A/N: this will be a short multi chapter, probably angst filled (someone i know wants some angst smut, so here we go, although it's not in chapter 1) and a.t.m. i don't know if it will have a happy ending. Hoping to finish and post all the chapters before next week's episode :O we'll see if that happens. Please, feel free to leave any reviews or comments that you have. I love them so so much and I constantly reread them, also suggestions are always welcome.

Danny felt his irritation level rising as his palms began to sweat, his heart beating a little too quickly. She kept giving him the cold shoulder, this time literally spinning on her heel to exit the room only seconds after she'd entered it. And why? Just because he was sitting there already, eating his lunch.

He didn't get it, they were doing semi-okay now, weren't they? What was this sudden about face in behavior? He hadn't done anything to piss her off, and if he had, this wasn't how she usually reacted anyway. Where was the confrontation? God damn it all, he missed the confrontation.

Last week had marked some strange turning point for them. She'd finally begun to look at him with something other than sadness in her eyes, even giving him a small chuckle when he said something tremendously erroneous about her favorite reality tv show. He'd felt the vise clamped around his heart ease just a bit.

But all the progress was gone now. In the space of a couple days, she'd just backed even further away from him, closing him out even more completely than before. He slammed down his empty coffee cup, deciding that if she wouldn't confront him, then he'd just have to be the one to start the conversation.

In front of her door in a matter of seconds, he pushed away the fluttering uncertainty he felt in his chest. He had to do it this way, things couldn't continue on this path.

The door swung open soundlessly, the perfectly oiled hinges not making a squeak. She didn't even look up from her file, head still bent forward as she scribbled little notations along the edges. Still concentrating on the task at hand, she said, "Yes?"

One word? One curt little word, clipped short by irritation. It pissed Danny off. There was no reason for her to be treating him like this, not after they'd begun to get along again. He carefully shut the door behind him. "What's your deal, Mindy?"

"My deal?" Finally she tore her attention away from the work in front of her, picking up her pen, running the bottom of it across her lip, lost in thought. "I have no DEAL, Danny. I'm just a busy successful woman, trying to have it all, much like Hillary Clinton." She waved the pen in the air, as if granting him permission to speak. "Anything else? I have work to do, you know." She looked back down, totally dismissing him.

Ignoring the fairly obvious sign that she wanted him gone, he stepped forward, pulling out one of the ornate white chairs in front of her desk, sitting down rather heavily. "No. I'm pretty sure you have a DEAL, avoiding me completely the last couple days. I thought we were past this. I thought we were friends again."

She pursed her lips, as though holding in an avalanche of words. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before opening them once more, plastering a toothy fake smile across her face. "So, friend, what's new in your life? Oh wait, don't tell me, it's all over the office."

Danny frowned, suddenly feeling like he'd been outmaneuvered. A fine sheen of perspiration settled on his brown, the temperature in the room rising a little. He cleared his throat. "Uh, look, Sally and me, we're just... It's not exactly... I mean, I didn't announce it or anything. People just... know." He finished lamely, sighing as he heard the words leave his mouth. He was doomed.

She nodded, the slightly insane looking pseudo smile still not leaving her face. "Yes, yes, very nice. Danny. Good for you, and for Sally. I hope you're very happy together. Now, please, get the hell out of my office before I lose my shit and throw you out." The unsettling way in which she uttered the words, still smiling, but not with her eyes, unnerved Danny.

He got up, moving awkwardly as he attempted to put her chair back where it had been. He almost tipped it over, jerking at the last minute to catch it, sitting it upright once again.

"Just leave it!" She barked at him.

Releasing his grasp on the chair, he whirled around, flinging the door open, resisting the urge to slam it as he made his exit. The sound of glass rattling in the door would have been satisfying, but he didn't want to explain his behavior to Betsy or anyone else for that matter.

He would have stayed and argued too, but he knew he didn't have a leg to stand on. The whole Sally mess had spun completely out of his control. He shouldn't have given into loneliness, but he was sick and tired of having no one. He hadn't been lying when he'd said Mindy was his only friend. She'd thought it was a line, but it was the stupid and pathetic truth.

