a/n: Hey Horsemen! I've just completed my fic for the prompts "Can you do danley where Henley gets hurt and Danny is really worried:)) with fluff! Btw I LOVE YOUR BLOG SO MUCH3" and "Just… just lots and lots of Danley please? Pretty please? Thank you." Enjoy!
"Now, where is my lovely assistant?" Daniel's voice drifted down the hallway to Henley's dressing room. They were each preparing for the first dress rehearsal of an upcoming show. Henley nearly slammed down her hairbrush.
"Danny, if you call me that one more time, I'll make you wish you'd never been born!" she shouted back. Sure, she might technically be his assistant, but that didn't give him the right to be a dick about it.
Daniel waltzed in through the dressing room door. "I knew that'd work. How do I look?"
Henley turned around and looked him over. He wore a stiff tuxedo, white gloves, and a top hat. "Ridiculous," she huffed.
"Aw, I'm crushed," he joked. "Well, what're you wearing, then?"
Henley stood up and twirled around to face him. She wore a black dress, tight in the bodice but with a loose skirt falling just above her knees. The dress was backless, and Daniel whistled appreciatively as she turned around to sit back down. Retrieving the brush, she resumed fixing her hair in silence. Daniel crossed the room to lean against her vanity.
"Alright, Henley. You're more pissed at me than usual. What's up?"
She gave no sign that she heard him. Daniel sighed.
"It's the flying trick, isn't it?"
"It's stupid and dangerous and you know it!" she snapped. "I'm going to be suspended in the air from a single wire going through a loop of fabric! It's idiotic!"
"You won't be up there for long," Daniel replied in an attempt to reassure her. "You should be perfectly safe!"
Henley stood, drawing close to Daniel's face. "Should be," she hissed, before storming out of the room.
Daniel massaged his temples in frustration. Yes, the trick was dangerous. But so were plenty of her favorites - she locked herself in chains underwater all the time without a complaint. He didn't see why now was any different.
An hour later, Daniel stood onstage. Henley was to fly in before landing on the stage just behind him. He turned and spoke to the empty seats.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you my lovely assistant, miss Henley Reeves!" He pictured the scene as it would be in just a few days: every seat filled and the theatre roaring with applause as Henley flew in behind him, seemingly floating on air.
Suddenly, there was a scream. A crash. A crack.
Silence.
Daniel whipped his head around to see the crumpled body of Henley onstage, the empty wire dangling from the fly space. Already stagehands were pouring out from backstage to assess the damage. Daniel found himself crouching at Henley's side, unaware that he had even moved a step.
"Henley?" he asked, but there was no response. "Henley?" he repeated, becoming more desperate. Paramedics had arrived, and one tried valiantly to pull Daniel away from the fallen girl.
"Henley!" he cried, unable to summon any other word to his lips. He watched helplessly as she was lifted onto a stretcher and carried off the stage.
The next twenty four hours were a blur. When asked later, Daniel would never quite be able to remember exactly what occurred. White hospital walls and the overwhelming need to see Henley were the only two things standing out in his mind. He neither slept nor ate, only waited.
Some time later, a nurse found him in the hospital waiting room. "Daniel?" the woman asked. "Your friend Henley is awake; she's been asking for you."
Daniel leapt out of the hard plastic chair and followed the nurse. His hands shook as they walked down the sterile hallways. After what seemed like an eternity, the nurse stopped in front of a door and slowly pushed it open, allowing Daniel to step inside.
"She's on a lot of pain meds for her arm," the nurse warned him in a whisper. "Bit loopy." She stepped out and closed the door softly behind her.
Henley lay in a white hospital bed. Her messy red hair covered the pillow and one arm was in a cast. Despite her surroundings, she looked at Daniel with bright eyes.
"Man, you look like hell," she said.
Daniel couldn't help but laugh. She was okay. His Henley would be okay. He pulled up a chair and sat next to her bed, enveloping her uninjured hand in his. "I was really worried about you."
"Aw, you're adorable," she giggled. "I'm fine, though. Well. Broken arm and a concussion. So not fine, but I could have been less fine." She giggled again. Daniel was starting to comprehend the nurse's warning. It would be so easy to just play along, to keep everything lighthearted. But Daniel knew what he had to say.
"Henley, I'm sorry. It's my fault you were up there, my fault you fell. I should've known better." His face felt hot and his eyes prickled with tears, but he couldn't cry now; not in front of Henley.
"It is kind of your fault," Henley agreed. "You were like Icarus. Remember him? He had these wings, right, but they were held together by wax, so if he flew too close to the sun the wax would melt and they'd fall apart and he'd die. But then he flew too close to the sun anyway, and he died. Except I was the one who died. Didn't die." She grinned up at him. "But he didn't mean to do it, right? Didn't mean to fly too close to the sun. He wasn't paying attention and lost track of things." She looked at him a little more seriously. "Do you understand?"
From what Daniel could make out from her jumbled speech, it sounded like forgiveness. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead as an answer.
"Lame," she accused. "You should kiss me proper, you know."
Daniel laughed. "Maybe when you're better."
"I'm gonna hold you to that," she pouted.
I certainly hope so, Daniel thought.
a/n 2x combo: I just wanted to mention that these one-shots are from a series of prompts I received on tumblr (you can find me at nowyouseehorsemen, fyi). There are two more coming up - a general Horsemen-as-bros fic & a 5+1 Lover's Death fic. I'll also update Three sooner or later. Hope you enjoy!
Julia