"This Rush of Wings"

----------------------- by Kim

Summary: At the Newseum after the shooting, Josh gets a visit from Death.

Spoilers: ItSoTG, I and II

Archive: Yes, please. Just drop me a line.

Note: This is a brief crossover between TWW and the Sandman universe. If you've never heard of Sandman, it might be a little confusing, but I think you could probably still give it a whirl.

Disclaimer: TWW belongs to Aaron Sorkin. Sandman belongs to Neil Gaiman.

The second person here is Josh.

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A moment, and she's there, like a dream.

Not beckoning. Not some hooded figure with a scythe. Just a girl who walks out of the crowd, her hands in her pockets, and sits down beside you.

You can't speak. The breath catches in your lungs - in some rupture of your lungs - and you feel the panicked pressure of *no air*. If you could make a sound, you are sure it would be the frightened, wordless plea of a dying animal, the death-sound that reduces all living beings to the same level. The noise of the knowledge that blood is ceasing to flow in your veins.

Her face is sad, and moon-shaped, and pale as she looks at you. "It's been a long night, hasn't it, Josh?"

You try again to make some sound.

A look of sympathy comes to rest in her dark eyes. "No. I know. You can't talk right now. It's okay."

But in spite of the blood, in spite of the weight that is crushing your chest, you have to try. You have to tell her. You force the last remaining air in your lungs out in a whisper. "I... know... you."

Because the face - the eyes - the figure of this not-girl are familiar, etched in your memory. The fire. The house. You stood at the edge of the lawn and watched it burn. You were clutching - what was it? - a teddy bear, something like that. And a pale figure came out of the darkness, dressed in black, leading a little girl by the hand.

Understanding dawns in the youthful face of Death. "Yes. I remember. Joanie."

You close your eyes. The darkness is a relief after the memory of fire.

And then you feel a cool touch on your cheek, wiping a tear from beneath your eye. "You're crying," Death says, sounding surprised. "Why are you crying? Did you think you were going to die, Josh?"

You manage to tilt your head forward in a nod, another tear making its path down your face.

"No. You're gonna be fine. Trust me." She leans back against the wall, a small, secret smile curving her lips. "You know, I always liked you guys. You Lymans. When I came for your grandfather a couple of years ago I could smell Birkenau on him... the ash. I could never forget the way the ash smelled."

Her eyes, for a moment, are far away and terrible. Then she glances over at you and smiles again. "But he looked me right in the eye and said, 'I know who you are, and I know why you're here, and I've been waiting all these years to thank you for not taking me in 1944.

"'I've had a good life,' he said to me. 'I've had a good life, and I"m ready to go. Thank you.' Not many people thank me, Josh. People usually aren't very dignified when they're dying. Those guys I came for, up there - " she gestures towards the shattered windows of the office building. "They didn't want to go. They yelled a lot. They didn't understand that in the end, everyone walks with me."

It takes some effort for your lips to form the painful word: "Joanie?"

She lays her hand on your forehead gently and says softly, "Everyone walks with me, Josh. In the end."

You want to say so many things. You want to shout at her, to tell her that it *was* the end. Of childhood. Of music. Of laughter, for so many years. You want to ask her what kind of person would let a little child die.

But then you look into her eyes and feel the pain melt away.

*Everyone walks with me.*

Death is not a judgement. It's not a personal ruling from this dark-eyed, Gothic avatar. It's not right, it's not fair, it's not justifiable, and it's certainly not *just*. What death is, beyond these simple truths, is a matter of faith.

"Where... is she?" you ask on the wisp of a breath, your face drawn with the pain. *Where is Joanie, where's my father, where's zayde, what happens after you take them away?*

But Death brings a finger to her lips, and smiles, and shakes her head. "That's a secret, Josh. For me to know, and you to find out."

Something distracts her, and she glances to the side. "Oh, look, someone's coming!" She scrambles to her feet, sounding delighted. "That means it's time for me to go. It's been nice talking to you, though."

You hear Toby's voice faintly. "Josh!"

Death waves, and turns to walk away into the crowd. She vanishes before she reaches the street.

"... need a doctor! I need help!"

Toby is shouting. You see fear in his eyes. You're beginning to feel the pain much more now, but you find that you're calm. You feel as though you're watching the scene taking place from someplace very far away... from a place where you hear, like a sudden rush of wings, the echo of a voice:

*Goodbye, Josh. I'll be seeing you.*

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Fin

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