Okay readers, if you're still reading…I love you to death. If you're mad at me, ::hides:: please don't…and of course, for everyone, please…read on…

Chapter XX—Full Circle

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Rafe had already landed when he saw the great burst of flames that he knew was once Danny's plane, and that shocked him into motion

"DANNY?!" he yelled frantically, knowing that he was so far away there was no way he could hear him, even if he was ok

He could feel the tears springing behind his eyes, but pushed them back, he had to get Danny, Leanna needed Danny, he needed Danny

There were men all around him, pilots, they were, shooting the patrols that advanced on them, Rafe shot his share too, shot at anything that moved with deadly accuracy, and once he felt he was in the clear, began running for the hills, focusing on the dark smoke that rose

Almost halfway there when five patrollers jumped from the field and ran at him, Rafe managed to shoot two of them, but the other three knocked him to the ground and tie his arms behind his back

Rafe looked around fearfully, Danny was gone, no one was there to rescue him from this one, and that's what finally broke his spirit, he didn't fight anymore, not even the thought of Leanna gave him hope, not even Evelyn

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"Danny!" a soft voice called

Danny stirred a bit and then slowly, painfully, opened his eyes

All around him was infinite white, it neither began nor ended, and it was so peaceful

Danny painstakingly sat up, but lay back down quickly when his head began to spin violently

"Danny!" the soft feminine voice called again from all around him

"H-huh? Who are you? Mom?" Danny called into the void, not really sure where he was supposed to talk to

"Danny, you have to go back. Your girls need you." the voice said again

"Mom! My girls? You mean Leanna and...her baby? Her baby is a girl?" he called

"You have to hurry! Stand up! Walk the other way!" the voice sounded more urgent

The voice seemed to force Danny into a sitting up position, only to have his head violently spin again

"Get up, Danny!" the voice was yelling now

"I can't!" he yelled back

"You
can" the voice said

Suddenly, Danny felt himself rise to a standing position, feeling rejuvenated, not completely normal, but able to walk

"Now go! You have to hurry! You can't save the boy, but you have to be there for your girls! And Danny, I love you" the voice called

Danny nodded and began walking in the direction the voice told him to go (how he knew was a mystery)

"I love you too, Mom"


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In Rafe's eyes, all was lost, he felt his body go limp in vanquish and his eyes lost all luster, they now looked dead and hollow

One of the patrollers brought a docile Rafe to his feet while another held the gun up to his head

Rafe closed his eyes and drained two stray tears down his cheeks and waited...

Then there was the sound of a shot fired, and Rafe fell to his knees

But, to his surprise, he wasn't dead...

Instead, the three Zeros around him were laying on the ground, very much dead

"Holy..." he began, but his voice trailed off, "Danny!"

It was him. His clothes were torn and dirty and burned, and a cut on his head was gushing blood, but Rafe wanted nothing more than to hug him…

~*~

My whole body hurt so bad, all I wanted was to go home, and I turned to Rafe

"Can we go?" I asked, and went to take a step, but as I did so, it felt like all of the energy was suddenly drained from my body and I fell, hitting the ground with a large thud

"Danny!" Rafe yelled

"Oww, it hurts" I groaned

"You're going to be fine, ok?" Rafe said, I knew he was only trying to assure himself

My eyes were so heavy, I just wanted to sleep, and that's what I planned to do, until Rafe's voice sounded again

"Listen to me, Danny, you're going to be fine! You have to be fine! For Beautiful!" he yelled

"Danny...please don't leave me, please..." Rafe was crying, I forced my eyes open to look at him

"I...I think it's time, Rafe" I strained to say

"No it isn't, Beautiful needs you! I need you..." he cried

"You never could accept reality, Rafe, tell Beautiful I love her, and kiss her baby for me, it's gonna be a girl, you know" I choked out before closing my eyes, they were so tired, and I only needed to close them for a second

"No! Danny! Open your eyes!" I heard Rafe yell

But it was too late, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn't open my eyes

~*~

I didn't know how long I had been asleep...maybe it was hours, maybe days, who knows, but when I did wake, it was night

Actually, it was so dark that for a moment I thought I might have actually died, but that theory was thrown out as soon as I felt the excruciating pain in my side and the dull throbbing of my head

Painfully, I tried to raise my head, even just a bit to see where I was

That's when I realized that I was in a hospital

Was I home?

I heard soft breathing coming from in the corner beside me and tried to shift my head to look at its source, knowing there was only one person that would be sitting in a hospital ward with me in the dead of night

"Rafe?" I tried to whisper, but it came out slightly louder than I had expected

To that, the body in the corner jumped to life with a snort, "What? Who's that? Danny?" he was rambling in his half-asleep state

"It's me" I said, controlling my voice better this time

"Danny! Are you ok?" he said, clambering to the floor and crawling up beside my bed

"Well, at first my head was throbbing, but luckily that subsided when the searing pain in my side kicked in" I said, trying to be sarcastic, but from the look on Rafe's face, failing miserably

"Someone's in a chipper mood, aren't they?" he retorted

"Sorry, I just-" I started to say something, but thought better of it and changed my train of thought, "what time is it?"

"A little before midnight" Rafe said, obviously he, too, was ready to drop the subject

"So I've been out for...about 6 hours?" I asked, reaching up and touching my bandaged head

"No," Rafe said, the sadness in his eyes glinting off the soft moonlight, "You've been out for two days, Danny"

I sucked in a sharp breath, "I..I was...what?"

"You were out, well, you would move around and once or twice you opened your eyes, but only for a second" he explained

"Well then, we're still in China?" I asked slowly

Rafe nodded, "Do you think you're strong enough to walk? You were the last to wake up, as soon as you're strong enough, we've got to leave"

"As in, now?" I asked, wondering if my legs even worked anymore

"Yeah, the nurse will give you some pain medicine for the flight home, but we really need to go before they find us" he said

I thought for a few moments, testing my legs silently under the blanket and finding that, with much pain, they still worked

"I think I can move, if you help me" I said

Rafe nodded again, "I'll get the nurse, she'll give you some painkillers and I'll round up the boys...Danny, we're going home"

Even in the darkness, I could tell that he was smiling, and I couldn't help but smile back


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Yes…everything goes full circle…so Danny is ok…I hope everyone is quite happy about that…and now we have about 2 chapters left…the whole going home part…how exciting…

Preview for Chapter 21:  The boys get home…finally…and Evelyn is waiting to greet them…

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