#danny did self destruct but he is NOT permanently gone

[sleepy-writes-stuff]

DP X DC PROMPT #26

(I'm feeling angsty today.)

(#) = Notes at the end of post

(*) = Just me building off of other ideas.

✦

Going Supernova

The GIW have discovered his identity, and they don't waste time on using this knowledge to their advantage. They spent the last six months creating a weapon that not only hurts ghosts but absolutely obliterates them down to their very cores. After testing it for so long on minor ghosts and then discovering the local ghostly menace's secret, they have the bright idea to make an example out of Danny.

They ambush him as he's fighting the invading ghost of the day. Their first shot misses and hits the ghost they're fighting. As soon as the shot lands, the ghost freezes in place with a look of dread and horror.

They look up at Danny with tears in their eyes and has only a few precious seconds to say, "Run," before their skin cracks and they shatter, the miniscule shards evaporating into nothingness.

Danny is petrified and grief-stricken over what he just witnessed that he doesn't have the time to even twitch before the GIW lock their sights back onto him and shoot him in the back.

Agony consumes him. His chest burns, and his ribs rattle with the effort it takes for him to breathe through the pain. The civilians who were still on the scene gasped in horror as they watched their local hero's chest start to crack and glow from within.

What the GIW didn't know was that Danny had just recently elevated to Ancient status due to helping Clockwork with the timestream. That and with his status as a halfa, what they did will end in nothing but disaster. (1)

Danny spots his parents, sister, and friends in the crowd. His parents watched in awe and excitement while his Jazz, Sam, and Tucker looked at him with horror-stricken disbelief. Knowing what's to come and not having enough time to explain, he gives them a wobbly smile.

"I'm so sorry."

He whips around and rockets straight up into the sky. He breaks through the atmosphere in a matter of seconds and continues to fly at breakneck speed away from the little green-blue planet he calls home. He has to get away. He can't destabilize so close to them. He has to go even further.

His form is steadily breaking off into pieces as his human and ghost half fight and fail to keep him together. He can feel his human half dying and his ghost half barely holding on by a thread. He can't stop, though. If he stops here, the Earth will be destroyed from the backlash.

He had no worry for himself. After all, stars die all the time. That doesn't mean that's the end for them. They just take on a new form or even help breathe new planets and galaxies into life.

'A star's death is not the end!' He comforts himself.

He only makes it a few light-years further before his energy fades out to nothing, and he slows to a halt. It's only then that Danny starts to panic alone in the vacuum of space. The furthest he's even been from home and the comfort of his friends and family.

"No. No, no, no, no." He repeats over and over. "Not far enough. Not far enough! I'm still too close!!" (2)

His stuttering heart rabbits inside his chest along with his crumbling core. He hugs himself tight with the false hope that maybe that would stop himself from falling apart. He cries for his family, his friends, his planet. His life and lives he's about to take through no fault of his own.

Because for a star to give life, they must first destroy. (3)

"I'm sorry. I-I'm so sorry! Please!"

He sobs into his hands as the light of his core pulses one final time.

"Please." He whispers brokenly.

His core shatters, and he screams for the entire cosmos to hear. His form expands with immeasurable force and shakes the very foundations of creation. His desperate attempt to spare the Earth from his self-destruction was in vain as the waves of his shattered core ravaged the solar system and destroyed everything within its path.

The countless people and other creatures on Earth didn't even have time to blink before they were completely eradicated. Quick and painless but nonetheless gone.

It took centuries for everything to settle again.

It wasn't until countless millennium passed that the solar system began to take shape again. However, everything was reshaped and put back together as though with a child's memory of what it used to be from so long ago. Some things were bound to be different, like how Mars gained its own population of intelligent humanoid creatures. How Earth's own population started to develop extraordinary abilities and magic was able to be used more freely outside of supernatural species.

Soon, there were heroes popping up all over the universe of all shapes, sizes, and species. Some people were even reborn. They started remembering a life that, as far as they knew, never actually existed. How could it? None of the people they were before showed up in any records. There were records, of course. They just, unfortunately, no longer existed.

