Summary: Danny was shot. Kwan bolted out of the apartment and raced off to find his boyfriends.
Characters: Dash x Danny x Kwan
Afterward 11
The tires screeched on the pavement as Kwan slammed on the breaks. His heart was beating too fast and wouldn't calm down, no matter how much he tried to tell himself everything would be all right. The gunshot kept playing over in his head, and his imagination decided to run wild with every bad scenario it could think up. Shaking his head, he tried to squash out those images. The locators for Dash and Danny told him they were both in the same place, and that place was, strangely, in a seemingly nice neighborhood.
Kwan parked the car and took a deep breath. It didn't help as much as he hoped to calm himself. He was too worried about Dash and Danny. Living in Amity park told him that a normal, peaceful neighborhood could be the complete opposite, though he never imagined he would have to deal with anything other than ghosts until now. He regretted not grabbing one of Danny's ghost hunting weapons, but in his rush to reach Dash and Danny, he didn't even think about it. He jumped out of the car, not even noticing if the door closed as he ran toward the front door of the house. He glanced at his locator to double check that he had the location right. The house before him looked normal enough, but his mind kept supplying the image of a mad scientist's laboratory in the basement.
BAM!
The air was knocked out of him when he was slammed against the front door. The locator slipped from his hand, hitting the front steps with a crack. He pushed on the door, but the arm pressed against his back kept him firmly in place.
"Who are you?" demanded the woman. "And you would be wise to choose your words carefully."
Kwan swallowed hard. "I'm just trying to find my friends!"
"Friends?" Her arm pressed harder into his back.
"They went patrolling tonight."
"Hunters!" She flipped him around and seized his throat in one swift movement.
Kwan had zero time to react. The hand nearly cut off his air when it squeezed his throat, and the woman's eyes glowed a dangerous, vibrant red. His first thought was: She's going to kill me! "No!" he protested, wheezing. "Not hunters! He found a boy in the woods and was taking him back to family. He got shot. I got worried. So I came to find him."
She blinked, her eyes shifting to dark brown. It reminded Kwan of the way Danny's eyes would shift. "Your friend was shot?" She retracted her hand, and Kwan took a deep breath, rubbing at his throat. "Oh," she winced, "I'm so sorry! I was afraid you might be one of that hunter's goons."
Kwan held up a hand as he recovered from being choked. "I completely understand. You have to protect your family."
"When my boy came flying through the front door," her mouth twisted unpleasantly, "he was supposed to be asleep in his room, yelling about hunters, you can understand why I might panic about there being more than one."
Kwan nodded. "And you - Danny! The gunshot!" The fear and worry hit him again like a bucket of ice water being dumped on him.
"Take a breath." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be okay. My husband will make sure everything is okay. Let's go inside. I'll fix you a nice cup of tea." She opened the door and led him inside.
Kwan took deep breaths, trying to remain calm as he followed her to the kitchen. It was hard not to worry, and he knew he was too much the mother hen sometimes when the people he cared about were hurt. He almost jumped when she held a mug of steaming tea in front of his face.
"Trust me. I've been in your position more times than I can count. Every member of my pack is family, even if it's not by blood. And with hunters around, we've had our fair share of injuries. But Korbin is the best doctor I've ever met. Your friend is in good hands."
Kwan smiled as he accepted the tea. "Thanks. I don't doubt his skills. I just worry too much."
"You can stop worrying now."
Kwan snapped his head around toward the kitchen doorway. The woman cupped her hands around his, keeping him from dropping the mug. Dash supported Danny, an arm wrapping around his waist. Danny looked pale and exhausted, but other than that, he seemed fine. Kwan didn't recognize the man behind them but assumed he must be Korbin.
"I'm fine," Danny assured him with a smile. "Just have to be careful with my shoulder until the wound heals fully."
"It was a bit touch and go there for a bit," Korbin admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I've never had the opportunity to test the antidote for blood blossoms on a ghost."
"Half ghost," Danny corrected.
"Question," Kwan said, frowning as the woman took the mug from his hands. He would have to remember to ask for her name later. "What are blood blossoms?" His gaze focused on Danny, who shifted nervously.
