At first, after looking her straight in the eye, he had ignored her, telling himself that he needed to stop hallucinating. Perhaps it was time he actually slept at a reasonable time. He glanced at the clock.
3:30 am.
Too late.
But Danny wasn't the only one who was beyond bewildered.
"Are you guys seeing this, or did that pasta have something in it that shouldn't have been?" Lula whispered.
Merritt, after having dropped his cards, took off his hat, saying "Sweet Jesus, have my eyes gone bad?"
Jack sat, his jaw open. Several times he had looked down at his cards, blinked, and then looked back up to the redhead.
A silence ensued, and it hung heavily in the air.
Until, much to his surprise, Danny's so called hallucination began to speak.
"What, no warm welcome?" Henley asked jokingly.
Danny blinked.
Merritt let out a whispered "holy shit."
"wha- SHE'S REAL!" Lula yelled.
Jack hung his head, letting out a large sigh of defeat and a small "Oh god."
Henley rolled her eyes.
"Yes, I'm real. What, did me leaving mean that I died in your brains?"
She turned to Danny.
"James Daniel Atlas, I think you took something of mine," she said, grinning.
"AND HIS NAME IS JAMES!" Lula yelled again. She brought her hands to the sides of her head. "This is too much to take in at once!"
Jack laughed, bringing the oh-so-overwhelmed Lula to him by the waist again.
Danny, still in his trance, tried to compose himself.
"...Don't call me James, Henley," he said, still not believing the fact that she was sitting next to him. When? How?
Henley seemed to read his mind.
"I'll call you whatever I want to, Danny," she paused to point her thumb towards the door, "and someone left the door unlocked."
Danny turned to Jack, giving him a look of disbelief. He shrunk back, lifting his hands in defense.
"It was Merritt's idea to break in," he laughed. Merritt shook his head, putting his hat back on.
"Oh no, this one's on you, kid," he answered, chuckling.
Henley let out a small laugh. She then turned to Lula.
"So you're Lula," she said with an outstretched hand. Lula shook it eagerly, smiling.
"It's so nice to finally meet you! I hope you didn't mind me becoming the new femalehorsemenandall,becauseIreallythinkyou'reamazing,andIhonestlyfelthorriblefortakingyourplacewhenIknewIcouldn'treplaceyouandwellJackandeveryoneelsehelpedmealotandyouallarereallygreatbutIcouldnever-"
Jack placed his hand on Lula's shoulder, chuckling. Lula finally took a breath, and Henley laughed.
"Sorry! I get really jumbled whenever I get nervous," she said, scratching her head sheepishly. Jack smiled, pecking her on the cheek. She jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow jokingly.
"Sap," she said, rolling her eyes while smiling. He laughed.
Henley smiled warmly.
"Must be nice," she said, while glancing over to Danny pointedly, her eyebrows raised. He snapped out of his trance, looking at her.
"Hm?" He said. She shook her head.
"Nothing, nothing," she answered, smirking.
Truthfully, he was watching her very closely during her entire conversation with Lula. He hadn't seen her laugh so brightly for months. He almost smiled at the thought that only the Horsemen could bring it out of her. Henley turned to look at Merritt.
"Merritt."
"Henley."
Henley chuckled, and Merritt eyed Danny mischievously.
"So, James."
Henley grinned as she glanced at the ticked off Danny.
"Don't call me that, Merritt," he said, rubbing his temples.
"Oh why not, James?" He replied jokingly.
Danny shot a look at Henley. She shrugged her shoulders, smiling gleefully. Danny, after seeing that, finally let himself relax, as he let a small smile spread on his lips.
"And the great magician finally smiles!" Merritt clapped. Everyone began to laugh. Well, besides Danny.
"Yes, we get it. But seriously, don't call me James," he said.
"Okay, okay. But now I know what can really tick you off. 1. Your first name, which I don't get, since it's a lovely first name," he started, gesturing to Danny as he addressed the "loveliness" of his first name. Henley laughed, while Danny scowled.
"2. When people don't listen to your control freak-ness," he continued. Jack grinned, looking back and forth between the pissed off Danny and Merritt.
"And 3. Most importantly, when innocent people try to flirt or even talk to your life long infatuation and love, H-"
Merritt didn't get to finish, as Danny "accidentally" knocked his glass of water off the table and onto Merritt.
"Whoops. Merritt, why don't you go change while I clean this up?" He said, smirking. The other three grinned while watching the interaction.
"This isn't my house, James," Merritt replied.
