Disclaimer: If a miracle doesn't happen, it will all be the same till the final chapter.

A/N: This chapter introduces my first OC (kinda)! Hooray! I must say I had so much fun writing this one. :)

Chapter XIII

With Harry in the kitchen searching for something to feed their new guest, the other two boys find themselves talking to the bird sent by Danny. Since Tom's the only one who can understand what animals speak, Dougie has a hand on Tom's shoulder to use him as a medium.

"What's your name, little fella?" Tom asks, his finger gently caressing the bird's head.

"My name's Bruce, sir. Pleased to meet you," the bird chirped and bowed. "For your kindness and being able to understand me, I reckon you must be master Thomas, yes? Master Daniel speaks highly of you, sir."

Tom's face grows hotter feeling Dougie's gaze on him, smirking to their feathered visitor's statement.

"Err... right, I'm Tom. This one here is Dougie, and the one in the kitchen is Harry," he tries to keep it off his voice, but he feels something flutter around his stomach at the mention of Danny being fond of him.

"Oh, so they're your subordinates, Douglas and Harold, master Thomas?"

"What? You little shi–" a fuming Dougie is interrupted by Tom.

"No, Bruce! I mean, they're my friends. They don't work for me or anything."

"Ok, master Thomas," he chirped. "Should we get master Harold back? I need to speak to the three of you, sir."

"You can drop the formality with us, Bruce. 'Tom', 'Dougie' and 'Harry' are fine. No need to use the 'master', as well.

"You are indeed a blessed soul, sir. I can understand why you're a human that can comprehend what my kind says."

"I think you have another fan, Tommy," Dougie elbows Tom on his sides. "No wonder he's Danny's bird. Like owner, like pet."

Before Tom can argue back, the other blond yells for Harry get his "hot body over here". It doesn't take long, and soon the brunet is back with two bowls, one with water and another with birdseed. Why does Harry have birdseed at home, is a question beyond Tom, too.

~#~

I still think it's a odd feeling, being able to understand what this bird is saying. Dougs has his hand on my thigh to retransmit Tom's translation to me. I must say the order was slightly different "Dougie, put your hand on Harry's shoulder so he can join the conversation", but it's Dougie we're talking about.

Bruce has proved to be quite a chatter and I can see some of Danny's traits in him. His personality is as bright as his feathers; a forest green body reaching spring green on his wings; baby blue hue around his eyes and a sole golden, feather atop his head, matching his eyes. Even though he chirps between sentences, the voice talking to us is husky, and doesn't really seem to belong to him.

"So, we're all here. What's the message you have for us, Bruce?" I ask him.

"Ah, yes, master Harry. Let me begin."

He explains to us that with the mission failure, Danny's bosses have decided on postponing the invasion, and it's going to be in a week from tomorrow. He also give us some information about his owner whereabouts, the last bit affecting Tom not in a positive way.

"Danny has been taken away? Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, master Tom. They came to our place, this afternoon, to take master to train again. But I don't think they have any intention on letting him return home," he says, his golden eyes mellowing a little. "Master thought about the only way to warn you, and sent me here. He knew master Tom is the only one who could understand me."

I suddenly feel like someone's choking the air out of me. Maybe Danny's not so bad as I thought? Here we have this adorable bird, talking about him like he's the most –and probably is– thing in the world for it. Seeing things this way makes me feel a little depressed.

"We have another week, eh? As good as it may sound, it also means whatever they intend to do is going to be bigger," Dougie ponders.

"I'm more worried about Danny. Shouldn't we go after him?" Tom offers, eyes scanning mine for a response.

"I don't think it's a good idea. At least, not for now," I frown. "If only we could talk to him, somehow..."

"Hey, Brucy! You know where he is now?"

"Why yes, master Dougie."

"Cool, let's try reaching him, then."

Dougs motions for me to grab his shoulder, whilst he puts his now free hand on Bruce's head, telling him to visualise the place Danny is. Just as we all close our eyes, images of Bruce's thoughts start appearing like a movie in our minds, soon revealing a fortress-like building.

"Try speaking to him, Brucy."

"Master Daniel? It's me, Bruce," he says a little excited.

"Bruce? My bird? Where are ya? And why can I hear you speaking?"

"I'm with your friends, master. They wish to speak to you."

"Yo, Danny boy! Nice talking to you!"

