bigdamnprincipal | Zoe's Office

The door to Zoe's office was closed, but the sign telling people to go ahead and knock was hanging off of the doorknob. Inside, Zoe was balanced on a chair as she sorted through the mess of papers that had slowly grown on top of her filing cabinets. She heard the sound of someone knocking, but didn't bother turning around before yelling, "The door's open, come on in."

There was no sound from the door opening or closing, just a voice. "Gee honey, isn't that an awfully improper way to greet your husband?"

Zoe turned around, ignoring the papers in her hands as they fell to the floor, and stared in disbelief. "Wash?"

"Good morning, beautiful," he replied, smiling at her.

All Zoe could do was continue to stare, even as she climbed down from the chair and moved towards him. "Wash? You're...here. How are you here?" She came close enough to almost touch him, which was close enough to see that she probably couldn't. "You're dead."

Wash smirked, and laughed shortly. "Hey, thanks for the reminder. I hadn't really noticed. Guess I was wrong about chest wounds being fatal, huh?"

Zoe took a step backwards, keeping her hands tight at her sides. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you," he replied. "I wanted to see how my lovely wife was doing at her job. You must be doing pretty well if they're letting you run the place." When Zoe didn't move closer, he tilted his head at her, giving her a curious look. "You're not happy to see me."

"I'm...too shocked to know how to feel," she explained. "I can't tell you how many times I've wished I could see you. And now you're here, and I don't know what to say."

Wash's glance turned into a slightly colder stare. "You could start by apologizing."

Zoe simply blinked, taken aback for the moment. "Apologizing for what?"

"Oh, I don't know. For not protecting me? For letting me die? How about for leaving me in the ship while you ran off to fight? Did you even mourn afterwards?"

Zoe took on a stoic look, walking around to get a better look at him, while trying to keep a safe distance. This couldn't be her Wash. He would never say things like that to her - no matter how true they might have been.

"I couldn't protect you," she explained, just barely keeping her voice steady. "It all happened too quickly, you know that. And we had to go and fight. If we hadn't, we all would have died. There wasn't time to mourn, not until later."

"Oh, of course." Wash sighed, rolling his eyes. "You know, some wives mourn for their husbands for seven years. Did you even make it seven months before you moved on?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The Mountie. Fraser. Matey-wit'-the-Hat," he said sharply. "You know, your new husband."

It was Zoe's turn to roll her eyes this time. "Tyen-ah. We were married by a five year old! It's not real!"

"But you do care about him, don't you." The way Wash said it, it wasn't a question.

Zoe sighed, coming to a stop behind Wash. "Yes, I do. But that doesn't mean I don't miss you. I miss you every single day," she admitted, her voice finally breaking. "Or, I should say, I miss my husband. I miss Wash. You, whatever you are, are not him, and you need to get out. Now."

She turned around and went back to the filing cabinet, gathering the papers that she'd dropped, and when she glanced back towards the door, the room was empty. But as she got back to work, Zoe couldn't ignore the feeling that he was still there.

The door is closed, but the sign is still up, if anyone needs/wants to come by.