Prompt #20 by acrascia: "Set post 7x13 (maybe even post 7x16, writer's choice). Donna asks Harvey to help her get her Christmas tree up to her apartment in the middle of a blizzard. There's a blackout whilst they're in the elevator and they're forced to confront/talk about their feelings (not so loosely based on Bones 6x16 "The Blackout in the Blizzard")"

A/N: I've set this post 7x13, but before 7x16, as they have things to talk about before that wedding dance, so this story imagines that Christmas takes place in between. I've also slightly tweaked it, so it's Harvey who volunteers for tree duty, as let's face it, he owes her!

…

He'd regretted it the moment after he'd offered and now, as he manhandled a seven foot Christmas tree in to Donna's elevator, he regretted it even more. Why the hell hadn't he kept quiet, or paid someone else, anyone else, to take on the task? Yet, as he wrestled with the tree, bound in netting to keep it as restrained as it was ever going to get, he knew exactly why he'd offered.

Guilt.

There was no dodging the truth. He still felt guilty for their recent history and it didn't take a Harvard lawyer's brain to know that Donna was still angry, or hurt, or more likely both. It had all just spiralled out of control - Paula, Donna, him, culminating in him trying to engineer her a new job and her resignation. Yes, he'd come to his senses and tried to put things back together by ripping up her letter, but he knew things weren't the same. The last couple of weeks they'd been strained and distant and he hated it. Yet, as another stray branch almost poked him in the eye, while his feet resembled blocks of ice, having spent far too long outside in the blizzard that had set in over the city that morning and was only getting worse, he started to feel angry. How was this all his damn fault?! She'd started it with that kiss!

Letting out a groan of frustration, he gave the uncooperative spruce one last shove in to the back of the elevator, its top curving slightly due to the lower ceiling.

"Careful. You'll damage it."

"If you helped, we'd have got it upstairs by now."

Donna pushed past him in to the elevator and steadied the tree, meeting his eyes with a steely glare. "I am helping. It's my tree isn't it." Her thick coat was covered in snow and she shivered a little, rubbing her hands up and down her arms for warmth now they were out of the cold. She really wasn't in the mood for his attitude tonight.

Wedging himself in to the other side of the space, the tree acted as the perfect physical barrier between them. "You know they sell artificial ones now. Disassembled in a compact box."

"You volunteered Harvey. No one forced you to be here." She almost added "with me", but stopped herself.

Deciding silence was the best strategy before he made things even frostier between them, Harvey simply reached out and pressed the button for the 12th floor. At least there was an elevator, he thought.

Just as the doors were about to close, one of the Donna's older neighbours appeared, but on seeing the tree taking up half the space and the less than festive cheer on display from the other two occupants, he simply smiled. "I'll take the stairs. Merry Christmas Donna."

"Merry Christmas Mr Andrews."

The doors closed and the two were left in silence. Donna shifted her weight from one foot to the other, fully regretting accepting his offer to help. Mike and Alex had been supposed to be here doing this, but last minute changes to court hearings had left her with a tree to collet and no one to help her carry it home. In snow. She always bought her tree from the same family who set up a stall a few blocks from her apartment. It was a Christmas tradition and Harvey had helped out in the past. She just hadn't felt in the right mood to be asking him for anything this year. It was all still too raw for her. Yet, he'd overheard Mike's apology and she hadn't had any other options. With the weather likely to only get worse, if she hadn't collected it today, she might not have had another chance.

At least it was almost done. Get the tree inside and secured in her sturdy stand and then he could leave and they could go back to avoiding each other. So much for his reconciliation with his mum making him more open about his feelings. Well, I suppose he was, she thought, just with someone else.

She let out a sigh and Harvey turned his head towards her. "You okay?"

"Fine."

"Okay then."

This was ridiculous. He knew it was. If they didn't deal with this now, maybe they never would. Something else they'd pretend never happened. He'd had enough.

"Donna….."

Before he could say anything else, there was an almighty thud and a grinding noise of machinery coming to a halt. The elevator stopped, the lights flickering before going out.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

Silence then descended on the dark small space, as their other senses adjusted. The smell of the spruce suddenly seemed much more noticeable than it had, which seemed to mock them with the irony of the situation.

