Part 2! :D Meant to post it on thursday, but Thursday was too busy. So I ended up posting it on Friday! XD This chapter... oh my goodness. XD 22 pages worth of chapter where 10 pages is my usual? This took forever D:

Ah, well. Violence and blood alert! Beware.

Frontlines: Chapter 6 PART 2- (Battle) Wounds

Throughout the next month, the Fighters lived on the streets. They grew more skilled, or gained skills that they had not had before. During the first week, Sam set up rations and practice fight locations. Some fights were on the vacant lot while others took place in alleys for tight situations. No one was very good at first, but by the next week, many were beginning to shape up to be fantastic fighters. Some practice fights involved teamwork with a fighting partner against several other teams, while some were one-on-one. Dash and Kwan dominated when they fought as one, and held each other in a stalemate when they fought against each other. Other teams, such as Ivan and John, could fight and win with the advantage of knowing each other's thoughts and outsmarting other teams.

Danny himself learned several new fighting tactics, as did Tucker and Sam. Tucker didn't want to put himself in the middle of combat most of the time, however, and was usually practicing his hacking skills on security cameras. He was getting faster at it daily. Both boys learned how to be stealthy and silent, which they learned through the practice of hunting. Others had also learned how to hunt, just in case food ran out. Sam didn't learn how to be stealthy in order to hunt, but to use the element of surprise on enemies. She, too, was getting better at it daily.

By the end of the month, practice fights had become more intense. Some lasted a long time while others were over in a flash. Danny often participated in hand-to-hand combat, and sometimes knife-to-knife. He was getting quite skilled at both, though he was much better at hand-to-hand because of his experience with it. Sam had also taught him how to use a gun, which was very useful for hunting. Sam didn't appreciate or endorse Danny using her gun for the purpose of killing animals, but she let him use it anyway. It could at least feed the other Fighters that had no interest in becoming vegetarians.

Danny could catch a squirrel or two in the park on a good day, but his favorite thing to catch was birds. Tucker and a few other boys enjoyed going on these bird hunts with him using their own weapons. Artistic Ben Williams had crafted a small bow and arrows which he made good use of, and an older teen who went by "Griffin" was an excellent shot with a knife. Danny and Tucker, being with guns, always waited to shoot until the others had caught something themselves. After all, using a gun right off the bat would doubtlessly scare off other prey.

The day's hunt had been good, though not as much food had been caught as usual. Ben had shot a robin and a sparrow, Griffin had pinned a fat pigeon, Tucker had killed a sizable squirrel, and Danny had two halves of a blackbird. "I think we did pretty well," Tucker said, holding up his squirrel by its tail.

"Not as well," Griffin said, "but at least this pigeon looks pretty good."

"Nice catches, guys," Danny congratulated. "Better than the blackbird split I've got." He held up the two ends for the other boys to see.

"How is it my gun catches cleaner prey than yours?" asked Tucker with a smirk.

"Don't ask me," Danny said. "Maybe it's just my aim."

The four boys made their way towards the warehouse and talked about different things, including when and where the next practice fight would be. Then Ben sighed. "I can't believe it's been a month since the Massacre," he said.

Danny shuddered. "Pretty much exactly," he whispered.

Within that month, the Fighters had changed. Not only had they changed by bonding as a team, but their physical appearance had changed as well. Danny still wore the red headband around his head, of course, and the same clothes and shoes. His clothes were growing dirty, however, and the knees on his jeans were beginning to wear through. His hair was a bit longer and shaggier than it had been a month before. It now reached about halfway down the back of his neck.

Tucker now wore his sleeves rolled up. His shirt was untucked and his belt was strapped around his waist over the shirt. He still wore the same red beret and glasses, however.

Sam looked the same aside from the fact that she didn't wear her Gothic makeup any more. She had no access to makeup and had no need for it.

Dash, Kwan, Billy and other jocks had gotten rid of their letter jackets or were saving them for cooler weather. But no one could even think about wearing a jacket in the current weather. Temperatures had been hanging around in the eighties all week. Even young Chris, who always wore a baggy army-green jacket, was walking around with bare arms.

