(A/N): I believe this is Danniel's first pov- congrats, Danny! We're back with Danniel, Jo, Leo, Lisbet, Jerremyah, and Greygorry (Herc and Shari are also present in the first paragraph, but since they're only referred to in past tense/passing, I figure they're not technically 'THERE', like the others are).

Danniel

To say I was shocked when Herc showed back up and told us Leo had urged him to take my place watching over the Folley's alongside Shari was an understatement. I was utterly gobsmacked- yeah, gobsmacked was a good word... fun to say, too- and Shari wasn't faring much better. To be fair, Herc himself still seemed vaguely off balance, so I was guessing he'd reacted similarly, just... not in front of us. If Leo trusted Herc with this, then I trusted Herc with this- and after sharing a look with Shari to make sure she was okay with it, I left them both behind, and apparated back to the edge of the Ellwood Estate. Home- for the last year and a half, and at least a little while longer.

As I saw the group of people sprawled out on the lawn, I almost felt like amending that designation- since it was less the place that made me feel that way, and more the people I lived with. Well, existed with, anyway. In the end, I settled on deeming them clan- and that thing deep inside of me, residing in the marrow of my bones and every pint of my blood, practically purred as I did so. What I could see most prominently was Jo's back, given that she was the only one sitting up, and a second after I arrived, she twisted around to lay eyes on me, straightening slightly as she did so.

I moved closer, very briefly confused as to where Leo was in all this- then my footsteps stuttered, as I realised that I could see his body just fine, but couldn't see his head- the most recognisable part of him- because it was currently in Jo's lap. Jo's! And she was... letting him? I wasn't so surprised by that, as we all tended to let Leo do pretty much anything he wanted, when he wanted it- because he refused to be seen wanting very often- but still, I wouldn't have thought she would make herself appear to be a good candidate for that sort of thing, given the distance she tried to hold herself at.

I reached them, and as I looked down at him, Leo cracked one big, bright blue eye open, and grinned at me lazily. Almost sleepily, really. "Danny!" He exclaimed quietly, sounding overjoyed despite the languid tone he seemed doomed to use, right now. My chest ached, both at the sweetness of the sentiment, and at the use of the nickname my mother used to use, almost exclusively. "You came back!" Uh...

"Uh... yeah. Was I not supposed to?" He blinked at me slowly, and I finally realised that it was a symptom of Jo lightly running her hands over his hair.

"I hoped, but- Wanted it to be your decision." My decision...? "Sent Herc to give you a choice- did... did he not?" I hesitated to answer, and the awareness reluctantly returned to Leo's eyes. "He didn't ask, did he?" I didn't know what to tell him- other than 'no', which was something I think we all agreed we never wanted to say to Leo- so I said nothing... which, unfortunately, inevitably ended up ruining the rest of the calm they'd managed to cultivate, as Leo started to sit up. "I'll talk to him-" He huffed, and I held up a hand to stop him.

"It's fine- really. I would've chosen to come back, and I think he knew that. I also think he just didn't want to disappoint you in any way, so he didn't want to risk possibly returning empty handed." He looked... touched by this, but predictably, incredibly awkward. "He just said you said you didn't mind him being there, and that you'd like me to join you guys with the training, so I made sure Shari was okay with it, and came back."

Leo's eyebrows furrowed. "The word 'trust' was involved," He said quietly, which I didn't really understand. "I asked if you didn't want to come home, and he said you weren't as eager as Jo." And I hadn't been- not because I didn't like being here, but because I liked being useful, and watching over the Folley's helped me get closer to achieving my ultimate goal of getting to see my mother again. "I asked him if he hadn't wanted to stay, and he was shocked that I would trust him to do so- especially with Shari the way she is. I thought I'd reassured him that I do, but apparently..." He trailed off, and I shook my head.

"That was my phrasing, not his- You're worrying too much, again." He flushed slightly, which I felt both with what I'd been told was called 'blood sense', and as a dry scratch in the back of my throat, begging to be quenched. "Herc knows you trust him- knows he wouldn't be there if you didn't- so stop dwelling on it. At least until he gets back, and can reassure you himself." Reluctantly, he nodded.

"Yeah, that's... probably a good idea." He glanced around at the others, particularly Lisbet- normal and good, considering her obvious motherly tendencies toward him- and Jerremyah- less normal, and somewhat concerning, even if I had seen him treating Leo with a more appropriate amount of care since he'd seemed to realise that Lisbet possessed said tendencies- before he said, "Well... we did come out here to train."

Jerremyah shot him a look that said he'd much rather continue their little snuggle pile- I only felt left out a tiny, tiny bit- but was, surprisingly, willing to go along with whatever Leo wanted to do- that's the spirit, big guy! Lisbet presented him with a coordinating soft look, and Leo, apparently sensing that he wasn't going to get any guidance from either of them, turned to the remaining members of the clan currently in attendance- Jo, Greygorry, and me.

