Danny had been through a rather… rough few weeks. It all started with his argument with his daughter. That was the worst of it, but not the only hit to him over the weeks. He'd woken up in the middle of the night after she'd left, not really sure if it had really happened. He left for work that morning, with an uneasy feeling but not much more than that. Then he got home and Taylor wasn't there. He figured she was late and he could cook for himself and she'd be back.

It took two days for him to realize that she wasn't coming back. That the fight was real and he'd slapped his daughter. The realization nearly sent him on a binge, but he stopped himself. Drinking was part of the reason his daughter was gone. He felt like he was dying when withdrawal kicked in, but managed to get a drink before it started getting too bad. As he sat in his home trying desperately to not drink his pain away, he drew on his powers, summoning a clone of his wife dressed in long white robes with her hair done up and a leather blond fold fashioned in an X on her eyes.

He spent the rest of that day crying into the projection.

When the DWA got shut down due to Bakuda's increase in bombings, that left him home alone with the projections for far too long. Only the fact that he could make it disappear, and did so for long periods of time, saved what bits of sanity he had left. With Taylor gone, his cutting back on drinking, and having triggered with a projection of his wife of all people, Danny was having a tough time keeping it together.

And that was how Taylor found him when she decided to check on him.

"Jesus, dad." She sighed, helping him off the floor and onto the couch. Only the fact that he had become numb had saved him from feeling shame at Taylor finding him in such a state. Unshaved, unshowered, and wallowing in his misery with alcohol.

"Taylor." He said, sounding more peppy than he had in a while. "You're back."

"I came to check on you and maybe pick up some of my clothes." She said, sitting on the arm of the couch. "You don't look like you're doing too well."

It made him feel better hearing the worry in her voice, despite how little of it their was.

He shrugged. "Things haven't been well."

"You're still drinking." She noted.

"I cut back so I wouldn't go through withdrawal. It's tough but… It's coming along slowly, I guess."

Taylor's face twisted into a light scowl, but he couldn't tell why. She'd been difficult to read lately. Rather, he didn't know how to read her anymore. He couldn't tell if it was because she'd grown up or because he'd stopped paying attention to her.

"You've been by yourself?" She asked.

"Mostly." He answered.

"You spent some time with Kurt and Lacey?" She asked hopefully.

"No. This." He waved his arm and his projection appeared as he took a long swig from his beer.

Taylor moved away from the thing when it first appeared, then stopped when she got a good look at it. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open like she wanted to speak, but nothing was coming out. She closed her eyes to relax herself and sat back down.

"You triggered." She said.

"Yeah." Danny nodded.

"It… It looks just like mom." She said lowly.

"Yeah."

"Do you know what it does?"

"No."

"So you've just been sitting here drinking and wallowing in your misery with this… this thing?" She asked with some heat in her voice. Looking at her he found her glaring at the projection. He couldn't tell if she was mad at him or it.

"Yeah."

She sighed and looked toward the door.

"Taylor, sweetheart… Little Owl. I'm… I'm so sorry about… About everything. I should have been there for you and instead I just got wrapped up in my own feelings again and ignored you."

"I know." She sighed. "You really hurt me, you know? Not with the slap, but emotionally. That was just the final straw. I'm not sure I can be around you right now, but I'm not gonna just ditch you either. You need to get yourself together before we can really start to fix things."

"Anything. I don't think I could stand losing you again, Taylor."

"You can start by going to stay with Kurt and Lacey. Sitting in the house by yourself clearly hasn't been good for you. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to help if you just talked to them."

"Done." He agreed.

"Good. I'm glad you've started drinking less. I'm sure you'll be ready to quit in a few weeks. I could help you but… This is something you should do the hard way." To her credit she doesn't really sound happy about that.

"Your powers, right? They let you do stuff like that?"

"I can affect causality on a pretty deep level. Brought a few people back from the dead the last few weeks."

"I heard about that… It was on the news for a bit. The… What was the name again? Spedo? Spa-da? Espi… I can't remember." He sighed.

"The Espada."

"Right!" He snapped. "That. You're one of them?"

"The leader, actually."

"Heh." Danny smiled. "You friends with the others?"

"To an extent." She nodded.

"Good. That's good." She looked down at his bottle. "You seem happier."

Her eyes widened a bit as she looked at him, but she quickly looked away again.

"You're the second person to tell me something like that."

"It's true. I'm glad to see you happy." He pauses for a moment. "The news also said you attacked the PRT yesterday."

"They were sending Canary, that pop singer, to the Birdcage. I rescued her because I don't think she deserved to be in there. It was a first offense, an accidental use of her power, and the charges should've added up to no more than maybe five or six years in jail. Instead she gets a life sentence in the worst prison possible because her power freaks people out. I consider it a miscarriage of justice." She scoffed.

Danny smiled and shook his head. "Leave it up to Annette's daughter to do the wrong things for the right reasons. You really are a lot like your mother."

Taylor didn't say anything, but she looked like she was sitting a bit straighter.

"Thanks." She said lowly.

The room was quiet for a moment before Taylor stood up.

"Alright, you go get cleaned up while I clean this place up and call Lacey."

"Yeah, yeah." Danny joked, following his daughters orders.

By the time Danny was finished with everything he could hear Kurt and Lacey in the living room with Taylor.

"You should have told us something was wrong you big idiot!" Lacey rushed over and punched him in the arm when he got down the stairs. "We could've helped sooner." She hugged him before pulling back to get a good look at him. "Look at you! You look like death rolled over! How could you do this to yourself, Danny?"

"He wasn't thinking." Kurt answered. "I knew you were feeling down but I didn't think it'd get this bad."

"If there's anything our family is, it's stubborn." Taylor said.

"That's for sure." Lacey scoffed. "You ready to go?" She asked Danny.

"Yeah. Got enough clothes for a few days and everything." He said.

"Good. We're not gonna let you sit like you have been."

"It's ironic that Taylor asked us to come take care of her father considering it used to be the other way around." Kurt laughed.

"Oh how time flies." Lacey smiled.

"Speaking of, you sure you'll be fine by yourself, Taylor?" Kurt turned to look at her.

"I'm staying with a friend in Downtown." She shook her head. " And I can move her here for a bit if need be."

"Alright. You know you can call us if you need anything."

"Thanks." She smiled as she walked with them to the door. "I'll come visit in a couple days, alright, dad?"

"Yeah. See you then, kiddo." He smiled as he started toward the car. He heard the door shut after a few moments and sighed. Taylor could take care of herself, even if she was in dangerous territory. She'd done a good job so far even though she shouldn't have had to. He was glad she hadn't completely cut him out. He didn't know what he would do if she did.

As Danny got in the truck, he felt at ease for the first time in a long time. He felt like things were finally looking up.