Summer must be growing close, Danny thought. Summer. Had spring really been so long ago? Danny had lost track of the time passing. The memories of death and horror were still so fresh that they continued to haunt his dreams. Night after night, twisted recreations of Jazz's death and Sam's parents covered in their own blood haunted his subconscious. Sometimes her dead family members would rise from the dead and yell at him for letting them die, reaching for him with claw-like fingers that dripped with crimson blood. Sometimes, and this was most nights, he found himself standing over Jazz's body with the gun in his hand. It seemed that every time he had this dream, the amount of blood pouring from her wounds increased. Just thinking of the nightmares sent chills down Danny's spine and sent a fresh pang of self-disgust through him. So he quickly shook it off and got to work doing something.

Danny dropped his bird halves on a crate in the warehouse and was followed by the other boys. Griffin got his knife out and began to clean the kills. Danny went off to grab a box of metal sticks to cook the food on while Ben and Tucker grabbed supplies to start a fire outside. The smoke would tell other Fighters that something was cooking, but it could also alert the enemy of their location. At least, this had been the fear when the idea of cooking the food outside was first brought up. Nothing had happened, however, so the Fighters concluded that it was safe to do.

Danny walked outside and sat down on the pavement. The fire was set up on the vacant lot. A nice little flame was blazing atop a pile of wood surrounded by concrete blocks. Griffin came out of the warehouse with neatly sliced pieces of bird and squirrel lying on a wooden board, just waiting to be cooked.

Brent, Chris, John and Ashley had already appeared and were gathering around the fire. No doubt they were all hungry. Everyone was hungry. The food supplies continued to deplete rapidly, despite Sam cutting down the rations of each Fighter. Therefore, other teens had found other foods and brought them to the fire.

Brent carried a stale bread roll to share with everybody. Danny nodded. "That should go well with the squirrel. I guess." Some other stuff was brought out from the meager supply of food including a water bottle and a slice of bread. The portions were divided equally among the group of fifteen now gathered around the fire. Four birds, a squirrel and a couple of bread items given to fifteen hungry teenagers wasn't much at all.

Danny nibbled at his food in order to conserve it as long as possible. "So I've been thinking," he began, "about our first big mission."

"Already?" Tucker asked, a chuckle to his voice.

"Why not?" asked Danny in reply. "We're getting pretty good. Carpathan's probably not even aware we're alive and kicking."

"What's the point of going in and fighting?" asked Michael. "What will we be doing?" He flipped his chocolaty brown hair.

"We're going to check out the mayor's mansion. You know, find its ins-and-outs," Danny explained, excluding his desire to find out if, and where, his parents were hidden there. That is, assuming they were at his place. After all, he didn't want his team to think he was selfish.

"I'd like to go on that mission," said Michael.

"Me too," Brent added. "I've been looking for some action."

"I'm announcing this publicly in the warehouse tonight. Could you guys spread the news to everyone else if possible?"

"Sure thing," John said. He gave his leader a weak smile. Danny could tell that he wasn't up to his usual joking ways, or his full strength. That was evident by the dark bags underneath his eyes. At least he was eating for the first time in a long time. Perhaps he, too, was haunted by nightmarish images of his sister's death.

"Thanks," Danny said. He finished his bite of robin and shoved his bread into his pocket for later, then took a sip of water. The young teen stood up and made his way toward the building next to the warehouse.

It was an abandoned building covered with climbing ivy with a metal staircase that led up to a small balcony of the same material and design. Danny climbed up the stairs and stood on the balcony, observing the town of Amity Park from up high. The gray trucks were out on the streets, stopping by peoples' houses and delivering food.

Carpathan had taken complete control of the town's food supply and shipment. Most of it went to the mayor's mansion, but the residents of the town were fed as well. Three times a day, the peacekeepers made their rounds. The same food that was delivered at late afternoon often ended up in garbage cans or blue bins, just in smaller amounts. People were so wasteful, Danny mused with a shake of his head. That or they were subtly trying to help the "rebels". This thought brought a smile to his distressed face. If there were people on their side, that would make life a whole lot easier.

