Title: Splintered

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to have any rights to the characters or plots of DQMW. The following is purely for entertainment value and of no monetary value whatsoever

Summary: He pressed his face to his knees and wondered how everything could have gone so wrong, so quickly.

Chapter One

He sensed her approach before she spoke even a word.

xxxxxx

Shirt un-tucked and damp with sweat, he picked up another piece of wood. His hair fell in unruly waves around his face and he shoved an impatient hand through it. Setting the log onto the chopping block and lifting the axe in his hands, he split it cleanly in half. He tossed the wood onto an ever-growing pile and some distant part of his brain noted that he had split more wood that day than he could use in two months' time.

"Hello, Sully." Her voice was quiet. If she was surprised by his disheveled appearance, she gave no indication of it.

Yanking the axe from the chopping block, he shot a quick glance her way.

"What brings you out here?"

Michaela drew in a deep breath. "I want to tell you how much I appreciate what you did."

He scraped a wayward lock of hair away from his forehead and sighed. "What's that?" he grunted as he split another log in two.

"Left me free to decide," she said gratefully.

Again, his gaze flicked toward her for the briefest moment before returning to the chore at hand.

"So you must have decided." Never breaking rhythm, he raised the axe overhead and sent it slamming through yet another piece of wood with a mighty thwack.

"How do you know that?"

Sully struggled for a moment to pull the axe free of the chopping block.

"I know," he said and with a dismissive glance her way set another piece of wood into place. "You love David."

His voice was calm and almost completely devoid of emotion. But if anger had a sound, it would be the thud of his axe as it tore viciously through the block of wood.

"Yes. I'll always love him." Her voice was a wistful sigh.

Her words were like arrows striking his heart though the stoic look on his face betrayed none of the pain he felt.

"But that's the past," she continued, "and you're the present." She paused. "We're the present. If you'll have me. Will you Sully?"

Though she was saying everything he had been longing to hear for weeks, her tone seemed uncertain to his ears. Flat. Nothing like the confident Michaela he had come to love. Hiding behind a curtain of hair which obscured his face, he stared hard at the chopping block for a heartbeat or two. Closing his eyes, he drew in a deep breath.

"Will I what?" His features were as stonily composed as his voice.

Michaela sighed and glanced away. "Will you marry me?" she finally asked. Her cheeks flushed and her voice was thick with the embarrassment of having to ask.

Sully let go of the axe and it fell to the ground with a muted clatter. Walking slowly toward her, he took her hands into his own. Lifting his fingers to her cheek, he brushed a gentle kiss over her lips and resting his forehead against hers, he closed his eyes.

Michaela let out a small sigh of relief and moved as if to wind her arms around his waist. His hands shot out to capture her wrists and stay her motion.

"I wanna marry you more than anythin'," he breathed. But instead of happiness, his expression was grim and the tremulous smile which had begun to curve her lips fell away to be replaced by a look of confusion.

"Sully –"

He took one step back from her and then another, and raising his hands before him in a defensive gesture, he shook his head.

"I love ya, Michaela," he told her. "But I can't promise to marry ya right now. I just… I can't…" He shook his head in frustration. "I think we'd best wait."

"But –" Now he noted that her voice was filled with emotion, colored with shock and fear, but turning away from her, he returned to the woodpile.

Selecting another piece of wood, he raised the axe high overhead and then brought it down with such violence the blade bit deeply into the chopping block as it cleaved through the wood. The force of the blow sent shockwaves of pain dancing up his arms. He welcomed the sensation as it penetrated the numbness which had otherwise engulfed him. Mechanically, he picked up another log, and then another and another, losing himself in the unrelenting pace. The burn and ache of each blow reverberated through his body, blocking out all else – even the woman standing in frozen bewilderment behind him.

He sensed her departure though she said not a word and only then did he falter.

xxxxxx

Gripping the axe handle with both hands he struggled to raise it over his head but a sudden weakness overcame him and the axe fell from his cramped fingers. Panting, he sank to the ground. Shoving trembling fingers through his sweat-dampened hair, he pressed his face to his knees and wondered how everything could have gone so wrong, so quickly. Just a few short weeks ago he had been sure they would be together forever and now it seemed that all of those plans had been torn asunder; splintered like the wood piled around him.

And he had no earthly idea of how to put it back together again.

TBC

A/N: Well, it's been six years since I've written anything in this fandom and probably close to two years since I've watched an episode. But I've recently begun cherry-picking my favorite episodes to watch and this story – which had been dancing around in my head since the first time I viewed "Return Engagement" – popped back into my mind. Like most fans, I loved that final scene where they reunite and spin gleefully through the field but I wanted to explore the possibilities of "what if". What if Sully hadn't been so quick as to set aside the events which transpired in the episode?

Obviously a huge chunk of the dialogue at the beginning of this story is lifted from "Return Engagement."