AN: Very short chapter. This is always where this was going, I just hope it doesn't seem contrived.
Danny's knuckles were tight around the steering wheel of his truck. Who did Alan think he was? He hadn't bothered to talk to him in over a year, canceling every holiday on them, and he thinks he gets to act like he cared? No, Alan didn't understand what the problem was. He didn't bother to keep up with them enough to have an inkling of what was wrong.
"Dad!" Taylor yelled, snapping him from his thoughts. He swerved, narrowly avoiding drifting into oncoming traffic. He took a deep breath to calm down, but didn't bother slowing down. Alan had pissed him off and he wasn't going to be able to calm down until he got a stiff drink in him.
When they finally made it home, with another few near misses, Danny slammed the door and headed for the fridge, not paying attention to the sound of the door opening and closing again behind him. The fridge slammed shut as he grabbed a bottle of whiskey he'd been keeping for a while. He downed nearly half the bottle in an instant.
Damn Alan, acting like her cared. Claiming he wanted to help when he couldn't even be bothered to call them. He might as well have been avoiding them since Annette died and now he want's to act all chummy again? No. He didn't need his help.
"You do need help, dad." Taylor said.
"What?" he asked sharply, turning a glare to his daughter. He hadn't realized he was mumbling his thoughts.
"I said you do need help." She repeated. "Maybe not from Alan, but what about Kurt and Lacey?"
"I don't need anyone's help." He snapped.
He'd made it this long by himself, he could keep going longer.
"Yes you do. How can you not see the problem?" Taylor asked, clearly annoyed with him. Danny grumbled. How could she be annoyed with him? It didn't make any sense to him that she, of all people, didn't understand.
"There isn't a problem!" he shouted.
"Yes there is!" She shouted back, making him furrow his brow further. She'd never yelled at him before. Not like that. She sighed, over dramatically as far as he was concerned, and shook her head. "I'm so sick of your shit." She said lowly.
"Excuse you?!" He shouted. He felt hot, but wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or his anger bubbling up. How dare she speak to him like. She had no right.
"I said I'm sick of your shit." Taylor said again. "I'm sick of having to clean up after your binges like some battered house wife! I'm sick of how you're so stuck in your head you don't notice anything around you. I'm sick of you ignoring me!"
Danny sputtered, not clearly understanding what she was talking about, but the words hit close enough that they just fueled his anger further.
"I haven't been ignoring you! And I don't treat you like… Like that!"
He knew he had been, but he couldn't bring himself to acknowledge it. There was a heavy block there, keeping all those emotions in. Keeping him from breaking down. If it moved even an inch…
"Yes you do! Every night you come home and just start drinking. You barely talk to me! I've been doing nothing but trying to repair our relationship for months and you've done nothing but push me away! Are you just that oblivious or have you stopped caring? What do you have that's more important to you than me?!"
"I'm not… There's nothing…"
He didn't understand. Taylor should be the one to understand. She'd been in the same place. She was older now. She should get it.
"Then why?!" She shouted.
"Because I failed you!" He snapped. That block moved, letting everything flood out. Danny's rage was tempered only slightly by the flood of emotion. "I failed you and I… I didn't notice what was wrong and you nearly died!"
"You didn't fail me, dad." Taylor said, her tone lighter. "I was actively hiding things from you. You can't fail me when I'm not giving you the chance to fail." She paused, unsure if she wanted to continue her piece, but decided it would be better to do so. "You didn't fail me before, but you've been failing me every day since they pulled me out of that locker. You've done nothing but drink and ignore me while I've been trying fix our relationship."
Danny shook his head, more to clear the alcohol that was kicking in than to deny what his daughter was saying.
"I just… When I was looking at you in that hospital bed… I realized how horrible I'd been as a father. I couldn't take it. I couldn't face myself. I couldn't face you. I felt like I'd failed and my negligence almost cost me all I had left of Annette."
Had he been looking, Danny would have seen the look of apprehension and annoyance cross his daughters face.
"Dad, you can't keep looking at me like that." She said.
"W-what?"
"You can't keep looking at me like I'm just an offshoot of mom." She said a bit more heatedly. "I miss her too. I miss her every day but you can't stay hung up over her."
Danny felt his anger pick up again. She, of all people, should understand just how important Annette was. How could she even…
"Stop it." He said lowly, clenching and relaxing his fists to work the frustration out.
"No!" She said. "You can't continue like this, dad! I'm worried about you. I hate seeing you like this, drinking and working yourself into an early grave because you can't forgive yourself! If we need to start with mom, then so be it!"
"Stop. It!" He growled.
"I'm not mom!" Taylor continued. "You can't keep looking at me like I'm a replacement or some stand in for her!"
"Stop!" He said louder, nearing a shout. His fists were tight and knuckles white. His nails were digging into his palms so hard it hurt.
"You can't keep doing this to yourself! It's been almost three years, dad! Mom's gone! She's dead and she's not coming back and you need to—."
"Shut up!" Danny shouted, shooting out a hand as he interrupted her. It was only a second later that he realized what he'd done.
Taylor's mouth was open in shock, her eyes confused as she faced slightly away from him. She started to speak, but couldn't seem to find the words.
"Taylor, I'm—." He stopped as she stepped away from him, the pain on her face hurting him more than he was sure the slap hurt her.
"I…" She started, taking another step back from him, "I think it's best I leave for a while." She said quietly.
Danny could only watch in silent horror as a gaping black hole opened behind Taylor and she turned to walk into it. He came to his senses a second later, starting after her, but the hole snapped shut before he could follow her.
Danny's head was a mess, the mix of anger, grief, and alcohol making it hard to think. The revelation his daughter was a Parahuman didn't help. The world was spinning from the drink, his head was swirling from emotion, and he couldn't make sense of anything around him. He stumbled, tripping over the edge of the coffee table and onto the couch.
As he fell, Daniel Hebert saw Stars.