Hey guys!
I hope you like how this one turned out! The last chapter will be posted this weekend!
Thanks again so much for all the favorites, follows and especially to those who have reviewed! It always means so much and I really appreciate hearing your feedback! :)
~cosette141
Danny breathed hard, everything on fire.
Worse than fire.
It was molten pain and it was too much.
Tucker.
He groaned.
Danny forced open his eyes, seeing the blurry figure of the building in the distance.
How long had Tucker been gone?
What did he mean by taking care of it?
And why had his voice turned suddenly calm?
Danny huffed out a breath, trying to fight the weakness, the pain. He pressed a shaking hand to the grass, trying to push himself up.
Pain.
PAIN.
Danny cried out, dropping back to the ground. A groan escaped clenched teeth and he hissed an expletive. He couldn't do this.
Tucker…
He forced his eyes open. Breathing raggedly, he tried again.
Danny was shaking too hard to hold himself off the ground. He held himself up on an elbow. Until…
"Agh—!" he cried, something hard slamming into his head. It hit the ground beside him and Danny looked down to see what—
It couldn't be.
"There he is!" cried a very, very familiar voice.
Danny's head snapped up.
"I told you it would find Tucker! If the GIW found him this way, so could we!"
They both stepped into blurry view then. Danny looked from the Boo-merang on the ground to Sam and Jazz's stunned expressions.
Sam dropped the gun she was holding. "Danny?!"
They both dropped to the ground and his side.
"What—" Sam's face had gone ghost-white, taking in Danny's condition and the chaos of the GIW compound. "Danny, what—you look—what on earth are you doing here?!"
"Y-You're supposed to be home!" growled Jazz, assessing his condition with growing concern. "Danny, what—"
Danny ignored them both. "'m f-fine," he lied, still trying to get up. He felt Sam gently pushing him back down.
"Danny, you're…" She eyed the mess that was his torso with scared eyes. "This... isn't fine! What happened?" asked Sam.
"P-Please," he gasped, losing what little strength he had left. "Tucker. H-He's still inside—"
"He's where?" asked Jazz.
"Inside!" growled Danny impatiently. "He's still inside building! Y-You have to—"
But at that very moment, a loud buzzing alarm sounded from the building. Moments after, agents ran screaming from the building.
"Get out!"
"Everyone out! Now!"
Like a white sea, agents ran out of the building, most of them half-beaten with torn clothing.
A moment's hesitation.
Then…
The building exploded.
Danny froze, paralyzed.
The entire building was a fireball. Smoke plumed to the sky. Agents were sent flying to the ground from the wave of intense heat.
Danny stared, frozen beside Sam and Jazz in the same horror.
"I've got you, Danny."
"I'll take care of it."
He snapped out of it a second later.
Tucker.
Danny jerked forward, but Sam still had a hold on him. She pulled him back. "Danny," Her voice sounded wet. "Danny, don't—"
"Tucker!" he cried, his eyes burning with tears that fell. Another set of hands gripped his other arm that Danny realized were Jazz's but he fought them. He phased through their grips, and both girls jerked as they grasped only air and Danny fell back to his knees, his muscles too far gone to allow him to stand. He cried out from the pain, staggering back to the grass.
"Tucker," whispered Sam in a broken voice.
Danny stared. Everything was destroyed. The building was a charred pile of burning debris.
My best—
His chest constricted.
The fire reflected in his eyes.
Tucker...
"Woah."
All three of them whipped around.
Because standing behind them, watching the building burn with a sense of pride, was Tucker.
Danny's eyes widened and he jerked back in surprise, shock flooding his system. "Tuck—?"
Tucker grinned, then took in Sam and Jazz. "Took you guys long enough for your daring rescue." He hesitated at their stunned silence. "I—wait, you thought I was in…" He looked at the building and winced.
Sam just grabbed the material of his shirt and yanked him down, hugging him. "Oh, my god. You're okay."
Danny was still in shock. He stared at Tucker, joy and relief and confusion in his chest. "B-But… how…?"
Tucker jabbed a thumb toward where an unfamiliar ghost was floating behind him. The ghost looked like he used to be a farmer in some old age. He tipped his hat to Tucker. "It was the least I could do, live one! Thanks for the help!" He then joined the rest of the ghosts, flying off into the blood red sky.
Danny blinked.
He was okay.
Tucker was okay.
Danny looked blearily back at the burning building.
His DNA was incinerated.
He was safe.
He looked back at Tucker, who was smiling at him.
Danny had the best damned friend in the whole world.
Relief washed through Danny's body like cold water and he blinked slowly, feeling suddenly a million times heavier. He started to fall back to the grass and felt Sam catch him gently.
"Let's get you guys out of here," said Sam, tightening her hold on Danny. "You… you don't look so good, Danny."
Danny nodded lazily, letting his head fall back on her lap.
"Danny?" asked Tucker from far, far away.
But Danny didn't hear him.
He finally, blissfully, passed out.