Plea of insanity

Danny.

The last person he'd ever want to see standing in front of his door. The last person he'd ever want to see anywhere but behind bars.

But there he was. Right in front of him. Staring at him with those piercing blue eyes, his hair disheveled, standing off in all directions, his clothes crumbled, so unlike his usual sleek and confident appearance that Will might've had sympathy for him if it weren't for that scary expression on his face. This was not the man who'd greeted him at the door the other night, there was no smile, no concern - fake or not - on that man's face anymore. Even his voice seemed to have changed over the last week.

"Where is he…?" Danny asked, his voice calm, matter-of-factly, as if he was just asking someone for directions. His breath was reeking of alcohol though, and Will had to fight the urge to take a step back to avoid that sickening smell. He didn't answer. He just tried to shut the door as quickly as possible. But Danny put his foot between the door and the frame before Will had time to close it.

"I said: Where is he…?"

"He's not here…", Will got out between gritted teeth.

"Oh, but I know that he is. I saw that tall, stupid friend of his enter this building just a few minutes ago. And he knocked at your door, so unless you've got some kind of party going on here, I'm pretty sure that Noah's the reason for him coming here..."

"You got the wrong door!"

"No, I don't!"

Will tried to close the door again, but Danny's fingers were clutched around the door, and for some reason, Will had qualms to just close it anyway, even though he knew perfectly well what that man was capable of… what he had done. And his hesitation gave Danny the chance to get his shoulder between the door and the frame.

"I just need to talk to him… nothing more."

"I say it again: you got the wrong door!" It was getting harder and harder to keep Danny from entering, and Will threw a glance into the direction of the living room, hoping that Finn might've noticed the argument by now, that he would help him. He didn't dare yell for him, fearing that Puck might get there, too. And he certainly didn't want Danny to know that Puck was there, even though he was almost sure by now that he would never be able to convince Danny otherwise.

"But you are Mr. Schuester, right? The man who brought Noah home the other night, the one who was at the hospital with him after he pushed his sister down the stairs… the one who fills these kids heads with all kinds of stupid ideas about being proud of who they are…" His voice had something deprecatory in it, and at the last part, it almost sounded amused, as if he was talking about something particularly funny, or even stupid.

"Leave or I'll call the police…" Will desperately tried to ignore the hopelessness of this situation, now almost putting his whole weight against the door.

"And what're you gonna tell them? I'm just a concerned parent looking for his kid… there's nothing wrong with that…"

Those words came as a surprise. Not that Will hadn't expected Danny to try and lie his way out of this, but even Danny should've realized by now that no one, not even the police, would believe his stories anymore. Especially with that investigation hanging over his head.

"He's not your kid… and even if, I wouldn't let you anywhere near him!" Will was determined not to let Danny come through the door, but it was getting harder with every second passing by.

"Well, I guess you're right about that…" And with those words, Danny slammed against the door with so much force, that it finally gave way. Will was pushed back by the sudden impact and stumbled backwards.

"You know what… I lied!" Danny's voice was low, dangerous, like the growl of a dog about to attack. "I don't just want to talk to him. He's been a thorn in my flesh right from the start. I mean, I was patient, very patient, with him -" Danny crossed the threshold and took the first few steps into the apartment. "- and how does he thank me? By going to the police… as if they're gonna believe a word he said…"

"They obviously believed enough or you wouldn't be here right now…" Will tried to keep his voice as steady as possible, but it was a lot harder than he'd thought. Danny was at least a head taller than him, and the way he kept taking only a few slow steps at a time made him appear even more threatening.

"Yeah… I can see why you would think that. But until this morning, everything was under control. Until his mother stabbed me in the back…" A few more steps, a little closer. "And I can tell you… that really hurt."

Will didn't really listen to the words… just the voice. It didn't even sound real anymore. He could almost feel the malice piercing through his skin, the madness filling the air. That man was way beyond the point where he would listen to reason, beyond anything rational. The teacher took a short glance at the phone that stood on the table near the door, even though he knew that he would never get to it. Danny obviously noticed the slightly panicked look in his eyes, because a moment later, he grabbed the cable and ripped it out of the wall.

"Just to make sure…", he added unnecessarily. "But to get back on topic…" Danny was talking as if this was just some business meeting, as if he wanted to make a big sale, while at the same time, he couldn't have looked more distressed and distraught. It almost seemed like he was shifting back and forth between two totally different persons, not sure which one he actually wanted to be right now. "Unless Noah takes it all back, I'm sort of screwed… I won't just lose my family, no… I'll lose everything I have. I mean, who'll do all those nice and honest people's taxes when I'm gone?"

