Disclaimer: I do not own Danger Mouse (2015) or any canon characters. They are the property of their respective owners. I do own the mentioned Emma White.
Notes: Just like last year, I am doing a New Year's fic for the series. Just like the Christmas just gone, I am doing two separate stories in a collection.
This chapter contains Dangerfold (Danger Mouse x Penfold) so the slash warning is in place. Might be a bit OOC at times.
I hope you enjoy this!
(Linebreaks hate me so I will use DMEP.)
DMEP
Though the weather is chilly in London on this New Year's Eve, our heroes, Danger Mouse and Penfold, are warm and cozy in their Mayfair flat.
DMEP
"Another year has come and gone, Penfold. In just two hours, the new year shall be rung in," Danger Mouse remarked, arms around his beloved hamster.
"A lot sure has happened this year, eh? Some good, some not-so-much and some outright horrible."
"Shall we reminisce on the year that's been?"
"No better way to celebrate a peaceful evening in!"
"Very well. In that case, where should we start?"
"Back in January, of course!"
"Yes, but not a lot happened at that time, if I recall. Although we did share our very first New Year kiss at the stroke of midnight."
"That was a lovely way to see in the new year, if you ask me."
He chuckled and nodded. "I concur, Penfold. Well, as you said, January was pretty quiet in a personal sense. We did have some of our usual missions, but we're focusing on what happened in this special series by Ms. Writer."
"Hey, wasn't it late-January when you dealt with that chap out at the newsstand? The one who was aggressively vocal about same-sex couples?"
"It was and it pretty much made it even more clear to me that, as much as I wanted to shout from the rooftop that you and I were together, there really are some things better kept as a secret. It's not so much of a secret now, but it's still classified when it comes to the public."
"For our safety, it's better that way. I'm fine with it, I knew it would be likely when we shared that kiss under the mistletoe and admitted how we felt."
"We found out how true those words were throughout the year. When we told the rest of the Danger Agents and my old nanny."
"Well, Danger Pelican and Danger Mackerel are working on it, and as for your old nanny, she is the one who will regret disowning such a wonderful mouse."
He smiled warmly and leaned in. "I'm feeling a strong urge to kiss you right now."
"Since when have you ignored a strong urge to do something?"
He chuckled and brought his lips to Penfold's.
DMEP
A few minutes after the kiss broke, Penfold sighed. "What followed was a mission that changed our lives."
He nodded and nuzzled him. "Yes. The mission in which we had to protect Emma from Greenback. She was such a darling child. If we were in different circumstances, we could've adopted her as you'd suggested."
He returned the nuzzle. "DM...if we were in different circumstances, we may never have even met her. It was logical that we didn't adopt her."
"I know that, but even so...if we had..."
"Please don't."
"I'm sorry, Penfold. I know you hate hearing me take on any blame for what happened to her, but I just...I can never forgive myself."
"Then I am just as much to blame! When you said it would be better if we didn't adopt her, I could've protested, but instead I agreed with what you had said!" He was frowning, tears welling in his eyes as he glared up at Danger Mouse.
He gasped at Penfold's words. "Penfold, no, you're not!"
"Then, neither are you!" His glare softened. "The only one responsible for what happened to Emma was that monster. I will keep saying that for as long as I have to until you finally accept that you had absolutely no part in the harm that befell her. When she escaped, she was trying to come to us because she knew we would help. If she felt we were even the slightest bit responsible, then why would she come to those she thought betrayed her?" He buried his face against Danger Mouse's chest and shook. "Just...stop blaming yourself when Emma never did."
He nodded but stayed silent as he tightened his hold on Penfold.
"I do hate it when you do. Who wouldn't hate hearing their beloved blame themselves for something that wasn't even their fault?"
"You're right. I'm...I'm sorry. I...promise I will work harder on taking your words to heart so those guilt-ridden thoughts don't come to the forefront of my mind."
"Mm. See that you do."
"She was such a lovely girl though. She was very open-minded and treated everyone with respect. Smart for her age as well, in a deeper sense."
"Brave too. The way she glared at Greenback when he threatened to spread the word of our relationship...cor, never had I seen such an angry child!" He pulled back and chuckled. "She even told him off for it!"
He also let out a chuckle. "I remember she had a lovely singing voice, never missing the notes when singing along to her favourite films."
"But also very modest, just explaining she had heard the songs so many times that she was able to hit the notes after enough times."
Danger Mouse lifted Penfold's spectacles. He leaned in and kissed him just under his eyes. "I'm sorry for causing you distress, darling."
"I just...I hate seeing you pretty much attacking yourself when you say what you had."
He replaced the spectacles. "Nobody likes seeing someone they love suffering, self-inflicted or otherwise."
"Exactly. I love you far too much to let anybody harm you, even your own thoughts!"
"I love you as well, Penfold. Thank you for continuing to try to talk some sense into me."
