A/N- It has taken way too long to get this one out, and I'm sorry. The end of school was, to put it mildly, terrible, and I'm sorry I didn't really have a lot of time to devote to this. But, it is finally here, so I hope you enjoy! =]

Warning- there is a small instance of language in this one, but I thought that it conveyed the emotion better than way. It is only one word, but I apologize if you are offended by this.

I want to give a huge thank you to IceDragon19 and Pheek for putting up with me through this and making it better, you guys are amazing. =]

If it looks familiar, it's highly likely I don't own it.

Danny

The last thing I saw before my sight was obscured was Dani's lips twitch upward, if only barely, but I still felt a wave of guilt wash over me as I flew into the kitchen. Shame welled in my chest, right along with the pain and the guilt and everything else that had my heart jumping at ten times its normal rate. My face burned, my hands shook, and every thought tried to lead me back down and to the lab, but I couldn't. I couldn't go back down there and look at Tucker's burned skin, at Dani's almost glazed, still frightened eyes. I couldn't make myself face it, not when my emotions were running this high and every new thing I saw made me feel even more guilty or angry than I already was.

So I flew upwards into the kitchen, and I let the invisibility drop as I looked around. I could almost pretend it was normal, almost, if not for the unnatural quiet and the image of Sam's stiff back. She's standing at the top of the stairs, ecto-gun strapped to her hip and muscles tense as she attempted to peer down the staircase.

Seeing her like that, tense but safe (alive, unhurt, okay) was the most wonderful sight in the entire world.

"Hey," I say as I float closer to her, wishing my voice wasn't nearly as worn and tight and strained as it was.

To her credit, she didn't even jump at my sudden appearance. She just turned around and looked at me, violet eyes bright and fierce. "Hey."

She glanced back at the staircase before looking back to me, her eyes searching and I knew there wasn't a thing I could hide from her; I didn't even try. All the walls that normally hide everything from the world melted away, and even though it almost hurts to be this open, it's her and it's such a relief to be in front of someone I don't have to hide from, someone I don't have to be perfect for, that I feel like (for the first time since I saw Dani fall out of the sky) that this could, maybe, end okay. There's a recognition on her face that tells me she knows exactly how I'm feeling, why I'm here, and her face softens. Her lips tug into a faint smile, her eyes sparkling with a soft understanding, and she holds out her hands. Her voice is warm as she whispers, "Let's go fly."

This is why I love her.

I don't even hesitate as I intertwine our fingers, and we're in the air before I can get her in my arms. I let intangibility wash over us both and we fly straight through the wall and into the air beyond. It's warm outside, the kind of summer night that we would have been out in normally, the kind that would have promised smiles and laughter if it had been different.

But it is different, and I pull Sam closer to my chest as we race higher into the air, savoring the fact that she was safe and okay and here. Her thoughts seem to be running on the same tracks, because her fingers tighten around mine and her other arm winds itself more securely around my waist. Her hair is flying everywhere, in my face, whipping through the air, around her like a wild halo, and I can smell her spices and lavender scent even with the wind tearing through our lungs. We break the cloud line and I stop, letting us float and look down over the glittering city.

Maybe it's just what's happened lately, but it puts my mind at ease a little to know that she's with me. She's in my arms and in my sight and I know she's safe.

I feel her take a deep breath of the thin air around us and I look down to see her looking at me, wide eyes swirling with a warm emotion that makes my knees weak.

She tightens her grip on my hand and then unwinds her arm from around my waist, grabbing my other hand and floating in front of me, her body barely a centimeter from mine. Even though her eyes are warm—and they are, they're sparkling with something and it makes her whole face softer—her mouth is set in that persistent, expectant line that lets me know that she's going to say something, like it or not. So, instead of pulling her back into my arms and just assuring myself that she's still here and safe, I tighten my hold on her hands and wait for her to gather her thoughts.

She doesn't take long, and she doesn't disappoint. She sighs before she says, "It's not your fault, you know."

I glance down, noticing that the park wasn't very far from where we were floating in the air, and attempt to calm all the wrestling emotions before I attempt to answer her.

Because, honestly, it was my fault. I should have been there for her. I should have convinced her to stay with us. I should have just manned up and told them my secret. I should have protected her better. I should have never let him near enough to the house to get to Tucker, let alone Dani. I should have stayed with Dani. There were so, so many things I should have done, so many things that would have changed this, prevented it.

I shouldn't have had to hurt Tucker.

As much as it hurt to admit it, it was the truth. "It is, Sam, but I'm going to fix it."

I was. If it was last thing I did, I would fix this. Dani would never be alone. He'd never, ever get her again. I would fix this.

"Oh, Danny, it isn't. None of us blame you; Dani doesn't and Tucker won't. The only person here to blame is Vlad. And I know you will; there was never a doubt in my mind." Her words were soft, the wind almost ripping them away before I could comprehend what she was saying.

I could tell by her face that she could read my thoughts like an open book. She knew what I was thinking. She knew how much I blamed myself, and I know she can see the connections I'm making. She saw it, saw everything that I could have done, should have done, and she wasn't blaming. Her eyes were soft and warm, her expression more gentle than anyone would credit her for, but behind all that was the knowledge of what had happened, what went wrong, and she wasn't blaming me.

She can see every little thing, I can see that much in her eyes, and she doesn't blame me.

She laughs softly as I pull her into my arms, her arms going around my chest even as I hug her closer. I drop a kiss on the top of her head, all my senses almost overwhelmed by her presence, and a slight smile is hidden in her hair.

"I love you." I say, because it's true and needs to be said and I don't think I could have held it in if I had tried.

"I love you, too." She smiles up at me, her eyes all worry and happy and sad and warm.

