Alternate

Chapter 9: Confrontation

A/N: I took a bit of a writing break to read DaisyDay's story "Letters" if you haven't read it I highly recommend it. It takes place in season 1 so there's no Donnie to get in the way which is something I wish I knew how to do.

Dedication: To my absolutely amazing reviewers: Wolfhound159 who exchanges wonderful PMs with me. ChristyLoisGilmore17 who asks all the right questions and whose reviews make me smile. megspazzy who I've learned was my mystery reviewer from last chapter and who always makes me laugh. And the always spectacular DaisyDay who put up with me submitting a review to each and every one of the sixteen chapters of "Letters" and who is also a charming conversationalist. All of you are so kind and wonderful. This story would be nowhere without your encouragement.

Max had just parked the car. He was reaching for the door handle when he spotted Donnie. His hand froze in midair as in his mind he debated his next move. Would he be of more use standing by his friends' side or should he stay in the car and out of the way? Ultimately he opened the door and jogged to where Daniel and Kate were standing.

Donnie, Kate and Daniel seemed to have attracted the attention of most of the people who had been milling about in front of the church. Though most were unaware of the shift in Daniel and Kate's relationship, all but the very youngest of parishioners could sense the tension between the three as they stood and stared across the fifteen or so feet of blacktop that separated them.

"I thought you were just gonna get him some coffee," Sandy whispered as Joey made his way over to her.

"I did," Joey explained, his voice equally hushed "But after that he wanted me to take him to church. I didn't think Kate would be discharged in time to make it to the second service."

"Well this can only end badly," Sandy observed, still whispering.

"Why is Doctor Pierce here anyway?" Joey looked from his sister to Donnie to the doctor.

"He's making an effort to be more accepting of religion being a part of Kate's life," Sandy explained "It seems Doctor Pierce would not have been approved of by your Great Aunt Carol either."

"She's been dead for almost four years," Joey remarked, his voice still quiet as he kept his gaze focussed on his sister and her two suitors "Let it go."

Sandy turned and swatted her husband's arm hard.

Donnie wasn't sure what to do. Seeing Kate and Daniel again made him feel like he'd had his heart ripped out all over again. Anger raged inside him. He wanted to punch one or both of them. He wanted to scream obscenities at the top of his lungs. He wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. However none of these were particularly wise options.

Though he wasn't fully sobered up, he knew that he should try to avoid making a scene if he could. If he tried to attack Daniel it would be less than a second before Kate would lay him out on his ass. The mere fact that the thought of punching Kate had flickered through his head made him ill. He had been raised better than that.

He could scream and yell until he was blue in the face but all that would accomplish would be to make him look like the biggest ass in the world in front of an ever growing crowd of onlookers, including by now at least a dozen children. The curling up in a ball and crying seemed like the best option but he knew there were things he needed to discuss with Kate first. He inhaled deeply and took a step forward. He knew what he had to do. It was painful to even think about but what he and Kate had had was over. All that remained was to say it out loud.

As Donnie began to close the gap that separated them Kate grabbed Daniel's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze which he readily returned. Daniel was mentally preparing to receive a punch, the face, the gut, he wasn't sure which Donnie would choose but he was fairly certain that Donnie was likely to get one shot in before Kate stopped him.

Donnie stopped a few feet away from them "Hi Kate, Daniel," he greeted in a voice choked with emotion.

"Donnie," Kate's tone was soft, filled with pity and regret "You look like Hell."

Donnie forced a chuckle. A change of clothes had not erased the obvious signs that he'd been drinking heavily "You always no just what to say," he remarked.

Silence fell over the three of them. They had not noticed how the assembled crowd in the parking lot had crowded in closer. Among them, Father Pat and Joe Moretti who stood near the front of the pack. Most of the children had retreated to the church steps, distracted by smart phones and tablets that their parents had wisely handed over. There were murmurings among the group, some wondering what would happen next while others expounded upon the events that had lead to this tense confrontation.

