Rating: PG - 13

Spoilers: just about everything up to Noel, just in case

Summary: a sequel to "Great Expectations," if you haven't read it this
probably won't make a lot of sense

Archive: anywhere your heart desires.


Josh expected to notice Donna when she came into work. He expected things
might be a little strange. He didn't expect her to make it into the office
and be practically leaning over him with a file by the time he noticed her.
He also didn't expect the first thing he noticed to be blood on the palm of
her hand.

"Donna!" he exclaimed, taking her wrist and turning her hand over so he could
look at the cut on her palm. "What did you do?"

"I slipped on the ice on my front steps," she said, sounding a little
irritated and trying to pull her hand away.

"There was no ice there when I -" He stopped dead.

She didn't seem to notice, or else she deliberately ignored the subject he'd
just raised. "No, it snowed after you left, remember?"

"Right." He decided to try to tease her out of her mood, which sometimes
worked. "Has a doctor seen that?"

She wasn't going for it. "It's a little scrape, Josh. It looks a lot like
the ones on my back."

His eyebrows shot up and his tone rose. "The ones on your back?"

She was sorting folders and not looking at him. "I hit the steps. They're
concrete."

"Were you hurt?"

She was definitely ignoring him now. The concern in his tone would have been
hard to miss. "Josh, I fell down the stairs. I look like someone beat me
with a hairbrush, but I'm walking and everything." Everything about her tone
and posture suggested he should drop it now.

So naturally he didn't. He leaned toward her. "Show me."

That at least got a reaction. She whirled around and glared. "Excuse me?"

"You said you fell on your back. I doubt you could see any wounds you might
have yourself, and I know you couldn't treat them properly if you did. I
think you should let me have a look."

"Josh!" She sounded properly horrified.

"Are you bleeding?"

"Josh -"

"Are you bleeding?"

She paused. "Some."

He kicked the door, but she stopped it with her foot before it could slam
closed. "No way," she said firmly.

"Donna -"

"You know what this is? This is harassment."

"Donna -"

"You just asked me to -"

"Are you going to sue me?"

She glared back at him. "Maybe."

"You want to let C.J. or Margaret have a look instead? 'Cause, you know,
they were both pretty worried about you the other night. If you're having
some kind of problem I'm sure they'd like to know about it."

Silence fell. "That's blackmail," she said finally.

"Take it or leave it."

She kicked the door shut herself. It slammed hard. Without a look or a word
she turned her back and pulled her shirt out of the waistband of her skirt,
but she left it hanging for him to move himself.

He approached her carefully, knowing she was angry and not really sure why
(although he had an idea) and needing to let her know that he cared - but not
in his usual clumsy way. He first swept her long blonde hair over one side,
brushing his hand lightly across her shoulder blades as he did so. She
managed not to respond. He very gently lifted her shirt up over her back,
wincing as it exposed livid red scratches on her pale skin.

"Donna, some of these are still bleeding. You just did this this morning?"

"Yes," she replied stiffly.

"You're bruised. Did you put ice -"

"I was on my way to work, Josh. I didn't stop to -"

"Okay." He lowered her shirt carefully. "Stay here, I'm going to go get
some wet paper towels." Thankfully, she obeyed. He returned as quickly as
he could and gently dabbed at the oozing scrapes on her back, wincing himself
at every hiss of pain. "Done," he said finally, lowering her blouse again.
"You did a pretty good job on yourself, there."

"You would know," she shot back, tucking her shirt back into her skirt.

"Okay," he said, his calm finally breaking. "That does it. What is the
matter with you? And don't give me that look like you don't know what I'm
talking about. You're in a worse mood today than you were -"

"The other night?" she countered. "No, the other night I was just crying all
over you. Would you prefer that?"

"Frankly both of them confuse the hell out of me!" Probably not the smartest
reply, but he was having trouble thinking clearly.

"What does any of this have to do with me falling on the ice?" she asked.

"Nothing. You slipped, you fell - that's not the issue and you know it."

"Then what is?"

"You wouldn't let me be concerned about you, but that isn't the real issue
either."

"You going to tell me -"

"Yeah, I am." He paused for air. "And you're right. I shouldn't have left."

"Josh -"

"I shouldn't have left. I left before you woke up and I shouldn't have done
that."

Donna took a deep breath. "No, you shouldn't have."

"I know."

"Why did you?"

There was silence between them for a long while. He raked his hand through
his hair nervously. "Because I didn't know what else to - I thought it would
be less weird."

She faced him squarely with her hands on her hips. "Josh, you've stayed over
before. You stayed over last week! You've never felt the need to sneak out
on me before."

"Yeah, but when I stayed over before . . ." He trailed off.

"Yes?"

"It was because of my window, or because I was drunk, or - because you were
taking care of me." He let that hang in the air for a moment. He hadn't
actually realized what he was getting at until the words were out.

"So you thought this was different because it was me?" She was looking at
him now with an open curiosity. "You thought it might be weird because I was
the one who . . ." She couldn't finish.

He frowned, trying to express this without sounding corny or melodramatic.
"You've never needed me before. I thought - I was afraid you might feel
funny about it."

Her eyes narrowed. "You thought I might feel funny about it?" The wrinkles
in her brow smoothed out and she said quietly, "And I always - never mind."

He took a step toward her, frowning more deeply when she stepped back in
response. "You always what?"

"Nothing, I -"

"You always what?"

She took a deep breath and strove for a casual tone. "I always need you,
Josh." She let that sink in for a moment before adding, "But don't let it go
to your head."

He was, and sounded, stunned and as if he didn't actually know what he was
saying. "Never."

She nodded slowly, then turned to go.

"Donna."

She faced him again, looking as if she would rather be anywhere else at that
moment. "Yes?"

He bit his lip nervously and began to gesture wildly with his hands as he did
when he had to say something he didn't want to say. "I've woken up in your
apartment before. I've woken up - on your couch, with your cats, whatever.
I've never -" He remembered to lower his voice so that the entire Wing
wouldn't overhear. "I've never woken up with you in my arms before. And
yes, it freaked me out. Not in a bad way, but it freaked me out."

She studied him carefully. "Okay."

Well, she wasn't running for the hills or throwing things. Yet. "Should I
have let you?"

"Let me what?"

"Should I have let you - wake up, with me?"

Donna paused. "I don't know," she said finally.

He looked back at her. "Okay."

She nodded as if that had been a question. "You have Leo in five minutes."

"Okay," he said softly. On his way out the door he turned back to her. "Are
we all right?"

After a second she offered him an ironic half-smile. "We're still here."

He smiled back. "Yeah."


TBC