Title: "After a Time"

Author: CretKid aka Cal

Category: CJ/Danny

Rating: PG-13 for language

Spoilers: Manchester I, II - what if CJ did leave the administration at the end of Manchester II?

After Series

After Manchester

After the Rain

After All That Had Been Before

After a Time

"After a Time"

===========

The sounds, the scents, the air itself was unfamiliar. Starchy material felt rough against her cheek and smelled slightly of rain. The room was warm, too warm, and bed linens were wrapped tightly around her arms and legs in a fashion she knew to mean she had been tossing and turning all night long.

If only she could remember how the hell she got there in the first place.

Slowly untangling herself from the sheet, the cotton blanket and horrendously floral bed spread, CJ tried to stretch only to find that her limbs did not want to cooperate. Her right knee felt warm, swollen, and with a groan she remembered exactly how that had come to be.

Her neck felt stiff and her face felt hot. There was the distinct aftertaste of too much alcohol in her mouth and she slowly came to her senses. In her motions, she dislodged a bag from the end of the bed. Spilled on the floor were the cotton trousers and blouse she had been wearing the day before, as well as other toiletries.

She looked for her watch, a clock, even the television remote, so that she could find out what time it was. The curtains had been drawn tight and there was the distinct sound of rain pounding on the windows. The clock had been unplugged, her watch MIA, and the television remote refused to cater to her whims of telekinesis. Draping an arm over her eyes, she laid back and waited for fate to intervene.

It wasn't a long wait. There were muffled voices coming from around the corner, where she suspected the bathroom to be. It was too much effort to try and distinguish the one-sided conversation, so she settled on hearing the highlights when the sole voice rose above the din.

"Josh, no… No… I don't think that's a good idea… Just tell everyone she's safe. She's with me. I'll get her home… No, you can't talk to her; she's still sleeping… Yes, I realize it's 1 o'clock in the afternoon. She was exhausted and I didn't have the heart to wake her up… Yeah, please, Katie knows where my stuff is… No, right now her luggage sitting in an airport in San Francisco… She missed the flight… Yeah, I'll take my miracles wherever I can get them. Look, Josh, I'll ask her to call you but-- Yeah. I will."

She heard the bathroom door open, saw the splash of light land on the opposite wall. He stopped at the foot of the bed when he spotted the spilled clothes. After pocketing the phone, he smiled, walked to the side of the bed and sat down beside her.

"Hey, sleepy-head. About time you joined the land of the living."

"Where are we?"

Danny reached over to the little cube fridge between the beds and pulled out a bottle of orange juice. "Airport Holiday Inn. I want you to drink this." He handed her the juice bottle and helped her sit higher on the bed. "How's your knee?"

"You were talking with Josh?" she asked, mentally wincing at the accusatory tone to her voice.

If Danny felt chastised, he wasn't showing it. "Yes. He has left at least 2 dozen messages on your voice mail. And I didn’t think you'd want the National Guard knocking on your door. He's going to keep everyone at bay for you. For the time being."

CJ had trouble opening the bottle; Danny took it from her and easily snapped the top off. He handed it back and waited for her to take a sip.

"Better?" She nodded. "Now, how's the knee?" he asked as he gently placed his hand on the bedspread next to her leg.

"Serves me right for trying to get out of the car so fast. They don't make mid-sized cars for tall people, you know. Miniaturized torture chambers."

"What exactly did you do?"

"I think I hit it on the ignition. The steering column wasn't locked; I was using the wheel for leverage and WHAM. Probably shouldn't have walked on it afterwards, huh?" She smiled ruefully.

"Can I take a look at it?" Danny moved his hand to lift the cover just at her knee.

Suddenly aware that she wasn't wearing anything more than her underwear and camisole, she blushed furiously but uncovered the blankets to reveal the slightly swollen and definitely discolored appendage.

"The swelling's down," Danny said, carefully turning it so he could see the damage done. "There's an in-house physician if you think someone should look at it."

"No, it'll be fine." She pulled her leg back under the covers and shivered despite the warmness of the room. The orange juice was settling fine in her stomach; she drank the rest of it in a single swallow.

"We need to discuss some things," Danny said, taking the empty bottle from her and automatically handing her another. He leaned forward so that her knees were boxed in by his arms. "But first, you could probably do with a hot shower, a change of clothes and something to eat."

He turned around and picked up the bundle of clothes from the floor. "Your clothes were wet last night, but I've had them laundered and got some stuff from the gift shop like toothbrush, toothpaste, whatnot. Unfortunately, the rest of your clothes are sitting at a security office at SFO. So, while you're getting cleaned up, I'm going to get rid of the rent-a-wreck and pick up a late lunch for us, okay? Then we can decide where we are going to go from here."

CJ could feel her expression slacken, the entirety of the last few days rushing her like a stab of light in the darkness. "I resigned, Danny."

He patted her good knee and rose from the bed. "I know. We'll talk about it later."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"CJ? CJ. I need you to wake up."

"Huh?" CJ turned towards the arm that was shaking her shoulder. "What?"

