Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Nicholas sat on the edge of the pier, legs dangling over the water. He had sat down there to watch the sunset, however half an hour later he was still there. Glancing out into the darkness, the only lights he could see were illuminating the boats in the distance. With a sigh, he looked back down to the phone he held in his hands, which had returned to power saving mode. With the touch of a button, the screen lit up again, causing him to squint slightly at the sudden brightness. He read over Danny’s text again.

Hey Nick, how did it go 2day? D :)

Nicholas wasn’t really sure how to respond to the message, hence why it had been almost fifteen minutes since he received it. Today had been a hard one for Sandord’s new inspector. He had been asked to travel to London for the final court hearing for Frank Butterman. The case had dragged out for months after Danny was released from the hospital, and quite frankly, Nicholas just wanted it to be over, so that the village – and particularly Danny and himself – could get their lives back to normal.

He had gone into the court room that day to see the sentencing. He sat in the public seating area and part way through, he had seen Frank look at him with such hatred in his eyes. Before he knew it, Frank was yelling across the court at him, struggling against the guards who were, in turn, struggling to keep him under control. Nicholas backed as far into his chair as possible, fearing that if Frank were to break free, he would physically climb over everyone to get to him. His heart was racing, and as the guards finally managed to calm him down, Nicholas couldn’t take it anymore. He rose to his feet, his legs almost giving way underneath him, and walked as quickly as he could to the exit. The second he stepped outside, he had to stop himself from breaking down completely. He ran his fingers through his blonde hair, which had grown slightly since he had been away, and paced. He had virtually created a trench in the floor before he collapsed into a chair, attempting to control his breathing. What had he done to deserve all this? He was a good officer, he did his best to protect the community, to help his fellow officers, yet he went on to become trapped in the middle of something huge. The village had been practically ripped to shreds and he lost count of how many times he and Danny had almost lost their lives. Leaning his elbows on his knees, he rubbed his hands over his face, as if trying to wipe away any invisible tears that might have escaped.

He couldn’t wait to get back to Sandford.

“You ok?” he looked up to see Travis standing over him. Nicholas forced a nod, but knew that he wasn’t very convincing. Travis had known him too long to be able to read him like a book. Even though Travis had been the one to tell him that he was going to be transferred to Sandford, they’d still been friends in the academy. Travis was a few years older than Nicholas but it was the younger of the two who always acted more mature. Travis sat in the chair next to him. “How’s Sergeant Butterman doing?”

Nicholas glanced at him. “He’s doing well, the doctors called his recovery ‘spectacular’.” Both men smiled.

“When are you going back?”

“I leave in the morning.” Nicholas stood up. He needed to get out of there. “That reminds me, I need to finish getting my things sorted. I’m gonna head back to the flat.”

“Did you want a lift?” Travis asked, rising to his feet.

“No thanks, I could do with a walk.” He smiled and nodded at his old friend before turning to leave. He took a detour to extend his walk, after the day at the court he needed the air, and that is how he ended up on the pier. He used to go down there when he was a child, throwing stones into the water with his big cousin, Shaun. When his Uncle Derek was arrested, his Aunt Joanne moved away, taking Shaun with her. Nicholas had only seen him once since then and that was at Joanne’s funeral about 6 years prior to his move to Sandford. It killed Nicholas to see that after he had moved, Shaun had turned to the bottle. He dreaded to think where he was now. Picking up a stone, he threw it into the water for old times’ sake, before slowly getting to his feet.

He began to walk back, lifting his phone up to reply to Danny. He wasn’t sure what to say, but he was sure he’d think of something. He had only walked a few feet when suddenly, a hand clamped over his mouth. Instinctively, he reached up to remove it, hoping that it was a joke. However, before he could do anything else, he felt a horrendous pain in his right side.

Chapter Text

Danny woke up and checked his watch. Why on earth was he awake at 8am on his day off? He groaned, grabbing his phone off the bedside table. He glanced at the screen and was a bit shocked to see that Nicholas hadn’t replied to his message still.

Oh well, he thought, maybe he’s just super busy.

