Authors Notes: This is it for today. I'll pick back up where I left off tomorrow :D

Unready Guardian

Chapter 4

Hell…?

Danny kept running, but no matter how far she ran she couldn't get away from that man. She could still hear him laughing down the concrete hallway. The walls were sprayed with blood, her steps splashed the blood around her. The outfit Zareth just got her was stained in the color. It wasn't an expensive outfit, just a pair of jean, tennis shoes, and a shirt that had a local band on it. Nothing much, but to her she would cherish it. But now it was covered in blood, and it would probably stain the baby blue fabric. She ran into a room and closed the door. She turned around and gasped. Sitting in a chair chained down was Zareth. He was covered in cuts and wounds. All of which would kill any man. His eyes were still open, but unseeing. He was dead in every sense of the word. Her heart quickened, she couldn't look away from the horror that was in front of her. Her hero was sitting there slumped over dead. She covered her mouth, and slumped. The scream that escaped her was blood curtailing.

"Babe!" Danny jerked awake and pushed at Zareth. "Babe...Danny...Danny look at me. Its me. Its Zareth." She stopped pushing and looked him in the eyes. They weren't devoid of life, they were so full of it. The bright glow watched her intently, afraid to speak. She fell limp in his arms for a moment. He pulled her out and held her to him. "Danny?" He shook her trying to get her to see him. Zareth watched her eyes as if they were lighting back up again. He shook his head. She reached up and hugged to him.

'Do humans have dreams like this all the time?' Zane asked Dareth shook his head.

'I never have, but then again I haven't been traumatized. Zane we gotta get her out of here.'

'Yes I know.'

"Come on babe...why do you go take a shower. It'll help you wake up better. Besides I'm sure you haven't had a proper one in a while. Ronins shower didn't have soup." Zareth said leading her toward the bathroom as she was still rather groggy. He went to let go of her hand, but she held it for a little while longer, before letting go.

As she had done before she left the door open a crack. Zareth began to make some coffee in the tiny coffee pot in the corner.

"Hopefully something warm will help." Zareth said and looked out the window. Their were a few kids playing at a playground not to far from them. Their mother sat down on the bench looking over her cell phone. Zareth sighed,

'How did we end up sleeping so long?' Zane asked looking at how high the sun was. It was 10am and he normally woke up at 6. He walked over to the mirror and pulled up his shirt.

'Ow….' Dareth grunted.

Danny stepped out of the bathroom to see the huge bruises on his chest, and stomach.

"Zareth…?" Zareth stuffed his shirt back into his pants and looked up at her.

"Hey babe." He tried to play it off. Danny swallowed hard and pointed to the coffee. "Oh yeah...coffee…" He said handing her a cup. She poured four packets of sugar in and two things of creamer. Zareth chuckled and drank is black.

"Do you find something funny?" She looked up and smirked. Zareth shook his head and tapped her nose.

"All the time. But about you...never." He said sipping his coffee setting it down on the counter and pulled on his shoes. "Well we had better hurry up. I'm afraid we gotta be out by 11." He said stuffing a toothpick in his mouth.

"Really?" Danny asked.

"Yup. Never stay in a hotel before?"

"No...never had a need to." Danny said. "Never went on vacation, and never had to stay in a hotel. We were a poor family until dad went to work for Borg. But I was out of the house by that time." Danny said pulling on her shoes. She took the towel from around her head and shook it. Zareth covered his face.

"Hey…" He laughed. "Here…" He walked over and pulled his comb from his pocket and combed it out.

"Its no use you know...it'll just get all frizzy again anyways." She said

"Ah then call this my lousy attempt." Zareth chuckled smiling down at her.

"You are a marvel, Zareth." Zareth blushed and he put his comb back into his pocket.

"Yeah well...no more then you beautiful." He said blushing.

"Does Zareth blush?"

"Yeah...but don't tell anyone babe." He smiled that cheesy smile and pulled on his jacket. "Come on lets get out of here. Its starting to feel cramped." He held out his hand. Danny took it and followed him back to the office to drop off the keys. Zareth held out his arm and she linked her arm around his. It was a short walk back to the parking garage.

