Title: Light after the Darkness.
Fandom:American History X
Paring: Derek/Danny
Warnings: Light incest

Derek sat with Danny's bloodied body in his arms. The tears ran down his cheeks and sobs wrecked his body. Suddenly he felt a faint pulse under his hand and realised that Danny was still alive, barely hanging on to the world of the living.

He screamed for the paramedics who came bursting through the bathroom door. They strapped Danny's body onto he stretcher and carried him out of the school building with Derek running at the side. He gave Mr. Stevens a glance before the doors to the ambulance closed and got a confirming nod back. He was going to give their family a call and handle everything that needed to be taken care of at the school, while Derek was at his brother side at the hospital. At the place where he was needed the most.

Derek held Danny's hand all the way to the hospital, never letting go, even after the paramedics started working on him he never let go of his brothers had. It was the last thing that kept his sanity, the only thing that stopped him from falling back into his old habits that screamed to him to get revenge on those black gangs.

They got rushed in to the E.R where Danny was immediately sent to surgery.

" To whoever is listening, please let him get through this, please let him live" Derek prayed with his head in his hands.

He just couldn't get through this, to finally get close to his brother again just to loose him again. It was hard to imagine that just the night before they seemed to connected on a higher level, it just took one look before they decided to rip down all of the Nazi pictures on the walls of their old boy room, no words were uttered between them and they didn't need them. Shy smiles were exchanged and soft looks. Neither of them knew what this new feelings between them would lead and if they really dared to take it.

Now he wasn't even sure if Danny would even pull through.

Tears were silently running down his cheeks and sobs shock his body. Time seemed to stand still and a vision of what his life would look like without his brother in his life. He felt a pang of emptiness and loneliness run through him at the thought, coldness was spreading through his body. Hours after hours passed feeling like days before the head surgeon came out to talk to him.

"Your brother is going to survive and there is a good chance that he will be almost fully recovered." The doctor said with a faint smile." We almost lost him twice on the operating table. If the bullet had hit one millimetre more to the right he would have bleed out before reaching the hospital.

"Thank you doctor. You don't know how much this means to me" Derek was so relieved that he got up and hugged the surgeon who awkwardly patted him on the back before showing him into the up wakening room.

Derek sat down beside the pale form of his younger brother. He silently wondered how what once were a happy and rather ordinary family just got out of hand after the death of their father. He knew that everything that had happened to Danny was because of him and he would do everything to protect his family from his old life.

Even if it meant that he had to move to another city top keep them safe it was worth it. The thought of leaving Danny all but broke his heart, but maybe it was for the best. That way Danny would get another chance to make something of his life and he, Derek, could get himself a college education and forget all about these unnatural and forbidden feelings he had for his brother.

He stayed at his brother's side for the rest of the night after calling home to keep his mother and little sisters posted on Danny's condition. They promised to stop by the next day but agreed with him that Danny needed all the undisturbed sleep he could get and the mother felt safe that Derek stayed there for the night.

He ran through the long white corridor. The sound of a gunshot echoed cut like a knife through the silence. Everything was so white. He saw pictures of people coming towards him but he couldn't make out their faces, they tried to talk to hi but he couldn't hear what they were saying. The whole room was swept in a fog and he struggled to get to the men's room where he knew that his brother was lying. A reed sea of blood came rushing towards him, trying to swallow him. Danny, he screamed, Danny! Danny!

Derek sat up straight in his bed breathing hard. The dream had been so real. He looked around him, taking in the white sterile hospital walls until his eyes settled on the bed and Danny's sleeping form.

He reached out with his hand any gently touched the soft skin of Danny's cheek. Trying to make sure of that he really was alive and that this whole thing wasn't just a product of his imagination. He felt a slight movement and the ghost of a touch on his forearm making him turn his head towards the source of the caress. His eyes met his brother's hazel eyes and a soft smile gazed his lips as their eyes locked for what seemed to be for ever.

" Hi there. How're you feeling bro'?" He asked concerned.

Danny smiled tiredly and reached out for Derek's contact which soothed him somehow. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this safe and content, not since that fateful night his brother ended up in prison and he himself ended up on the same path as his brother once walked. He'd always looked up to his older brother, seeing him as something above all others. His friends in the gang had looked up to him because of Derek.

He'd always wanted to be like Derek but now his hero worship had developed into something beyond that. Last night he'd discovered that what he shared with Derek was so much more than the ordinary brotherly love. The way they seemed to be able to communicate with their eyes without the need of words. It was almost impossible to describe what they shared because he couldn't find the right words for it. I wasn't the usual brotherly love; it was something beyond what would be looked upon acceptable form the eyes of the society.

He smiled softly lifting his hand to Derek who held it in a tight grasp. a brief look of understanding passed between their eyes and their lips slowly met in a chase kiss.

They slowly separated resting their foreheads' rested against each others, their breath mingled and their lips barely touching. They leaned in at the same time, Derek's tongue asking for permission and Danny's lips parting at his demanding tongue. Their teeth clatched as their tongues' danced, exploring the depths' of the others mouth, passion flooded between them growing more intense for every second. They breathlessly pulled apart before the machines started beeping as Danny's heart rate went up. When the nurses appeared in the doorway they saw the two brothers sitting comfortably talking quietly to each other before turning towards them with a happy smile. Life was looking lighter at last.

It was the start of a new life, a new beginning.