It took him a few moments to convince himself that he really should get up but he eventually stumbled into his kitchen and soon found his trusty coffee mug. From zombie Danny to human Danny in 2.5 mugs, he liked to call it. Once he had his coffee, he made his way to the sofa, throwing the ‘Lethal Weapon 3’ disc into the dvd player before flopping down and resting his feet on the table. Every now and then, he would check his phone to see if Nicholas had messaged him, but every time he would be disappointed. He figured that his phone must have died or something.

Danny thought the day couldn’t go any slower. He was eagerly awaiting Nicholas’ return, mainly because he missed his friend, but partially because said friend had promised to bring him back a bottle opener in the shape of Big Ben.

Hours passed, and before Danny knew it, it was time to go pick Nicholas up from the station. He couldn’t wait to see him. Pulling up his car, he climbed out and headed to the platform. He was a few minutes early, but, as his mum used to say, ‘better to be safe than sorry’. After a short while of waiting, Danny saw the train appear and moments later it stopped, agitated passengers visible through the windows. Danny watched copious amounts of people being ferried off the train, but still no sign of Nicholas.

Must be at the back or something…

Danny waited longer, but Nicholas was nowhere to be seen.

I hope to God he didn’t miss his train…

Checking his phone for the millionth time that day, Danny still saw no message or call from his friend. He didn’t realise just how long he had been standing there until a young railway officer approached him.

“Are you alright, sir?”

“Uh, yeah. Just waiting for my friend.”

“Well, he won’t be on this train, sir. This one’s empty, save the driver.”

“Oh, thanks.” Danny gave the lad a forced smile before beginning to leave. Dialling Nicholas’ number, he was met with the voicemail. He was getting slightly worried now. Nicholas wasn’t the sort of person to miss his train; especially when Danny knew how impatient he would be to return home. He knew he had one other way of finding out where Nicholas was, he didn’t really like the idea, but it was his last resort. He pulled the small card that Nicholas had given him out of his wallet.

“If you ever need to urgently contact me while I’m away and I’m not answering my phone, try this guy right here. He may know how to contact me.” Nicholas had said as he handed the card to Danny at the station. He read the name on the card.

Sergeant Travis O’Reilly.

Nervously, he dialled the number on the card and waited for the ringing to end.

“Sergeant O’Reilly.”

“Hello. This is Sergeant Danny Butterman of the Sandford Police For… Service.” Danny began, hoping that his name would ring a bell for the fellow officer.

“Ah, hello Sergeant Butterman, how are you doing?”

“Um, I’m doing well thanks for asking. I was just wondering if you knew where Inspector Angel was.”

“Last I heard, he was on his way back to Sandford. Is he not there yet?”

“No, his train arrived but he wasn’t on it.” Danny sat on a nearby chair. “When did you last see him?”

“I saw Nicholas at the court yesterday. He left early and said he was going back to sort out his things. I offered to give him a lift, but he said he’d prefer to walk.”

“Right.” Danny didn’t understand. “He hasn’t contacted you at all since?”

“No, I messaged him this morning to wish him a safe trip but he never responded. I figured his phone died or something.”

“Yeah. Same here.” Then Danny had an idea. “Tra… Sergeant, can you maybe pop over to where he was staying, see if he’s there?”

“Sure, is this the best number to reach you on?”

“Yeah.”

“Great, I’ll call you when I know something.”

“Thanks, Sergeant.”

“Call me Travis. I’ll speak to you soon.”

Click.

Danny sighed. Surely Nicholas couldn’t just disappear off the face of the earth. Not if he knew how much paperwork there would be if Danny ended up filing a missing persons report.

Chapter Text

Danny didn’t leave the train station while he waited to hear back from Travis. He didn’t want to risk missing the call when he was driving. After about half an hour, his mobile rang. It was the same number.

“Hi Travis, did you find anything? Was he there?”

“Bad news, Danny.” came the voice. “He’s not there, but his stuff is. All his clothes, shoes, documents. They’re all here, half packed.”

Danny breathed in sharply. “It almost seems like he didn’t make it home last night.”

“What are you thinking?”

“I honestly don’t know what to think.” Danny shook his head. I know what my mind wants me to think, but I don’t want to think that…”

Attacked. Abducted. Or worse…

“Yeah. I’ll call the hospitals and see if he’s there. I’ll let you know when I get more information.”

“Great, thanks so much.”

“Don’t worry, Danny. We’ll find him.”