No one knew why, either. At least not until a magic user stumbled upon a tome belonging to what they knew as the Underworld. It told the story of a young boy who died too young and was destroyed from what he became afterward. How his destruction also destroyed the world despite the boy's efforts to save it.

This story was shared with the masses of people experiencing these memories of other lives, including the heroes who took up the mantle of keeping the Earth and other corners of the galaxy safe. They mourned the loss of a life so young, so bright and full of potential. They hoped that wherever the child ended up, that they were at peace.

Little did they know, the child was part of the universe itself, his very being woven into the fabric that makes up the night sky and everything that lays beyond. They can't see or hear him, but that precious child--the Ancient of Space--laid curled around the Milky Way itself with Earth cradled gently in his trembling hands.

✦

(1) Because of his status as the new Ancient of Space and the fact that he is half human/alive is the reason his destabilization took longer than the ghost he was previously fighting. An Ancient has immense power of the aspect of reality they control, and his human half was desperately trying to keep him alive. He can't live without his ghost half, though. It was also the power of his Ancient status that made his destabilization so explosive and damaging. However, him being a halfa is also what saved his existence in the end and allows him to still continue to be the Ancient of Space, as Space itself is always in a state of dying and rebirth. It just took several thousands of years to pull himself back into a semblance of what he previously was, but obviously irrevocably changed.

(2) According to scientists a supernova would have to be within 30-50 light-years to trigger a mass extinction on Earth. To be actually completely safe from one, however, it'd have to be 160 or more light-years away. Danny didn't even make it to 20 light-years before his core self-destructed, which is why he was panicking.

(3) As I'm sure most of you know, supernovae are essential to creating life, but that life is preceded by the death of said star.

(*) I haven't really thought of who would be reborn into which character. I originally thought of Jack Fenton being reborn as Bruce Wayne, but Bruce only disguises himself as a himbo while Jack actually is one. The only reason I thought it would work out it because 1) Jack's paranoia about ghosts and translating into Bruce's own paranoia 2) him regaining his past memories would explain his propensity to collect black-haired, blue eyed children because of his loss of Danny and 3) him and his relationship with Jason after he came back as Red Hood.

Other than that, I can't think of who any of the other characters might be. You can decide!

[klaussicarus]

Day Ten: Corruption

Maddy stalked closer to Phantom and glared at him. He was begging for her to stop, for her to think everything over. He was sobbing. Maybe Maddie would've cared, would've seen what she was doing and would've stopped in horror. But all she could see was the unnatural green tint to his tears, further cementing his unnaturalness. His face had a blue shade creeping up his cheek and forehead, his eyes red and glowing, his pupils sharp and one eye was just blankly wide with no sclera to stop the blood crimsom.

Her and her husband had let Phantom be, had set a truce because they had assumed that Phantom would maybe be an outlier, that he would be more useful to them semi-dead than permanently dead. And he was, at least for a little bit. Then he started changing. The Fenton's knew what was going on. His appearance was changing to reflect his true self. He couldn't stay perfectly human forever.

There was a slow decay that ghosts took, and Maddie was just slightly upset that Phantom was decaying faster.

[[MORE]]

Danny felt himself hit the floor and fearfully glanced upward to his Mom and Dad. They were void of their usual antics, Mom had dropped her cheerful demeanor, a cold sneer across her face and his Dad had all but forgotten his facade of bumbling stupidity, instead his gaze was calculating and sharp. They had several weapons that Danny had never seen, impossible, for he had a constant eye on his parents lab through their cameras, deleting condemning footage and watching over every invention and making sure his trigger happy parents didn't have anything too dangerous. But here was over fifteen new weapons and gadgets that didnt even have starting blueprints displaying various ages and intricacies, all looking deadly and dangerous.

What had made his parents so paranoid that they had started making secret weapons? Did they know about Danny's stranglehold on their cameras? Did they know about his destruction of their weapons that went simply too far? Did they know about his alter ego dumping ghosts into the portal?

He didn't know and it was eating him up.

Scrambling back from his Mom as she got a little too close for comfort, her large and almost silly ecto-knife gripped in her hands. At least it would've felt silly if it wasn't covered in his glowing blood, his sides screaming in pain everytime he opened up a rapidly healing scab on his body. A bit of blood gurgled in his throat, spitting out the bright green, once again staining the metallic floor of the lab.