"Well, this is different," Donna sighed, reaching for her phone, the screen lighting up the small area around her. She still had phone service so at least they could call for help. She shuddered at the thought of being trapped without her phone. Sure, she'd been trapped in an elevator once as a student at a party, but it was one of those old-fashioned birdcage-style ones, so hadn't felt claustrophobic and friends had passed supplies through to her while they prised it open from above. They'd all joked about it afterwards. This didn't seem so funny.

Harvey turned on his phone torch and surveyed the information panel, as Donna called 911, noting the contact information for building management. As Donna hung up, he pointed to the phone number on the wall. "It might be worth calling this too. Maybe they can access a back-up generator. It'd at least give us lights even if we're still stuck in here."

She nodded and made a second call, repeating the information about their situation, before leaning back against the side wall. "Sounds like a localised power outage across this area, connected to the weather. I think we're on a long list of non-urgent call-outs."

"Great." With that, Harvey sat down on the floor, leaning back against the wall opposite Donna. This felt pretty damn urgent to him.

A sudden banging got their attention, followed by a male voice muffled slightly by the distance. Clearly they were in between floors of the building.

"Donna? Are you still in there?"

She realised with a smile it was her older neighbour, Mr Andrews. "Yes! We're still here unfortunately."

"I hoped you'd got out before the power went out. I know where the generator is in the basement. We're going to go and have a look."

She didn't know everyone in her building, but Mr Andrews was one of her favourites and he'd lived there for decades.

"Be careful Mr Andrews. Don't put yourself in danger for us. The fire department knows we're here."

"Oh, I'll be fine. My grandson is here with me. He's going to take my torch down there." With that, the voice disappeared.

"I bet he's glad he took the stairs now," Harvey muttered.

Sighing Donna put her bag on the floor and sat down. She could just about make out Harvey's silhouette across from her in the darkness. After the last two weeks of doing all she could to avoid him as she tried to process her emotions about the choices he'd made about her own life and career, the irony of their current predicament wasn't lost on her. Had the 911 operator not mentioned the wider problem, she wouldn't have put it past Mike to be behind this stunt, to force them to talk to one another. Then it hit her - was he actually busy with work, or had he made him and Alex unavailable on purpose? The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Hell, he'd even made a point of saying they could no longer help while they were in the corridor, outside her outside - right by Harvey's open door. Damn it!

"If it's a localised problem, hopefully it shouldn't take long to fix." She now had a longer to do list, including killing Mike. Rachel would understand, she thought, before realising, she was probably in on this too.

Harvey's response to her statement drifted through the darkness, bringing her back to the here and now. "Why, you have somewhere else to be tonight?"

Donna was glad he couldn't see her at that moment, as he'd have immediately seen the answer on her face. Yet, all of a sudden her phone started to ring and she wanted to groan at the world seeming to conspire against her.

"Hi Stu."

Harvey opened his eyes at her words. It seemed Stu wasn't still in her bad books and that fact grated on him.

"No, that's fine. No problem. Actually, I was going to call you and cancel…No I'm fine, but I'm currently stuck in an elevator waiting for the fire department to get here….Thanks, but it's in hand. No. Not the night either of us planned….Thanks Stu. Next week sounds good…Bye."

Harvey let out an annoyed laugh. "Oh so you did have other plans tonight. Was good old Stu unavailable for tree duty?"

"You offered Harvey! No one forced you. And as for Stu, I thought he was your buddy now."

"Oh come on Donna."

"What?! You're so close these days. All these favours behind people's backs." The sarcasm dripped off every syllable.

"And yet you're the one going out with him!"

"Yes, because he wanted to apologise to me! Because he knew he should! And because he knew I was angry!"

Harvey felt Donna's words like a slap, but it was one he knew she'd been waiting to unleash and that he knew he deserved.

"Donna….." Her name came out like a whisper, but the rest of his words failed him.

The silence only made Donna more angry. Communication had never been his strong suit, but she wasn't in the mood now and the darkness emboldened her. "Nothing more to say? What a surprise. Maybe give Stu a call and ask him to act on your behalf again."

Shit. Harvey swallowed, his mouth suddenly uncomfortably dry. God, he needed a scotch.

Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, the harsh, artificial light of the elevator sprang in to life. Donna's eyes met his own across the space and he felt trapped by the hardness in her expression; one he'd rarely experienced personally. It was Donna who looked away first, her eyes dropping to her lap.

