sorry its been so long. im finally starting to write again and hopefully will be able to update more often.

Review please. I like to hear what my readers like and don't like. If you have any ideas fell free to PM me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Firebreather or any of its characters.

Flashing in an out of consciousness, all he could see was a bright light shining above him and, periodically, the silhouettes of two people bent over him. He wasn't sure what was going on. Being conscious only a few minutes at a time, all he could remember was pain; the worst sort of pain imaginable. He was screaming; his whole body was thrashing. He felt like someone was pulling out his insides. There was someone else there... something else...

not a person...

where was he...

what was happening...?

Belloc.. I heard his name.. He slowly opened his eyes. He saw the light fixture above him; this time it was turned off. It was too dark to tell where he was. He wasn't in a bed though, just laying on some blankets. He started looking around, narrowing his eyes trying to focus on his surroundings. A... cave...? He faded back into darkness.

He was in Belloc's cave. Belloc had just woken up. He saw Duncan open his eyes then slip away again. Belloc called for Barnes and Patel. "He woke up, but only for a brief moment." Belloc's thunderous voices echoed thorough the caves. "The worst is over. He should be okay now. You need to get him home. Margaret will be worrying."

Dr. Patel did a final check over him and Barnes lifted him into a vehicle.

"Coming!" Margaret called to the door after she heard a knock. Kenny and Isabel stood up in hope of news about Duncan. Margaret opened the door and took in a sharp breath in shock, trying her best to hold back a scream.

Isabel and Kenny saw as well. "Oh my... Duncan!" Isabel ran over to the door; Kenny following. Barnes walked in and Kenny helped him bring Duncan upstairs to lay him on his bed. Margaret asked the two loyal friends to stay with him and her and Barnes went back downstairs to talk.

"Barnes." Her voice was quiet yet stern. She never raised her voice and never yelled. But she didn't have to because she already scare the hell out of Barnes.

"Now Margaret. Let me explain..." He had his hands up in surrender and was backing off, but she cut him off.

"What. The hell. Happened?"

"Margaret, calm down..."

"My boy is laying unconscious in his bed, he has stitches across his chest, he is covered in dried blood, he looks like he is almost starving to death, his bullet wound is open again, and you want me to calm down. You better have a good explanation."

Barnes gulped. "We found him passed out in the desert." She backed up a step realizing why he had gone missing. "He looked like he walked all the way out there. He was exhausted and his wound had reopened." Margaret sat down on the couch, still in shock. "Me, Doc, and Belloc had already been talking about how to get rid of that stone in his chest. After I found him in the desert, we had to put our theories to the test. He was going to die from his wound and blood loss if we didn't at least try." Margaret was still speechless. "I got him back to Belloc's cave and Belloc, being full kaiju and of the same bloodline as Duncan, was able to remove the stone from his chest. Unfortunately it was very painful for Duncan."

"Then why does he look the way he does? What is wrong with him?" she asked without looking up and without moving a muscle.

"Belloc informed me that there were going to be many side effects after the stone had been removed. He will regain his kaiju side in an hour or two. Removing the stone cause him to lose a lot of weight and caused temporary full body paralysis. The paralysis will last three days. He will naturally regain his weight as his kaiju starts to take over." Barnes stopped, waiting for Margaret to respond.

"Okay." She said slowly. "Thank you, Barnes. I can take care of him from here."

He walked out the door without saying a word.

"What do you think happened to him?" Isabel was sitting in a chair next to Duncan's bed. Kenny was sitting at the desk watching Duncan.

"I'm not sure. If I were to guess though, I would say the stone is gone."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, there is a giant hole in his chest that has been stitched up. What else would it be?"

"Hmmm. Then why isn't he back to being kaiju?"

Just then, the bedroom door opened slowly. Margaret explained everything to the two of them. By the time she had finished, Isabel, who was still sitting next to Duncan, had noticed something. Duncan's skin was back to its usual orange. Margaret walked over. "That's good. That means the process is working. There are already scales starting to appear as well. He should be back to his old self by tomorrow morning. Barnes said the paralysis will only last three days."

Leaving Duncan, they all went downstairs. Kenny and Isabel, refusing to leave until Duncan was up, slept in the living room again.

None of them had an easy time falling asleep that night. The night eventually passed, however, and the sun began to rise.

Margaret was the first one up early that morning. She quietly went into the kitchen and began making some pancakes for breakfast. Not long after, however, Isabel woke up. She sat at the island in the kitchen.

"You think he's going to wake up soon?" Margaret asked motioning to Kenny.

"Nah. Once he's asleep, he'll sleep forever. He probably won't wake up for another couple hours."

Margaret smiled. "Ok. Well, would you mind going up and checking on Duncan?"

"Of course." Isabel headed upstairs and into Duncan's room. She suddenly froze at what she saw.

"Hey."

Duncan was up smiling at her. He was sitting on the edge of his bed leaning over. His left hand was beside him clutching the edge of his mattress and the other was wrapped around grabbing his left shoulder. Isabel just stood there, speechless. "Isabel?" His voice was shaking and weak but happy.

"H-hey. H-h-how are y-you u-up?"

"What do you mean?" He stood up slowly but quickly fell on his butt. Sitting on the floor, he looked up at Isabel, still smiling. "What, you mean this? This is nothing." He leaned back against the wall trying to 'play it cool'.

"How can you be up? Your paralysis was supposed to last another two days and... Why are you smiling?"

"Why else? I've got my abilities back, I am back home, and we are both healed. There's a lot to be happy about."

Isabel was just beginning to notice. He was back to normal self. His skin looked the way it did before with the dark orange color and scaling. His shoulder and chest had healed, leaving two large scars.

"O-ok. Well, your mom is making panca... oh.. "

"Yeah. I have to go back to eating coal. But at the moment, I really don't mind."

"Ok. As long as you're happy." She began to turn then noticed Duncan wasn't coming.

"Um... I still need help walking." He smiled huge grin. Isabel rolled her eyes and walked over to help him up.

After they finally made it downstairs, Isabel helped him into a seat at the island. Margaret has yet to notice him.

"Okay, Isabel. I've got some pancakes ready for you." As she turned around to set the plate on the island for Isabel, she froze. "B-but.. h-how..?"

"Yea. That was my reaction too." Isabel smiled.

"I have yet to figure that out. I know Isabel said the paralysis was supposed to last longer but I'm up; I feel fine. I mean, obviously it hasn't worn off completely but I'm up." He smiled.

"You're right of course. I'm shocked but I'm happy you are back." Margaret smiled too and gave him a hug. He looked at Isabel who snickered and he blushed.

He sat down at the island and began eating some coal.

"Mmmm pancakes." Kenny had finally woken up and took a big whiff of the air. He looked at Duncan, "Morning Duncan," and sat down at the island. "Smells great Mrs. R. Can't wait to try some."

"Morning Kenny," Duncan said, smiling. Isabel was trying hard not to laugh.

Kenny suddenly did a double take back at Duncan and fell off his stool. Duncan began laughing then he fell on the floor too. Everyone began laughing.