The next time he looks up Dad's gone, his eyes flicking around to try and find him, only to hear movements from behind his back.

'Shit, shit, shit,' Danny jumps up and starts hastily flying out, only for Mom to grab his ankle and to fling him into the wall. A loud crack echoes and Danny muffles a scream. Mom holds him down just barely, only able to pull her ecto-knife out once Jack helps constrict him to the wall. 'Oh god, they're really going to do it this time. They're going to fucking murder me.' He could see it in their determined brows, and cold gazes.

He breaks. He can only try to preserve his life, even if it doesn't preserve his double life.

"Mom! Dad! It's me!" He flickers back to his human self, even the few seconds tainting his blood with flecks of red, shifting back again even quicker to keep his advanced healing up. "I know it's hard to understand, but I'm a half ghost and I'm kinda sorta dead but I'm still the same Danny and I still love stars and the color red and I'm still am the same Danny that you know somaybepleasedon'tkillme!" His breath was coming fast, lungs heaving for unexisting air and heartbeat quickening like a rabbit's.

Mom's face remained the same angry sneer, with Dad only wearing a shade of weariness.

"We've known Phantom. We've known for a real long while. We're not stupid." Mom's grip tightens on his broken ankle, pulling a whine from his throat. "You're corrupted. It was our fault for letting you around those nasty two, who egged you on, and our fault for not locking you out of the lab."

Jack clears his throat, adding on. "We thought that maybe since your accident was different than Vlad's, that you wouldn't decay as he did. His process was slow and tedious, everything about him was decaying at the same high rate-"

Danny gasps, "You guys knew about Vlad?"

Maddie growls and slams his leg into the wall to shut him up. "I know we tend to play dumb, but you think we would really abandon our friend for no reason?" Another eyeroll, "That's practically insulting."

Jack claims the conversation again. "Anyways, we had left him as he was because he was something new, something we thought, that was going to finally bridge the gap between human and ghost. But he got more and more sickly. His mind started breaking, he didnt have enough of a connection to the living world. So me and Madsy decided to try to help. It was agreed, I would get into a bit of a spat with Vlad, and pull away and stop visiting him, while Maddie would play up his crush on her before announcing our now blossomed relationship. It was a perfect recipe for the classic kill-replace-marry obsession. Then we stayed back and waited. But, it seemed he immediately went off the deep end. The only reason we didn't do anything was because we were soft. We felt bad. So we left him and only really checked up on his status intermittently."

Danny stared in horror. They had both manipulated and used Vlad like a puppet. This whole time he was singing and dancing to their tune, and they just let him go rage-drunk and wreck havoc on the human realm due to having an unfulfilled and erratic obsession! It was truly inhumane and disturbing. Every ghost knew to never manipulate someone's obsession, to never mess with it. It was a ghost's tether to the living realm and was the pillar for a ghost's core!

But on went Maddie, unseeing or simply uncaring of Danny's reaction to such statements. "But when we realized what happened to you, we assumed that you would be better. You had immediately changed. You weren't slowly dying, slowly decaying! So we assumed that you were lucky. We went soft, and went easy on you. You even ran around saving the town! You didn't need an obsession to live! You were a perfect halfa. Vlad was just a ball of unhealthy obsessions in every aspect of his life, yet here we had our ultimate halfling, no obsession, no monstrousness, no ghost likely behavior." Maddie seems to perk up talking about his perfections before glowering at him. "But then a month and a half ago, you started a uptick in you passion for space, then adding on an extra obsession for bowling, then everything you ate had to have apples in it, then you stayed longer in your ghost form, performing mindless tricks in front of the crowd when you didnt have heroic duties, then you were missing days of school, coming back with snowflakes on your shoulders and ice on your shoes from the ghostzone. We first thought that this was normal teenage obsessions and rebellions, but then your eyes would flicker red, and your teeth got a little to sharp, then your hair started flickering and your skin got colder and turned more and more hypothermic blues. You were decaying. You are decaying." She bitterly looks away. "A failure. Once we dispatch you, we'll do what we should have done long ago, and track down Vlad to put an end to his miserable half life."

