And we're back from our holiday break.

A scream ripped from my throat.

"Don't! Don't! Don't!"

I threw my hands out in front of me, trying to hit someone. Elliot. Hopefully Elliot.

"Mr. Fenton, my name is Jared. I'm a nurse at the hospital. Mr. Fenton!"

I hit something and tried to get my eyes open but I couldn't see anything. Was anything working.

"Get away from me!" I ordered but he wasn't going to listen. Just no more pain. I couldn't fucking take anymore pain.

"Let's get him a sedative!"

And then I knew no more.

(-.-)

I opened my eyes slowly, carefully. There were noises I didn't know. The sound of people that I didn't know. Had Vlad brought more people in? More ghosts? I could think of a few, loyal to him, that would love to get their claws into me. I shuddered and something scratched against my hand. I lifted my hand upward and stared at it, recognizing the IV need in the back of my hand. Was Vlad giving us medical treatment now? Groggily, I lifted my head and looked around.

No. It wasn't the cell. It couldn't be. I could see nurses outside of the door and doctors moving about. There were pages over the intercoms and such bustling activity that it had to be real. It was a real place. Hospital. Real hospital.

The words didn't sink in. There was no more cell. Vlad wasn't outside the door. Who knew where the fuck he or Elliot was at all? Not here. There were two police officers outside of the door. They were going to notice if I went missing again. People were watching.

Me.

People were watching me. Because I was alone. I sat up anxiously and reached for the nurse button. If I was here, where was Sam? How the fuck did I get here? I didn't even remember anything other than staring at the grey cell wall. I didn't remember leaving. Had Vlad chucked me out on the street and kept Sam for himself? I didn't know. How could I know?

A man in scrubs burst in the door.

"Mr. Fenton! You're awake?"

"Sam," I blurted. "Where's Sam?"

"She's in the room next door. She's just fine."

"Prove it."

I grabbed the scratchy hospital blanket and threw it off my legs. Immediately, the man was at my side.

"Mr. Fenton, my name is Jared. I'm a nurse here and I'm going to have to ask you to stay in bed."

"I need to know if Sam's all right."

"Sam's fine," he insisted. "You'll be able to see her soon."

How could I possibly be expected to fucking trust that? When Sam and I were out of each other's sight, terrible things happened. There was torture and screaming and always so much blood.

"Let me see her!"

And then screaming started echoing down the hallway. I had heard Sam scream way too often recently and I knew that voice. I nearly threw myself out of the bed as I saw a small army of nurses, followed by two doctors, heading into the room next to mine. I shouted Sam's name.

"Daniel, it's fine. She is being taken care of."

"Where are her parents? My parents? Where is everyone?"

"You're not allowed to see anyone until you've spoken to the police," Jared said. "You've been unconscious. You've been through a lot."

Jared would never be able to know just what 'a lot' entailed. A doctor, her hair falling out of her bun, stuck her head in the room.

"How are things in here?"

"Let me the fuck up!" I ordered.

"Daniel, my name is Dr. Cooper. Um, how would you feel if we moved you and Sam into the same room?"

"That'd be best," I said coolly, trying to sound like I wasn't shaking and desperate inside and out. If I couldn't see her, anything could be happening, and I couldn't protect her. I couldn't –

I grabbed at my neck, feeling nothing but my skin. My hands flashed down to my waist and I there was nothing there either. I grabbed onto my ankles and then I started trying to feel every bit of skin that I had. I had to make fucking sure. I was unrestrained. There was nothing holding me back anymore. Nothing that would stop the power from flowing from my fingers. Nothing to stop me from changing. Nothing to stop me from going after Vlad. Rage roared inside of me. Absolutely nothing. I'd get my revenge. For Jazz and Tucker. For Sam.

I heard the sound of a bed being rolled into the room and I breathed a sigh of relief. I threw the blankets off of me but Jared was right there.

"You shouldn't be standing on that leg right now."

I looked down. I'd forgotten I was even hurt. I poked at it. I could feel it bandaged but, properly, this time. Not the thick wad of white gauze Sam had used, just trying to keep my blood inside of me. A small bandage, just to cover the stitch that had been left in me, I guessed. A proper stitch. Not like what Jazz had learnt to do while I chewed on a pillow, trying not to scream.

"Am I okay?" I whispered. "Did you get it out?"

"We were able to remove a foreign body from you leg," Jared said. "You're going to be just fine."

Foreign body. Whatever it was, the police had it. I doubted it would lead back to Vlad and I couldn't say a word otherwise. I couldn't point the finger at Vlad and then murder him. I wasn't going to become a suspect. I was getting a normal life.

"Is she okay?"

"She's just fine," another nurse said. A woman, one that I didn't know. I stared at her and then down at Sam.

Sam's eyes were drowsy and dark and she was just staring at me.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'm okay. We're okay, Sam. It's over, it's okay."