"Firstly, don't call me James. Secondly, I guess you'll just have to deal with it then," Danny answered smugly.
"Class A dick is back, ladies and gentlemen," Merritt chuckled. Everyone laughed.
Danny let his subtle laugh fade into a small smile. It was so happy when she was around. He could easily say that "happy" wasn't an adjective he used often.
Jack piped up.
"Henley, why did you come here anyways?"
Henley feigned an offended facial expression.
"And here I thought you guys missed me," she joked. Jack chuckled.
"Besides the fact that someone took something from me," she paused, looking pointedly at Danny. He scratched at the back of his hand again. Says the one who planned the whole thing.
After turning away from Danny, Henley continued.
"I wanted to visit, of course. I may not be part of the Horsemen anymore, but Dylan never said anything about not visiting."
She stopped, realizing what she had just said. The air immediately became heavier after she mentioned that she wasn't in the Horsemen anymore. Henley mentally slapped herself. This wasn't what she came to do.
"So how's this poker game going?" She asked, trying to change the subject.
It worked. Lula immediately began to describe how absurd the game was going, and they added Henley into it. Which didn't make it any less absurd. Time continued to pass, until it was already 5:30 am, and the sun began to rise. Henley glanced out the window, and sighed. She stood up, the gazes of the horsemen on her.
"I think it's time for me to go now," she said, a fake smile plastered on her face. In truth, it hurt her badly having to leave them again. It almost made her regret coming in the first place. Another silence ensued, until Merritt stood up, and opened his arms.
"Come on," he said with a toothy grin. She smiled and hugged him, ignoring Danny tensing next to them. Jack, after laughing, joined in on the hug, with Lula following soon after. They all looked at Danny, who refused to move. That is, until a full minute passed and their gazes were practically boring a hole through him. He sighed and joined in on the hug, a ghost of smile on his lips. They all came apart, and she smiled at all of them.
Lula, although having met her only today, seemed just as sad as the rest of them.
"You're coming back to visit, right?" She asked.
Henley gave her a sad smile. "We'll see," she answered. Lula nodded slowly.
Merritt locked eyes with Danny, and kept them there. Danny gave him a stiff nod, and walked with Henley to the door. He leaned on the side of the door frame. She turned around.
"Bye Danny," she said with another sad smile. Before he could answer, she turned around to leave. The same impulse from before shot through him, and he grabbed her wrist. As she was about to turn, he spun her around and pulled her into his arms. Shit. He wasn't planning on getting himself into this situation. Henley slowly brought her arms up and around him. Danny heard the sound of Merritt taking a picture and almost growled. Henley chuckled on his chest and pulled away. He had the sudden urge to keep her from going, but he wouldn't stoop to that level. It wouldn't be successful anyways. She was leaving. Leaving.
Memories from the day she had left the horsemen flooded his brain. He bit the inside of his lip and held in his inner emotions that wouldn't stop grabbing at his chest and brain. He wanted to do something. He wanted to grab her and finally get the kiss he had wanted for so long. Not saying that they hadn't ever kissed. But the last time they did, it was right before she had quit being his assistant, and neither of them wanted to do it again. It brought out too much affection, and complications following those affections. But now she was leaving again and he wanted to feel her lips on his he couldn't, and he wouldn't. He watched as she walked away from him and down the stairs, giving him a small wave.
"Bye Henley," he finally said. She nodded, and disappeared under the staircase after locking eyes with him for a bit. He turned around and ran his hand through his hair. She had left him for the second time now. No, third. And he had never stopped her. He didn't want to regret it, but sometimes he found himself doing so. He finally stepped into the room, and looked up. All three of the rest of the horsemen were staring at him. He diverted his eyes and began to walk to his room at a fast pace.
"Jack, Lula, stop staring. Merritt, delete that picture now," he said while zipping past them. They all chuckled.
"Looks like the control freak is back," Merritt said, smiling. Jack and Lula let out sighs of relief.
Daniel entered his room, closed the door behind him, and flopped down on his bed. He frowned when he realized he could still smell vanilla. Looks like the glove had left some residue. He turned over, and frowned again. No, the smell was too strong to be something left behind. He sat up and slowly tipped his head to look at his bed. A brown glove was sitting next to him. His breath hitched. The last time he had seen it, it was definitely on the floor next to him, and then Henley had taken it. Or she hadn't. He flopped back on the bed. She hadn't taken the glove. No, she had left the glove.
"You know I'm not letting you keep that, Danny."
Daniel smirked.
Perhaps he had underestimated Henley Reeves.