Orphans Beloved…V "The Donnie File…"
Summary: Like my Immortal Beloved bits in my Buffyverse stories, these are fragments and short bits, some longer…Just to fiddle with ideas, possibly forming longer tales later. I do plan at least one longer tale, "Nessun Dorma" but that's just getting sketched now.
Disclaimer: No copywrite infringement intended.
Strategy conference…A quaint inn in a town clearly designed to bring ooohs and squeals of joy from Allison's heart…
However…The oohs and squeals were currently on an entirely different level…
"Sarah!..." Cosima, knocked out of her usual mellow by the waving gun and Allison's shrieks…
"Put the gun down!" frantic…
"This is what we get for trustin' this miserable…" Sarah eyeing Donnie bleeding from her blow to his head Allison holding him. Gun firmly pointed…
"Sarah…" Donnie mumbling…
"This is what we get for getting involved with a wild animal…A street rat…!" Allison howled.
"Guys…Any more and the other folks vacationing at this blissful little inn are going to come banging at the door and see the three of us…" Cosima noted.
"Oh, now you're totally trustin'?!" Sarah frowned at the furious Allison, now protectively huddling by Donnie… "A couple of weeks ago you were ready to burn his face off with glue now…"
"We agreed he was telling the truth…You persuaded me…He told me about the letters!…" Allison, cautiously.
"Did he tell you about the cell phone calls to …?" Sarah eyed the phone log Paul had provided. "This 'Harkness Institute'…Did he tell you that letters to some phony lost lover weren't the only things he burned? Did he? Have a look…These are medical papers, Allison…Yours. He burned most of them but I found bits…Look…"
"Yes, I know…" Allison cut her off. "They're a mix of my psychiatric records and commitment papers. Get a towel! Wetted, lukewarm…!" she turned to Cosima who was rather thankful for the chore…Rising quickly.
Sarah blinking…Lowering gun…
"I was in rehab after my miscarriage…Committed is the word, really. I was swallowing pills and a total mess when I realized it was true and I'd never be able to have a child of our own. And when I started acting out again, after Beth contacted me and I learned someone was manipulating our lives, perhaps even killing us off…And I wouldn't say a word to him. He thought…"
Oh…Sarah, looking down at the bleeding Donnie…
Really, mate? Clever? Really doesn't suit you.
"I didn't want her to know I'd talked to Harkness again about what I should do…" Donnie sighed. "I'd decided I couldn't send her there again, not without trying to find out what was going on with her. And when they were calling me to bring her in, after I'd called them…Kinda pressing me on it…I said no, she'd be fine and I decided to burn the papers they'd sent, along with her other records from last time. I knew even then she was ok, that there was some reason…"
"You'd considered commitin' your wife without talking to her…?" Sarah made a quick recovery, resuming angry tone…With somewhat less enthusiasm.
"We have children…I'd given him my permission to talk to them if he got worried about my anxiety again." Allison noted, with glare…
"I would have told you two…" Donnie, rubbing wound… "But I didn't want to violate Allison's privacy."
"Hey…" Cosima, back…Offering wetted towel which Allison took…As Sarah reholstered gun.
"Sorry…" Sarah, apologetically… "When Paul found you were callin' some medical institute…And then I found the burned scraps of the records in the woods near your place…Sorry, Donny." She eyed him, wan smile. "Rough times, you know?"
"Uh-huh…" he nodded, a bit dazed yet.
"Nice to know I'm not the only one of us to fly off the handle from time to time…" Allison noted, relenting a bit. "Forgive the 'street rat' and 'wild animal'?"
"Puttin' it in the closed cupboard with the 'dumbass' and the 'totally OCD psycho bitch'…" Sarah nodded.
"Fair enough…What? When did you call me a 'totally OCD psycho bitch'?...I thought you called the false blonde crazy woman that?"
"I kinda applied it to you both…It seemed to fit both sizes."
"I am not a psycho…Nor do I have OCD…I was tested." Allison insisted. "Of course Donnie burned those records too or I'd show you. Wait…?" narrow look at Sarah.
"You had Paul check our cell phone records? That war criminal, that lying more or less murderer of our sister…That phony 'boyfriend' you've stuck me in adultery with. Never, honey…Not a chance." Hasty coo to Donnie, now back on sofa holding towel to side of head.
"Donnie checked out Paul…I thought it was only bleedin' fair…" Sarah noted.
"And who decided our records needed to be checked…Paul?"
"I wasn't completely sold by the dyin' girlfriend story…I asked him to check things, just to be sure. Call it piece a'mind…"
"I call it nearly a piece of Donnie's skull. Is it still bleeding, sweetheart?" anxious glance…
"Look, no one's puttin' blind trust in Paul…But it's only fair we be sure about the D man…Come on, Allison…" winning smile. "You do feel better knowin' we've cleared the air on this."
"I do. I do…" sage nod. "But of course I'll feel better after I knock a few of your foster brother's teeth out trying to see if he might be a treacherous skunk."
"I've known Felix in the cradle, practically…" Sarah frowned.
"So…By your logic that only makes him an even better candidate…Unless of course he's one of us in male form."
Whoa…Cosima blinked…
Sarah blinked…
"Who's Felix again?" Donnie asked.