"So, what's this I hear about you planning to attack Mayor Carpathan's place?"

Danny whipped around, startled. Sam was standing there, smirking at him with her arms folded. "Oh, hey, Sam," Danny said, chuckling nervously. "You kinda scared me."

"It sounds like a plan to me, Danny," said Sam.

"So I should go through with it?" asked Danny.

"Sure. We all agree there should be some action, though some think your motivation is questionable."

Danny sighed and leaned over the balcony's metal fencing. "It's nothing dishonest," he mumbled. "I'm just... I don't know. It would be nice to find our way around the place, should we have to."

"But why do you want to? That's what they're asking."

"Just... tell them that it's to know the enemy's territory, in case we go there someday." Danny shifted and looked down.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Do you realize how cryptic you sounded just then?" she asked. "I'm your best friend, co-leader, and fighting partner. Just tell me the reason for this. The real reason."

Danny shut his eyes and rubbed his forehead in frustration. "How do you know that isn't the real reason?" he snapped quietly.

"You're mumbling and looking down," Sam said. "You always do that when you're not entirely serious or you're giving a half-truth."

Sam studies me that closely? It was a really creepy thought, but it didn't matter at the moment. Danny finally gave in. "OK, so it's a half-truth! I do want to know the area, not just for that purpose. Thing is, I'm afraid if I told them that reason I'd look selfish."

"What is that reason?" Sam asked.

"I want to... see if my parents are there."

Sam shook her head and sighed. "Why do boys make such mountains out of molehills?" she asked the air. "That's not selfish. That's an honest will to help someone close to you at a great personal cost. If you were selfish, you'd be doing everything for your personal gain."

"But it is, sort of, for my personal gain," Danny argued. "I want my parents back and I'm sending Fighters to die so I can be prepared. Fighters could die for my family. My family. Not theirs."

"We came together for wrongs done to you," said Sam. "They honestly won't think you're selfish, and they don't now."

Danny hesitated, breath caught in his throat.

"You gave them a purpose, something to really live for," Sam continued.

"So I send them to their deaths," Danny muttered darkly, "for a purpose I gave them."

"They'd willingly die for that purpose. This isn't your fault."

"But it is-" Danny started to shout, but cut himself short of his final word. He shut his mouth. "We've had this conversation before," Danny said quietly.

"Yes, we have," Sam said. "And I recall winning." This brought a slight smile to Danny's face. "Just tell them it's to prepare for a later mission. That is why you brought up your parents, right?" Danny nodded. "They could be a help to us, you know."

Danny kept nodding. "OK," he whispered. He raised his head up to the sky. "Let's get them together."

,.~*~.,

Fighters, our first big mission is at hand," Danny began, scanning his blue gaze over the fifty teens below him.

"Finally!" one exclaimed.

"We're going to sneak into the mayor's mansion. Not just to know the territory, but to... prepare for a later mission. Our next mission. Our biggest." Cheering rose from the crowd. Danny waved his hands to silence them. "Some of you have already approached me about going on this mission. Brent, Michael and I are going for sure."

"I will," said Sam.

"Add Sam to that, and... who else?"

"Kwan and I'll go," shouted Dash.

A few others joined in for the mission: A rusty-haired girl, a stocky blonde boy, a dark-haired girl with a single ponytail, John, a tall brunette boy known as Toby, Ben, and a girl named Frisk.

"When do we strike?"

"Tomorrow night. I'll call you all when we're ready."

,.~*~.,

Signals flashed between Fighters as they gathered near the mansion where Carpathan lived. Danny pointed at five of them and signaled toward the tall fence behind the mansion. They held up their hands in a "live long and prosper" symbol and silently took off. He sent another group of six to find an entrance from the side. He and Sam planned to attack from the front. The glorious white house was lit up by the moon, which reflected silvery light upon the front yard and the stretch of the drive up to the enormous gate.