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

“Help! I need some help here!” Johnny Barker stumbled into the foyer of the hospital with the young man in his arms. His hands were slipping due to the blood that covered them. Doctors rushed to his side.

“What happened?” one of them asked, pulling up a stretcher.

“I dunno. I was walking my dog down by the pier and he was just lying there. I used my jacket to try and stop the bleeding, but…”

“It’s alright, sir, you did a good job. We’ll take it from here.” The doctor nodded at Johnny before disappearing along with multiple other staff members. He stared after them, praying that the young man was going to be ok.

“Sir?” a woman’s voice shook him. “Would you like to come with me? We can get you a drink.” Johnny nodded and followed the nurse.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Doctor Aaron Roberts looked at the young man as he lay in the bed. They had no idea who he was or how he came to be stabbed. On the surface, one would assume that he was just a thug who got into a fight, however Doctor Roberts wasn’t too sure. Despite remaining in unconsciousness, the man didn’t seem to be the type. His skin and hair were well looked after – he was far too neat for a typical ‘thug’.

“Doctor Roberts?”

“Yes?” Aaron turned to the young nurse.

“What should we do about his identity? Would you like me to call the police?”

“No, it’s fine, Lucy. I’ll do it.”

“Yes sir.” She smiled before leaving the doctor to his thoughts.

Chapter Text

Danny couldn’t answer his phone quick enough. “Hello?”

“Hey Danny.”

“Travis, any luck?”

Travis sighed. “I’m not sure if it’s good news or bad news, but Nicholas isn’t at any of the local hospitals.” Danny knew what Travis meant. He wasn’t sure whether he should be relieved that Nicholas hadn’t been hurt so bad as to end up in hospital or be nervous at the thought that they still had no idea where he was.

“So what now?” he asked.

“Well, I’ll keep searching, I’ll check the places Nicholas might have gone and if I hear anything, I’ll call you right away.”

“Thanks.” The line went dead and Danny prayed that they heard something soon.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

PC’s Evans and Doyle arrived at the hospital and were greeted by a young nurse.

“Hello ma’am, we’re here regarding the unidentified stabbing victim.” Evans explained. The nurse nodded and led them through to an older doctor.

“Thank you for coming officers. I’m Doctor Aaron Roberts, I’ve been keeping an eye on him since he arrived.”

Doyle nodded and they began to walk. “So what can you tell us about him to start off?”

“Well, he’s blonde, blue eyes, approximately 5”10. We put him in his early to mid thirties.” Aaron explained. “Other than that, we really don’t have much else. Like I explained on the phone, he was brought in by a passer-by who found him late last night. We took him straight into surgery when he arrived.” He pointed to a door and the two officers entered the room. When they saw the unconscious man in the bed, Evans froze.

“Oh my word…”

“What?” Doyle asked, shocked.

“Does that not look like Nicholas Angel to you?”

“I’m sorry, who?” Aaron queried.

“He was a PC at the Met until just over a year ago when he was transferred to be a sergeant in the country.”

“Oh God, yes!” Doyle suddenly understood. The resemblance was uncanny.

“Doctor Roberts, could you do me a favour and just check something for me?”

“Of course, what is it?”

“Can you take a look at his right eye please?”

“What am I looking for exactly?” Aaron asked as he approached the bed.

“Well, about two years ago, I was talking with the then Constable Angel at the pub and I noticed something about his right eye. When I asked him, he said that he had this thing, where one of his eyes has a bit of brown in it. I can’t remember what it’s called though…”

“Sectoral heterochromia.” Aaron explained, looking back at the officers. “You’re right. Look, right here.” He gently lifted the man’s right eyelid and sure enough, on the iris was a flash of brown amongst the blue.

“We need to contact the sergeant.”

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

“Danny!”

“What is it, Travis?”

“I think we’ve found Nicholas.”

Chapter Text

Danny couldn’t get to the train station fast enough. It was getting late, but if he could catch the last train for the night, he’d be fine. He barely made it onto the platform in time, but once he was seated in the carriage, he tried to calm his breathing.

“Danny!”

“What is it, Travis?”

“I think we’ve found Nicholas.”

“Really? Thank God! Where is he?”

“He’s at the hospital.”

Danny didn’t understand. “I thought you said he wasn’t at the hospital. You said that you checked them all.”

