned back to Danny, shaking her head.
"I'm telling you, they're probably still at the hospital. He's had that cut
for twenty-four hours now, it's not too bad, they're going to take a lot of
more serious cases before him." He could tell it wan't really working. She
nodded, but she still looked concerned.
He crossed the room to her, but she backed up slightly as he advanced.
Trying to remember that she was upset and to conceal his hurt, he said,
"Plus, he's with Donna. She'll take care of him."
"Sure," CJ said too quickly and without much conviction. "I'm going to put
some coffee on."
"Okay."
She made herself busy in the kitchen, leaving him to settle himself on the
couch. When she returned several minutes later he expected to see her
looking more composed, but her body was fairly humming with nervousness. She
met his eyes as she sank into a chair and asked quietly, "Do you think he
just doesn't want to talk to me?"
"Not a chance," Danny replied. "I've seen you two together. You and Sam
Seaborn are his best friends. If he's going to talk to anyone -"
"I know, he has Donna," she finished.
"No, he would talk to you even before her, I think," Danny replied. "Donna's
- Donna, but their relationship is different from yours. He would talk to
you."
"If he could," she finished, and he mentally kicked himself for introducing
that doubt. "Do you think I should -"
"Call again, if it'll make you feel better," he said gently. "Who knows,
maybe he just walked in the door."
"Okay," she said, standing up. "Maybe if I just tell him. . ." She left
that thought uncompleted as she started dialing the phone. She turned her
back to Danny again and waited.
And then turned back toward him about a fraction of an inch, and held out her
free hand. He immediately jumped up from the couch and came to her side,
taking hold of her hand between both of his and squeezing it gently.
"Josh?" she said into the phone, and for a second Danny thought he might
actually be there. "It's CJ again. Um, I don't know whether you're there or
not. . ." Oh, he thought. Not there. "I just wanted to say -" She broke
off and started over. "I just wanted to say that I won't push you, but if
you want to talk to me - I'm here. I'm sure Donna's probably said the same
thing - actually she's probably still with you, right? I hope she is.
Anyway, just - just talk to me. Just let me know you're okay." Her voice
cracked a little and Danny rubbed her hand reassuringly. "Anyway, whenever
you get this. . . doesn't matter what time." She hung up slowly and stayed
frozen for a minute.
Danny leaned over her shoulder, still holding her hand. "Aren't you glad I
didn't let you come home alone?" he said without a trace of teasing.
She turned around and looked at him for a second, as if measuring her options
and his intentions. Then she very slowly wrapped her arms around him and
leaned against his chest.
He took a deep breath and hugged her back, holding her gently so as not to
scare her off. "I'm sure he's fine," he whispered, stroking her hair. "He's
probably just not home yet. And when he gets home he's either going to
listen to his messages and call you, or he'll go to bed and listen to them in
the morning, and call you then. Either way he'll know how much you care
about him, and that was the point, right?" From his shoulder she nodded
silently. "Okay then. Come sit down for a while? I'll keep you company for
a bit, see if he calls back."
She stepped away from him, looking a little embarrassed, and nodded. "Okay.
Sorry."
"Don't apologize. I knew you'd be worrying."
She gave him a weak smile as he pulled her over to the couch. "You're
devious, you know that?"
"It's one of my many talents."
"I'm glad."
He looked at her sharply to make sure he'd heard right. She smiled back,
better this time. He sat down beside her, the beginnings of his familiar
smirk pulling at his mouth. "So - what's with the latches?"
She looked confused. "Sorry?"
"The latches." He gestured toward her door, hoping to change the subject.
"This isn't exactly a high-crime neighborhood, is it?"
She shook her head. "No. I just - I'm a little nervous, you know."
He frowned. "You know, I don't remember those being here when I brought you
home before, after we had dinner."
"Our 'business dinner?'" she asked, almost smiling again. "No, I only had
one last year. I got, um, I got a little more nervous after I got shot at."
She was trying to play it casual, but he saw the stiffness in her back and
heard the forced note of calm in her voice. He weighed his choices carefully
for a moment before reaching for her.
She didn't respond this time, but she didn't pull out of his arms, either.
She just leaned her head against his shoulder, her arms trapped against her
body.
"This thing with Josh must be bringing it all back," he said gently.
"Yeah," she replied, knowing that at this point denial was useless.
They had never talked about that night. By then their relationship had
pretty much deteriorated and they'd never really gotten back to where they'd
been before Mandy's memo. He brushed her hair back, trying to ignore her
awkwardness. "You must have been scared."
"I froze," she said after a moment of silence. "And then I blacked out. It
took me until days later to remember that it was Sam who pushed me down."
"Thank God for Sam," he said sincerely. He paused and added, "I was scared
for you. When I heard the shots. I was still inside, but I knew you were
already out there."
She nodded. "I'm glad I sent you to call your editor."
"None of the press were hurt," he reminded her.
"Could have been, though. Josh was nowhere near us. . ."
"Yeah, I know." He rubbed her back for a while in silence. "He's okay, CJ."
"We forgot about him, you know."
"Hmm?"
"After the shooting. All I could do was ask if the President was dead."
"I know," he interrupted. "Katie told me. She said the sight of you asking
for him made her cry."
CJ chose to ignore this. "Toby asked me where Josh was and I didn't know.
He found him. Josh was - he couldn't even call for help."
"You were scared, CJ," he said kindly. "And you were doing your job, which
is thinking about the President. We were all doing our jobs."
"Sam," she reminded him.
"Sam is uncanny," he replied. "And I'm glad of it. Katie told me about that
car window, too."
"I would have been hit."
He knew it was useless to deny something she knew for sure. "Yeah, probably.
And you weren't. God must be looking out for you after all."
She actually laughed. "Sam Seaborn as the vehicle of the divine."
"Stranger things have happened."
She straightened up and looked at him, a wry smile on her face. "He sent me
you, right?"
Danny reached out and very lightly stroked the side of her face. "Yeah."
She closed her eyes. "Danny, I can't."
He nodded. "I know. It's okay. I can." He leaned forward and kissed her,
very gently, not passionately at all but feelingly. She fought instinct as
long as she could, but it finally won out and she kissed him back, just as
carefully, her hands reaching for his shoulders. He pulled away before it
got too involved and smiled sadly at her as she opened her eyes. He reached
up and brushed his fingertips over her lips. "To tide us over. I should go."
She nodded slowly.
He hesitated. "Unless you want me to stay tonight - see if Josh calls."
A smile broke out across her face. "You wish."
He laughed, relieved. "Okay. Goodnight."
She stood up with him and waited until he had his coat on to hug him
cautiously. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, CJ," he whispered.
She stood for a second holding on to his lapels. "And thank you."
"Thank you," he returned. "Will you be okay?"
She nodded.
"Good." He turned and methodically opened the three latches. "I'll see you."
"Yeah."
When he was gone she leaned against the door, forgetting momentarily to close
the latches.
The End.