"Alright...I guess we should ride out of town. The Airjitzu temple isn't to far from here. We can go hide with the ninja for a little while. I'd like to see these guys go after all of them." Zareth said. Danny looked a little thunder struck for a second there.

"But they're famous why would they want to...well...deal with this. They deal with earth shattering things…"

"Babe...if your right and they want to take ninjago hostage. This is...earth shattering." Zareth said steering the car out of the parking garage.

They had swung by a drive thru and got a few burgers before making for the outskirts of Ninjago City. Zareth noticed Danny wasn't a light eater either. She tended to eat everything that was put in front of her. Probably because she was poor at one point she knew what it was like to go hungry.

Zareth leaned over and turned on the radio. 80s music bellowed from the speakers. He found himself singing a nostalgic tune and his heart flipped when Danny started to sing too.

"Hey...nice voice there babe." Zareth chuckled and joined in again. Thumb tapping the steering wheel.

Glass shattered all over the back seat. Zareth grabbed hold of the steering wheel better.

"How did they find us!" Zareth yelled to no one in particular.

'The car...maybe it has a locator.' Zane said.

"Maybe the car was bugged?" Danny said gasping when another car rammed them from the side. Another rammed them right back.

"I think they mean it this time." Zareth yelled he looked around at Danny. The car behind them sped up again.

"Hang on Danny!" Zareth yelled. The car rammed them. Dannys head hit the window, and glass went everyone onto her. "Danny!" Zareth growled spitting his tooth pick out. "Now I'm mad." He yelled throwing the car into a spin and rammed the car into another one just narily missing the postman who shook his fist and yelled at them to 'watch where you're going'

Zareth grabbed the other car into a department store. His anger drove the car completely through the other side glad that no one was in that area. He spun the car toward the right into the park.

"Danny…" he tapped her hand and took it squeezing it lightly. "Can you hear me Danny." Her head rested on his shoulder. "Please…?" Zareth turned just in time to see the angry eyes of Tony T Bone the side of the car. It rolled over and over again till it rested on its roof.

'Zane...are we dead?' Dareth moaned.

'I do not think so…' Zane said.

Zareth felt heat. He slowly opened his eyes to see that the hood of the car was missing, and that it was on fire. Smoke was already filling the cabin. He turned to see Danny still suspended by her seat belt. She was lightly coughing from the smoke.

"Hurry up Zareth…" Zareth told himself undoing his seatbelt falling onto his back. He grunted feeling the injuries all over again. He reached up trying to undo Danny's seatbelt. It wouldn't budge. Her coughing grew in intensity.

"Come on!" Zareth pulled on the seatbelt trying to snap it in two. "Come on where are those nindroid abilities!" Zareth yelled and grabbed a piece of window and started cutting the seatbelt. It was rather hard since it kept breaking into cubs. The car was mostly engulfed now. Zareth felt dizzy from the smoke. But he and Danny lay on the grass in the park.

"Oh you survived. Pity. I had hoped you were dead. Oh well." He grabbed Danny and carried her over to the van. Zareth stood up and ran forward trying to get to his charge.

"You can't take her. She isn't your property. She's a human being!" Zareth pulled him by the arm.

"Careful...you might make me drop the girl." He smiled and nodded to one of the others. Before Zareth knew what was going on a cloth was fitted over his mouth. His mind felt like it was clouding over. He struggled with the man trying to get him off. His movements grew sluggish, and he watched as Danny was loaded into a van. He was thrown over someones shoulder and loaded in beside her. He wasn't a regular human so the chloroform wasn't taking an effect. But he wasn't able to move properly.

"Danny…" He leaned forward pressing his forehead to hers. The man noticed that he was still awake and just set the chloroform cloth onto his face. His eyes rolled for a moment.

'Dareth we must stay awake. We must protect Danny…' Zane tried to keep his human friend awake. But it looked as if Dareth was being affected by the cloth.

'Can't...stop.' Dareth whispered

Zareth felt his body let go and spiral down.