"I'm willing to punch you in the face," Greygorry offered bluntly- which I think was meant to be a joke, but the only person that laughed was Leo, and even then, it was a little strained.

"Any opportunity for payback, right?" Greygorry frowned, but Leo turned away without noticing it, and started trying to heft himself to his feet- I say trying, because while he did end up off the ground, his feet didn't make contact for quite a while after this point. "Jer!" He whined, shocking both Jo and I with the nickname, as Jerremyah threw him over his shoulder.

The older vampire was unexpectedly gentle with him even as he slung him around like a sack of potatoes, and took his time settling Leo on his shoulder as comfortably as possible- which seemed to delight Lisbet. "Oh, I'm sorry," Jerremyah began, not sounding apologetic in the least. "I thought all payback was fair game- or do you not remember carrying me inside, yesterday?" Leo groaned, but it sort of bubbled out of him- like he was struggling to hold back his laughter, and failing. "Besides, you carry this whole clan on your back- the weight of the whole world- let someone else play Atlas, for once." That- that was shockingly... well, insightful, compassionate, and perhaps even a little noble.

"You- I'm not-" Leo cut himself off with a choked noise and fell silent for a moment- Jerremyah's face showed blatant concern, but we could all tell that Leo was fine, physically at least, with the help of our enhanced senses. "You're strong, but even you're not that strong." Jerremyah looked absolutely crestfallen, and I was glad Leo couldn't see his face, because I knew it would undoubtedly upset him. "Which... I guess means... time for more delegating." Now, Jerremyah's face lit up, and he spun as if without thinking about it to beam at Lisbet- who looked appropriately lovestruck.

Leo yelped, then burst out laughing, as Jerremyah's movement swung him around- which only only seemed to delight Jerremyah more, and Lisbet bent at the waist so her face was level with Leo's, where he dangled from Jerremyah's back. "Allocating," She said quietly, and Leo's confusion was palpable.

"What?" He inquired, and she smiled at him tenderly for a long moment before pressing a kiss to his upside down forehead.

"I believe 'allocating' is closer to what you mean- splitting up tasks to make them easier. If you delegate the task of carrying the weight of the world, one person struggles with the burden." She shot him a pointed look, and he seemed... oddly ashamed? "If you split up the weight- allocate parts of it to multiple people- then... we all support the weight." She gave him another incredibly soft look. "Let us help you carry the weight," She said- but we all knew what she really meant:

Let us help you.

(A/N): Jerremyah: '(...) you carry this whole clan on your back- the weight of the whole WORLD-'

Lisbet: 'If you delegate the task of carrying the weight of the world, one person struggles with the burden.'

Lisbet: *shoots Leo a pointed look, referring to HIM struggling*

Leo: 'Message received: I'm a burden.'

In Greek mythology, the Titan Atlas was responsible for bearing the weight of the heavens on his shoulders, a burden given to him as punishment by Zeus for leading the Titans in their battle with the Olympian Gods for control of the heavens. (I'm not saying this is foreshadowing, buuuuuut...)

So, allocating and delegating mean roughly the same thing (assigning tasks to other people), but whereas delegating is more, 'this task goes to this person', allocating is more 'this task is split between these people'. That's basically what Lisbet is saying- that no ONE person can carry the burden on their own, and their strength as a clan (and family) is to split the way amongst them so no one has to struggled any more than anyone else.

You may notice throughout this chapter that Danniel, like Leo, sort of hero worships Jerremyah a bit. It makes sense, since Danniel has 'known' (again, he didn't know for sure, but he had a pretty strong hunch) that Jerremyah was his and Jo's sire, not to mention the fact that we know Danniel grew up without a dad. So, him describing any of Jerremyah's actions as 'perhaps even a little noble' is... well, I'm not going to say misguided, exactly, but he's certainly viewing things more optimistically than most other people would, in his place (like Jo, for example).

Also, I don't know how well I got it across, since this was my first attempt at portraying Danniel's inner monologue/Danniel from his own perspective rather than Leo's (big brother!) or Lisbet's (he's a good kid, keep reminding yourself he's a good kid) or Jerremyah's (oh god what did I do to this poor boy/*guiltily* not another one/hey this kid's kind of funny) or Jo's (for the love of god someone shut him up/only I'm allowed to be mean to him) perspectives. He's supposed to be sort of simple in general (he doesn't care about using the same word repeatedly in the same sentence, because if it fits it fits), while also demonstrating the- at this point- characteristic melodramatic purple prose-iness that comes with being a vampire in this universe. Like, before becoming a vampire, Danniel would absolutely never have said something like 'and that thing deep inside of me, residing in the marrow of my bones and every pint of my blood'. He would've just said something like, 'yeah, I've got a... thing?' and left it at that. He's a really simple guy 99% of the time, and just generally very earnest, so I hope that came across at least a little.