"Toll booth ahead. I need you to get the money out of my wallet. I don't have enough in my pocket to cover it."

Sitting higher in the passenger seat, CJ adjusted the seat belt so that it wasn't cutting off circulation to her neck. She reached for the leather billfold sitting in the drink holder and pulled out a couple of singles. A large yellow metal sign was just overhead as Danny shifted into the middle lane that read 'Toll Plaza Ahead'.

"What time is it?" She couldn't read the little green numbers on the dashboard. The same gray clouds she remembered from Boston were looming, with no indication of where the sun was in the sky.

"About 8:30. You've been out since about the time we got on I-95." Danny looked over her as he slowed for the toll booth. "Are you okay? Should we pull over for a little while?"

"Where are we?"

"Jersey Turnpike."

"No, it's okay." She turned in her seat to stretch her legs as much as possible in the confined space. "Sorry, I'm not much of a co-pilot."

Danny grinned as they approached the money collector. "That's okay. I suspect you haven't slept much in the past month." He passed over his ticket and the bills and waited for his change. "If you're asleep, you can't argue with my music selection."

CJ chose not to comment on the fact the radio was not on.

A cell phone was ringing. Danny looked to the breast pocket of his shirt. CJ's face was ashen as she recognized the distinctive ring of her phone.

"Don't answer it."

Danny looked askance at the manic tone in her voice but heeded her wishes. "You're going to have to talk to one of them sooner or later."

"I … I just need a few hours."

"Okay. Not a problem."

Traffic began to speed up as the cloverleaf turned to straight expressway. CJ watched the rain continue its lazy splatter on the windshield.

"I'd been thinking about this for weeks," she started quietly. "Had it all planned out in my head. The reality of it just takes a little getting used to."

"So, how's the game plan going now?"

CJ smiled slightly, still looking at the passing landscape. "Oh, it was thrown out as soon as I left the farm."

"Was going to Napa part of the original plan?"

"No, that was panic," CJ admitted after a time. "After the first dozen frantic voice mail messages from Josh the day of the speech, I needed to get out of the state."

"So you drive to Boston? There are perfectly serviceable airports near and within Manchester."

CJ drummed her fingers on her thigh, still turned away. "I needed time to think. This is all I've ever known for nearly 4 years. It takes a little getting used to, you know."

"It's not too late to catch up with your luggage," Danny suggested.

"Maybe," she replied to the window.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was nearing 2 AM when Danny turned the engine off. CJ was again asleep in the passenger seat, covered with the coat she had with her at the airport. He was amazed that someone of her height could crawl into a space so small to sleep but apparently it could be done. He was parked outside his apartment complex in Georgetown contemplating how he was going to get his charge into the apartment.

At least he didn’t have any bags to worry about.

As soon as he opened his door and the crisp night air entered the car, CJ woke up, disoriented and confused. Danny quickly walked over to her side of the car and opened the door. Crouching down, he helped her untangle herself from the seatbelt.

Taking note of her dazed expression, he took her hand and helped her out of the car. She leaned heavily on him when her knee couldn't stand the weight shift. "I thought you might not want to go to your apartment just yet. This is just a layover for right now. Okay?"

Not quite awake, CJ nodded and tried to walk. A sharp hiss slipped from her mouth as she refrained from cursing out loud. Danny draped her right arm over his shoulders and half-carried her up the stairs. He held her hand as they walked down the hallway to his apartment door. Leaning her against the wall, he dug out his keys and opened the door.

Stale air met them at the door. "Sorry. I've been in and out of town for a couple of weeks now, but then again you already knew that," he explained, drawing her through the door.

He tossed his keys on the kitchen counter and led her into the apartment proper. "I'm just going to get you some clothes to change into for the night. You take my bed; I'll sleep out here on the couch. Bathroom's to your right."

She nodded and limped towards the door he had pointed out to her. Danny walked into the bedroom, made sure the bed linen was somewhat presentable and went through his drawers to find a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt for her to wear. Light poured out of the bathroom door. Knocking lightly on the frame, he watched as she finished drying her face with a hand towel.

"Here, these should work. I'm going to check my messages but I will be right back."

Again she nodded and he closed the door to the bathroom. His answering machine was blissfully not blinking when he checked it. Voicemail was the regular deadline reminders from his editor. He filled a glass with water and grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen from the medicine cabinet before heading back to the bathroom.

CJ was just opening the door as he approached, glass and medicine in hand. "Here, take these. It will help the swelling. Do you want a heating pad or something for your knee?"

She shook her head, swallowed the two ibuprofen capsules with the water. When she had finished with the water, he took the glass and left it on the bathroom sink. He took her elbow and walked her towards the bedroom. Pulling back the covers, he settled her on the edge of the bed.

"Swing your legs up and lie back."

CJ instinctively curled into a fetal position as soon as he pulled the covers up, the worry lines still deep along her forehead. He brushed his hand over her bangs, clearing them away from her face.

She sighed deeply, capturing his hand with hers before he could take it away. The plaintive expression in her eyes drew him in.

"Don't go."

End part 4