If you were to say anything other than Danny fled from the hospital, you would be lying. He had run from his daughter and the accusations she had levied against him. He had run fast, all the way home, with his tail between his legs because she was absolutely and completely correct… and that was hard to face up to.

His daughter was a cape, and the PRT wanted her to join their rank and file, and all he had done was sit in the corner. All he'd done was watch as they harassed his only child about joining what was essentially a child army geared to fight the monsters of the world. Old habits die hard, he supposed, and he had been sitting back and watching for years now. Why would it matter that the instigators had changed from being bullies at Taylor's school to two of the biggest superheroes in the country?

Danny took a deep sip of beer and loafed back into his armchair. He didn't use to drink. Even after Leviathan sunk Newfoundland and ruined everything he had built up at the Docks he hadn't turned to alcohol. He just dove into his work and his family even deeper. But after Annette had passed, and the recession in the city had cut back the docks further and further, the drink was the only thing he could turn to.

That was the lie he had told himself, anyway. The drink wasn't the only thing he had around that he could have turned to. There was one person who had been suffering just as much, if not more than he had. Someone who had needed him. Someone who had needed anyone. Just a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, a voice to comfort. That's all he had needed to be for her. What had he done instead?

He took another deep sip of beer and switched on the television, setting it to the news. Exactly what he was doing now. He drank, he watched TV, and he went through the motions with the minimal amount of effort that he could. Danny Hebert used to be a name that meant something in Brockton Bay. It used to be a name that had corporations quaking in their boots, shivering and shaking at the fire he could rain down upon them if they crossed him or the dockworkers union in the wrong way. He had the gift of the gab, a silver tongue so slippery some had probably wondered if he was a parahuman himself. He did his job and he was good at it… until everything fell apart.

Now the name Danny Hebert didn't mean anything. Not anymore. He had failed his daughter. He had failed himself. He had failed the memory of Annette. The worst thing though? The thing that made all of that even harder to deal with? He didn't know if he could change any of it.

The buzz of Danny's cell phone shook him out of his spiral, almost causing him to drop his beer entirely. He hadn't wanted to bring cell phones back into the house, and neither had Taylor, but it was his last-ditch attempt at trying to stay connected with his daughter. It was his last-ditch attempt at giving her something that would allow him to be there for her if the worst happened. Looking at one still made his stomach churn, his heart beat faster and his throat close up as if he were being choked out by a Brute.

He picked it up. There were several messages from Taylor, all of them apologising for the way she had spoken to him. The first had been sent moments after he had walked out of the room, if he had just looked in his pocket at the time he could have gone back. Too late now, she was probably already testing her powers. He tossed the phone away without bothering to reply, it thudded heavily onto the ground.

That brought another wave of guilt crashing down. His daughter was a parahuman. She had triggered. It was his fault. If he had stopped being so self-obsessed for just a few minutes if he had just reached out once or twice. Could he have stopped all the bullying? Of course not, that was a ridiculous notion, bullying happened at school all the time. Could he have stopped the constant escalation, could he have made Taylor feel safe enough to confide in him, could he have brought it up with the Principle? He could have done any of those things, and any one of them could have been enough to have stopped all of this from happening.

He slumped in the chair, placed the beer down onto the ground, and let his eyes flutter shut. After a couple of beers sleep always came a little bit easier, and he couldn't bear to be awake any longer.

xXx

Danny was awoken by the greasy stink of a Fugly Bob's burger and the slowly receding steps of Taylor walking up the stairs. He stretched his arms out with a grunt, and his left shoulder gave an almighty crack. He'd fallen asleep in that chair enough times to know that it played hell with his joints, and yet he kept on doing it anyway. He leant forward and took a look inside the bag where a heaping portion of greasy fries and a huge burger were waiting for him. His stomach churned, he couldn't face food right now, not when there was so much more left to say.

He got up, worked a kink out of his spine, and trudged up the stairs after his daughter.

"Taylor?" Danny asked, rapping a short knock on the door. "Are you in there?"

He heard a sigh from the other side of the door and fought the urge to simply walk away. It made sense that she hated him, why wouldn't she? He'd abandoned her for years before she had triggered, and the first thing he had done after she had triggered was abandoned her again. He wanted a proper relationship with his daughter more than anything, but he didn't know if she wanted the same anymore. He might never be able to bridge that gap.