"Like you're the only tax accountant in this city…"

"Good point. Very good point, indeed. But my clients trust me… and trust is hard to get these days. Imagine what they would have to live through when they find out that the man who's doing their taxes might have to go to jail. I don't think they'll like it very much when they find out that there are a lot of holes in their tax reports… some of them might even get ruined. And we can't have that on our conscience, now, can we?"

Will had no idea why Danny was telling him that. It didn't make sense… not at all. "So… you stole money from innocent people?"

"Well, none of us are really innocent… Mr. Talbert, for example. He actually tried to get his new BMW by as a company car. I mean, he got an internet shop for spare car parts, and he only does postal deliveries. Most of them are probably stolen anyway… and Mrs. Adams lives off of two retirement pensions, because of a clerical error three years ago. Everyone is stealing money… I only tried to get my share. And with all those hospital bills coming into the house… how else were I supposed to pay for that?"

Even though none of his words made any sense, even though the things he said weren't at all threatening, Will didn't dare take his eyes off Danny, anticipating that one moment, when Danny would finally crack. But that moment didn't come… at least not yet.

"You see, I'm not really the bad guy here… I only tried to feed my family, and to keep them together. Noah just can't understand that… never could. He always wanted to destroy it, giving his mom so much grief… what kind of son does that?"

Will had backed away with every step Danny had taken towards him, and without realizing it, he'd reached the living room. He could hear Finn's and Puck's sudden gasps behind him, but didn't dare turn around.

"Mr. Schue-", Finn started, but Will held up a hand to keep him silent, his eyes still fixed on Danny.

"Look who we have here…" Danny's voice had an almost greeting manner about it.

There was a tense atmosphere in in the room, as if they were all waiting for something to happen.

The strange thing was, though, that they were in the majority, three to one… but still, none of them dared make the first move. And it wasn't fear that held them back, Danny didn't even have a weapon as far as they could see, and it would be easy enough for one of them to call the police if things should get out of hand… no, something else was keeping them from just overpowering him. For one, of course, even with their superiority in number, there was still the risk of someone getting hurt. And then, Danny wasn't actually threatening any one of them, so there was absolutely no reason to take action… right?

At least those were the thoughts running through Will's mind when he came to a halt at the back of the couch.

"What do you want…" Puck's voice was more calm than it had ever been, but when Will turned around for a second, he saw that all the color had drained from Puck's face, and even though there was no fear audible in his voice, it was clearly visible in his eyes.

"Oh, nothing… just what I've told you this morning… a few little words, a little lie or two… to get your story straight. As a little thank-you for all the trouble I had with you…"

"What?" Puck almost didn't know what to say to that. "You actually expect me to be thankful to you? For what? For beating the crap out of me every chance you got? For making my life a living hell? Are you out of your mind?"

That seemed to be exactly what Danny was… out of his mind. And his next words underlined that even more. "See what I mean?" He turned his attention back to Will, an uneven smile spread on his lips. "Even now, after he's destroyed everything I've worked for… he still dares to talk back to me."

Puck gave a depreciatory snort and shook his head in disbelief, causing Danny to give him another dangerous glare. "Ungrateful little brat…", he spat out, his up until now almost reserved behavior finally dripping off of him. "Who paid all your medical bills? Who took care of your mom and your sister after you screwed up so bad that they sent you to juvie?"

"Wow…" Puck was actually speechless for a moment. "This is so… wow…" If this situation hadn't been so serious, Puck would've started laughing... this whole thing was just so surreal…

"You're insane…" Will's voice was shaking slightly, as if he'd only just now caught up with the events taking place right in front of him, as if he'd only just now realized that Danny had crossed the line of sanity, although that line was already so far away that it wasn't even visible anymore.

But his words didn't seem to bother Danny in the least… on the contrary. They brought another wide smile on his face, contorting his face into a sick and twisted grimace, not much unlike that of the joker… it didn't even seem to be from this world anymore.

"The love of my life just put a knife into my back, and I'm about to loose everything… I think I'm allowed to be a little bit insane right now… don't you? And you better drop that…", he added, his head suddenly turning to face Finn, who had just pulled out his cell phone. But the sudden movement and Danny's harsh voice took him by surprise, and it slipped through his fingers and fell to the floor.

It was as if Danny's mere presence was enough to keep them all under control, and Finn asked himself how Burt had managed to chase him away. But maybe he wouldn't have been able to do that if Danny had been sure that Puck had taken refuge at their house. Either way, it was too late to change any of it. The only thing that was important right now, was the fact, that neither of them dared to make another move…

"Insane or not, I ain't changing my story! I'm not afraid of you anymore…" Puck's voice was almost convincing, but the faint panic lying underneath, that slight shiver, didn't go unnoticed… to no one.

