Enter standard disclaimer: Monster Buster Club is not mine. "Can the monster busters come out and play?"

Far Away – Chapter One

"Ow ow ow!"

The clubhouse door swung open as Sam rolled her eyes. "Come on Chris, it can't hurt that much." But she held the door as Chris limped in, one arm slung around Danny's shoulders for support.

"Well it does!" Chris complained, his other hand going to grab at Danny's red-lined armor as he shifted his weight again.

"Those Zerellian worms weigh a ton, Sam! I'm surprised Chris' foot isn't flatter than a pancake!" Cathy waved her arms, nearly smacking Chris in the back of the head with the vial of captured alien.

Danny chuckled as he helped Chris limp across the clubhouse. "Wonder what kind of syrup you'd serve with that pancake." Chris smacked him lightly on the arm before wincing again.

"Not that freezing Zerellian jelly, that's for sure." Sam snatched the vial out of Cathy's hand before Cathy forgot she was holding it. "C'mon Cath, let's go put this 'heavy' weight away."

"Here ya go buddy boy." Danny caught a chair with his boot and nudged it to face them. Chris eased himself into the chair slower than necessary, reluctantly releasing his hold on Danny at the last second.

As Chris squirmed to get comfortable, Danny morphed out of his buster armor, zapping back instantly into his street clothes. He turned to Chris as the darker-skinned boy struggled to reach down to his boot, then knelt next to the chair. "Lemme."

"Careful!" Chris caught Danny's eye roll as he gently worked the boot off Chris' foot. He was about to make a smart-aleck reply but it turned into a hiss of pain before the boot finally slid off.

"Think it's broken?" Danny asked as he pulled Chris' sock off as well.

"Doesn't hurt that much," Chris mumbled as Danny gently felt his foot, ignoring the slight twinges of pain rather than tell Danny to stop.

"Hey, I broke my two littlest toes once and barely even noticed," Danny replied as Sam and Cathy returned, both in street clothes themselves.

"I remember that! It may have been drowned out by the pain of being thrown into that wall," Cathy supplied helpfully.

"Playing Cinderella, Danny?" Sam teased as she bent over to inspect for herself. Danny immediately let go of Chris' foot, and Chris stopped the scowl aimed at her before it reached his face. "That doesn't look that bad, Chris. I'll see if Mr. Smith has something to wrap it with to keep it from moving."

"D'ya need a hospital man?" Danny asked as the clubhouse door swung shut again.

"No, but a Tylenol would be nice," Chris mumbled.

"I doubt Mr. Smith's got anything that doesn't involve some ET ingredients, but I can check." Before Chris could protest, Danny was out the clubhouse door too.

Chris watched the door finished swinging shut before he sighed heavily and stood up, wobbling slightly before he morphed out of his buster armor. As soon as he finished, complete with his sneaker lying on the floor, Cathy said, "I thought you couldn't stand."

Chris jerked, almost falling over as he stood unsteadily with most his weight on his good foot. "Well, I… it didn't feel…I had to get out of my armor," he finished lamely. Cathy's curious eyes roved over him, her eyebrow raised and face screwed up in a look of concentration.

"I know what's going on with you," she announced. "You're faking that it's worse than it is."

Chris froze completely. The last thing he needed was for Cathy to find out – sometimes he wondered how on earth she kept her species a secret from the world. "Cathy, don't-"

"You want to get your hands on some Rhapsodian medical supplies and analyze them, don't you?" She grinned widely and stuck out her chest. "Well you don't need to pretend to be hurt to do that! We can just get em out!" She ran over to the computer and started typing in commands.

"Cathy, no, wait-" Chris tried to move to stop her.

Danny and Sam opened the clubhouse door on a weird scene of Chris sprawled out on the floor, his leg caught in some strange contraption attached to the main computer that Cathy desperately tugged at.

"Get it off!" Chris screeched.

"Sorry! I think the tissue analyzer works different on humans!"

"What are you two doing?" Sam demanded as she dropped the wrapping she was holding and ran to help.

"Hit the red button!" Danny suggested as he joined Cathy, his fingers digging into the opening suctioning around Chris' calf.

"There is no red button!"

Chris cried out as his leg got jolted about and shocked again, before he saw the wire running to the computer. He twisted and grabbed it, yanking hard until it unplugged and the machine powered down. Chris gasped as the spasming stopped and the analyzer fell open onto the floor.

Danny jabbed a finger at Chris' red, swollen foot. "Uh… that looks even worse than before."

"I'm sorry Chris!" Cathy cried, her hands flying around her head and back in front to cover her mouth.

"Now you need to go to the doctor," Sam announced, pulling Chris off the floor. Danny moved to help, and Chris reached for him to steady himself completely on one leg. "Let's get you home."

"We'll tell your parents we were experimenting," Danny suggested. Chris gave him a surprised look. "With my new scooter."

"Oh. Y-yeah. That'll work," Chris agreed as Danny tried to help him move forward. Chris stopped and hissed sharply at the intensified pain now shooting straight up his leg.

"Chris can't even walk now?" Cathy asked in a wavery voice, on the verge of crying.

"It's okay Cath!" Danny reassured her, shifting Chris to behind him. Chris wobbled in his flamingo impression as he started to ask, "What are you-"

"Alley-oop!" Danny hoisted Chris onto his back and Chris yelped in surprise. "Dude, you have to hang on or we're both going down." Chris hesitated, then wrapped his arms around Danny's shoulders and buried his face into the crook between his shoulder and Danny's neck to hide the blush he could feel heating his cheeks. "I'll get him home to his parents, and see you guys tomorrow."

"Okay, we'll analyze this jelly then!" Sam called after them before turning to soothe Cathy. Chris didn't dare open his mouth to say good-bye as he and Danny left the clubhouse. Instead, he shut his eyes and inhaled as deep as he could without making a sound, trying to memorize the smell and feel of Danny so close while he had the chance.

To be Continued

AN: Figured there needed to be some good Chris/Danny love on here. I update faster when I know there's an audience… so please review!