Her knife hovered above the young halfling's throat. His eyes were wide with panic, the emotion fueling his transformations as his skin fully turned blue and his eyes kept flickering between green and red. There were tears in his eyes that shone green and his wide pupils flinched away from her for a second before letting out a melodic pitched scream, his voice not hurting her, but instead filling her head with urgency and an undesirable need to stop what she was doing. Jack lets go of him and Maddie felt herself lower her knife. What was this feeling? Was it like some self defensive ghostly wail?

Danny closes his mouth In shock and scrambles up to cling to some pipes on the wall in a desperate attempt to climb away. When Maddy feels his leg leave her grasp, she shudders and regains her sense of reality.

"GET HERE YOU MISERABLE LITTLE CREATURE! YOU DARE TRY TO FUCK WITH MY HEAD? HOW DARE YOU!" She pulls him back down and slices at his chest. 'Ironic,' she thinks to herself, 'that we brought all this gear yet all we needed was just a silly knife!'

[darks-ink]

Ectober Week day 4: Corruption (AO3)(FFN)

Content warning: Major character death (implied), descriptions of the destruction of (animal) ghosts

No one has the power to change the past, only to delay the inevitable. Danny never realized until it was too late.

It was such a slow, gradual change that Danny still doesn't know where it went wrong. Even if he was given another chance, another shot at redemption, he wouldn't know what to change. Last time it was so easy, an obvious mistake with awful consequences, but this time there was no clear turning point.

It started so long ago, although he isn’t sure when, exactly, that was. He likes to think that it was somewhere soon after defeating his evil future self, but he thinks it had started even before that.

At first it was so innocent, almost impossible to tell apart from his normal thoughts. Quiet suggestions that he should defend himself from Dash, that he should fight back, not for himself, but for all of Dash’s victims.

He could see the justice in this, and he listened. The next time Dash attacked him, Danny fought him off. The nerds had celebrated him, and while Sam didn’t approve, Tucker was more than understanding.

When Dash tried again, Danny simply fought back even harder. And the next time, he hit even harder. By the time Dash gave up, not just on Danny, but on all bullying, even Tucker disapproved of his violence. He agreed that it was a good thing that Dash would stop bullying, especially since the other bullies would likely follow his example, but he didn’t think it was a good idea to take it this far.

Danny agreed, but the quiet voice inside his head didn’t let him say so, so he didn’t.

Dash wasn’t the only opponent that Danny faced with increasing amounts of violence, however. The ghosts that continued to harass him and his town were also subjected to his wrath. He beat them up far more than necessary to trap them in the thermos, and he got a vicious kind of pleasure from doing so.

He knew it was wrong to go against his moral code like this, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. The quiet voice in his head crowed in pleasure, and in doing so it drowned out Danny’s own protests.

His senseless violence continued to escalate, and he started going on patrols without Sam and Tucker more and more often. They didn’t approve, he knew, but they couldn’t scold him about it if they didn’t know it had happened.

It was during one of these solo fights that he took the next step towards the inevitable. He was chasing some sort of ecto-animal, barely sentient enough to be aware of its environment, but an absolute pain in Danny’s ass. He had caught the critter several times, depositing it into the Ghost Zone every time, but it continued to find its way out.

Even the severe beatings that Danny delivered didn’t teach it to stay away, and he was just so tired of fighting this same ghost over and over again. The quiet voice in his mind had an idea to stop the ghost from returning, and Danny gladly obeyed.

He didn’t even think about what he was doing as he pinned the critter down with one hand, charging an ecto-blast in the other. He pressed the charged ball of energy against the chest of the small animal and released it, obliterating the core of the ghost. Afterwards, he dutifully sucked up the remaining ectoplasm, dumped it into the Ghost Zone, and promptly forgot about it, never stopping to think about what, exactly, he had done.

The quiet voice continued to encourage him to destroy ghosts (although it never actually said anything along those lines, only that he was taking care of problems in a more permanent way), and so Danny continued to obliterate any non-sentient ghosts that crossed him.