"If you say so…"

Once again, Will was surprised by the calmness surrounding Danny despite the words that came over his lips. But he had no doubt that Danny's behavior could change in an instant.

"Yeah, I do…"

"You better leave… now!" Will wasn't sure where he'd found the courage to say it. The words just slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them. There was an urgency behind them that Danny obviously mistook for fear.

"I don't think I will.", he said, taking another step towards the teacher. "And maybe you should get out of the way. I don't think that this is part of your job description…"

"This is my home and you have no right to be here!", Will replied quickly in an attempt to hide the fact that he felt really intimidated by that man.

"Then why did you let me get this far in? It would've been easy enough for you to call the police by now… but maybe you just didn't want to. Maybe you don't want anyone to help him…"

"Okay… that's enough!" The teacher drew himself up to his full height, a determined expression on his face. "I told you to leave…"

"And what are you going to do if I don't? You don't actually think that you'll have a fighting chance against me, do you?"

"Well, there's three of us and only one of you…", Finn said, his uneven voice betraying the confidence he'd tried to install with those words.

"You really want to attack an unarmed man? Three against one? That's not very fair, now, is it?"

The situation seemed to have hit a dead end, and not just because Danny refused to leave. His behavior had become so irrational, so utterly insane that Will almost mistook the whole thing for a weird and somewhat disturbing dream that just jumped from one scene to the next without the slightest hint of coherence. But at the same time, he could feel his fingers digging into the fabric of the couch, could feel the tension lying in the air, crawling over his skin… no, this was as real as it got, there was no denying it. He just had absolutely no idea how to resolve it without risking it to end up in a fight.

But he didn't even have time to think about a solution…

It happened so fast that Will had barely enough time to react. He saw Danny's head suddenly shooting back to Finn, and when he followed the movement, he caught a short glimpse at the teenager who was trying to pick up his cell phone. Danny stormed forwards, but before he could get to Finn, the teacher had stepped into the way. For a moment they just looked at each other, and Will could see the anger flaring in Danny's eyes. His mind seemed suddenly blank, deprived of all but one thought:

He's not going to do it… he's not going to do it…

But that last thought was wiped away by Danny's hands on his chest, shoving him out of the way. Will stumbled a few steps backwards, but managed to remain on his feet, and when he looked up at Danny, he could finally see the rage that was now written all over Danny's face, carved deep into his skin, like an incurable disease.

"Puck… Finn… you better get out of here…" Will didn't even try to hide the fear anymore.

"No way…" Puck's voice was determined, he wasn't going to run away from this.

Will turned his head and shot him a pleading glance to convince him to listen… and during that split second, that fracture of a moment, Danny lunged out. The teacher hit the floor hard, the sudden impact taking away his balance for good.

It was as if someone in the back of this story had suddenly struck the bell starting the fight… a fight with no rules… a fight that wouldn't end until all but one person were down on the ground.

Puck, who was almost on the other end of the room, wasn't able to close in on them fast enough to stop Danny from throwing another punch, and Finn, who was actually standing right next to them, didn't seem capable to even move a muscle. He just stood there, glued to the floor, his hands clutched to tightly around his phone that Puck feared he might break it. But before he could get to him, Danny had knocked it out of Finn's hands, just to make sure that he wouldn't use it.

Finn seemed to wake up from his state of shock, but he had barely time to hold off Danny's attack. He ducked away under Danny's fist and almost stumbled over his teacher who was lying on the floor, not unconscious, but obviously dazed.

"Finn… leave!" Puck's voice was resolute, allowing no protest whatsoever. But Finn hesitated. He didn't want to leave his friend behind, especially not when they had a good chance of winning this fight. They were in the majority after all…

"No… we can take him out…" Those words just sounded odd coming out of his mouth. They sounded like some daft line from a bad action movie… just that this wasn't a movie.

"Oh yeah? You really think that?" Danny turned back to Finn, frowning. He obviously didn't think that they had any chance at all. "You're not very smart, are you?", he went on, seeming somewhat amused by Finn's words.

Puck slowly bent down to pick up Finn's phone, his eyes never leaving Danny who now had his back turned towards him. He took a short glance at his teacher, who still hadn't got back up, before he looked back down at the cell and dialed the number… and the next thing he felt was an almost unbearable wave of pain running through his body as Danny's fist connected with his already broken ribs. He doubled over, his knees hitting the floor, while he tried to hold back the cry of pain building up in his throat.

He didn't notice the phone slipping out of his hand, never even heard the voice on the other end...

"911, what's your emergency?"