"Hey, Dad!" She called out from behind the door, "You can come in."

He hesitated again for another second, swallowed the nervousness, and opened the door.

He hadn't got a good look at her when they were both back at the hospital, but what he saw now made his heart hurt. She looked so much like Annette, the same expressive mouth, the same beautiful hair. But there was something different about her now, too. It might not have been noticeable if she was just someone he was meeting on the street, but her eyes shimmered with a swirl of purple and blue.

"I'm sorry," she said, discarding her still wrapped burger onto her bed next to the carton of untouched fries. "I didn't mean what I said back at the hospital."

She stood, and in just a couple of steps, they were hugging, wrapped up in one another's arms and sobbing uncontrollably.

"I know you didn't kiddo," Danny croaked, it felt good just to hold her again, he couldn't remember the last time he had embraced his daughter like this. "But you aren't exactly wrong, either, I've been a pretty shitty Dad."

Saying it out loud was like a punch to the gut, but it needed to be acknowledged. She needed to know that he knew he had failed her, that he knew she had deserved better. Danny pulled back and looked his daughter right in the eye.

"I'm going to try and make it up to you, okay kiddo?" He said. "I'll do better, I promise."

The weight of the promise pressed down on him as soon as he said it, it was a promise he was sure he wouldn't be able to keep.

"When was the last time you ate?" Taylor asked. Danny couldn't remember and looked away in shame, it must have been in the last 24 hours, he just couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Dad, when?"

"I don't know, not hungry," Danny said with a shrug, it was half the truth anyway.

Danny could tell it was the wrong thing to say almost instantly. His daughter closed her eyes and worked hard to slow her breathing, it looked as if she wanted to lash out at him just like she had at the hospital. He deserved it, too. He'd instantly let her down, right after saying that he wouldn't anymore. He deserved it.

"There's a burger downstairs, some fries too. Want me to come down and we can eat together?" She asked, giving him an easy out to the predicament he had forced himself into.

"Ah, that's okay Kiddo," Danny replied. "Like I said, not really hungry, I'll warm it up later."

He had no intention of doing any of that. Fugly Bob's food was just about edible when it was fresh off the griddle, the perfect sort of food for if you had a hangover or were just looking to shove some grease into your veins, but warming it up made the beef lose any semblance of integrity, and the fries became stiff and stony.

"Yeah, okay," Taylor mumbled. Danny watched as she grabbed her burger and fries, and did nothing to stop the girl as she pushed her way past him.

"Taylor?" He called out as she got to the top of the stairs, "Taylor, where are you going?"

She breathed an angry huff of air and turned on the spot, Danny was sure she was going to hit him. "Out," was all she said, which somehow stung worse than a hand ever could.

Danny couldn't bring himself to say anything, not even when the girl shook her head in disgust and ran down the stairs. The front door slammed, and he was left alone in the house, with only his failures for company.

As the door slammed, Danny stumbled, and then fell with a gasp. His consciousness slipped away, and his mind was transported along a network of many interconnecting shards. At the centre of it all, vast unseeable darkness, flickering in the starlight.

[QUERY]

[CONDITION]

[ONLINE]

[WIPE]

Danny awoke with a groan and rubbed at his head. He was sure he had just been talking to Taylor and had said something to get her to lash out at him before leaving… so how did he end up on the floor? He pulled himself to his feet and staggered out of the room. As he stumbled back down the stairs his stomach gave an almighty growl. Maybe a helping of Fugly Bobs wouldn't be so bad after all?

He took a bite. It wasn't tasty, it wasn't even close to tasty… and yet. He took another bite. And another. He started to eat at a rapid speed, barely stopping to even breathe. Within a few minutes, the whole burger and all the fries were gone. Danny leaned back in his chair and gave a satisfied belch. He'd never eaten so much so fast.

Was that why his stomach was starting to ache and gurgle? He leapt out of his chair and made a mad dash back up the stairs to the bathroom. Danny flung himself over the toilet seat and one by one threw up a series of ten fat rats. He looked at them. They looked at him. He looked at himself through their eyes.

Danny Hebert had triggered.

AN: I AM SO SORRY TO YOU FANFICTION NET VIEWERS! I have now reuploaded this chapter, and I hope that there are no longer any weird issues with it, this didn't happen with any of my other crossposts!