Donnie glanced briefly at Daniel and couldn't help chuckling "I'm not gonna punch you Daniel," he assured.

"I feel like that's the sort of thing you might say before you punched me," Daniel replied, continuing to bock his abdominal with his free arm.

"Donnie," Kate began, withdrawing something from her pocket "I'm sorry you found out the way you did," she handed him her engagement ring.

"I get it," Donnie took the ring and put it in his own pocket "I really do understand Kate," he turned to Daniel "You really love her?" he asked pointedly.

Daniel nodded "Very much," he confirmed, taking a half step closer to Kate.

"Then you'd better not hurt her the way I did," Donnie told him, his eyes misting over a bit "Or I'll do more than punch you."

Daniel nodded, releasing Kate's hand and wrapping his arm around her waist "Understood."

"This really hurts Kate," Donnie stated.

"I know it does and I'm sorry but it would have been wrong for us to get married again."

Donnie nodded "I know. And I'm sorry. When I first got back to Chicago and I saw the way you would look at Daniel I was jealous. I felt like I had to do something or I'd lose you. I just couldn't accept the reality that you were never really mine to begin with. I did some things and said some things I deeply regret," he turned to Daniel "I was unfair to you too."

Daniel shrugged, remembering some of the things Donnie had said and done back when he'd first met him. Of course in most cases Daniel had landed his own low blows. He offered Donnie a smile "Water under the bridge..."

"I'll be out of the apartment by this afternoon," Donnie told Kate.

It was at this point that a loud burst of laughter erupted from the group of a dozen or so children on the church steps. Several kids pointed to Donnie. One of the children, Donnie's nephew Noah, got up and ran straight through the crowd of adults to his uncle. He was holding his mother's cell phone high above his head "Uncle Donnie!" the seven-year-old called.

Donnie took the phone and glanced at the video that was playing on the screen. The string of words that escaped his lips were not something his young nephew should have been privy to.

"He's down for the count," Joey informed the others as he stepped out of the bedroom and into the main area of the apartment.

Kate, Daniel, Max and Sandy were sitting around Sandy's iPad, attempting to anylize the video of a fall-down-drunk Donnie basically being a public nuisance.

"This guy's an Assistant US Attorney," a voice from off screen laughed raucously. Donnie fell down at the entrance to the park where Joey had found him and vomited.

"Dumbass," someone else off-camera added.

Someone dressed in black appeared in frame and hauled Donnie to his feet and dragged him into the park.

Other ridiculous antics followed, including Donnie lying underneath a park bench, muttering something incoherent to the bench as if it could understand him, Donnie shadow boxing with and losing to a low hanging tree branch and Donnie peeing in the sandbox. At every turn he was goaded by the two off-camera voices.

The ending of the video was very peculiar. It ended on a black screen on which in glaring white letters were the words "His Grasp Far Exceeds Your Reach" accompanied by a few bars of Moonlight Sonata.

"Poor Donnie," Daniel turned to see his younger self squatting between him and Kate. It didn't surprise Daniel that his hallucination felt sympathy for Donnie. Daniel himself couldn't help feeling bad for the other man.

Before he'd gone to bed, Donnie had sworn up and down that he hadn't recognized the voices on the video and that he remembered none of the things that had apparently transpired between his passing out behind the wheel of his car and waking up in the park. It was obvious that the people who had made the video had at least some passing familiarity with who Donnie was. But the video offered no clues as to their true identities.

Kate sighed heavily and rubbed her eyes. She turned to Daniel "You're sure it's okay if I stay with you tonight?" she asked.

Daniel wanted to tell her that it was okay with him if she stayed with him forever but he decided to take a more cautious approach to this as yet uncharted territory "Of course," he offered her a warm smile. Kate returned his smile and Daniel felt a warm feeling building inside him. It was a feeling he'd gotten used to recently, a feeling only Kate could inspire in him.