It was only a matter of time before someone spotted Phantom doing so, and word quickly spread. Within the hour, everyone in Amity seemed to know about Phantom destroying other ghosts, and everyone had their own opinion about the matter. Some were glad to see that bothersome ghosts would never return, others thought that Phantom had gone too far, and others still thought that this was the start of a slippery slope, a clear tell that Phantom wasn’t the well-behaved ghost he pretended to be.

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were upset, of course. They knew that Danny had been patrolling without them more and more, and they suspected that he was doing so to hide his violence from them, but they never thought it would be this bad.

They demanded to know why he would do this, but he couldn’t tell them. He didn’t want to tell them about the quiet little voice that encouraged him, and it’s not like he did any real harm. The ecto-animals he destroyed were barely sentient, and did little more than cause trouble. The world was better off without them.

Their protests that people said that about most ghosts, including himself, were ignored.

Their attempts to follow him on patrols went unheeded as well, as they were easy to lose, and he made sure to restrain himself when they were around.

The reality of what he had been doing still didn’t hit Danny when he destroyed a humanoid ghost for the first time.

Amity Park had grown quieter. The animal ghosts avoided the city, and even the more intelligent ghosts had started to shy away. Instead of enjoying the peace, Danny grew restless and paranoid, and the voice was quick to strike. It started to encourage him to act pro-actively in his defense of the city, instead of waiting for trouble to come.

As Danny pondered how to achieve this, the voice started pointing him in the direction of ghosts who posed a threat to him, ghosts who might endanger his loved ones.

It was an obvious choice. There were many ghosts who endangered the city, but there was only a single ghost who posed such a clear threat to Danny’s family and friends.

And so Danny left for the Ghost Zone, finding his way to Clockwork’s tower with surprising ease.

The Fenton Thermos sat on a table, unattended.

Danny removed the empty Thermos that he wore on his back, and replaced it with the Thermos that contained his future self.

On his way out, he glanced at the screens that Clockwork used to view the timeline. He saw familiar imagery of his evil future self destroying Amity Park, and took it as silent encouragement from Clockwork.

He left the tower, and left the empty Thermos.

Actually destroying his future self was easier said than done, however. He knew he couldn’t win in a direct battle, and he didn’t want to risk the full ghost escaping.

His parents’ inventions provided the solution for his troubles. He managed to find a cage strong enough to hold the evil Phantom, and the questionably-named Ecto-Stoppo-Power-Erfier would then be used to strip the ghost of his powers. After that, destroying him was easy, especially when he remembered everything the ghost had done.

Danny still didn’t think about what he had done. The voice continued to whisper its approval to him, telling him that the full ghost had it coming, that he deserved it.

The voice continued to encourage Danny’s violence, and Danny continued to listen obediently. He grew sullen and withdrawn, with a short fuse and vicious when angered. Mr. Lancer and his parents grew concerned as well, and his sister, Sam, and Tucker hovered around him almost constantly.

They tried to help, in their own ways, but their words were almost incomprehensible to him. The voice, which had steadily grown louder, drowned them out with ease.

They were worried about him, he could tell, but nothing he did seemed to calm them down. He wanted to help them, his friends, his sister, his parents, and his teacher, but he didn’t know how.

Luckily, the voice knew.

And, just like before, Danny obeyed.

Suddenly, the voice grew quiet, and for the first time in who-knows how long, Danny had only his own thoughts to keep him company.

He couldn’t really remember what he had been doing. He knew that Jazz, and Sam and Tucker, and his parents, and even Mr. Lancer had been worried about him. He had wanted to help them, he remembered, but he hadn’t known how.

He knew he had helped them. He just couldn’t remember what he had done to achieve this.

It was then that he started to take in where he was. He didn’t recognize the area, as it had turned unrecognizable by some sort of great violence. There was debris littered around everywhere, and fire as well. The streets had emptied out, with no one around.

Had a ghost attacked? Were his loved ones safe?

He made to take off, and saw his gloves as he raised his clenched fists.

His gloves, which had once been white, were heavily stained with something red.

He looked at his hands, slowly opening and closing them. The red which stained them glittered, liquid moving as the gloves underneath shifted.

He knew it was blood, but he wasn’t sure how he knew. He wanted to blame the (not so) little voice, but it remained silent.