Danny licked his lips and beckoned with his hand for Sam to follow. He jogged up to the gate and hopped up onto the gate, using a horizontal black bar as a foothold. He began to climb the gate, Sam climbing up right behind him. About halfway up, a low growling sounded from below them.

"D...Danny?" Sam questioned. The growling grew louder and louder until it turned into a truly demonic noise. "Danny?" Sam said once again, sounding urgent this time.

Danny looked down. He froze. "Don't look now, Sam," he breathed, eyes wide. Staring up at Sam with hungry brown eyes was a large German Shepherd dog. Its lips were curled back and its eyes were sparkling with madness. It licked its teeth and snarled out a bark. "Guard dog," Danny hissed. "Let's just keep moving, and try to avoid making a false move."

Sam lifted a leg to climb up the gate further. Apparently, any move was a false move. The dog leaped up and sank its jaws into Sam's leg. Out of shock, Sam yelped and let go. She hurtled toward the ground with the dog.

"Sam!" Danny cried. In a sudden burst of either determination or stupidity, he jumped down from the gate. Landing on all four limbs, Danny suddenly found himself face-to-face with yet another foe. He stood to his feet slowly, eyeing the vicious mongrel that had thrown itself between Sam and himself.

Danny looked up to see Sam shoving the dog off her leg and scramble backwards onto her feet. "Danny, I'll be fine! Run!"

Danny looked from Sam to the huge black dog approaching him. Sam, who was in danger, or the vicious, bloodthirsty beast that was his immediate danger. Running and leading one dog away from Sam, lessening the danger, or letting Sam face two dogs in his death? Letting the Freedom Fighters fall apart in his death?

Danny surprised himself when he grinned with all the foolish confidence in the world. "Hey droolface, follow me!" He took off, still terrified on the inside, toward a nearby oak tree. With any luck, he could climb up into the tree and use his knife to cut a branch down to crush the dog. Wait, the knife! Danny pulled out his knife and flashed it at the dog.

Luck didn't seem to be on Danny's side. Before he reached the tree, the dog caught up and rammed him from the side. This knocked him off course and sent the knife flying. Before Danny could run off to go get his weapon, the dog reared up onto its hind legs and slashed two deep cuts into Danny's left arm. He half-screamed and then bit his lip. The dog's claws burned!

He backed up into a run as the angry dog pounded closer. Finally, as he backed into grass, he tripped on a tree root and nearly fell onto his back. He swayed to keep himself on his feet. Momentarily forgetting that he was running for his life, the boy stumbled forward and stood on the concrete.

The dog was too close to run from it now. As the dog opened its jaws and leaped into the air, Danny knew he'd have to take the blow. He shut his eyes tightly and braced for impact. A tremendous weight slammed into his chest and knocked him to the ground. Before he could even regain his breath, pain- terrible, terrible, ripping pain- tore into his face, starting at above his right eyebrow and the bottom of his jaw, then tore inward toward his eye. The whole right side of his face burned with indescribable agony. Danny clenched his teeth and turned his head, preparing for another vicious bite.

But the dog atop him snarled as its weight was thrown off his body. Danny took a gasp of air. Sam? Danny thought. Had she escaped the other dog?

"Get offa him, you snarling, ugly old fleabag!" No, that was Dash's voice! Danny opened his good eye and scrambled to sit up, wincing as his wounded arm scraped the concrete. In his blurry vision, he saw Dash taking on the dog with his bare hands. The dog snarled and curled back its lips, revealing razor-sharp bloodstained teeth. Blinking, Danny gingerly touched the wound on his face. He looked down at the dark red liquid now splashed on his fingers. That blood on the dog's teeth belonged to him!

The dog leaped for Dash's throat, but the large teen moved out of the way, then tackled the dog to the ground. He held it down using all of his weight, keeping its muzzle shut with one hand and digging out his knife with the other. "Sorry to do this to ya, dog," Dash growled. He drove the knife into the squirming dog's neck. The last noise it made was a pain-filled squeak. After that, it stopped struggling.

