The night that J. Daniel Atlas died, only Henley Reeves was there. It happened out of nowhere. The two of them were out walking, talking about what they were going to do for their next show.
That was before the guy with the gun showed up and pointed it at Henley.
Daniel thought quickly-or perhaps he didn't think at all-and got in the way of her.
The gun fired, and the only thing Daniel felt was pain. Searing pain as the bullet entered his stomach. All he managed to get out was a gasp of pain. He was dimly aware of someone screaming as he fell back and, as someone caught him, he realized the scream was Henley's. He mustered up as much strength as he could to look into her tear filled eyes. His head was in her lap and one of her hands was on his shoulder while the other was lightly running through his hair. It was such a mundane gesture, but it startled Danny how much this tiny gesture comforted him.
"Danny, please, please stay with me. I'll help you get to a hospital, or back to headquarters." She begge him.
Daniel didn't think it was possible. He could feel himself growing weaker and weaker. Though it broke his heart, he shook his head. "Henley...no...there's no...point."
"There has to be something I can do!" Henley's voice rose an octave and Danny knew that if she kept this up, she'd go into hysterics pretty soon.
"There is." Using even more of his slowly dwindling strength, he reached up and placed his hand on top of the one that was on his shoulder. A strangled sob escaped her mouth. "Stay...with me. Please?"
Henley nodded. Tears were spilling down her cheeks. "Okay, Danny." It started to rain, but she didn't move, not even as the streets, and in turn Henley and Daniel, became drenched in rain. She looked down at him. Daniel's eyes were closed, he almost looked peaceful-if it weren't for the bullet hole and the blood Henley would assume he was just sleeping. For one horrifying moment, Henley thought he was dead, and her breath hitched in her throat.
"Henley..." At the sound of his voice, she let out her breath. It was very weak, and very quiet-so alarmingly different from the usual sarcastic, almost mocking tone she was used to hearing whenever he spoke. His breathing was labored, and every time he took a breath his face contorted in pain.
"Shh, save your strength." She whispered, feeling a fresh batch of tears welling up.
He shook his head, cringing in pain immediately afterwards. "No. I need to say something to you." Daniel looked up at her again. "I should've said this to you a long time ago..." He gasped weith each word he spoke. "It was never...Rebecca."
Henley looked at him, confused, more tears trickling down her cheeks. "W-what do you mean?"
"I never cared about her. I never...loved her." Danny broke off and let out a sound that was almost a scream of pain. "It...was...always...you."
"I love you too." Henley whispered. She was sobbing freely now. Henley leaned down and pressed her lips to his.
Daniel could taste her tears on his lips. He kissed her weakly back and then another jolt of pain shot through him, causing him to break the kiss with a weak cry of pain. Despite the fact that he was obviously dying, he smiled weakly. Then the smile dropped off his lips and his eyes glazed over, and Henley knew he was gone.
Henley lost it in that moment. The one erson who meant more to her than anything else in the world was gone. And he was never coming back.