Danny stood uncertainly outside Mindy's door, contemplating whether or not he could just leave for the day. He didn't know there was a look of abject misery on his face, or that he'd been standing there long enough for someone to take notice. Specifically, for Peter to take notice.

Peter looked at him, wanting to ignore his colleague, but finding it impossible. Sure, Danny had brought this entire mess down on himself, and he'd gone after Sally on top of it all, but it was hard to stay really angry at the little Italian man. He was clearly miserable and making all the wrong decisions. "Hey, Danny, I need a second opinion on a patient, could you come here for a minute?" He held up a file he'd just retrieved from Betsy.

Danny looked at him dubiously, still recalling Peter's ire over the whole Sally situation. The pained expression on his face quickly shuttered, he frowned. "Um, well, I have—"

Peter cut him off. "It'll only take a minute, come on." Wheedling slightly, Peter continued. "I mean, I guess I could just ask Mindy, she'd probably—"

"You know what? I have a minute." Danny quickly made his way to Peter's office, following him through the door, he reached for the file. "What is it exactly?"

Peter stalled for a second, trying to remember which patient file he'd even had in his hand. "Uh, yeah, Mrs. Patterson has some worrisome blood pressure numbers."

Danny flipped through the file, noting the readouts from previous visits. He raised one eyebrow, looking back at Peter. "It's only slightly elevated. You can put her on a mild blood pressure medication for the duration of the pregnancy. You know that."

Peter nodded, conceding Danny's point. "Yeah, but she's got it in her head that the medication might not be good for the baby. Thinks it'll cause, like, vestigial limbs, or behavior problems later in life. She doesn't want her little girl to grow up and become a John Mayer fan."

Danny was incredulous. "What? The risks regarding the medication are far less than the risks associated with having high blood pressure during pregnancy. Did you tell her that the medication you'd prescribe is so mild that it's not even used to treat high blood pressure in normal patients anymore, because it has so little effect?"

Peter nodded. "Some people don't know what's good for them." He looked pointedly at Danny, the tone of his voice suddenly shifting.

Danny snapped the file shut, tossing it on Peter's desk. "Alright, Peter, save it. I don't need to hear any more of this. Your sister is an adult, she'll make her own decisions." His frustration surfaced again. The urge to storm out of Peter's office held at bay for a moment by the desire to get something off his chest. "And you know what? I'm sick and tired of being the bad guy. I don't go out in the world everyday just looking for ways to make other people miserable."

Peter frowned. The earnest exasperation in Danny's voice surprised him a little. "Danny—"

"No, just stop. I get it, you and Mindy have your 'Danny is an Asshole' club, and you get together and have drinks and harp about how much of a jerk I am. I don't need to hear it, ok?" He was pacing in front of Peter's desk now, running one hand through his hair. He stopped abruptly, looking straight at Peter. "And I get it, you think Sally will probably become another card carrying member, right?"

There was a part of Peter that was still annoyed over the situation with his sister, and he was even tempted to let Danny think he was being protective of his sibling. But it wasn't the truth, and a small almost inaudible voice inside of him was beginning to make itself known. He supposed some would call it a conscience, ugh. "Look, Sally can take care of herself. I know that, believe me. I just don't think it's fair for you to jump into a relationship like this."

Danny gestured dramatically, looking up at the ceiling. "Is it shocking to think that maybe I never intended for anyone to be unhappy? I don't get up every morning thinking of ways to make other people miserable. It just happens." He looked back down, biting his bottom lip. He shook his head and let out a sad little laugh. "And then some people… " He trailed off.

"Some people?"

"Some people are so mad at me right now that they won't even talk to me, and it pisses me off so much I want to break something, but I can't say anything about it because it's all my fault, and every single little thing I do just makes it worse."

Peter leaned back in his chair, lifting his hands behind his head. "Anyone in particular, Danny?"

He gave in, jerking out one of Peter's chairs and dropping down in his. "Why does she have to be so mad? Things ended weeks ago, she seemed so blasé about the whole thing, and now she won't even look at me. She's hot then cold, the hot again, then cold. It's driving me insane. I just want things the way they were before, and she's being completely uncooperative. Did she not expect me to ever date again?"