Dash removed the now blood-soaked knife from the furry black body and huffed. He stood up, kicked the dead dog aside, and looked at the bewildered Danny. "I always knew you were a wimp, Fenton," he began, "but seriously. A dog overpowering you?"

"Just tell me everything wrong with my fighting skills, why don't you?" Danny growled, standing up. He spat out a portion of blood that had drained down into his mouth from his wound.

"Man, that's bleeding bad. You should get it fixed up pretty fast," Dash said.

Danny chuckled and coughed. "Sam can do that... Oh my gosh, Sam! Where is she? Is she alive?" the boy cried in a panic.

"Kwan should be taking care of her now," Dash told the excited teen. "In fact, she's probably perfectly safe now."

"But she's hurt... I need to know she's OK for sure, Dash," Danny said. He spat another clot of blood from his mouth.

"I'm fine, Danny," a female voice panted. There, with Kwan, stood a very chewed-up girl. Her arm was deeply sliced from her left shoulder down to her inner arm, located behind the elbow joint. Along with that, bites and scratches riddled her entire body. Her leggings were torn, her skirt was ripped, and her shirt was scratched up. A small "X"-shaped scratch sat below her eye.

"Sam." Danny smiled in relief.

"You look better than I do," Sam croaked. She smirked, revealing a hint of her normal self.

He nodded at her with a grin, then turned to Kwan. "Kwan, report. How did your side go? Any better? Any worse? Good news, bad news?" Danny looked around. "Where's everybody else?"

"Ours was no better," said Kwan, looking down. "We ran into a bunch of peacekeepers on the way in and we had to fight them. I think they're all dead. After that, we ran into two from the other group. The other three are M-I-A. Good news is the rest of us are fine and searching for them at this moment."

Danny sighed and spat a sizable ball of blood from his mouth. He wiped his lips on his shirt collar and asked, "Who's missing?"

"Michael, Cam and Ginger," Kwan answered.

Danny knew who they were. Michael was the small but determined boy with brown hair. He was very good with knives and other blades; Danny had lost many a practice fight to him. Cam was a stocky teenaged boy with shaggy blonde hair. He could wrestle anyone down to the floor and hold him there. Ginger was a 17-year-old girl with rusty hair and seemingly super strength. To lose any of them would be a weakening blow to the Freedom Fighters.

Don't let them be dead, Danny thought. He wiped more blood off his face, wincing when he accidentally brushed the shirt over his wound.

"I've got a roll of bandages back at the warehouse," Sam said. "That should get fixed as soon as possible."

"It's only a few-" Danny stopped as he sputtered blood from his mouth again- "scratches."

"Scratches that bleed like heck," Sam said. "You should look at yourself. That entire side of your face is soaked red!"

"So is your arm," Danny retorted.

"Uh, can you two stop arguing over who's the bloodier mess?" Dash asked snobbishly. "I'd like to go back home now."

Danny hacked a huge, bloody loogie in Dash's direction. "OK, then," he sneered.

,.~*~.,

Danny winced as Sam gingerly touched the inflamed skin around the scratches on his arm. "Agh!" he interjected.

"I'm not even touching it, Tenderskin," Sam growled good-naturedly. "But I'm going to when I wash it." She grabbed a bandage and a clean cloth, then poured water from a bottle onto it. She held Danny's wrist and gently wiped away the blood encrusted around the wound. The boy bit his lip.

Once finished, Sam wrapped the bandaging around the wound on Danny's arm. Danny observed the freshly-bandaged wound with his good blue eye. "I need to look at that eye, Danny. Before I bandage that wound."

Danny looked back up at Sam. "But Sam, it hurts to open that eye!" he exclaimed.

"I know, but I need to see if the eye is damaged any. That wound cut deep."

Danny sighed. "I'll try to open it..." Slowly, Danny's swollen eyelid began to flicker open. A hint of bloodshot blue flickered from the eye before it shut again.

Sam sighed and pried her friend's eye open, causing the boy to shriek in pain. The girl looked into his eye for a few seconds, then gave a nod of satisfaction and let the eyelid go. Danny flopped back against the wall and groaned. "Don't do that again..." he whined.