“I know, but it turns out we were searching for him the wrong way.”

“How do you mean?”

“I think it’d be best if you came to London. I’d rather discuss it with you in person.”

Those words had made Danny feel sick. Usually, when it was something they’d rather discuss in person, it was bad. Like, really bad. Like ‘expecting the worst’ kind of bad. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to concentrate on the sound of the train. He couldn’t think like that. Maybe it was all a joke. Maybe he’d get there and Nicholas would be fine. That sounded good. Danny stared out of the window the entire trip, glancing out into the slowly darkening sky, trying not to think about what he may hear when he reached London.

Time went by and Danny was relieved when he finally found himself arriving in London. Stepping off the train, he began to search for Travis. He said he would be wearing his uniform so that Danny knew who to look for. After a few nerve wrecking moments, he spotted him.

“Travis?”

“Hi Danny. Nice to meet you at last.”

“And you.” Danny shook Travis’ hand and the pair began to walk. “So what happened?”

“I’m not entirely sure, I haven’t been to the hospital yet, but all I know is that Nicholas was brought in by a man late last night. Apparently the guy found him lying unconscious near the pier…”

“Is he ok?” Danny interrupted.

Travis stopped walking and turned to Danny, his eyes solemn. “Danny… Nicholas has been stabbed.” Danny felt his stomach drop what seemed like ten feet.

“Have you been stabbed, Sergeant Fisher?”

“No…”

“Well I have. And I can assure you, it is not the least bit amusing.”

“What is it like being stabbed?”

“It was the single most painful experience of my life.”

Danny thought back on the conversation at the pub when he had first met Nicholas. The thought of Nicholas having to go through that again was horrible.

“What did you mean by we were searching for him in the wrong way?” Danny asked as they reached Travis’ car. The other sergeant explained how the doctors had no way of identifying Nicholas and therefore couldn’t tell him that they had a police officer. Danny couldn’t believe this was happening. Surely after everything Nicholas had been through over the past year, he didn’t deserve to go through this too.

The pair soon arrived at the hospital and Danny was sprinting through the doors with Travis on his heels.

“Can I help you gentlemen?” the middle aged woman behind the desk glanced up at them. Travis lifted his badge to show her as he began to speak.

“We’re here to see Nicholas Angel. He was the victim of a stabbing.”

“Of course, just a moment.” She picked up the phone and dialled an extension number. “Doctor Roberts, there are some gentlemen here to see Nicholas Angel.” placing the phone back down, she motioned for them to take a seat, but neither of them wanted to. They were too agitated. Moments later, the man who they presume to be Doctor Roberts approached them. Their suspicions were confirmed when he introduced himself by that name.

“Hello doctor. I’m Sergeant O’Reilly and this is Sergeant Butterman. Can we see Nicholas?”

“Of course you can, right this way.” They followed the doctor down the hall; Danny’s stomach was doing somersaults as they moved.

“How is he?” he asked.

“Well, thankfully the blade missed any of his internal organs, however he lost a lot of blood. He’s lucky to still be alive, to be perfectly honest. It’s a good job that gentleman found him when he did, or I fear Nicholas might not have been so fortunate.” Danny made a mental note to find that man some way or another and personally thank him. “This is his room here.” Danny turned into the room that Doctor Roberts was pointing at and froze.

Chapter Text

There was Nicholas. He was just lying there, his skin almost as pale as the hospital gown which swamped his emphasised frail form. His eyes were closed softly, one of them surrounded by a rather large, shining bruise that seemed to be increasing in size as Danny stared at it. The right side of his lip had a thin line on it, representing yet another cut, much like the one he received from Lurch the previous year, and there was a small red smudge on his chin below if from where the blood had been cleaned. His chest was slowly rising and falling, and his hands lay limp at his sides, resting over the thin white sheet that pooled around his waist.

But it was the injury hidden by the sheet that scared Danny the most. He forced himself to take a step closer and as he did, he noticed that just above the top of the sheet, a dull patch of red was visible through the gown. Danny presumed that it was where the wound had bled a bit onto the bandages after it was treated. He had never seen Nicholas this vulnerable; not even when he was lying in the trunk of Danny’s car with a blade sticking out of his chest (notebook… notebook… he had to keep reminding himself that it was the notebook he stabbed, not Nicholas’ chest. He still felt guilty for scaring his friend like that.).

