Disclaimer: *yawns*

A/N: I made a book cover for this fic (yay!). May not look like it, but it's something more or less like the clock from the Clock Tower. Let's just say it's the thought that counts. hahaha!

Chapter VII

Danny wakes up to an unfamiliar place. The sun is long gone, and he can see outside the window a garden filled with plants and some animals. Or at least he thinks those things moving outside are indeed animals. Looking at himself, he discover he's now in nothing but his boxers, four limbs shackled to what seems to be a chair made of lead. After some struggle, he resigns to his fate as a hostage, when he hears a nearby door clicking open.

"I brought you something to eat. You must be starving."

"I don't need your compassion, Thomas."

"Can we drop the 'Thomas' and the 'Fletcher'? You can just call me 'Tom', you know," the blond says with a shy smile, placing the tray he's carrying on a coffee table nearby. For some reason, this gesture seems to give Danny some inner peace.

"Ok, Tom," he complies, "Why am I here? And more important, why didn't you kill me?"

Tom frowns for a moment before replying. "I thought I made it pretty clear to you that I don't like to fight. Least of all, go around killing people," his smile returning to his face, now full blossomed, dimple showing.

"Now eat something, you're still recovering from severe blood loss."

"Doesn't seem like it, since I'm chained to a bloody chair."

"Not my idea. Actually it was Dougie's," Tom is now looking at the floor, slightly flushed "I wanted to put you in my bed, but he said we couldn't take such risks."

Danny doesn't know how to respond to that. He actually tried to kill him and his friends, but still, this boy treats him so well, and seems to genuinely care about him. All those sensations are pretty new to him, since all he's been taught in his life was 'to fight, to defeat, to get stronger'. Truth to be told, it's not like he enjoyed his work, but rather it's the only way he could find out who he's really is.

Suddenly, the bell door rings and Tom excuses himself to go see who is the visitor. It doesn't take long, and Tom is back with his two friends behind him.

~#~

"How are we today?" Dougie asks Danny, with a smile on his face.

"What do you think? I feel like shit after losing to you!" comes the sharp answer from the captive boy.

"Don't be such a sore loser! You're the one who started the fight, in the first place," I say, pointing out the obvious fact.

"Shut up, Harold!"

"What a nerve! Want me to punch the lights out of you again?" And I feel Dougie's hands on my shoulders, as well as Tom's on my chest, trying to keep me from falling for his taunt.

"Again, why am I naked?" Danny questions and a silence falls upon us all.

"Do you think Tom got kinky with you, eh?"

"What? Shut up, Dougie! I didn't do anything!" Tom defends himself, as white as a sheet. He must be part chameleon, 'cause he sure can change his colours very easily.

"That's not what I was thinking! I was just wondering why!" Danny's blushing now, and his freckles remind me of strawberry ice cream with cinnamon. Don't ask me why, but they do.

"Calm down, Jones. We only wanted to make sure you weren't carrying weapons or anything on you," I say, finding the situation rather funny. "Unless you're gonna tell us you can transform your underwear into a sword."

We all burst into laughter, except for Danny. Still, it doesn't take too long, and to our surprise, he's laughing with us. Not that fake, cold laugh from our earlier fights, but one of those from when we first met him. He seems to realise that, and feeling all eyes on him, quickly quiets himself.

"Guys? We still need to interrogate him."

"Not 'interrogate', Dougie. We're just going to ask him some things," Tom corrects him.

"Whatever, Tom. Say, Daniel, you have an outline of a huge bird on your back. Is it related to your abilities?"

"Why do you ask me tha', Douglas?"

"I prefer 'Dougie'. I'm only asking because Tom got a huge star on him chest, and they pretty much look the same."

He makes no attempt to answer, and I can sense Dougie's already getting a little frustrated. If there's one thing I learned about him, is that he loses his cool easily every time he's denied information. Ha, geeky boy!

"Let me be clear," Dougie takes in a deep breath. "You can tell me, or I can probe around your memories, not caring if I leave your brain damaged, converting you into some sort of living cabbage. Which one's gonna be?"

"You sure talk big for someone small, Dougie."

Sensing things are not going to end up well, this time I'm the one keeping Dougs from punching him. Tom seems to have a better idea and motions for us to follow him outside the room.

