Danny trembled from head to toe. He felt cold but at the same time he couldn't stop sweating. The reality that someone had sent Lurch to kill Nicholas, to kill his Nicholas, was setting in. He had to go after him, needed to help him somehow but Nicholas had told him to stay put. Danny paced back and forth, giving his body something to do while his mind tried to sort out his rapidly swinging emotions. First, fury that someone had dared to attack his partner. Pride that Nicholas had handled the threat easily, as an action hero should. Fear, deep and sickening, that Nicholas had run off alone to catch the very person who had just tried and failed to snuff out his life. Finally, sadness at being left behind. Nicholas had deliberately left him behind in order to keep him out of danger but that really wasn't fair. They were partners, yeah? Partners faced everything together. He knew he could help Nicholas, he just had to show him that he could but where had he gone? As if in answer to his thoughts, a forgotten radio sputtered to life from somewhere in the debris with an all-too-familiar oily voice on the other end,

"Micheal? Micheal! We are waiting. I told you to come to the castle," Skinner sneered his impatience obvious even through the fuzzy radio. Danny needed no further prompting. He ran for the castle with all that he had. Nicholas was there and he needed his partner, weather he knew it or not.

The Castle was dark and looming as it always was at night. Nothing appeared immediately out of the ordinary but it wasn't the same either. It was the feel of the place that was off, as if the the shadows were a little darker and the stones a little harder. It was giving Danny the chills but he couldn't waste time thinking about it. He had to find Nicholas but all was quiet and still. It seemed like even the trees were holding their breath in their vigil. Danny crept along, hiding from their imaginary gaze as he searched for his partner.

Sounds like murmuring drifted through the still Spring night to meet Danny, catching his attention. He had no clue if the sounds belonged to Nicholas or Skinner but it was more to go on than he had before. He followed them to the source, the strange noises resolving themselves as he drew nearer until it was unmistakable as fervent arguing and it was clear the voices belonged to Nicholas and Frank. Danny didn't understand. Why was dad here and what had Nicholas so upset? He rounded a stone archway and was greeted with a sight that he could only describe as a scene out of The Twilight Zone.

The NWA was present in its entirety, minus Leslie Tiller of course, and they were all clothed in robes (Robes!) and Frank stood at the front wearing a black cape (a fucking cape!). At that moment, Nicholas and Frank's argument came to a head and the whole situation went from Twilight Zone to a really fucked up version of Frankenstein. The NWA, lead by Frank produced menacing farm tools and advanced on Nicholas with murderous intent. Lurch appeared from the shadows and grabbed Nicholas by his shoulder, preventing his escape.

Danny was moving before he knew what to do. He was only aware that they were going to harm Nicholas and he had to do something, anything to stop it. He went strait to his partner's side and grabbed his free shoulder as well as his attention. The look of shock and anguish Nicholas fixed on him made his heart plummet. Far too late, he realised how this must look.

"Danny, no..." It was almost a whisper but Danny could swear he heard Nicholas breaking apart in those two words. Before he could think to do anything other than stand there like an idiot, Nicholas' face morphed from despair to rage. In a flurry of motion, Danny went from fixed in place to hostage to flung into the NWA. He struggled to right himself only to find that Nicholas had made a run for it.

Fortunately for Danny, Nicholas hadn't been the only one to misunderstand his intentions since the NWA paid him no mind in their pursuit of his fleeing partner. Oh god, they were going to kill him! He had to reach Nicholas first but what would he do then? Lurch's hunting knife glinted evilly from the grass where Nicholas had dropped it. There was a ketchup packet in his pocket. He had intended to use it in another gross-out trick as a last ditch effort to cheer Nicholas up... and maybe he still could. Plan forming, he snatched up the knife and tucked the ketchup packet in his palm. This was a long shot at best but he had to try. Feeling a little more confident, he ran to find Nicholas while silently praying that he wasn't too late.