"I can't give up on you for any reason so of course I'll keep doing it if I have to." He rested against him, feeling a little better. "After Emma left, not much else happened aside from our first Valentine's Day together. We walked through Hyde Park and had dinner with our friends."
"I remember the professor and Danger Moth were both rather surprised at our sudden invitation to dinner."
"Considering they're pretty much family to us, it only made sense. I mean, Valentine's Day may be a day for lovers, but it also celebrates all forms of love."
"Just as we'd agreed on during our stroll. So, what else happened?"
"Oh! I remember something else that happened! When I saw your scar for the first time."
He nodded, lifting a paw to his iPatch and lightly touching it. "I almost wish it hadn't happened, but your words to me that day mean so much even now. Do you recall what they were?"
Penfold thought about it. "I do! I told you that I love you, scars and all."
"Exactly. I already knew how much you loved me, but those words still meant so much. Even with such an imperfection, you'll continue to."
"Of course I will. Forever, dear." He stretched up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Later that day, you told me of how you got it."
"You were the first and only person I ever shared the story with. Yes, there were those involved who knew of it, but I never actually told them about it."
"I'm honoured you could tell me."
Danger Mouse smiled. "I'm touched you feel that way." He leaned down and captured Penfold's lips with his.
Penfold willingly reciprocated it.
DMEP
"Well, the rest of the year, save for our offscreen missions, was still rather quiet. Although...we did have something very special happen between us, didn't we?" Danger Mouse asked.
Penfold nodded emphatically before stretching up to instigate another kiss.
Danger Mouse returned it. He'd expected that would be Penfold's reaction to what they would be recalling next.
Penfold broke the kiss. "Funny how we both planned to do it at the same time!"
"Haha, I do recall us sharing a laugh over it after you brought out your ring and made your proposal!"
"I remember...well, don't take this the wrong way, but...when you came to me and got down on one knee, bringing out the ring, I thought oh, no!."
"You did? How come?"
"Because I wanted to be the one to propose to you instead. I wanted to show I can take the lead without any nudges. But, as you made your proposal, those thoughts left my mind. Instead, I found myself thinking that it didn't matter who took the lead in that because I loved you so much that knowing you wanted to ask me to be your husband meant more than me asking the same first. I still made my proposal anyway."
He smiled tenderly and nodded in understanding. "I don't hold your oh no! against you. You had a plan and I threw it off with my own. But, in the end, it didn't matter. We both confirmed either way just how dear we hold each other."
Penfold smiled. "Still, who'd have thought we'd make the decision to pop the question at the same time?"
"It's just as I said after we'd recovered from laughing; we're surely one mind in two bodies."
"Heehee!"
DMEP
Midnight was just minutes away. "I never thanked you properly for that time you helped me when I had that cold."
"I couldn't leave you to suffer on your lonesome. It wouldn't be a fair display of love for you if I had."
"I also feel a need to make a confession to you. It's not like you hadn't seen me at my most vulnerable before anyway."
"Confession?"
"Your compassion towards me overwhelmed me emotionally. That time I decided to request the tea...I was actually making an excuse to ask you to leave the room so I could compose myself. Only my old nanny had seen me as a sobbing mess when I was ill and...even as a child, it was embarrassing."
"You never have to feel embarrassed around me, DM."
"I know. But, when I say sobbing mess, I mean it literally. I mean snot and mucus and everything that came with it."
"Well, do you know what I would've done?"
"What?"
"Wiped away the worst of it, held you until you calmed down and, if I needed to afterwards, calmly change my jacket and then we'd be done."
"You truly are too good to me, Penfold. Even after a year, I am wondering if I will soon wake from a dream."
"I can assure you, darling, that this is all real."
He smiled. "You know, dear, it shouldn't surprise me just how compassionate you are with me. Considering you'd reached out to Stiletto and showed him more kindness than he'd known since he was young."
"I know he's our enemy since we're on opposite sides of the law, but there was something bothering me about him. I'm glad I had listened to my instincts."
"They've never steered you wrong yet."
DMEP
Ten seconds left. The pair did not do the countdown, instead staring transfixed into each other's eyes. They smiled warmly, Danger Mouse caressing Penfold's cheek affectionately. As soon as Big Ben let out the first chime of midnight, they allowed their lips to meet in a tender yet passionate kiss.
After a minute, they broke the kiss. "Happy New Year, my dear Ernest Penfold."
"Happy New Year, my darling Danger Mouse."
He leaned in and resumed the kiss from where they had left off, opting to focus less on the fireworks outside and more on his fiance. He rose to his feet, Penfold in his arms and carried him to their bedroom where more affections would be expressed. Their lips never parted the whole way.
DMEP
Right, we should leave them to their privacy, nothing more to be seen from them! But, what about the other couple? How did they see in the new year? Find out in the next chapter, won't you?
DMEP
After notes: There we go! I had been debating how to write their story, then I decided a tale about them reminiscing on the events of my stories would work since they did happen through last year.
Next chapter contains my fave Danger Ladies, hope you enjoy that one too!