"Donna! We can't get the damn thing to move, but the generator should've turned the light back on in there."

"Yes. Thanks Mr Andrews." Truth be told, she had preferred the darkness and suspected Harvey probably had too, from how uncomfortable he looked.

"Okay dear. Hopefully it won't be long before you're out of there."

Harvey let the silence take over again as he tried to decide what to say next, but Donna beat him to it.

"You're really not going to say anything?" Her voice was raised slightly, the anger rippling through each word.

"I got the message the last two weeks that you didn't want me to speak to you at all."

"Oh you would say that. Looking for an excuse to avoid yet another conversation you don't want to have."

"Me?! You've been avoiding me Donna!"

Donna sat forward then, arms folding across her chest defensively. "Why does it always have to be me that comes to you, Harvey? I haven't seen you approaching me!"

"No! Because I thought you were still angry."

Her eyes went wide. "Damn right I'm still angry! What did you think? I'd just magically get over it? That it'd disappear, like your loyalty seemed to!"

That one stung and Harvey's own anger rose in response. "That's not fair Donna. Hell, you started this mess in the first place! But I've always been loyal to you. I took it back didn't I?"

"When backed in to a corner you did. How would you describe someone taking 13 years and throwing them out with the trash like they meant nothing?!"

"That's not what happened Donna."

"No?! You went behind my back. To MY friend. To someone who respected me for who I am, separate from working for you. And you engineered a new job to get rid of me once it suited you, after everything we've been through."

Harvey took a breath to steady himself. Set out like that he knew how awful it appeared. "I didn't want to get rid of you, Donna. I was trying to do what was best."

"For who? For You? For Paula? It certainly wasn't for me, Harvey."

"I…..It…." His words trailed off and he gave a weak shrug. God, this was truly hell. He'd gladly pay for the ground to open up and swallow him to get him out of this.

"Why didn't you just talk to me, Harvey?" Her voice had dropped to a slightly lower tone, yet he found he couldn't even look at her.

"I don't know, Donna."

"I think you do."

He raised his head and sighed. "Because I'd have never been able to say any of it to your face. I asked Stu because I know he respects you. It wasn't a hard ask. He jumped at the chance to potentially work with you more permanently. He just didn't approve of the approach taken."

He saw Donna open her mouth to comment, but he cut her off. "And he was right. But, at the time it seemed like the only solution that might work out for everyone."

Donna remained silent, as she processed the words. Did he really believe that would've been the best thing for them? Did he really wish she'd just gone without a word. Played along with his charade?

"I'm glad you came back Donna. I didn't want you to leave."

She sighed. "Technically I didn't leave. No one else even knows."

"Mike knows."

Oh wonderful. She'd felt so ashamed and embarrassed she hadn't even told Rachel and yet she was bound to know too if Mike did.

"Blame the scotch. He's sneaky at using it against me."

"If you didn't want me to leave, why'd you do it, Harvey? I don't understand."

Rubbing his eyes with his hand, Harvey let out a deep, tired, sigh. "It seemed the only choice to try and not hurt anyone. I hoped, for once, you'd not be Donna and would just see it as a job offer."

"Because Paula wanted me gone. But I asked you before, why didn't you stand up for me, Harvey?"

"And what would I have said to her? That nothing would happen again between us?" He raised his head to look at her, to read her eyes. He'd realised he so often hadn't truly tried to read her, for fear of what he'd learn if he did. There were complications he'd not wanted to think about. Now though, now he needed to know. No more hiding.

It was Donna's turn to be silent, turning her phone over and over in her hand as a distraction.

"Donna….." His tone was quiet and calm, but firm, the tone she knew meant he wasn't going to leave this alone.

This whole conversation suddenly seemed like a huge mistake to Donna. What the hell had she been thinking to push this? They'd covered this ground already and she had no interest in going over the pain of it again.

"We don't need to talk about this Harvey."

That was it. His out. To sweep it all under the carpet and never mention it again. That had been their promise all those years ago and look how well that had worked out. Instead, he got to his feet, suddenly aware how long he'd been sitting down, as his muscles protested at the sudden movement, before crossing the short space, until he was standing next to Donna. When she didn't acknowledge him, he took a seat on the floor next to her. This close, he could feel how tense she was. Her whole frame was still and rigid. For a moment, he almost changed his mind, but a line had been crossed now and he found himself determined to not go backwards.