Suddenly remembering the situation, he shoved away his concerns about the blood on his gloves, and whirled around to inspect the area. He saw something moving from the corner of his vision and almost blasted it, but closer inspection showed that he had seen himself reflected in a shattered window.

He was about to laugh at himself for his own stupidity, but something felt off about his reflection, stopping him. Danny drifted closer to the window, and looked at himself.

Ruby red eyes looked back.

His skin was stained by soot, but the color seemed off. Automatically, Danny reached up to wipe some of it off. The skin underneath was discolored, a strange blue rather than his normal tan.

He closed his eyes, refusing to accept what he saw. He turned around, eyes still closed, and tried to force it out of his mind.

Something tickled the back of his neck, a welcome distraction. Until he realized that the tickling was his own hair, and he could feel it flickering like fire. Dread washed over him, heavy and cold.

Opening his eyes again, he pulled down a lock of his hair to inspect. Just as he had feared, it continued to wisp in his hand, despite the lack of wind.

Releasing it again, Danny turned back to look at his reflection. He nervously licked his lips, and shivered as he felt (and saw) a narrow snake-like tongue instead of his normal tongue. He grimaced, and saw the light glint off of his fangs.

“No...” he whispered, but suddenly he knew.

The voice, which had haunted him for months, steadily increasing in volume, didn’t just sound familiar because it was his mind’s voice. It had sounded familiar because it was his voice, the voice of his future self.

“No,” he repeated, stronger, and he whirled around to search the area around him.

His eye was suddenly drawn towards a bright sign in the rubble, and he instantly recognized it, despite the damage done to it. It had once read “Nasty Burger”, but most of the letters had been burned or blown off.

He glanced around himself, still looking for his loved ones, but he knew he wouldn’t find them. Not alive, at least.

He halted, inhaled sharply, and then turned back to his house. He had to speak with Clockwork.

He had to fix this, somehow.

But Clockwork didn’t show himself. The tower was as empty as the last time, and the screens still displayed the same imagery. Danny found himself watching them, and slowly realized that he had misjudged their purpose during his last visit.

They weren’t quiet encouragement from Clockwork to destroy his future self. They were a warning of the path he had taken.

He hadn’t listened.

Clockwork couldn’t change the past, he could only steer the future. And Danny hadn’t followed the correction, had instead followed the voice of his future self.

And so Clockwork could do nothing to help him, or his loved ones.

He ruefully thought to himself that this future was inevitable, after all.

[warriorqueen1991]

Memoria (pt. Twenty Two)

Characters: Sam ( Desierto) x Claire (oc)

Warnings: fluff

Notes: only two more chapters to go my lovelies ;)

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“Hello Sam, how are you feeling today?”

Claire ran her thumb over his knuckles soothingly as the nurse took a seat on the opposite side of his bed, her glasses perched on the end of her nose as she scanned over the notes on her lap.

It had been three days since Sam had killed Deanna, the bandages had been removed from his eyes but he was still recovering from his gunshot.

The doctor said the gashes wouldn't leave any real noticeable scars behind, but Sam had told Claire he was having problems seeing.

Hopefully it would clear up with time, she hated the idea of that crazy bitch leaving anymore permanent scars on his body.

Rubbing his eyes with a heavy sigh he winced as he shifted slightly “m’doin fine I guess…” Claire kissed his knuckles, she knew he hated this but Danny had done everything he could with Deanna and Sam’s records.

Lucky for them the police report from when Deanna escaped was still easy to obtain.

Now all Sam had to do was prove once again that he was of sound mind.

He was tired, sore and irritable, but she knew he wouldn't let her or himself down.

All he needed to do was get through today and they'd be home free.

“Any negative or self destructive thoughts?”

Sam closed his eyes shaking his head, he had heard these questions a thousand times over. He just wanted to go home and heal, the constant poking and prodding was driving him nuts.

Taking in the feeling of Claire rubbing his skin, he took a deep breath. The nurse shared a sympathetic look with Claire as she flipped the page in her notebook “Sam just one more question I promise”.

He opened his eyes slowly “then can I go home?”