Kate was ashamed to admit that Daniel's smile made her feel a little weak kneed, it almost always had. He smiled so rarely that when he did it was like her own personal ray of sunshine. His smile had had this sort of profound affect on her since the first time she'd caught a glimpse of it as a college student.

"Well," Sandy was saying to Joey as she put the iPad away and stood up "We'd better go rescue your dad from the girls."

Joey nodded "Kate," he turned to address his sister "No more late night calls asking me to babysit your ex, okay."

Kate shrugged "But you're so good at it," she grinned as she gave her brother a hug goodbye.

At this point Donnie meandered out of the bedroom "What's this about me needing a babysitter?" he questioned Kate.

"Someone should obviously be watching you to keep you from doing stupid shit," Joey told him.

"Considering the circumstances," Donnie looked pointedly at Kate and Daniel "I feel like I had the right to act a little stupid."

"A little stupid," Joey countered with a derisive snort "That's like saying Chicago is a little windy."

"You know what?" Donnie glared at Joey.

"I know it's only a matter of time before your boss sees that video and you're under investigation for your behavior," Joey countered.

Donnie punched him in the face.

And the next thing anyone knew all Hell broke loose. Joey exploded in a fury of flailing fists at Donnie. Donnie responded with a few more punches of his own as well as a kick to Joey's left shin. Daniel, Max and Sandy stared in shock at the sudden eruption of violence. Daniel couldn't help thinking this was somewhat like how he had expected the confrontation in the church parking lot to have gone.

As he was thinking this he caught sight of a blur of long brown hair as Kate attempted to position herself between the two combatants and was promptly attacked by both before they had even realized it. She fell to the floor and the other three bystanders jumped into action. Sandy wrapped her arms around Joey from behind while Max jumped on Donnie.

Daniel knelt by Kate and gently gathered her into his arms "You alright?" he asked as he looked her over.

"I think so," she replied though her lower lip was split and bleeding quite profusely and there was a bruise already forming on the right side of her jaw.

"What the Hell is wrong with the two of you?!" Daniel shouted at Joey and Donnie as he helped Kate to her feet.

The fight had gone out of both men as they watched Daniel protectively guide Kate towards the kitchen. Donnie hung his head, not making the slightest effort to break free of Max's grasp. Joey shook Sandy off and went to sit on the couch. Sandy moved into the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit for Daniel.

Daniel began cleaning the blood that poured from Kate's lower lip. From the first aid kit that Sandy brought him he retrieved a wad of gauze and instructed Kate to apply pressure. He then went to the freezer and found an ice pack for her jaw.

"You're sure you're alright?" he asked as he held the ice pack for her, with his other hand he brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face "You don't feel dizzy or nauseous? Were you hit anywhere else? What about when you fell did you-?"

"Daniel," she cut him off, the hand that wasn't holding the gauze to her lip reaching out and touching his face "I'm fine, a little stunned but other than that I feel fine."

Daniel nodded but inside he knew he'd be watching her carefully for signs of concussion for the rest of the day.

In spite of the ice pack the bruise on Kate's jaw darkened and swelled significantly. Eventually Kate and Daniel emerged from the kitchen to discover that Donnie had slunk away. Kate grabbed the overnight bag she had packed after deciding that she would allow Donnie to stay in the apartment a couple more days while they waited to see if this video thing would blow over.

"Sorry Kate," Joey murmured as he hugged her again.

"You're just lucky we're not kids anymore," she told him with a half smile.

Joey seemed to shudder a bit as he and Sandy headed for their cars.

The drive to Daniel's house went by quickly. When they arrived Max disappeared upstairs to his studies leaving Kate and Daniel alone in the living room. They sat side by side just gazing at each other.

"Make a move man," Daniel rolled his eyes at his hallucination before returning his attention to Kate "Come on man, don't just sit there like an idiot," his younger self egged him on "Kiss her!"