A/N: Wow, lots of great feedback on the last chapter! Honestly, when I went back to read it, it shocked even me. This chapter shocked me a few times, too; at one point I actually stopped writing because I was afraid of what would happen next. So...hope you all like it?

Notez les armes familiales! Si vous vouliez...

Fun Fact: Loth has OCD, ADD, and hypochondria. So what, wanna fight about it?

Raising a Hand

by LQ Aredhel

Chapter 23

JD wanted to look at the body on the floor in front of him, but he couldn't. His mind screamed at him to look, to at least see if his mentor was still breathing, but Daniel's piercing blue eyes bore into his and he couldn't look away.

Daniel was breathing hard. Something dark fell out of his hand, and JD quickly realized that it was a frying pan. A frying pan to the side of the head. That wouldn't kill a man, would it? Not a strong man.

Something in Daniel's eyes changed and his lips began to quiver. "I didn't really believe...that you'd be here. I can't believe you're here." For once his voice matched his face; he looked devastated. "I came just in case, just to see. I thought maybe...maybe you were telling the truth. Maybe this bastard just had a thing for you and it was reciprocated." He took a deep, shivering breath. "But you're here."

JD took a step back when Daniel moved toward him, and a tear slid down Daniel's cheek. JD had never seen him cry before.

"I thought as soon as I was sure that you were telling the truth, we could just start over," Daniel continued, stepping over Dr. Cox's torso and into the hallway. "I can't believe you're here." More tears fell, blurring his eyes, and JD glanced down to the body in the doorway. Dr. Cox's back moved gently up and down: he was alive.

When he looked back up, Daniel was staring at his backpack full of clothes.

"It's not what you think, Daniel," JD whispered; he couldn't seem to make his voice any louder than that. All he knew was that Dr. Cox was alive, and that he had to get him help before Daniel did anything worse to him. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't run away. He kept telling himself that, even as his feet slid back away from the apartment. He couldn't run away.

"Well what else could it be?!" Daniel screamed. He turned, practically sobbing, then rounded back on JD. "God, how could you do this to me? I actually started to believe you, I actually thought..."

JD took a couple of deep breaths and forced himself to say, "Dr. Cox and I aren't together. We never were –"

"Just stop it!" Daniel backhanded him hard enough to bring him to the ground and make him taste blood in his mouth. JD honestly never thought he'd feel that again. "I was an idiot for trusting you! Now I know better."

JD slowly rose to his feet. He was determined to ignore his stinging jaw, but he couldn't help darting his eyes to Daniel's hands. He watched them form into fists as he swallowed the blood in his mouth, feeling sick.

JD looked around the hall, desperate for someone to show up, for something to happen. He was beginning to breathe too hard again. "I don't know what you want me to say, Daniel," he choked. "I never –"

"Just get in the fucking apartment!" Daniel ordered. JD looked back at Dr. Cox's unmoving body and Daniel grabbed him by the shirt and threw him through the doorway behind him.

The apartment was trashed. The television had been smashed in – probably by the frying pan – and there were shards of shot glasses and scotch-soaked clothing strewn across the floor. JD stood to the side of the door and watched with apprehension as Daniel dragged the body into the apartment and slammed the door shut.

"Take off the backpack," Daniel commanded, suddenly calm. JD reluctantly did as he was told, ignoring his own shaking hands. A phone. He needed a phone. His cellphone was in his pocket; he only needed seconds to reach in a dial 911. He wished he'd thought of it while Daniel was dragging in Dr. Cox's body because now he just stared at JD as if deciding what to do with him.

"Well," Daniel finally said, wiping the tears from his face, "no one can say I didn't try to make this relationship work. I just don't know what else you want from me. I've done everything I could to be there for you, to protect you, to love you..."

"You stabbed me," JD croaked, wrapping his arms around his middle, one hand on the new scar on his side. He could still taste blood in his mouth.

Daniel just sighed impatiently. "I called you, didn't you get my message? I said I was sorry, I overreacted. Well, I thought I overreacted. Turns out I was right about everything." He toed Dr. Cox's arm.

JD shook his head. "Why did you do it?" He just wanted to know, once and for all. But Daniel just looked at him like he didn't understand the question. "Why did you do it, Daniel? I did everything you said that day! What did I do wrong!?" His voice was stronger now, but it looked like his yelling was only making Daniel more angry. It was worth it.

"Why did I stab you?" Daniel asked, incredulous and annoyed. "You're mine!" he scoffed. "I can do whatever the hell I want with you! And there's no way I'm letting you leave me for some big-shot doctor who treats you like shit anyway! God, Johnny, when are you going to get that through your head! I'm the only one who really knows you, who really cares about you!"

JD shook his head. "You're wrong." And he really believed it. Turk trusted him, Elliot loved him, Dr. Cox wanted to protect him and Carla just wanted to understand him. "You're the only one who doesn't care about me."

Daniel was fuming. "What the fuck do you know?!" he cried, and in his haste to get to JD, tripped over Dr. Cox's arm.

JD jumped back and yanked his cellphone from his pocket. He dialed 911 as quickly as he could with his shaking hands and looked up just in time to see Daniel lunge at him, knocking his head hard against the linoleum at the edge of the kitchen. His vision swam and he heard Daniel say something about little kids. Suddenly Daniel's face was above him, his knees pressed tightly against either side of his stomach as though he were lucid enough to move anyway.