It was as if time stood still in that horrific moment. The ploy was working perfectly, so far, complete with a very convincing 'blood' splatter. No one would question it but it came with a heavy price. The agony on Nicholas' face was so terrible that for a terrifying second Danny panicked thinking he had missed the notebook and had actually stabbed the man he loved. Normally fierce blue eyes now silently begged Danny for an answer to 'why' but he forced himself to look away.

At Danny's neglect, shock and pain morphed to deep sorrow that radiated from Nicholas' body as he staggered and fell to his knees. Dear lord, Danny could see the poor bloke's heart ripping in two but he had to stay resolute. As fucked up as this all was, it was for Nicholas. He remained still, only just resisting his heart's screams to reach out for Nicholas as he crumpled to the ground.

There was no doubt in Danny's mind that by this point, Nicholas knew he had not really been stabbed but he had no way of knowing if the lodging of the knife in the notebook had been intentional or an accident. Poor Nicholas. Danny could only imagine the hell of emotions and uncertainty running through his partner's mind as he played possum at his feet. He desperately wanted to do something, anything at all to reassure Nicholas, to let him know Danny hadn't betrayed him but the eyes of the NWA kept him fixed in place, staring at Nicholas instead of helping him as he should. Frank's hand on his shoulder broke him out of his thoughts of fear and regret.

"Good job, Danny. I know this wasn't easy for you but you've done me and your mother proud," Danny refused to meet his father's eyes as he forced himself to nod. He bent down with shaky, uncooperative limbs and gathered Nicholas' limp body into his arms. Nicholas was a good actor, Danny thought. He too might have been convinced of his 'death' if it weren't for the latent heat seeping through his cloths or the feel of his heart jack-rabbiting against his ribs. Danny wondered for a moment how anyone's heart could go that fast without causing a heart attack. As gently as he could manage, Danny cradled Nicholas' deliberately unresponsive form to his chest, careful not to jostle the knife too much as he did. If it were to slip out, it would mean the end of both of them but if it were to be driven further in... well, Danny wouldn't let that happen. Nicholas had been through enough.

"Let's get him down to the crypt..." Frank began but Danny cut him off,

"No, I'll take care of him."

"Danny,"

"I'll take care of him, dad!" Danny all but shouted, still unable to meet his eyes. His mind was racing, trying to figure out what to do. He had no idea what the right thing to do was but he knew he couldn't leave Nicholas in the crypt. It was dark and scary down there and what if he slipped out before Danny got a chance to explain? No, that simply wasn't an option. He had to get him out of here, somewhere far away where he would be safe, but to where and more importantly, how?

Danny had never had to hide a body before (ok, pretend to hide a body) and he prayed he would never have to again but he was starting to get an idea. He moved in the direction of his car, hoping this was a logical thing to do. He had seen people in films do this with bodies often enough to assume it had at least some merit. Plus, once he was out of earshot of Frank and the other NWA members he would be able to explain himself to Nicholas. Unfortunately, Frank followed.

"What will you do with him, Danny?"

"It... It's better that you don't know." Danny said honestly, keeping his face determinedly forward.

"Right, right." Frank conceded.

They continued on in silence, Frank keeping pace with Danny all the way to his car which left him no choice but to shove a still frightened Nicholas into the boot; which Frank slammed unceremoniously the second Danny was clear. Danny couldn't stop himself completely from wincing. He hoped nothing belonging to Nicholas had been in the way.

"Alright, Danny. Be careful and I'll see you in the morning," Frank said, patting Danny on the shoulder as he did. For the first time since arriving at the castle, Danny raised wet eyes to meet his dad's and immediately wished he hadn't. He was shocked at how normal he looked; As if nothing bad had happened at all. He was even smiling as if Danny had done well in school. He hadn't just been forced to 'murder' his partner and best friend and he wasn't having to now hide his 'body'. It was so surreal he almost started laughing. Luckily, Frank misunderstood the look on his son's face. His smile stretched a little wider and he gave Danny one last pat before turning to leave. Danny stared after him, frozen to the spot by the sheer weirdness of it all. Monsters aren't supposed to look like normal people; especially those we love.