Summary: Dash hurried to Danny, trying not to let the panic paralyze him.
Characters: Dash x Danny x Kwan

Afterward 10

Dash ran. His heart pounded as he weaved his way through the trees, following the directions Kwan told him over the communication device hooked over his ear. At a time like this, Dash was glad Kwan stayed back to monitor their locations if they decided to split up during patrols to cover more ground.

He can handle himself in a fight. Ugh, I know that! But even knowing that, Dash still worried. All he knew about what was currently happening with Danny was whatever Kwan told him, which wasn't a whole lot beyond location as Danny focused more on fighting than giving a play-by-play description of his fight.

Bang!

Dash froze, his breath catching in his throat. His mind immediately filled with terrible thoughts, which he prayed were all wrong.

"Dash! Dash!" Kwan shouted franticly into his ear. "I don't know what happened, but get over there now!"

"I know!" Dash yelled back, angry with himself for hesitating. Danny could need his help! This was no time to stand around dumbly in shock. Dash continued running toward Danny's location. When he reached the scene, he didn't let himself stop. He tried not to think about Danny lying on the ground, not when there was masked weirdo standing over him with a gun pointed at his head. He charged forward with rage burning through him.

"Say good-"

Dash slammed his fist into the side of the man's head with all his strength. The gun flew from his grip. Another shot fired. The bullet pierced the trunk of a tree three feet to Danny's right. The masked man hit the ground and lay there, motionless. Dash's hand throbbed, but he ignored it as he turned to Danny.

"Great timing." Danny smiled. Then his face contorted in pain. His hand clasped against his shoulder, ectoplasm oozing over his hand.

"Shit!" Dash raced over to Danny and knelt at his side as a thousand more curses ran through his head.

"Language," Danny said with a slight quirk of his mouth despite his grimacing.

"What? What is it? What happened?" Kwan demanded. "Someone tell me what's going on!"

"Danny was shot," Dash answered, pressing his own hand over Danny's to help put pressure on the wound. "It looks pretty bad. We might have to take him to the hospital."

Danny whined in protest. Dash could understand why Danny didn't want to go to the hospital, especially with ectoplasm all over him. But Dash didn't know how to take care of a bullet wound! They never had that problem when it came to injuries during football season.

The masked man laughed, dragging himself slowly to his hands and knees. "No hospital will be able to save him."

"What-" Dash's shock boiled back into anger. 'What did you do to him?" His voice was low and slow with the hint of a threat not even subtly seeping into it.

"You think this is my first time running into a waste of ectoplasm clinging desperately to its pathetic existence?" The man laughed as he climbed to his feet. "Everything has a weakness. And it just so happens I know his. It might be slow," he shrugged, reaching a hand behind his back, "but it works. And it's not very pleasant." He whipped his arm around, aiming a gun at Dash. "Perhaps you'd-"

Dash wanted to charge at the man again, knock him on his ass and pound him into a bloody meat patty. He hadn't felt rage like that since the incident with Bryce. But he hardly moved when something sprang out of the bushes. The movement was so fast, Dash could barely track it. A swift chop to the wrist, and the gun hit the ground. The man was bent forward, taking a knee to the gut, then a hard elbow to the nose. Standing up straight again, a hand gripped the man's throat, squeezing as sharp nails dug in, and probably would have caused bleeding if not for the thick material of his turtleneck. As a teenager, Dash might never have believed the sight before him. The woman holding the man by the throat was short, reaching maybe only up to Dash's nose. But Valerie had taught Dash not to underestimate a woman's strength. This woman certainly proved she was more than capable taking out an opponent, no matter their size.

"You're lucky I'm not ripping your throat out," she said, her voice cold, steely, deadly. She didn't take her eyes off the man when she asked, "How is your friend?"

Dash stared dumbly for a minute before realizing the question was directed at him. He dropped his gaze to Danny, who gritted his teeth as sweat trickled down his face. "Not good." His heart pinched. A normal bullet probably wouldn't be a problem for Danny. He could phase it out of him, and his ghost powers would help with the healing, though Dash and Kwan would worry regardless. But this bullet was causing Danny pain that Dash couldn't explain. Danny clearly was trying not to make any noise, probably some ridiculous notion that if he didn't scream out, it would make Dash worry less.

"Can you carry him?"

Dash lifted his head then gulped at the fierce look on the woman's face. She would definitely tear him apart if she wanted to. "Yes. But why?"

"Then follow me." She rammed the man's head into a tree hard enough to crack the bark. Then man fell limp, unconsciousness ending his struggle against her hold. She hoisted him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Then she ran.

"I don't know what exactly is happening here, but try to keep pressure on that." Dash lifted Danny into his arms. This time Danny couldn't hold back his shout. Being moved must have sent a new jolt of pain surging out from his shoulder. "Sorry," Dash murmured, hating that he caused Danny more pain.