"That was stupid," Daniel said, grabbing his chin and forcing JD to look him in the eye. "You're a stupid man, JD." He swooped down and kissed him hard, thrusting his tongue into JD's mouth and running it over everything it could find as JD slowly became aware enough to push his hands against Daniel's chest, breaking the contact.

"Stop, stop," JD begged breathlessly. Daniel just grabbed his hands and pinned them above his head. He moved his mouth down JD's neck.

Panic quickly set in. "God, please, please, please, please," JD murmured, still dizzy and unable to catch his breath. He was further debilitated by the onslaught of memories that flashed in front of his eyes when Daniel removed one hand from his to run it up under his shirt. "Don't do this, Daniel, please, I didn't do anything, I swear!" Tears made his vision blurry, but he couldn't see what was going on anyway. He could only feel. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"Your neck was always my favorite part," Daniel murmured sensually into JD's ear, his tongue moving down to lap at JD's jugular. "I don't know why, I just found it...irresistible." The hand under his shirt was gone, but his relief was short-lived as he soon felt it wrap tightly around his neck.

JD's eyes shot open and he could see Daniel's angry, tear-filled eyes glaring down at him. When the hand tightened enough that JD couldn't take a breath, adrenaline suddenly surged through his system and he yanked his hands out from under Daniel's grip and sent a fist into his jaw.

It was a weak punch, but it surprised Daniel enough to fling him aside so that JD could jump up and run for the door. Just before reaching it, he spotted Dr. Cox's unconscious form on the floor and hesitated just long enough to hear Daniel scream something behind him and everything went dark.

The first thing JD thought about as he woke was that he was freezing. And then something stabbed him in the back of the head over and over again and he groaned; it was the hangover from hell. He could already tell through his eyelids that it was way too bright for a hangover.

"Look who's awake."

That's when he realized that there was a hand on his thigh, and said hand had started moving, caressing up and down from the inside of his knee to way too close to his crotch. It sort of tickeled, but not in a bad way...

And that's when he realized that he wasn't wearing any pants. Or a shirt. And that the hand on his leg belonged to a really really pissed off Daniel.

His eyes would have shot open if he weren't so groggy and in so much pain.

Dr. Cox was staring at him wearily from his position tied to a chair five or six feet away.

"See, I told you it wouldn't be too long," Daniel's voice cooed right next to his ear. "Johnny's a good boy. He wouldn't keep me waiting."

JD realized that he was talking to Dr. Cox. He looked down to see his bare, white legs and Daniel's strong hand clutching his upper thigh. He still had his boxers on. That had to count for something, right?

His brain wasn't working very fast at the moment.

He subconsciously shifted away from Daniel's hot breath on his neck and felt a twinge in his shoulder. Another tug on his hands and he realized that his arms were tied above him to a door handle. The bathroom door, he recalled. He hoped that he wouldn't have to go any time soon.

He glanced at Dr. Cox, who also looked only about half conscious. Just as JD was about to suggest that they each grab a catnap before they fall asleep sitting up, the hand on his thigh began rubbing and massaging his leg. He looked down at it, his head screaming in protest at the movement, and suddenly he realized what was going on.

His eyes shot back to Dr. Cox and noted the many emotions clearly visible across his face: anger, exhaustion, pain, fear, and defeat. There was defeat there, plain as day, and JD knew that there was nothing his mentor could do to stop whatever was about to happen.

JD slowly turned his aching head to Daniel, who was watching him and Dr. Cox with a triumphant rage that JD had never seen on anyone's face ever before. The hand moved higher, and Daniel turned to glare at Dr. Cox.

"Now I can show you what's mine," he said quietly, calmly. Dr. Cox glared back but didn't say anything. JD's heart sank.

"What are you doing, Daniel?" JD asked, his voice high and shaky. He already knew what Daniel was doing, and he was pretty sure that he preferred the choking at this point.

Daniel leaned in to kiss JD's neck and the hand fluttered up across his boxers and to his side. JD jerked his knees up and pressed them tight to his chin, blocking the hand and the kisses.

"This could be easy for you, or it could be hard," Daniel explained frankly.

JD shook his head, shivering. "This c-couldn't be easy for me." Not without a six-pack of beer and another blow to the head.

Daniel fumed, breathing hard out his nose in an attempt to calm himself.

"He doesn't want you," Dr. Cox huffed. "Get over it, asshole."

In a movement that was practically instantaneous to JD, Daniel had crossed the space between them and punched Dr. Cox across the face.

"You're only making this worse for him."

JD tugged at his wrists; they were tied with a white cord and slowly loosening. But soon Daniel was kneeling in front of him, a sly smile on his lips.

"Fine, Johnny. JD. We'll do this the hard way." He placed a hand on each of JD's knees and suddenly forced them apart and lunged between them. JD cried out more in surprise than pain. Daniel's fingertips quickly dipped under the waste band of his and yanked down. It was just like one of his nightmares! JD kicked his legs up, attempting to at least distract Daniel enough that he couldn't remove his own clothing. But Daniel just smirked and placed one hand, once again, around JD's narrow throat. He squeezed and white splotches danced across JD's vision; he could just barely breathe in short gasps.

Daniel certainly wasn't crying this time; in fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself. He pulled JD's boxers down a bit more with his free hand, then began working on his own pants.

JD quickly lost the energy to kick. He could barely see anymore. But he was comforted by the fact that he would most likely be unconscious or dead before Daniel could really do anything.

He heard a distant voice, gruff but high. It became louder as his vision got darker. And just on the edge of his sight, Daniel's smile grew bigger.

But he couldn't feel anything anymore.