Even if I blame myself enough for everyone, even if there was a thousand things I could've, should've, might've done, they don't blame me, and that's enough to take some of the pressing, breaking, smothering weight off my chest, even if it doesn't take it away completely.

I glance down, smiling slightly as we start to make the descent to the park below us.

Dani

"And it took him almost three hours to find his other boot! From what I heard from Sam, I'm glad I was long gone by the time he got back." I said, smiling as she laughed at the pleasant memory. It's so much better than the other, more recent ones. It helps, thinking of those happier moments.

"Oh, I'll bet his expression was priceless!" She laughs, her eyes sparkling like jewels. She's clearly not heard all of Danny's stories, probably for both his and her sanity, but it's been fun for both of us to share some of her son's (mis)adventures.

It's taken both our minds off of what's happened, which I can only consider a good thing. Under Maddie's constant care, Tucker slipped into a natural, deep sleep, his breathing deep and slow. His slow breathing and small, random movements had become background music to our quiet conversations. Our soft words and his quiet breathing had created a safe feeling to the lab, making the hard metal walls (so similar to Vlad's that every flash of light made me remember something) feel almost warm and welcoming.

A hoarse cough interrupted her laughter. Our eyes both snapped to Tucker, and Maddie was on her feet and by his side before he even stopped coughing. I leaned forward, wishing more than anything I could get up and be near him, but stopping as soon as I felt my cuts stretch. A small smile stretched itself over his burned lips. His voice was rough and raw, "It was. I was there, and it was priceless."

I smiled, a little bit of the worry I held slipping away as his eyes blinked open to reveal pained but glittering irises.

He tried to sit up, but against Maddie's gentle hands pushing him back down and the pain that was so clear in his eyes, he slumped back against the table with little resistance. He coughed once, and took a deep breath, his hands relaxing by his sides.

"Danny sure knows how to pack a punch," he said, his laughing voice both pained and joking.

I winced, hoping Danny will never hear what his friend just said. Maddie seemed to be thinking on the same lines I was, because the frown on her face wasn't just of worry.

"I'm going to go get you some pain medicine, and then we'll take another look at those burns, okay?" Maddie said, her voice tight and uncomfortable.

As her footsteps sounded up the stairs, Tucker turned his head to face me. He could obviously sense the tense atmosphere and his eyes were worried. "Where's Danny at, anyway?"

I could tell he wasn't just asking where Danny was, he was asking so much more than that. He was asking if everyone else was safe, if something else had happened. He was asking if there was an even more sinister reason for his friend not being at his bedside than just bad timing. I smiled, if only a little bit.

"He and Sam went flying, he was about to wear a trench in the lab floor," I said, and I hoped Tucker understood what else I hadn't said.

He sighed, clenching his eyes closed. I could just make out the whispered words he spoke to himself. "Why are you always so damn guilty!"

I laughed almost silently to myself, but it held no humor. He was right. Danny, no matter the situation, would always take all the blame for it. It didn't matter if he could have changed the outcome or not, the guilt would haunt him for weeks. Tucker understood that perfectly, even if he liked it about as much as I did.

"He took Sam with him, she'll talk some sense into him, at least," I said quietly, hoping it was true.

He looked back at me, lips pursed in a thin line. "Yeah, at least he has her with him."

And then he groaned, a small smile making its way onto his face. "I just hope they come back within a reasonable amount of time!"

He laughed, and I couldn't help but laugh a little bit with him. The last thing Maddie needed was to have to go find those two.

He tried to move again, but stopped before he got halfway through with the movement. His breathing hitched, his eyes clenched shut, and he slumped back onto the metal table, boneless. Knowing any movement on my part would be the opposite of beneficial for everyone, I was forced to stay put as he sucked in a whistling breath through his teeth.

"Tucker! Are you okay?" I asked, panic rising as I noticed his clenched fists and tense muscles.

I could tell he was forcing himself to relax; the muscles in his face were still as rigid as boards, but the rest of his body seemed to ease. "I'm… I'm good. Danny just… really knows what he's doing."

I winced. "You know, he feels absolutely terrible about this."

His voice grew quieter, softer. "I know. I know he does. He doesn't need to though. It isn't his fault Vlad's a crazed Fruitloop. He has nothing to feel guilty about. He got that idiot out of me, didn't he?"

He sighed, closing his eyes. "That's why he left, isn't it?"

There wasn't any point in lying to him, not when he would know about it later anyway. "It was… a large part of it. None of this could have been easy on any of you."

No, none of this could have been easy, especially on Danny. He would have seen this as his fault, would have thought it was something he could have prevented. I hadn't even said anything yet, either. I hadn't mentioned a word about how I knew without even a sliver of a doubt that this was anything but his fault. I should have said something. I should have told him I didn't blame him. I should have said something before it got to this point.

"Hey, Dani." He said, drawing me out of my thoughts. "You can't go and blame this on yourself either. It's not your fault that idiot is after you."

I swallowed, opening my mouth to retort, but he beat me to it.

"No buts. No one's at fault here but Vlad's, crazed Fruitloop, 'kay?" He smiled, and even through the pain and the raw skin, I could tell he was telling the truth. He didn't blame me anymore than I blamed Danny for all this.

I took a deep breath, and for once, I didn't even notice the metallic scent of the lab. "Thanks, Tucker."

He grinned, "Anytime, Dani."

He moved a little bit, trying to get comfortable on the flat lab table. He looked back at me, that grin still in place, and yawned before saying, "Wake me up when your mom gets back with those meds, 'kay?"

His words sent a shock through me that I couldn't shake off until long after Maddie had come back.

And again, I'm sorry it took so long, but the next one should be out sooner. =]

Thoughts? Love it? Hate it?