Claire squeezed his hand as the nurse gave him a soft smile “their gonna want to hold you for another day or so to make sure your gunshot is on the mend, your still in the window for infection...it's just a precaution Sam I promise...after your in the clear you can go home”.

He nodded as the vibration of Claires phone dragged his attention to her, his brow creasing as she released his hand. Squinting his eyes as she answered the phone the nurse cleared her throat politely “look Sam it's gonna be ok”. He bit his lip with a slight nod as he continued to watch Claire on the phone, he hoped it wasn't anything bad.

“So...what's your plans for the future?”

Blinking in confusion he shifted his sore body with a tight grunt “what?”

The nurse smiled with a shrug “once your home and your all healed up, what's next?”

He dropped his gaze, his hands picking at the soft white blankets as he glanced back at Claire before looking at the nurse “I-I don't know”.

“Oh I don't believe that...you must have something you want in this life?”

He smiled at Claires light laugh from the corner, it must be good news. He let out a happy sigh “I...I want her for the rest of my life” he rasped quietly. His hazel eyes darted to the nurse who was smiling at him fondly before dropping his gaze once more.

“I want her face to be the first and last thing I see every day...I want to…” he shrugged “I just want to make her happy”.

“You gonna propose?”

He gulped rubbing his earlobe before scratching his cheek “uh...I-I don't know...I don't wanna scare her off”. The nurse chuckled “honey if this whole thing hasn't scared her yet then she's not going anywhere...trust me”. He smiled watching as Claire made her way back to his side, her hand instantly running through his hair.

He sighed, closing his eyes in relief. She always knew when he needed her most, when he was feeling overwhelmed.

Kissing his forehead she smiled at the nurse “so is he all done?”

The older woman smiled “sure is, I'll give my final report to the doctor and you both should be squared away in the next couple days”. Sam looked confused “what about your last question?” she smiled as she headed for the door “I already asked it”.

Sam smiled softly before giving her a slight nod “thank you”. She nodded “your welcome Sam, now get some rest and heal up so you can get out of here”. He chuckled “will do” Claire waited for the nurse to leave before she leaned over him, cupping his face as she kissed him slowly.

Sam lifted his hand to caress her cheek lovingly as he shifted beneath her, grimacing he bit his lip as she pulled away with an apologetic look “sorry”. He shook his head “s’not your fault sweetheart” she ran her hand over his side gently.

“Are you still hurting?”

He winced “n-not really...i'm sore but..” he grimaced “fuckin stitches...itch”. She rubbed his bandage soothingly “I'm sorry” he laughed making her smile “what?”

He slid his hand over hers as she continued to rub his bandage “your still apologizing too much”. She giggled pressing her head against his chest “I can't help it” he chuckled running his hand through her hair.

Lifting her head to look at him she kissed his chest “I have to go…” his smile quickly faded prompting her to shake her head “no...i'm coming back I promise, I just need to grab some things ok?”

Sam frowned but nodded in understanding “you are coming back?”

Claire rolled her lips as her eyes misted over “of course I am”. He smiled leaning closer so he could kiss her deeply, her soft moan making him smile against her lips.

“I'll be here”

Running her fingers through his hair she smiled as he purred, pressing his face against her hand “hurry back...please”.

She smiled “I will honey” sliding her hand from his face she noticed the slight wince as he shifted. Shaking her head, she pointed at him with a stern voice “ask for something for the pain, ya stubborn ox”.

“Yes ma'am”

she smiled as his deep chuckle vibrated from behind her as she moved swiftly out the door.

She knew he didn’t want to be alone, but she also knew how to keep his spirits up.

Driving as fast as she could she let out a sigh of relief as she pulled into the parking lot of the small veterinarian hospital. A young woman with long blonde hair was standing outside with a pink leash. The large doberman sitting next to her legs, it's pointed ears twitching in the breeze as Claire got out of her truck.

She couldn't help the bright smile spreading across her face as the dog got to its feet, it's nub of a tail wagging frantically as she let out a happy bark.

“Hey gorgeous” Claire cooed crouching down to pet her slick hair, her leg was still heavily bandaged but she seemed happy.

“She's put on so much weight, she's beautiful”.

