(Author's Note: This one is a little darker than the stories that I previously wrote. I was a little inspired by the character of Ryan Atwood from the OC, after he lost Marissa. Not sure where I am going yet with it just yet but as per use, should be full of drama. Daniel/Wilhelmina pairing)

Chapter 1

Wilhelmina sat at in her pristine office working away furiously as she did everyday over the past three months, picking up the slack for the other missing co-editor, Daniel. She secretly reveled in the fact that she was a one-woman show, and as far as she was concerned, it was the way it should have been from the beginning, with exception of course of Hartley at the helm of the company. The offices of Mode were different without Daniel. The balance had shifted and Wilhelmina knew that this was fates way of giving her what she always wanted. It wasn't in the complete way she hoped for, but she always did rise to the occasion to make a situation work to her advantage.

Last Wilhelmina heard through the office grapevine was Daniel was away somewhere in the South Pacific grieving in a Buddhist monastery over the passing of his wife Molly. There was a piece of Wilhelmina that deep down sympathized with him. After all, they both were so heavily invested with the former couple Molly and Connor. They were both witnesses to the chaos of events that followed after they both became romantically involved with the former couple. Connor was still missing and Wilhelmina grieved him in a similar way in her most private thoughts, but Daniel literally had to face the death of his love.

The events of the last few months had been a heavy burden on everyone at the office. There was an overwhelming feeling that things had changed and the past days of Mode and Meade Publications would be a memory of the past. With the funerals, FBI investigations, corporate take overs, Wilhelmina trying to float and preserve Mode while fighting Hartley all by herself, Daniel still missing in action, and with Connor still gone with the Meade monies, it was a very difficult time for all involved and invested.

Wilhelmina's gaze shifted from her computer to Amanda, as she bounced toward Marc's desk. It had been a while that she saw such a joyful expression from the bubbly blonde at the office. Her curiosity was instantly peaked. Something was up.

"Daniel's back!" Amanda exclaimed in a high-pitched exchange with Marc. Marc instantly looked over his shoulder to see Wilhelmina's reaction. Wilhelmina's attention was drawn away from her task at hand as she stood to her feet and began making her way to the door.

As Wilhelmina stood at the doorframe, hands clasped in front of her, with the most eerily calm look, she gazed at Amanda with a somber stare as her queue to get back to her desk. Wide eyed, Amanda scurried away.

"Well, as boy wonder decided to grace us with his presence, Marc please schedule some time with him in the afternoon. I would like to take a meeting."

"Yes Willie."

Later that afternoon Wilhelmina marched into Daniel's office with determination. She was hell bent to make sure Daniel understood her position of power saving his ass yet again as he was on his leave of absence. He owed her big time and she made sure to gallivant into his office on that high horse. As she walked in, she took her time standing at the door, observing the man in front of her, waiting for him to acknowledge her presence.

Wilhelmina was instantly taken aback by the man sitting in front of her, who was this guy?

Daniel sat in his black tonal suit, his eyes glued to his screen, without even a care that she stood at his door. His once baby face, now covered with manly facial hair, wore a visible scowl and his eyes…his eyes were changed, darker. It was the one trait that always gave Daniel away. His once soulful soft stare was clouded, unfeeling and empty. Even from where she stood she could see they weren't the same. His shoulders were broader, bigger and he was more domineering. As far as Wilhelmina could tell he had been working out noticeably. Daniel's body language was aggressive and not open like he used to be. He looked like he had been to hell and back and was definitely still finding his way back.

"So I see you're back." Wilhelmina began with one hand on her hip and the other resting on the door handle.

"Yup." Daniel didn't look up, just kept typing an email.

"Anything you might want to say to me?" Wilhelmina gave him the opportunity to open the dialogue, to get a better read of the man who sat in front of her.

"Nope." She took two steps into his office and gave him one more chance.

"Nothing at all…"

"Uh-uh." Daniel negated, still typing.

Wilhelmina was annoyed, baffled even at his responses, but more annoyed than anything. He was never a man of few words, and this just rubbed her the wrong way his guttural responses.

She slammed the door shut to get his attention. The smack against the hinges caused the large circular window to rattle and instantly something in Daniel snapped. He could see the staff on the other side of the window shoot their gaze at the sound of the door slamming interrupting their tasks at hand, now intrigued by the exchange between the two editors.

His eyes bolted open and looked her dead in the eye. He began to instinctively breathe harder as though he was ready to attack, a reaction that didn't go unnoticed by Wilhelmina.

"What the hell is your problem Wilhelmina?" He aggressively growled.

Wilhelmina walked toward his desk and stood with her feet firmly planted on the ground, her weight shifted to one side with her arms crossed, ready in her battle stance.

"You are my problem Daniel! How dare you walk back into this office and don't even have the decency to come to me after three months of nothing. No communication, nothing! I bust my ass everyday going up against your mother and her boy toy Hartley and you can't even find the simple words to…"

"To what? Thank you for doing what, your job? You seem to be managing just fine, putting two issues on the newsstands and a third on the way." He dryly offered and looked back at his screen as he scrolled through his emails, not seeing a single word on the screen in his blindness of rage.

This was definitely not the guy Wilhelmina knew of days past. He was aloof, cold, and arrogant.

"How dare you, you egotistical self-serving jerk! I have a lot on my plate right now and I am doing the best I can. Yet again, here I am, saving your ass as you bailed yet again..." She had snapped. His attitude pushed her buttons the wrong way and she ripped into him. Who the hell did he think he was?

"That's enough!" His stood up like a bullet as he roared with his deep voice. Daniel slammed his fist against the glass table, sending a devastating crack the thick glass beneath him. It spread like it had frosted over in seconds.

Wilhelmina's eyes instantly blinked in shock, jumping out of her skin at that moment, at the sound and the image of the aggressive man she once thought of as passive and insecure.

"Go to hell Daniel!" She leaned in and got in his face.

"I've been there everyday for months setting up shop. I've looked death in the face every single day and I'm still here. Whatever you got Wilhelmina, I'm not scared of it."

She was now seething as Daniel got in her face, mirroring her actions.

"Fuck you Daniel!" She turned on her heel as she felt everything growing inside her. She knew she had to leave before her rage boiled over to a point of no return.

"Right back at you!"

As she reached for the handle of the door, she offered with her back to him, "For what its worth, I'm sorry for your loss Daniel" and with that, she swung the door with such force that it bounced off the wall as she turned the corner back to her helm.

Daniel stood there in the same place Wilhelmina had left him, hanging his head. He had no idea how he was supposed to feel but the fact that he didn't care within seconds of what had just transpired, Daniel knew he was a changed man.