Kwan fell silent at some point during the whole exchange. Dash would be more concerned about that fact if his attention wasn't focused on Danny. He followed after the woman, hoping she was indeed an ally. Maybe she knew Danny. But asking Dash how his "friend" was suggested against that idea. If she knew him, she would have asked about his condition by naming him.

As he ran, Dash glanced frequently down to Danny. He looked paler than usual, his skin clammy with sweat. What was that peeking out from his collar? Dash didn't have the time to stop and examine it, but he didn't like the look of it. He couldn't let Danny die! He picked up his pace, his worry and fear urging his legs to move faster than he thought possible. Too much time seemed to pass, but they eventually broke out of the woods and soon came to a small neighborhood. The woman led the way down the street to one of the houses. Dash could believe it was a normal, quiet neighborhood, but - His eyes turned back to the woman ahead of him. She certainly wasn't normal. He didn't need Danny to tell him to know it.

She stopped when she reached a two-story house, the siding pale blue with white accents on the door and windows. The door was open, and a tall man stood on the front step. Dash would find it entirely believable if he saw the man bench pressing a school bus with how beefy his arms were. He had a bit of scruff on his cheeks and down his neck like he forgot to shave for a few days. His belly hung a bit over the waistband of his pants.

"You've got a patient," she told the man. "Ghost. Shot in the shoulder. I'll be back once I've dealt with this garbage." As soon as the man nodded, she took off running again.

Dash was breathing hard, a stabbing pain radiating from his side. He doubted he could keep up with her if he had to follow after her again. She looked like she hardly broke out into a sweat during their run. Dash focused on the man, but he still felt some uncertainty about these unknown people.

"Name's Korbin. Follow me." He walked into the house.

"I'm not really sure what's going on," Dash admitted, hesitantly trailing after him. "But my friend needs some serious medical attention."

"That's me." Korbin grinned, closing the front door after Dash entered the house. "I'll have him fixed up in no time." He paused after he turned to walk through the front hall. "Well, not no time. It'll definitely take some time. But - I should stop wasting time. Sorry. Amari always tells me I'm too chatty." He led the way through the house then down into the basement, which actually looked more like a medical laboratory than what Dash thought of as a basement. "Lay him on the table."

Dash did as instructed, gently laying Danny down on the padded table in the center of the room. The dark veins crept farther up Danny's neck.

"First, let's get him out these clothes." They stripped Danny of his coat and shirt. Danny barely managed to bite back a shout when his shoulder was jostled. "That is not looking good." Korbin leaned in to better look at gunshot wound and the dark veins spreading from the injury.

"What's causing that?" Dash couldn't keep the worry out of his voice. That was definitely not something normal for a gunshot wound.

"The only thing that would effect a ghost like this is Blood Blossom poison. Hold him down." Korbin turned to his medical tools. "This is probably going to hurt a lot."

"What is-" Dash winced when Danny screamed as Korbin dug into the wound to retrieve the bullet. He hated it. He hated that strangled noise laced with pain. He hated having to fight Danny to hold him down against the table when his body jerked.

"Blood Blossom poison?" Korbin glanced to Dash. "It only affects ghosts, which is good for us. Us, being the pack of werewolves. Well, not me. I'm all human. But that's not important right now." He pulled the bullet free after some careful maneuvering. "I thought we had gotten rid of that patch we found growing in the wild. I kept some so I could study them and make an antidote for Blood Blossom poison. Hopefully."

"That doesn't sound too confident."

"Well, we haven't had a whole lot of contact with ghosts, so I haven't exactly gotten to test the antidote out." Korbin winced. "But it's our best shot right now. No one else is going to be able to save him."

Dash took hold of Danny's hand, squeezing it tightly. "You're going to be okay."


YumiStar: Poor Will. Well, at least he's trying to keep the peace. Some hunters just don't care if they're innocent children! D: And aw~ Yeah, it seemed like ffnet had a bit of a dumb period where it didn't really alert people to new postings.

jayswing96: Creeps about to find himself six feet under if he keeps pissing off momma wolf!

Kimera20: Thanks! 8D Dash probably would have done more if someone hadn't beaten him to it. XD

Lexosaurus: Mwahahaha! Okay, I let that cliffhanger sit a little too long. orz I really did mean to get the next part written and posted a lot sooner, but I kept sitting down and not really feeling the right mood for writing. orz

Rosie dragoneel: XD I thought this idea worked best starting from Danny's PoV, which is why I kind of had to delay through Kwan's PoV. Thanks! XD When I sat down to think of names for him, Bentley was the one that kept popping into my head.

Casper97: Looks like Dash isn't the only one coming to save the day. XD

xXRainbowCleoXx: I bet that hunter's gonna regret messing with Danny and Bentley when he wakes up.