"Sorry," Sam apologized. "There isn't anything wrong with the eye itself, but..."

"But?" Danny questioned.

"That's gonna leave a monster scar."

Danny sighed. "Just clean it and bandage it already," he muttered. He sat in silence, watching Sam prepare the cloth for another wash. She began to clean the blood from his face. Danny just stared at her, suddenly fascinated with the lock of raven-black hair hanging down in her face. "Sam, you should get bandaged up first," he said.

"Nah, I'll do it later," said Sam.

"I could bandage you in turn if you want," the boy said.

Sam began to wrap the bandage over her friend's forehead. "No thanks," she declined. "I like to take care of myself."

"Just trying to help," Danny murmured.

Sam carefully wrapped the bandage over the boy's wounded eye and then wound it under his ear and back around the forehead over the cheek. Finally, she finished bandaging his wounds and started to treat her own.

Danny shifted his sitting position and felt the side of his face. The tough yet soft bandage was strangely comfortable. The way it was tied reminded Danny of a sling. He shifted again and watched Sam attempt to bandage her arm and shoulder. Every time she twisted herself to try to wrap the wound, it would begin to ooze fresh blood. "Sam, let me do that one. You can do the rest if you want," Danny offered.

Sam glowered at him. Danny breathed in frustration. "Remember the day we first met?"

Sam chuckled and fussed around with her roll of bandages. "How could I forget?" she asked.

"Well, you know how after I fell and you were trying to fix me up? And how I was shutting my eyes out to the blood? How it made me feel sick?"

"Of course."

"Well, put yourself in my place. Say you fell, cut your knee, and were sickened by blood like I was. If no one else could heal that cut, would you let that one person do it? Just once?"

Sam nodded. "Well, in that case, yeah. I guess," she said. "But I don't shy away from a little blood."

"Well, neither do I anymore," said Danny. "Just this once, let someone return the favor and let him take care of you."

Sam bit her lip in hesitation. She exhaled through her nostrils. "Just this once," she whispered.

Danny smiled weakly and took the bandage roll from Sam's hand. He began to wrap it around her wounded arm with care. He's growing up, Sam thought. The care and concentration in the boy's single sky blue eye wasn't faked. It was real, and just seemed so mature. Had it really only been a month since Danny Fenton had been a clumsy, weak, out-of-shape wimp? Even Dash had respect for him now. Did Danny even know exactly how much power he had as the leader of the Freedom Fighters? Sam shook her head in amazement.

Danny paused in his wrapping and looked up. "Am I doing something wrong?" he asked.

"No, you're doing just fine," Sam told him.

The leader sighed. "Good." He finished by tucking the bandage into one of its own creases. "I wasn't prepared to do that all over again..." His voice trailed off into a long yawn.

"Danny, how well have you been sleeping?" Sam inquired.

Danny grunted and rubbed his eye. "Not well since the Massacre," he said. "Recently, I haven't had any sleep at all."

Sam took back her bandages and bloody cloth. "You should get some rest tonight. Tucker and I can lead the team until you're strong enough to lead the team again."

"How can I sleep with so many nightmares in my head?" Danny snapped. "And... I can't sleep anyway. Not with this weird empty feeling gnawing at me all the time. It's like some kind of hunger."

"We're all hungry," Sam said. "We've all learned to deal with that. It shouldn't be keeping you awake."

Danny shook his head. "No, it's not a hungry feeling in that sense," he said. In fact, he couldn't care less about food in that moment. "It's just this emptiness inside me. I need something to fill the hole, but I don't know what that thing is."

"Danny! Sam! You two are all right!" Tucker's voice boomed into the warehouse. He had a huge, relieved grin on his face as he sat down on the ground with his friends.

Danny smiled at Tucker. "Hey, Tuck," he said quietly.

"Dude, what happened to you guys?" the boy in the beret asked, his hazel eyes concerned.

"Dogs," Danny answered.

"Those are gonna be some nasty scars, huh?"

"You bet." Danny yawned and blinked sleepily. "Man, I'm tired," he muttered. "If only I could sleep."