The young vet tech smiled handing Claire the leash “oh yeah, she's been a complete angel... she's really quite intelligent”. Claire smile scratching the dogs ear “that's great...you ready to go home babygirl?”

The dog barked twisting around as it limped slightly, Claire smiled “is she ready?” The tech nodded “oh yeah, just got some papers for you to sign then she's good to go”.

****

Sam was sleeping lightly when Claire stepped back into his room, she had talked to the doctors and nurses ahead of time so she could bring the large dog up for Sam. Ushering her into the room, she closed the door quietly before sitting back in her chair next to his bed.

The doberman sat down cocking its head slightly before resting it on the edge of the bed, her tail twitching as she watched Sam sleep.

Rubbing her head with a soft smile Claire slid her free hand over Sam’s, gripping his fingers as she ran her thumb over his knuckles.

“He's a tough one babygirl but he needs us, ok?”

The dog blinked, whining softly as she licked his hand in understanding.

“We gotta keep him safe” Claire whispered scratching her pointed ears. Sam shifted slightly prompting the large canine to whimper, bouncing its front paws onto the bed as she wiggled her hind end with a playful snort.

Grunting softly, Sam's eyes fluttered open as Claire kissed his knuckles with a soft smile. He blinked in confusion before his lips pulled back in a wide smile, his dimples digging deep into his cheeks as he shifted up in the bed.

“Hey darlin” he rasped running his hand between the dogs ears “you heal up real good?”

The doberman seemed to vibrate with excitement as she licked his hand, Claire smiled at their interactions “thought she might cheer ya up”.

Sam pulled her hand to his lips “oh you cheer me up just fine sweetheart…” he smiled almost drunkenly “but I'm glad to see she's ok”.

Claire giggled “so did they give you anything for the pain while I was gone?” he bit his lip as his fingers threaded with hers. “Hmmm maybe a little” she gave him a knowing smile “oh so your nice and doped up huh?”

He chuckled “I do feel pretty good!”

She let out a light laugh “I bet you do” he chuckled patting the side of the bed to urge the big dog onto his lap. Claire winced in preparation, she didn't want the large canine jarring his wound too much.

Sam didn't seem to mind though as the sleek doberman bounced onto his bed, her uninjured legs making up for her current disability beautifully. Turning around once then twice, she flopped down on his legs lying her large head on his thigh.

Sam smiled before leaning back on his pillow, his tired eyes drifted to Claire before he chuckled once again. “You should crawl up here with me too baby, I wanna cuddle”. Claire couldn't help the bubbling laughter that escaped her lips as she covered her mouth “how much did they give you?”

Sam tried to wipe the smile from his face but failed terribly, his deep chuckle only spurring her laughter.

Shaking her head with a bright smile she moved in next to him on the bed as he continued to chuckle “I don't really know gorgeous...but I feel fucking great”.

She snuggled against him making sure to avoid accidentally kicking the large dog curled up on his legs. He was still smiling as he shifted his legs beneath the warm dog “got my girls all around me…” Claire giggled rubbing his side “yeah ya do...ya got a name for her?” she looked up at him as he furrowed his brow in concentration.

“I think...Sadie!...what'cha think?”

Claire smiled “Sadie, it's beautiful”

He hummed happily, pulling her close to his side as he kissed her hairline “god I love you so much” he purred. Claire smiled biting her lip as he continued to kiss her hair, she had never seen him so happy before.

Sure he was riding on a pain med cocktail but she was gonna bask in this rare moment of blissful happiness.

“You should Marry me?”

Claire's eyes widened as she sat up next to him, her mouth dropping open in shock “w-what?”

Sam blinked slowly with a tired smile “hmmm you don't want to?”

Claire smiled softly, cupping his scruffy cheek “I think your a little under the influence honey, you need to get some rest and we'll talk in the morning ok?”

He nodded closing his eyes with a tired laugh “Ok sweetheart”.

Claire let out a shaky breath, holy shit Sam just proposed.

He clearly wasn't in his right mind, right?

Or had he just not had the courage before?

Smiling softly, she rested her head against his chest “I love you Sam”.

He hummed running his hand through her hair lovingly “love you too sweetheart”.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

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