"I don't even need to ask you who is this, Dougie," Danny lets a hearty laugh out.

"I knew you could recognize the best," he grins to himself. "Where are you now?"

"At a training facility, to the north. But... how are you guy doing this?"

Dougie quickly explains how they could make use of the information and expand their abilities. He also mentions he has Danny's files as well.

"Thanks, mate. And I knew you could figure things by yourselves! You're brill!"

"I'm only letting get away with this one 'cause you recognize how good I am, curly git."

Danny laughs again, before going silent for a few seconds. "Are you alright? How's Harry? What about–"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Harry's fine, too." But what you're really asking, is if Tom's safe, right? Why don't you speak to them?"

"Hi, Danny," I start, unsure of how to have this conversation, but I know Tom would want some more time to talk to him.

"Harry? Is that you? Good to know you're in one piece!"

"Oi! Who do you think you're talking to? I bet I can beat your lame arse next time!" I say, a little offended by his statement.

"Easy, mate! No harm intended," he laughs, making me laugh along with him. That's one bloody infectious laugh the lad has.

"Danny? I just want to thank you and say I'm sorry. I hope things can get better between us, in the near future."

"Thanks, Harry. And I'm sorry, too. Let's put everything in the past and start anew, 'kay?"

"Couldn't have said it better! Take care, mate." I smile to myself, before pinching Tom's arm.

Not really surprising anyone, Tom awkwardly tries to start a conversation with Danny, before Dougie cuts in, not wanting our friend to make a fool of himself more than he already has.

"You know what? I'll keep the connection up so you two can chat each other up, whilst me, Harry and Brucy go eat something. Don't worry, I won't eavesdrop." He stands up taking me with him, Bruce soon landing on his shoulder. "One more thing: no dirty talk."

~#~

Tom really doesn't know if he should thank or strangle Dougie. Of course, he wants to talk to Danny, but things get a little awkward with the other people –mainly Dougie– around. If the pervy blond keeps up his promise, at least he has a chance to speak in privacy.

"Hey again."

"Hey, Tom! How are ya?"

"I'm good," he pauses for a second, "I have to thank you for today. I feel like I can finally be of help to Dougs and Haz."

"The merit is all yours. Good job cracking the riddle and everything. Wanna tell me more about it?"

"Sure," Tom smiles, soon detailing everything they've done since the freckled boy left. He tells Danny about their brainstorming, the search, finding lost files, the monster that almost killed Harry and all other details. He feels relaxed by the end of his story, 'cause he finds it really easy to talk to the other boy, just the two of them.

"That's great! See? You put yourself down, but you're truly amazing," he hears Danny thick accent ring inside his head, making him fluster a little.

"Uh, thanks!" He smiles sheepishly, not totally comfortable with compliments. "But enough about me. Why are you there? They're not keeping you captive, are they?"

"Not that it's been made too obvious. I'm really on training grounds, but currently on a break. Don't worry, there's no one around and I don't feel like I'm being watched."

"Bruce delivered us your message. What do you think we should do?"

"The best you can do is train until your bodies give in. Sure, that one day progress you have now is incredible, but there's always room for improvement," Danny's now serious, his voice almost stern.

"I think so. Harry would have suggested it, anyway. I guess you two fighting freaks are all the same."

"Aww, don't say it like tha'!" Tom could imagine Danny pouting "I wish I could train you, though. But Dougs would be better suited for the task, since your powers are loosely related."

"I guess you're right," Tom nods, forgetting Danny can't actually see him. "Won't you be needing your files, though?"

"Nah. If they want me to train and improve, they will do something about it. You should be careful, though. More than likely they're sending another bot after you three. Don't expect this one to be easy to defeat as the one Harry fought before."

"After that chimera we fought underground, I don't think things will get any easier."

"Good, 'cause they won't."

"Some encouragement. Cheers, mate!"

Danny bellows with laughter at Tom's hurt tone. "You know that's not what I mean, you twat! Just don't get yourself killed, you still owe me a date, remember?"

"I– I know," Tom fails miserably to keep his voice steady.

"That's good– What are you doing here?"

"Danny, what happened?"

"Stay away from me!"

"Danny? DANNY!"

Tom can't speak nor listen to the boy, any more. Sensing the communication has been cut, Dougie flies into the room asking what's wrong. He soon sees a livid Tom hitting the floor with his fist clenched.

"Danny's in danger! We have to help him!"