"Gonna have to wait on that a little bit longer," said Dash, poking his head into the warehouse. "Brent and the others are back with... word." The blonde's eyes flitted across the room before he left.

Sam, now done bandaging herself, stood up and left the warehouse. Danny shared a one-eyed glance with Tucker. Then the boys jumped to their feet and followed her out. From a distance, Danny caught a flash of red hair and a shock of blonde. A black T-shirt and long brown hair. Relieved faces. Sad faces.

"Brent!" Danny called. "Did you find them?"

Brent shuffled up to Danny. He took a hesitant breath and answered, "We found two." He signaled in the direction of the others. "Take a look."

Danny saw a thickset boy, his yellowish hair in tangles, leaned over and clutching his stomach. Toby was supporting him from the side, keeping him on his feet. Blood that had streamed from his mouth had left a scarlet trail down his chin. Cam was obviously very weak, and in a lot of pain.

"Where's the other one?" asked Danny, confused. Cam was the only missing Fighter he saw.

Brent looked down. John stepped forward, someone slung over his shoulder. "No," Danny mouthed. "No. no." This time it was a whisper. John slowly removed the limp figure from his shoulder and gently set it on the ground. Danny started to shake his head. "No, no, no," he whimpered. Michael's eyes were wide open and unblinking and his mouth was agape. A lifeless glaze was over his eyes, a sure sign of death. That same glaze had been on Jazz's eyes when she died, and on the Mansons' as well. That same face of death, those vacant eyes...

"No, no, NO!" Danny yelled, his eye wide and alight with insanity. Seeing Michael dead was too much for the sleep-deprived teen to take. The memories were coming back and there was absolutely no stopping them. "No... not death!" Danny furiously dug his fingers through his hair.

"Danny?" Sam asked. The teen had a wild look in his blue eye, and he was trembling all over. Sam reached out to touch her friend's shoulder.

Danny violently jerked away from her. "Get away from me!" he yelled, staring at the body. He ran backwards several paces. "Stay back!"

"Danny-" Tucker started to speak, but Danny had already taken off down the streets of Amity Park. He ran and ran until he reached an alley, where he pressed his face against the brick wall of one of the buildings. Sobs racked his body as he released the buildup of tears. He wasn't even sure if he could cry from his injured eye, but the tears were definitely pouring from his good one. So much for looking strong.

"Danny?" That was Sam.

"Go away," Danny muttered.

"You know, it's good to cry sometimes. No need to be embarrassed about it with me," said Sam.

"I don't care. I told you to go away," Danny urged, voice shaky. "J- Jazz- z..."

"Michael isn't Jazz," Sam said gently, cautiously approaching her friend.

Danny snuffled. "I know," he rasped. "But his eyes made me think of how she looked when she died... I'm sorry for flipping out on you guys." Danny wiped the tears from his eye, calming down. He now knew that he wasn't just left with ugly physical scars, but he also had deep emotional scars. None would disappear, but only the visible ones would stop hurting. The invisible ones on the inside would hurt forever.

"I know you're sorry," said Sam. "We forgive you. Come on back, get some sleep. Tucker is preparing a place for you to rest tonight at this very moment.

Danny nodded, blinking sleepily. "Any more sleepless nights and I'll go crazy." He glanced at Sam with a little smile. "Well, crazier than I've already gone." He allowed Sam to lead him back to the warehouse.

Already he was covering up his mental scars with a mask of gratitude. He would sleep tonight, and hopefully have it undisturbed by nightmares. Then tomorrow would be better. It had to be.

,.~*~.,

EDITED: 8/3/13

And that concludes chapter 6! :D Hope you enjoyed it. And you guys! Yeah, you people. You guys who are reading and not reviewing. There's a load of you. I keep track of your views on this story. I had 69 views yesterday and only one review! Guess what? 8D I'm kindly asking you to review and tell me what you think! Reviews are like compliments that keep me motivated.

Motivation= Me going nuts over writing and pushing to type

No motivation= Me getting upset and getting writer's block

:3 Please review... lolz