Danny's voice broke a little on his last question, and he looked away, taking a sudden interest in the questionable paintings on the walls of Peter's office.

Peter sighed. "Look, you need to lay off of her for a little bit, ok? She had a really bad time with this last dickweed."

Danny's head snapped back around at breakneck speed, glaring at Peter. "She's dating?" He caught himself, embarrassed at the volume of his question. "I mean, uh, what do you mean 'a bad time'?"

Peter leaned back in his chair again, this time casually propping his feet up on his desk. "Mindy and I are like bros ok, so I was her wingman last night. We went out looking for some strange."

Danny's lip curled up in disgust. "You what?"

Peter rolled his eyes. "You know what I'm talking about. Anyway, she chats up this guy, charms the hell out of him in that weird I-might-be-insane-but-I'm-cute way that she has, and you know, mission accomplished."

Danny felt jealousy course through him and strained not to show it. His foot tapped impatiently as he listened to Peter talk. "So? She got some 'strange' as you said." The word tasted like rotten meat in his mouth, and he fought to urge to get up and storm out.

He was fuming. So, she slept with some random guy. For what? To prove a point? To who? He couldn't get the idea out of his head. He began to fidget with the clasp on his watch, biting the inside of his cheek before he looked back up at Peter.

"Yeah, but you know Mindy, she couldn't just do what I told her, let it be some sort of cathartic experience, a one-time deal. This guy left his scarf at her apartment, and her delusion just completely took over."

"Delusion?"

Peter nodded sadly. "She calls it 'The Cinderella.' When someone leaves something at your place because they want an excuse to talk to you again, to do the nasty and whatnot." He shook his head, giving Danny a knowing look. "I mean, I told her that guys don't do that, it was just an accident, but she wouldn't listen."

Danny, in spite of the swirling sensation in his stomach, the jealousy making his chest tight, leaned forward so he could hear more. This was the most he'd had of her in so long. "The Cinderella?" He grasped the arms of the chair. Could it be possible..? He gave his head a little shake. No. The last time she'd been at his place, neither of them had any inkling that things were going to end. There wouldn't have been a reason for it. He swallowed, hating himself for the thoughts that ran through his head. "And?"

Peter shrugged. "What do you think? Of course she ignored me and basically stalked him. Turns out he's a married man, and a constantly philandering one at that. It wasn't a pretty confrontation."

"Married!" Danny was out of his chair, leaning across Peter's desk. "Who is this guy? What's his name?"

Peter groaned. "Look, it's over with. All I'm saying is, cut her some slack. She's feeling kind of rejected lately. She's said some things that I never thought I would hear come from her."

Danny retreated from Peter's desk, feeling deflated. "Like what?"

Peter frowned, not wanting to divulge too many things heard in confidence. "Well, the gist of it is, she feels… like she's not good enough. Which, you have to admit, that's not something you typically hear from little miss I'm-going-to-marry-prince-William, right?"

Danny's desire to march into Mindy's office and confront her about the thing with the married man evaporated, and was immediately replaced with guilt. "No, it isn't." Shit. This was bad. He began to see how the whole Sally situation looked to Mindy. Like he had hidden Mindy in a closet and was not proudly putting Sally on display. He suddenly felt sick.

Turning away from Peter abruptly, he called out over his shoulder. "I'm going home for the day, I don't feel well. Can you, uh… take care of my last few patients for today?" Not waiting for Peter's answer, he slipped into his office, grabbing his coat and messenger bag.

Peter sauntered over to Betsy's desk, watching as Danny strode to the elevator and punched the button. Betsy glanced up, watching as the elevator doors closed. "Where is he going? He has an appointment in twenty minutes."

"He has some stuff he needs to take care of. Call and see if you can reschedule, if not I'll take care of it."

Betsy nodded. "Dr. C's been acting so strange lately. He looks tired all the time, and when he smiles, it's like he's been waiting for someone to take a picture for too long, and he can't make it look real anymore."

Peter nodded. "Yeah, he's an idiot."