She nodded and she turned and looked up at the ceiling, the blankets clinging to her. She looked too thin. Grossly thin and it hurt like a bitch to look at.

"She's just a little medicated," the nurse I didn't know told me. "You both just need time to relax and do some healing."

What was I supposed to do? Lay there and just think about my body being in one piece again? I didn't have that fucking power, but thanks very much, nurse Fuckface. My internal voice started bitching at me for being just a little too rude. An inner voice that sounded a shit ton like my sister and then my heart ached violently in my chest. Jazz wasn't out there in the world anymore and when my parents walked through that door, when I finally got to see them, Jazz just wouldn't be around. My sister wasn't going to fix me anymore. That thought, more than anything else, forced me back into bed, just staring upward. There wasn't space for Jazz or Tucker in the world I was in now. Now that I was free of restraints and cell walls that I wanted nothing more to crumble between my more than capable fingers, I had to confront the fact that there was just … nothing. Somewhere along the way, everything had been lost.

"Are you comfortable? Is there anything you need?"

"When can I see my mom?" I asked Jared, not caring how much of a kid I looked or sounded. "I want my mom."

"If you feel up to it, the police will come interview you tomorrow, and after that, your family can be here."

Police. Right. I was going to have to lie. I was going to have to make sure that nothing I said didn't conflict with anything Sam might say. I had to think. I had to use my fucking brain and I didn't remember the last time that I had to actually do that. Lying had become second nature to me since I had become Danny Phantom but my parents just eventually gave up asking questions when they figured out that I wasn't going to answer. And then I became such a fucking dick that I don't think they even wanted to face who I had ended up being when I was with Paullina. Not that I wanted to face that anymore either. And now I had to orchestrate the biggest lie I'd ever told while not getting Sam caught in the crossfire or spilling any of my secrets or any of Vlad's. Human police couldn't pin him down. He could escape any prison on the entire planet. What was I supposed to do with him, other than kill him?

But that felt too cold and too calculating to think about. Thinking about it while he was torturing me was one thing. Sitting out in the real world and planning how I was going to kill a man was something I didn't know if I could actually stomach. I was Danny Phantom. I was supposed to be a hero. I had always told myself that I was going to be a hero. If I killed Vlad, then, who was I, really? But if I didn't kill Vlad, I would live to regret it. Vlad had murdered people I had loved and had laughed about it. It hadn't mattered to him. He'd come after me again. He'd come after Sam again. Maybe my parents too. It wasn't as if I had that many people, after all. Whatever reason he had to kidnap me, that reason still existed. But if I did kill Vlad, wasn't I just ending up like him? Isn't that what he always told me would happen?

I had no good answer at all.

"Mr. Fenton, do you need anything?"

Jared. I shook my head, grateful when the room was cleared. I knew they'd be back. I knew we'd be checked on. It was comforting, not intrusive. Vlad could probably take us from here. Probably had the psychosis and the know-how but I didn't think he would. It would be too noticeable. The fact that we'd turned up tortured and clearly not in Canada would only raise far more questions, would only bring the Masters' Mansion to the forefront of the investigation again. I didn't think he'd risk it. After we were released from the hospital, I couldn't even begin to guess what would happen. I couldn't give him the opportunity. I was going to have to hunt after him first.

I sat up and then realized that the movement had left me slightly winded. My IV's and a tube I didn't know the purpose for itched at me. I wasn't strong enough to go after him yet. I wouldn't be at my full power when I did go after him but the longer I waited for me to get stronger, the longer I gave him to do the same thing.

I looked over at Sam, asleep with her eyes half-open. I didn't have the strength of mind to leave her alone either. What was going to happen when we had to be apart? Anxiety flooded me at the thought of it. I couldn't cling to her forever and I certainly couldn't keep her safe at all but she was in the room with me because she had needed me to be close to her too. For the moment, I let myself read into that. I settled carefully back down on the bed and just watched her breathe, sleeping so still that I had to actively watch for the rise and fall of her chest.

"We're okay, Sam," I whispered aloud, trying to make it true, trying to let it really sink into her and me. "We're safe."

How, I didn't know. What had happened, I didn't know. I hoped that she'd be able to tell me but the answers weren't as important as the ultimate result. Sam was out of the cell. Sam was safe.

"We're okay," I said again, like one more time would make all the difference. "We're safe."

She was safe.

So, on tumblr I'm: we are all of legend now (with dashes between every word). If you want to find my replies to anon reviews, add backslash tagged backslash anon dash replies. If you want to see anything I post about Superman or the Reflections Universe, go to my tumblr URL and add backslash tagged backslash reflections dash universe. Punctuation is spelled out due to Fanfiction's restrictions. If you're having any trouble accessing the tumblr content please send me a pm and I can format it for you in a different way.

~TLL~