"Turns out there is something that's deadly for ghosts." Dash frowned at Danny too.
"In my defense," Danny held up a hand then winced because of his injured shoulder, "I didn't think they grew in the wild anymore."
"Amari, you should send another team to check the forest again," Korbin suggested.
Amari sighed tiredly as she set the mug down on the kitchen table. "I thought for certain we got rid of it all. But it can't hurt to double check."
"I don't know how we can thank you for your help." Kwan crossed the room to where Dash and Danny stood. Resisting the urge to check Danny over was difficult, but he somehow managed. Danny laced his fingers with Kwan's, giving his hand a squeeze as he smiled reassuringly. Danny was alive and well. Kwan tried to let that fact ease his worries.
Amari shook her head. "Your friend already did enough by keeping our son safe."
"I was just doing my job." Danny stood up a little straighter. "Uh, but what do you plan to do with that hunter? Just curious."
"We have no plans to torture and kill him, if that's what you're worrying about," Amari said with a small shrug. "We'll try to get some information out of him about any hunters he knows. If there are more hunters in the area, we'd like to know so we can keep the pack safe."
Danny nodded in understanding. They didn't want to kill anyone. Their only goal was to protect their pack. "I don't particularly like hunters, especially when they go after children, but I prefer not killing. I'll leave his fate in your hands though."
"I hope it doesn't sound rude, but we should probably consider heading home soon," Dash said. "I'm sure you don't want us hanging around all night, and it's already pretty late, and we have a thing tomorrow."
Korbin chuckled as he slapped a hand to Dash's back. "It's not rude at all. I do wish we were meeting under better circumstances." His eyes lit up, and a big smile split his face. "You should come over! We'll barbeque! I'm sure Bentley will want to see you again." He placed a hand on Danny's shoulder, careful not be rough with his injury.
Danny nodded. "We have plans tomorrow. But another day would work."
Amari walked over to the kitchen counter and pulled out a pad from a drawer. She jotted something down before ripping off the top page. Then she walked over to where they all stood by the kitchen door. "Our phone number. Call us when you're free, and we can set something up." She handed the paper to Kwan, who folded it up and tucked it into his wallet. The couple walked them to the front door. "Drive home safely."
After a round of goodbyes and Kwan scooping up the broken locator, they headed for the car. It would take some work getting the locator working again, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.
"There aren't," Kwan side eyed Danny as they reached the car, "any other deadly plants or the like to ghosts that we should know about, right?"
"I promise blood blossoms are the only thing." Danny's tone was deadly serious, but Kwan still gave him a quick glance over like he was expecting to catch Danny in a lie.
"We just don't want you to get poisoned and have no idea how to save you," Dash said, his concern clear in his voice and on his face. "Which reminds me, next time we see them, we should ask Korbin for that antidote. Just in case."
"That's a good idea." Kwan nodded as they climbed into the car. He turned back in his seat, unable to stop his tendency to worry. "It did work, right? No ill effects or anything?"
Danny's head bobbed. "It worked. I'm just a bit tired after the whole blood blossom poisoning. I promise I'll say something if I feel anything off."
Kwan frowned with concern, but he nodded. "Okay." He wished he could flip a switch and shut off his worrying, but Danny was getting better about not hiding things from them. The car ride back to their apartment was a quiet one, each one of them feeling the exhaustion from the night's excitement.
Author's Note: Sorry for the slow updates! I've been having some burn out/writer's block/etc. I promise I'm still working on stuff here and there!
YumiStar: Indeed! 8D They're just trying to live a nice, quiet life. Hunters, however, make things difficult from time to time.
Rosie dragoneel: So smart you just want to throttle him for thinking of it and harming Danny! Dash freaking out! Kwan freaking out! Danny, stop getting hurt!
Lexosaurus: Danny's fine~ For now... *shot* Just kidding. He'll be fine as long as no other hunters turn up with blood blossom laced bullets.
Guest: Amari will deal with the hunter. Maybe no torture, but I doubt he'll be getting out of that prison any time soon.
Kimera20: Curse those blood blossoms! Let's hope no other hunters know about them.
Casper97: =( Good thing Korbin likes figuring out antidotes to anything deadly to supernatural beings!
