KC's Collection of One-Shots
Genre: Angst/Tragedy
Rating: K+
Summary: Companion to 'Best Friend', Danny mourns the loss of his best friend WARNING: Character Death
Inspiration: Song by Chris Daughtry – It's Not Over
One-Shots
It's Not Over
Danny always thought that they'd stay, grow old and exchange mindlessly sappy stories of their youth together until the end of their time. But this had not been on his mind. His best friend since forever had left the world much sooner than he had expected, leaving him to wonder if this was some sort of punishment of any of his past deeds and wallow in his guilt. But it hadn't been how early his friend had died that made him this way; it was more of how he died.
The ghost boy's shoulders trembled as he knelt down across the tomb that marked the grave of Tucker Foley. His eyes had never been dry since the accident that claimed his best friend's life. His tears streaked down his cheeks, seemingly like separated rivers that flowed down to merge into an ocean. Danny hadn't been ready to let him go, Danny didn't want to let him go and for once, his girlfriend no longer revolved around his teenaged mind but was replaced with the guilt of neglecting his best friend.
The raven-haired teen had tried to plead with Clockwork to let him save Tucker by going into the past and making sure the accident never happened. The hope that kept his heart in place dissolved once the Master of Time regretfully informed him that he couldn't allow Danny to do so; it was not meant to be.
'I'm sorry Danny, but your request goes beyond my contract of meddling. I cannot allow you to go back into the past and change what was done.'
His heart had shattered into thousands of pieces as the realization sunk into his mind and embedded the guilt, the pain and the sorrow into his veins. Desperation had reached its peak when Danny combed the entire Ghost Zone, his delusional mind hoping that Tucker had come back as a ghost. It was only when Danielle had informed Jazz of his rampaging search in the Ghost Zone that the older Fenton had hopped into the Specter Speeder and forced him back home with the help of the Neutralizers.
The Neutralizers; some part of Danny wished that it hadn't been Tucker's last invention before his death. His Techno-geek best friend had plenty of ideas for arsenal against ghosts and had the brilliance to make them (of course, stealing some of Danny's parents' spare parts in the process). But the Neutralizers had been a promise, a promise that Tucker fulfilled in the aftermath of his future evil self.
'If I ever go wild or out of control, I want you to stop me Tuck. You're the only one who can stop me. Not Sam, not Jazz, not my parents and heck, not even Valerie. Promise me Tuck, promise me that you'll stop me if I ever so much as walk the beginning of the path of evil.'
Even now as he was kneeling on the grassy ground, Danny had the Neutralizers strapped to his upper arm; preventing him the use of his powers. He was afraid. He was afraid that in his guilt of not being able to save his best friend would he break the promise he had made and walk down that dark road.
It had been four days since the funeral and Danny hadn't stayed at home for more than ten minutes to shower and change his clothes before he vanished again. Four agonizing days with majority of his time spent on staring blankly at his best friend's grave and not so ever as to giving a thought about school, let alone ghost attacks.
The accident played itself in his mind over and over again, like an endless recording rewinding and replaying the scene on the television. A rainy evening, both he and Sam had finished watching a movie of her choice, cleanly forgetting about inviting Tucker along, assuming that they were on a date once again. Once on the pavement, Dash stomped up to them, grabbing Sam's choker and tossing it out on the wet streets. Being the chivalrous boyfriend, he trotted out to the street to pick it up for her.
He never saw the strange van zooming down the road at a neck breaking speed straight at him when he reached the choker.
His first instinct was to freeze in shock as the headlights aimed straight at him from the speeding van, hearing Sam's screams for him to run. His second instinct was to power up his intangibility so that he could avoid the hit, ignoring the number of witnesses who would find out his identity…
But he never had a chance to do so when he was abruptly shoved off the street, rolling onto the pavement while hearing the squeal of tires, a crash of impact and Sam's screams. Danny lifted his head up and his eyes widened at the sight of the motionless figure lying a few feet away from the van with the said vehicle's headlights shining straight at him. To Danny, it seemed as if time froze when the realization sunk into his mind. He couldn't hear anything, and all he could see was Tucker's broken body on the street before time moved again.
His first thought was denial. Tucker couldn't be dead! He raced over to the body, turning him over and shook him violently. Faintly he could hear Sam's hurried sobs on the phone for an ambulance, the driver's profuse apologies and Dash's nonsensical blubbering; but that all faded away in the rain when Tucker's eyes opened, his breath labored and harsh.
'Tuck! Come on, breathe! You're gonna be ok… you HAVE to be ok!'
He hadn't realized that he had been crying when he had said those words. With Tucker's head cradled in his arms, Danny rocked him back and forth, hoping by some sheer dumb luck that he could soothe his best friend's pain away. Tucker's breathing took a turn for the worse, taking in painful gulps of air to his crushed lungs and trying to speak to Danny. The blue-eyed teen had tried to prevent him from speaking but Tucker had gripped his wrist tightly, making Danny lower his ear down to hear Tucker's words.
'Sorry… bro… I can't… keep my promise that… I'd stop you if you went madcap on us… I…can't be best man at your wedding… I…'
'You can and you will! Stop talking Tuck… It's going to be ok…! You're not going to die…! You're not! Damnit, I could have gotten out of it myself! You didn't need to save me!'
'… Danny…'
'Stop talking Tuck… stop it… save your strength…!'
'Bro… don't feel… bad… It's not… your fault… The… Guys In White… They…'
Whatever Tucker was going to say about the Guys In White was cut off as his heart stopped beating and his breathing halted. Danny felt the grip on his wrist loosen and a clamp squeezed at his heart as denial continually swept through his mind. His scream rose above the noise around as he desperately attempted CPR, violently shaking his best friend's dead body in vain to rouse him once more.
The rest had been a blur. Danny no longer wanted to remember what happened later, all that he did know was that his best friend since forever was dead. And it was his entire fault. He lifted his hand to touch the granite and traced the letters that graced the tomb's surface. After tracing the letters, Danny clenched his fist tightly in grim resolution.
'No. It's not over. Not yet. I won't allow it… I'll find you Tuck… I'll definitely find you…'
Authoress' Ending Notes:
1) Uwaa... I just had to write a companion piece to 'Best Friend'! Angst/Drama is my best friend :D
2) I'm tinkering with my other story chapter for a bit... And Uni has started so my stuff comes out late now D:
3) Thank you to TPcrazy and Thouqhts-of-Nothingness for reviewing 'Best Friend' !
4) Tuck needs some lovin'! (even if I am killing him off in my one shots :o)
5) Thanks for reading and please do drop a review if you're free!
Cheeri!
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C
