Hey. Here's more genderbent things and angst because I don't know how to write any chapters. But yay, I got inspiration from Evanescence to write something. Enjoy.

The Ghosts knew she wasn't okay. She was far from that. Danielle wasn't just broken. She was fucking shattered not just into pieces, but into dust. She was the lone Walker standing. Her mother died when she was eight, she witnessed her father having his brains blown out by the man she thought was dead, and not too long ago, she had to watch her sister get dragged across the beach and out of her sight. What could she have done? Nothing. She was in so much fucking pain on that day after being shot in the chest and almost drowning to death. The Ghosts knew Danielle was done. She was done with fighting the war, done with Rorke constantly slipping through their finger tips, but they were even more concerned that she might be done with trying. She was alone, or it felt that way. But she wouldn't talk to anyone, not even to those she called "friends". Her hair was a mess, her eyes were swollen from lack of sleep or crying, and her behavior would either be aggressive or down right depressive.

This especially concerned Thomas Merrick, after all since Elias' passing, he sort of became a second father to the two sisters. That afternoon, when he noticed Danielle still didn't come out of her room, he went to investigate the silence behind her door. He gave it a few knocks, "Danielle? Sweetheart, are you there?"

"Don't call me 'sweetheart'," Was the answer he got, and it was a relief to know she was still alive. He opened the door, surprised to see her lamp was on and her room was clean. Danielle sat at the foot of her bed, staring down at Elias' mask she held in her lap, the only thing recovered after Leanne disappeared. Her hair was still a mess, and she was still dressed in the same clothes she slept in. She didn't look up to address Merrick though, but she spoke, talking as if she were already started the conversation minutes earlier, "What do you think she saw when you gave this to her...?" Danielle's voice was cracked and strained, and Merrick could only guess she spent another full night sobbing her eyes out. "You think Leanne saw dad's eyes through this every time she looked at it...? She saw those... Old eyes that could... Fucking melt anyone's heart out?"

Merrick didn't respond. He could only pay attention how broken her voice was as she continued, "I see her eyes... Leanne's... They were just like mom's." As she inhaled a shaky breath, both knew she was going to start crying again, "But I hear her too. I hear that laugh. I hear her whenever she needed help with her hair- I hear... I can still hear those screams when Rorke fucking took her away."

"Danielle-" Merrick finally moved closer, cautiously as if Danielle were a scared little puppy dog.

"She's dead, isn't she?" Danielle looked at the older man, "Is she dead, Merrick? Am I just hearing and seeing her 'holy ghost' now? Or am I finally losing it- Am I crazy? Do you think I'm crazy, Merrick-"

"No, you're not. You're just-"

"You're right. I'm fucking paranoid right now-"

"Just try to relax-"

Danielle sharply pushed herself off the bed, turning to face Merrick as her green eyes boiled with anger, "How can I fucking relax right now?! I just got orphaned, my sister is gone- I can't 'relax'!" She inhaled, "I am in a living hell right now, Merrick! I've been living in this for ten god damn years, and just when I thought we put an end to it, it got fucking worse!" She threw the mask back down on her bed, her voice finally breaking into a cry, "I'm tired of this shit, and I can't take it anymore! I just- I just want to..." Danielle was seconds away from dropping to her knees, and Merrick had to snap out of his shock before he let the Walker fall to the floor. He caught her so easily, but was careful not to make any other movements while holding her. "I just want to stop..." Danielle cried, almost whimpering because she was out of breath, "I want to stop fighting... I want... To stop living..."

"No, Danielle," Merrick spoke softly as he guided both of them to the floor all while keeping her in his arms, "Don't say that."

"Why the hell not...?"

"I know everything isn't exactly bright right now... But you've still got to keep going-"

"Why though...? Give me a reason to keep fighting, Merrick-!"

"Because we need you... Leanne needs you... And you know well that you need us..."

Danielle wasn't convinced, "What if Leanne's dead-?"

"Stop saying that. I just need you to stay with me right now. Try to... Try to get out of the dark right now."

When she didn't respond, it gave Merrick an opportunity to keep talking in hopes that she could somehow recover her sanity from his voice, "You know that Leanne isn't dead, and the world isn't ending or going straight into hell."

"Then explain what's happening since you seem to know everything for the moment."

Merrick ran a hand through the knots in her hair, "Well, I know that you're stronger than this. No one can blame you for losing your family. I miss your dad too... He was a good man. But what he wants for us is to keep going. He wants you to keep going... And you think Leanne would want you to be the first face she sees when we find her? I could imagine she'd want you to keep fighting too."

"I could've fucking saved her-"

"Shh, shh. Listen to me, sweet- I mean... Sorry. Now, I've heard you say this to your sister, but I'm gonna say it too because it's something you need to remind yourself...: Rorke is a fucking coward that depends on his men. If we have to, we will kill every one of them until he finally has the balls to come out and fight like the man he was before... He's not gonna win. He's not gonna keep Leanne forever-"

"But you've heard what they've done to him, he'll do the same to her if she's still alive-"

"No no. Your sister may be young, but she's a Ghost. What was it your dad said about Ghosts?"

It took Danielle a few seconds to answer, but she swallowed as she spoke through a cracked voice, "'Ghosts don't break...'"

"That's right."

"Take a look at me though... I'm..."

"Things that're broken can be fixed. For you, let's start with a full meal instead of protein bars."

"Merrick..."

"Before we can keep fighting, you need to get better. I can imagine you haven't eaten enough considering you feel as light as a skeleton right now."

"Thanks."

"I'm serious, Danielle. You can't do anything until you've gotten better."

He heard the young woman sigh as she nodded, "Okay... Can we pick up this conversation in the cafeteria?"

"We sure can."

Damn, I still don't know how to end a story/chapter. But I hope you liked it anyway. By the way, who else ships Merrick/Hesh?