Ava tentatively knocked on the white door. She waited but no answer came. With a soft sigh she tried once more, but was out of luck again. She inhaled sharply through her nose once she heard something being broken in the room, behind that door. Forgetting all formalities and politeness, Ava opened the door and rushed in only to find a few flowers lying on the ground, water dripping heavily from the table. Her eyes widened slightly when they noticed how a small red ball traveled from the table to her feet. She then looked up and saw a familiar pair of weary eyes. With a sad smile Ava asked:

"Got bored again?"

A weak snort came from the person who was lying on the bed before he nodded. He watched as she knelt down and grabbed the ball. She spun it in her hands, chuckled, but then her eyes became sad once more. Danny frowned slightly. He felt an all too familiar twist in his gut. Guilt was starting to suffocate him again. It chained his heart, tearing the soft flesh and making blood leak out in the open once more. It reopened wounds that were supposed to be healed long ago. It turned out that instead of disappearing with time, they had simply been stitched up all too badly and now the damage was showing.

"You know, I remember when I gave you this ball. It was two years after the accident." Ava began before she looked up and was met with a pair of furious eyes. She noticed that Danny put a hand up to silence her, but she was not about to back down. He had obviously requested someone to bring him this ball which meant that something must have changed.

"I recall how excited you were…" Ava tried once more, taking careful strides towards the bed, before she sat on the edge of it and continued, "...about your progress."

Danny sighed, rolled his eyes, but nodded, nonetheless. He was not about to deny that he had been told that he would be able to walk again. But that was long ago. That had happened when he was still naïve, when he still had the courage and will to believe. Now, on the other hand, he was just a broken shell that could not be stitched back together. He was hallow. He was empty. He was an echo. Everything in his life was like an endless echo. It repeated itself again and again – doctors, therapists, therapies, rehabilitations, alternatives, hope…lies… They were all nothing but lies and Danny knew it or rather he just did not have the strength to believe in anything anymore. That was the reason why he had not told Ava about the small progress he had made. He was not going to tell her anything until he was able to make a few steps on his own and even though the doctor told him that being able to stand for around a minute was a miracle, he could not risk it. He would not be able to bear to watch her heart be filled with hope only to have it become crushed and rumpled when all hope was lost once more. He could not endure watching the light in her eyes die again, not when she was happy, not when she was going to make the final step, the one she had been prolonging in hopes that he would answer the million times she had told him those three words his heart had been yearning for. He was selfish. He was stupid. To everyone he might seem like a coward, but in his eyes Danny was making the right choice because for the life of him he could not tell how he truly felt before he accomplished what his heart had wanted for the past seven years – be able to stand and walk on his own two feet once more.

"I remember." Danny suddenly said before he lifted his head, " I also remember how broken and frightened you were when I fell on the ground, twisted my ankle, but could barely feel it."

A lone tear escaped the thresholds of a tired eye. It burned a trail of forgotten dreams and unsaid words, buried feelings and lost love. Ava tried to hold it in, but when Danny lifted up his hand and traced the route which the tear had taken successfully destroying the salty liquid, the fountain erupted and her body caved in. She fell forward, right into his inviting arms. Her head crashed against the all too familiar warmth, her shuddering frame was engulfed by a pair of strong of hands and her heart was silenced by another, which, too, was bleeding.

Danny rested his head on her head. He felt everything. He felt the bending of her body. He felt the break of her heart. He heard the cries of her soul. He heard the string he had been so hopelessly trying to preserve being torn from that small word he had said… barely felt it… which meant that he had felt something. Danny mentally berated himself over and over again for not watching or rather hearing what he was saying. He should have said that he had felt nothing, he should have told her to leave him alone, he should have killed her heart, he should have poured salt into her open wounds, tear open the ones she had stitched, rip her chest apart, grab her heart and crush it into a million pieces. He should have sent her away. He should have pushed her away. He should have made her hate him so then why….

Why damn it?! Why can't I just let you go, Ava? Why can't I just let everything go…?

His mind was brought back on earth by the stillness of the body that was lying next to him. His eyes widened as he felt her rhythmic breathing. With a soft sigh he realised that she had fallen asleep. Danny smiled as he leaned back carefully not to disrupt her slumber. Once he had positioned himself to be semi-comfortable she stirred. Danny stiffened immediately, but relaxed when Ava only moved her head further into his chest, then wrapped both of her hands around one of his and went back to sleep. Danny resisted the urge to chuckle. Instead he inwardly sighed in relief for not disturbing her sleep when he had moved. He then looked down at her, smiled and as he started caressing her hair he whispered:

"And then I wonder why I love you…"

Ava was fast asleep when the doctor knocked on the door. He tentatively opened it, but when he saw that Danny had just stirred and that the woman in his arms was still asleep, he was apologized. He was about to leave when Danny rubbed his eyes, put up a hand and uttered in a slightly hoarse from a long nap voice:

"It's alright. It usually takes a while for her to wake up after sleeping for a few hours."

The doctor nodded. He then closed the door he had previously reopened, took a few steps and stopped when he was in front of Danny. With a grim look Danny tilted his head and met the dark eyes of his doctor, the one who had given hope that he would be able to walk again. The doctor chuckled slightly, patted Danny on the back and said:

"I haven't come here with bad news. In fact, I am here to tell you that the progress you have made thus far I astonishing."

Danny smiled and was about to thank the doctor when the man put a hand up and itinerated:

"There is more, Danny. It seems that your condition is…"

Danny's eyes widened slightly when the doctor stopped mid-sentence, made some sort of motion with his hand Danny could not quite understand before he finished:

"Changing."

"Changing?" Danny asked, ignoring his rapid heart rate.

The doctor smiled, and then nodded before he uttered:

"I think that if your development continues to be this fast paced and, dare I say it, miraculous, you just might be able to walk again, but don't get overexcited or reckon that you would be able to go for miles without tiring yourself out."

If Danny could move without waking Ava up and ruining every chance he had at keeping this secret, he would have risen and embraced the doctor. He did not know whether it was because he was once a superhero or because luck had finally smiled upon him, but no matter what it was, he was happy. For the first time in a long time he was genuinely happy. And he could not for the life of him not show his gratitude by smiling profusely, shaking the doctor's hand and saying:

"Thank you for everything."

The doctor smiled, chuckled at the rapid shaking of his hand, but welcomed the small gesture, nonetheless. He then told Danny that they would discuss this further tomorrow before he exited the room. After that Danny lied back down, embraced Ava, kissed the top of her head and fell asleep with a smile on his face, allowing himself the courage to hope and believe once more.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Thank you for following, favouriting and reviewing. A cookie goes to everyone who has come this far within the story.

I know that everything that happened in this chapter and will be happening will probably seem a bit too unrealistic to some of you, but, quite frankly, I need a little breather from the small portion of sadness I was offered this week so uh, yeah…. Expect a lot of happiness and romance. There will probably be a little angst when Sam reveals his past to the team, but nothing too major.

Until next time I post a story and/or update,

~ QueenofRhymes ~