"Why did you kiss me Donna?"

Her hands stilled in her lap.

"Harvey….." Her voice was quiet, but the tone carried a warning that they were in dangerous waters.

He tilted his head to try and catch her eye, keeping his voice light. "Donna."

"We've been over this Harvey. There's no point opening it up again."

His mind went back to that conversation, or more truthfully argument, in the middle of the lobby. He knew he'd lied back then, partly out of anger and confusion, but partly out of sheer terror. Had he not been the only one?

"I know what we said, Donna. But I wasn't being completely honest."

That got her attention and she finally turned her head to look at him.

"You weren't?"

"No. You?"

She bit her lip, a detail that made Harvey smile. "No. I wasn't, but I heard what you said and…"

"…..you gave me an out."

She nodded. It'd had seemed the only choice at the time for her own self-preservation and she'd been determined to live with that choice. Harvey let out a quiet chuckle. For two smart people, they'd been pretty stupid. Mike would never let them hear the end of this. Now the truth was in the open, he allowed himself to be even more honest.

"I was terrified that night Donna. You left before I could even process what had happened and I didn't know how to handle it, so I went home and Paula was there and I felt guilty and I blamed you for it."

Donna watched his expression as he spoke, his brow furrowed as he recalled that time. "You had every right to blame me. It wasn't fair of me to put you in that position."

"Maybe, but I focussed on being angry to avoid thinking about that kiss and when you said you didn't feel anything it made me more determined not to screw it up with someone who I thought it could work with. Even though it could never have worked between us and I deep down always knew it."

Donna closed her eyes. "And then she said she didn't want you working with me."

"Yeah."

"We've made such a mess of this haven't we?" Her voice wavered slightly, as her emotions started to overcome her.

Harvey reached out his hand and took hold of hers. "Doesn't mean we have keep making a mess of it."

"No. No it doesn't." She smiled and it not only reached her eyes, but he saw the sparkle return to them, which had been missing for months. He'd missed her smile. He'd missed her. A part of him was always missing without her in his life and he wasn't going to let her go again.

"New start?" His question was a whisper as he leaned closer to her. Donna answered with a kiss, but unlike the last time, she didn't pull back when she felt him lean in. Instead she let herself get lost in the moment. No uncertainties, no interruptions. Just the two of them.

"Now we just need to get out of this damn elevator," he murmured, dropping another soft kiss against her lips.

As if on cue, there was a banging up above them and distant shouts, before an authoritative voice shouted that they'd get them out in no time. Donna raised an eyebrow. "If I find out you set this up, I may have to kill you."

He laughed, before shaking his head. "Not guilty, Donna. I've been so scared of you recently, I'd never have risked you murdering me in here!"

…

Two hours later, warmed up and with the tree decorated and sparkling in the corner of her living room, Donna carried a couple of wine glasses to the coffee table, as Harvey uncorked a bottle of her favourite red wine.

"I think we've earned this."

"No arguments from me," she replied, as she stood admiring their work. Every time the Christmas tree took its place in the room, it immediately felt more like Christmas to Donna and she knew this particular tree would always be special to her. Maybe she'd repot a cutting from it as a lasting momento.

Harvey moved next to her. "Definitely worth the trouble for a real tree."

Donna turned to him and smirked. "You've changed your tune, Mister."

He smiled at the nickname. It was one she'd rarely called him since their days at the DA's office, but one he'd always loved. "What can I say, I think we owe this tree quite a lot this year."

Catching hold of her hand, he pulled her to the couch, the tensions and emotions of the last few hours, if not months, starting to catch up to him. Shifting his position and pulling her closer, he immediately felt himself relax. It was as if a weight had finally been lifted from his shoulders, one he'd carried for so many years, he'd almost got used to it. Threading her fingers between his, Donna leaned in to him, resting her head against his shoulder and closing her eyes.

"I have one request though Donna."

"What's that?"

"Next year we're paying someone to carry the tree up here. They can name their price."

Donna tried to stop herself, but gave in to laughter, which Harvey found himself joining in with. He had no doubt this would be a Christmas they would talk about for years to come.

….