"Surround her with things she loved, things that made her happy." Keri said. "Try and get her to remember who you and Aneisha and Frank and Tom are. If she's going to get through this, she's going to need her friends."
Dan nodded, looking from Keri to Zoe, who was still asleep. "I'd do anything for her. She's saved my life more times than I can count on my hands."
Keri smiled. "She's lucky to have you."
Dan started to answer, but he caught sight of Zoe turning her head to the side. "She's waking up."
Sure enough, Zoe's eyes flickered open, looking around nervously. A ghost of a smile passed across her features when she saw Keri, until she noticed Dan sitting in the doorway. Her breathing started coming in quick, heavy gasps as she sat up on her bed, scrambling back and kicking the blankets off as her back collided with the wall.
"What is he doing here?" Zoe asked frantically. "He's the one who – who –"
"No, he's not." Keri said, swinging herself onto the bed and grabbing Zoe's arms, putting herself between Zoe's line of sight, so she couldn't see Dan. "Zoe, I promise you, this isn't the one who hurt you."
"I remember his face. I remember his voice. It's him." Zoe insisted, her eyes filled with tears.
"It's not him, I promise." Keri said. "Do you trust me?"
Zoe nodded slowly. "I trust you, Keri."
"Then prove it. I promise, I won't let him hurt you." Keri told her. Zoe reluctantly nodded and Keri moved to sit beside Zoe on the bed, her back against the wall. She took Zoe's hand and turned to Dan, beckoning him to come forward.
Dan rose from his spot on the floor slowly, his eyes fixed on Zoe. Zoe trembled into Keri's side as Dan slowly walked towards them, making sure to keep his expression gentle. "Zoe – "
"I know who you are." Zoe said bravely. "You're Dan."
Dan slowly knelt down in front of the bed. "Where do you remember me from?"
"We were in MI High together." Zoe said. "You hated me."
"I only hated you for a little while." Dan said gently.
"But then you pretended to like me. You made me fall in love with you." Zoe said. "Then you raped me and handed me over to KORPS."
"No, Zoe. I never – "
"Are you saying I'm an idiot? I know what happened." Zoe said.
Dan didn't say anything. He just watched her carefully, mentally kicking himself up the arse for thinking she was just a shell of the girl she'd been before she left. He could see that same fire in her eyes as she defended herself – the same determination that had made him fall for her. Suddenly, looking at that green fire burning in her eyes, he knew that he could definitely do this – he could bring Zoe back to herself, especially now that he'd seen that glimmer of the girl he loved. Involuntarily, Zoe had given him hope and no matter what, he would not let that hope die. He'd already been through too much with her for that.
"Go and get Aneisha." Keri said quietly.
Dan cast one last glance at Zoe, who looked away from him, before he got up and walked out. As he disappeared through the door, Zoe rested her head on Keri's shoulder and Keri wrapped her arm around her sister, rubbing her arm gently.
Dan walked into the main part of HQ and both Tom and Aneisha looked up. Before either of them could get a word out, Dan said, "Keri wants you in there, Neish."
Aneisha rose from her seat. "She's awake?"
Dan nodded and Aneisha brushed past him. Dan rested against the wall, the memory of Zoe's distrustful eyes burning on the back of his eyelids. He knew that no matter how much time passed, the image would haunt him forever.
"What's with you?" Tom asked.
Dan looked up. "It's complicated."
Tom snorted. "What isn't, these days? Zoe has 86 sisters, Stella's been convicted and cleared of a fake conspiracy, Keri's been transferred in and out of her own body, the Crime Minister was the deputy Prime Minster, she's now in MI9 custody, the Mastermind's dead and you and Zoe and you are officially Romeo and Juliet."
Dan had to swallow back tears at that last one. It had been so long since he'd heard that nickname and now, he would gladly hear it every day for the rest of his life if it meant that Zoe had never been hurt like this.
"So what's up with you?" Tom asked.
"It's nothing, just . . . " Dan sighed, taking Aneisha's empty seat. "I saw her, Tom."
"We all saw her." Tom replied, not comprehending. "Aneisha and Keri are in with her now."
"No, that's not what I meant." Dan said. He didn't get it. How could he talk to Keri about this, who'd never even met Zoe before they'd found her at that KORPS base, but he couldn't even begin to explain it to Tom? Dan fumbled for words for a minute before he gave up, sighing as he sat back in his chair. "Forget it."
Tom wished he could say something to comfort him, but he came up with nothing except for: "She loved you, you know. Deep down I think she still does."
Dan smiled bitterly. "And deep down, I knew that. And yet, I let her get on that plane and leave. And now look where we are."
"This isn't your fault, Dan." Tom said. He couldn't believe that Dan was blaming himself for this, but in a sick, twisted sense, it did make sense. Dan always had expected too much of himself. The fact that Zoe believed that Dan was the culprit probably wasn't helping matters.
"I could've gone with her." Dan said.
"It's not your fault." Tom felt like a broken record, repeating the same things over and over. He'd lost count how many times he'd said that sentence to the blonde whenever something had gone wrong on any mission over the past two years, but either Dan was incredibly stubborn or just thick, because it never seemed to get through to him.
Dan smiled ruefully. "Romeo and Juliet until the end."
Somehow, Tom knew that if he said 'It's not your fault' to that, Dan would shove him into the computers.