"I don't think it's working. I feel like he has this wall around him, and doesn't really wants to let anyone in." Tom states, plopping himself down on a chair.

"Do you reckon we can get anything out of him?" Dougie voices my very concern.

"I guess we should try another another method. In fact, I think you two should let me handle it."

"I don't think it's such a good idea, Tom," I object, worried about what my friend could do.

"If you ask me, Thomas wants some Daniel loving," Dougie says, back on his 'perv mode'.

"I'm not having this conversation again! Harry, keep him busy, while I handle things, ok?" And he's going back into the room we left Danny, leaving me and a smug looking Dougie alone.

"So, what do you have in mind?" he says getting dangerously close.

I hate you, Tom. How could you leave me with him, when he's in that state.

~#~

Tom's now facing a mildly confused Danny, not knowing what's happening, as they can hear noise of things falling to the ground, over a continuously repeated "Stay away from me, Dougie". They can also hear a maniacal — almost psychotic — laugh echoing throughout the house, and to be honest, that scares him a bit.

"I'm sorry for my crazy friends," Tom apologises.

"Actually, I'm more worried about Harold. Do you reckon it's safe to leave him with Douglas, right now?"

"Believe me, it's never safe with Dougie around." And both laugh to their hear contents.

"But you still hungry, right? Here, let me feed you," Tom brings back the tray with food. "Don't worry, it's not poisoned."

Danny tries to protest, but before he has the chance, he already has a napkin tied around his neck and a toast shoved into his mouth. Deciding on accept the favour, since he's famished, he takes his time to appreciate Tom and everything about him. How he always speaks in a such caring way about his two friends, even when they tease and annoy him; how his dimple always poke when he gives a smile; how his chocolate eyes seem to carry innocence as pure as children's.

After they're finished, he just can't deny he indeed feels something for the gentle blond. He knows he shouldn't — he doesn't have the right to — but he can't help it.

"That's better, right? Now, we get rid of this," Tom says whilst unshackling the boy's ankles and wrists.

The brunet take his time, rubbing the afflicted regions of his limbs, before he stands up and walks towards the other boy, getting far too close.

"What makes you think I wouldn't kill you right now and try to escape?"

"I don't feel any animosity coming from you." Tom states, as he avoids looking into those blue eyes. "Besides, you had your chance to do so. More than once, in fact," a small smile playing on his lips.

Danny doesn't speak, but instead, he looks at the boy in front of him from head to toe, as if scanning for something.

"What I do feel coming from you, it's sadness, loneliness. Like you've been carrying a heavy burden that's just too much for you on your own." Tom's expression changes into a benevolent one, "Not that I feel pity for you, I just want you know you don't have to go alone any more: you have us, now."

Inhaling sharply, Danny feels like he's rooted on the spot, his body all stiff, until he feels warm arms pulling him into a hug. Unable to keep his façade any more, he breaks down sobbing, holding on to Tom like he's the lifesaver he needs in this huge dark ocean he's in. Somehow, it just feels right, and he can't seem to hold back everything he kept in till now.

~#~

After half destroying Tom's house, I'm now tickling Dougie into oblivion, as I want him to surrender and help me fix up the place. I get him pinned down to the floor, and we're both panting from our antics.

"Say it, come on!" I order in a mocking tone.

"Never! A true warrior never surrenders!"

"You shall die with honour, then." I hold his arms still with one hand, to use the free one to tickle him some more.

"Okay, okay! I surrender!" He screams in between fits of laughter.

"Uh? Thought a true warrior never surrenders?"

"You can't be a true warrior if you're not alive."

"Fair enough," I say lying down next to him. We stay in this for a moment, when I feel his hand on top of mine.

"Do you think everything's gonna work out for us? I mean, me, you, and Tom can really avoid what's going to happen?"

"I don't know, Dougs. I like to think we'll do something about it. We should be dead by now, right? But we're not, we're here, together," I give his hands an assuring squeeze. "It's not like our destinies are set in stone, you know?"

"You're starting to sound like Tom, all emotional and stuff," he says snuggling into my chest. "But the worst part is that I don't seem to mind," he finishes with a chuckle.

That's how we stay all the night. I wrap my arms around him, and we slowly drift into a deep sleep after the hell of a day we're having. Right now, I can only hope things to be better in the morning. May the sun come bringing us the answers we need, turning all of this into a big, bad memory we don't wanna keep.