A/N — and this is the end. Or, as I prefer to think of it, a new beginning for Danny and Kara. Know that I very much appreciate those of you who joined me for this ride and hope I was able to give you some closure. I'm busy finishing up Choices and Lonely Hearts Club, but will have a new Danara up soon. Until next time. xoxo — kals
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Chapter 24: Just say you won't let go, Oh, just say you won't let go
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"Heard that you saved the world again, Captain."
Kara looked up from where she was sitting on a bunk in the Michener's sickbay, clutching a blanket, to find Danny standing there. He was covered in blood but from the way he leaned against the wall, so effortless, she knew that it wasn't his. A glance at her watch told her that she had been sitting here for almost an hour as people bustled around her. Yet it felt like no more than a second since she watched the last tender from the Nathan James, the one that circled back to collect Admiral Chandler, reach the USS Michener carrying the final group of survivors from the Nathan James.
Her people.
Her ship was gone, but at least her crew was alive. Most of them, she amended, mind replaying the moment when Danny returned to the Nathan James alone, before jumping to the Michener's chopper unloading the body bag containing Stinger's body. Kara hadn't yet seen the full list of those lost on the beach, the Michener focusing on rescue and recovery of those who could still be saved, but she knew today could have been much, much worse.
She and Danny were both alive, and Tavo was dead.
Cursing the tears that threatened, Kara tried to smile. "Easy day."
Danny pulled up a chair, sitting in it backwards, reaching out a hand to take hers. There was something about his movements, so cautious and gentle, that reminded Kara of the way he held her hand during the vaccine trial. As though she were the most precious thing in the world. "How are you doing?"
"My ship sank," Kara replied, hearing the way that her voice cracked. "Hard to move past that one."
"I say that you blame the Admiral. He was the one who crashed it," Danny teased, but his smile didn't reach his eyes. After a moment of silence, Danny spoke again. "Doc said that Wolf should make it."
Kara nodded. "I talked to him earlier. The Michener arrived just in time. They've been able to stabilize people who never would have survived in a field hospital. Saved lives."
"It's hard to see that right now," Danny replied. His eyes flickered to her arm, where the blanket had slid off, revealing the bandage. "What happened?"
Kara looked down, having almost forgotten. "I fell when the James was hit. Doc stitched me up, just a flesh wound."
Danny took a slow, deep breath, his hand tightening on hers. "Back in Cuba, Utt told me that we all have a compass. Something — or someone — that guides us."
"Okay," Kara replied, uncertain what Danny was saying.
He paused, apparently searching for the right words. "You are my compass, Kara. I left for all the wrong reasons, and then I couldn't find my way home. I don't want to — I won't — make that mistake again. You said that we'd talk once I got back. I'm back, and I still mean it. I'm ready to come home."
Kara felt a tear roll down her face as she thought about Carlton. And then Alisha, and Andrea, and Rios. The list going on and on and on. "I don't think I can be your compass right now, Danny."
"Then let me be yours." He said simply.
Kara stared at the man before her. Recalling the man she first met, the man she married, the father of her child, and the man who walked away from her. Danny was all of those men, yet he was also none of them. He wasn't even the same man she had watched leave the Nathan James only hours before. Because the events of the day must have changed who he was, as well as who she was, in ways that neither of them knew. And yet, they both kept finding their way back to each other, despite everything.
She couldn't imagine her life without some version of him in it.
"I want to, Danny. I do," she whispered. "But how do we fix us?"
"We start over," Danny said, his focus entirely on her. "We talk to each other. We stop trying to spare the other person, trying to do it all ourselves. Maybe we find someone who we can talk to together."
Kara's scowl was immediate. "Not Josh."
"No, not Josh," Danny chuckled, and he rubbed a thumb over her knuckles. "Well, not together anyway. I might still go see him by myself."
"Okay," Kara agreed. She might not like Josh, but he had gotten Danny to this point. Maybe he wasn't completely incompetent.
Danny held her gaze. "I talked to Jeter. He wants me to revamp the security system for the new Command Center."
"You'll be good at that." At his arched eyebrow, she admitted. "Russ mentioned it."
"The Nathan James might have gone down, but you're still her Captain, Kara. I'll support whatever you decide to do." His voice was calm, sincere, and Kara knew that he meant it. For all of Danny's faults, he had never tried to hold her back. Accepting how important her career had always been.
Had.
Because just like Danny, she had given all she was capable of giving. Another tear slid down her cheek, and Danny leaned forward to brush it away. "I'm done, Danny. I realized that earlier today. If I stay in, I'm going to lose myself. I just need to get my crew home. That will be my last mission."
"So, we'll get your crew home." He nodded, eyes serious. "Then we'll figure out what comes next."
Kara dropped the blanket, leaning forward to cup his cheek. "And then you'll come home?"
And Danny smiled that smile she first fell in love with. Perhaps the smile, and the man, was different. But he was still the man she loved. A man who had screwed up more than once, and yet fought his way back into her heart and her home.
Neither one of them ready to let go.
"We'll do it together. Every step of the way."
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[END]