He approached the bed and slowly lowered himself into the nearest chair. He wondered if this was what Nicholas had seen as he waited for the sergeant to wake up after the shooting. Had Danny looked this helpless too? He slowly reached out his arm and gently lifted Nicholas’ hand into his own, rubbing his thumb in circles on the back. He vaguely remembered Nicholas doing that to his own hand while he was recovering from the gunshot. He had been unconscious, just like Nicholas, so didn’t exactly register it; however he remembered a feeling of safety and security washing over his sleeping mind. He hoped that Nicholas would feel that now.

“Do you know anything about what happened?” Danny heard Travis asking.

“Not as yet, but hopefully if Nicholas wakes up he’ll be able to tell us.”

It took Danny a few moments to realise what the doctor had said. His heart began to race, pounding against his chest just as it had done when Travis had broken the news that Nicholas had been stabbed. He pried his eyes from Nicholas and turned to the other men.

“What do you mean ‘if’?”

Chapter Text

Danny shot his gaze between Travis and the doctor, then looked back at Nicholas and finally let it fall on the doctor completely.

“Doctor?” Travis asked.

“Well, as I mentioned before, Nicholas lost a lot of blood in the attack. During the surgery we did everything we could possibly do to save him. We’ve done everything. Now, it’s just up to him.”

Danny looked back to his friend, never once letting go of his limp hand. He had never thought anything like this could happen to Nicholas. After everything they went through at the hands of the NWA, Danny always thought the inspector was made of stone.

Nothing could hurt Nicholas Angel.

Nicholas Angel laughed in the face of danger.

Nicholas Angel could never die…

“He has to wake up…” Danny found himself saying out loud. After his father was arrested, Nicholas became the closest thing Danny had to family. He was like the brother he never had. He shuffled his chair closer to the bed, much like he had done the first day Nicholas was in Sandford. Gripping the hand in both of his own, he leaned in close. “You have to wake up.” He stared at Nicholas’ unresponsive face just waiting for him to open those big blue eyes of his and reassure him that everything was going to be ok.

“I’ll leave you alone for a moment, Sergeants.” The doctor nodded before heading out of the room.

Danny felt a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll get whoever did this, Danny.” Travis gave his shoulder a squeeze before walking to the door.

“Where are you going?” Danny turned quickly to look at him.

“I’m gonna go talk to the man who found Nicholas. Find out if he remembers anything about that night. Call me if there’s any news.”

Danny nodded. “Likewise.” He wanted to know anything that the man told Travis. Once the older man had left the room and the door was shut, he let the single tear that he had been fighting back fall. He didn’t like to get too emotional; he wanted to be a tough cop like Nicholas. But when it was Nicholas, the tough cop, that was lying unconscious in a hospital bed, with only an “if he wakes up” chance of hope left, it was kind of hard for Danny to keep it together. Nicholas really was like a brother to him, but he never told him. And now he wished he had.

He may not get another chance now.

Chapter Text

Danny wasn’t sure how long had passed between Travis leaving the room and the present moment, but it felt like forever. Tearing his eyes away from Nicholas to glance out of the window, he noticed that it was starting to get light outside. It was almost 24 hours since Danny had woken up feeling cheerful and carefree. Virtually the exact opposite of how he felt at that moment. He was pretty sure that for the last few hours, he had not let go of his friend’s hand. He watched Nicholas’ chest rise and fall, watched his closed eyes for any sign of imminent consciousness, waited for the hand he held to squeeze gently; to give him reassurance that his partner was going to be ok.

Danny had never felt so helpless in his entire life. When Nicholas had been trapped, practically a prisoner about to be put to death in the castle, he had managed to save him. When Amanda Paver put a bullet in his shoulder, Danny had knocked her into the next week with his car door. When he had been shot by Reverend Shooter, Danny shot the Reverend in return and rushed to his aid. When Frank had tried to kill Nicholas, Danny had managed to force the gun from his father’s hands. And when Tom Weaver had attempted to end the sergeant’s life, Danny had managed to prevent it again. But this time, there was nothing he could do to help. Nothing he could to rescue Nicholas from the depths of unconsciousness. He had to simply watch and pray that he would wake up soon.

Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Fumbling with his spare hand, still refusing to let go of Nicholas’, he soon found it and brought it to his ear.

“Travis.”

“Hey Danny, I’ve got some good news.”

Danny sighed with some relief. “What is it?”

“Well, some fishermen were out in the dock early this morning and caught something in their net. It was a plastic bag containing a knife and Nicholas’ ID. We’ve had it sent off to forensics to get checked, with any luck there may be some salvageable fingerprints on there.”

“That’s good news, thanks Travis.”

“How’s he doing? Any change?”

“Not yet.” Danny glanced from his hand to Nicholas’ face. “But I’ll keep you posted.”

“Cheers, I’ll let you know when we hear anything.”

Click.

Danny let his arm drop to his side and placed his phone back in his pocket. Looking back up at his friend, he decided to try talking to him. He knew that people in comas could often hear other people talking to them. Maybe he could let Nicholas know that he was there. Perhaps that would be all it took to coax him from his slumber.

But where would he start?

“Nicholas, it’s Danny.” his voice was wavering a bit as he spoke, but he took a deep breath to control it before continuing. “I dunno if you can hear me right now, I hope you can, because otherwise this would be slightly weird for me to be talking to myself.” He gave a small scoff at his own comment and shifted in his seat so that he was leaning forward more. “Remember when I’d been shot and I was in the hospital? Remember how you would talk to me for ages while I was sleeping? You would talk about everything, even movies. I heard a lot of it, ya know? Even though I wasn’t awake, I could still here some things that you said. If you were awake now you’d probably tell me I’m making this up, that I can’t really remember that. But I can.” He clenched his teeth together, gathering himself for what he was going to say next.

“One thing that you said sticks in my mind, though. One thing really etched itself into my brain and I can never forget. You know what it was? It was you begging me to wake up. Ordering me to open my eyes and let you know I was ok. You, my superior, gave me an order and I obeyed, didn’t I? I didn’t let you down and I woke up. Well, right now, none of that rank shit matters and I’m giving you an order. And that is to wake up. Wake up right now. Please just open your eyes… Please come back. Sandford needs you. The other officers need you.” He paused.

“I need you.” Danny blinked a few times. “You can’t leave Sandford in my hands, not even for a few hours, I’ll balls things up, won’t I?” He looked down at his feet for a second before he heard something.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Nicholas had never felt like this before. It was the strangest feeling ever. He couldn’t see a thing, everything was black, and he felt like he was floating. Kind of like that feeling when you’re jumping on a trampoline and you’re in mid-air, just before you come back down again. Like falling, but what Nicholas felt was continuous. He never hit that trampoline to bounce back up again. He just kept falling and falling…

He actually felt rather good. He felt an extreme amount of relaxation as he floated. He wasn’t sure how he ended up there, how long he’d been there or where ‘there’ was exactly, but in all honesty he didn’t really care. For the first time that he could recall, he had not a single care in the world. He decided to make the most of the feeling, not knowing how much longer it would last, but something was preventing him from doing so. Some subconscious thought that was tugging at the edges of his senses, pulling him away slightly from that complete sense of blissful oblivion. He wasn’t sure what it was, as it felt far away, but Nicholas’ curious mind took over. He strained with every conscious thought he had to figure out the source of the distant feeling and he could feel it slowly getting closer.

“… sticks in my mind… brain and… never forget… was you… me to open… you know I… an order…”

What was that?

“Didn’t let you… right now… I’m giving… and that...”

Nicholas realised that it was a voice, a voice that he distinctly recognised. He heard two words that he couldn’t quite make out.

Rake app?

No.

Bake pup.

That’s not right.

Take up.

Almost…

“Wake up.”

That was it. Someone was telling him to wake up. And that someone sounded a lot like Danny. Suddenly, everything began to return to his mind. The court case, sitting at the pier, the sudden pain in his side. He put two and two together and came to the obvious conclusion that as a result of said pain, he was now unconscious and his best friend was willing him to wake up. Trying with all his might, he fought his way through the floating world of oblivion that in turn tried to keep him there. It felt like the time he had been chased through the castle grounds by the NWA. He had kept on running and running, fighting to find some way of escaping, until he fell through that hole and landed solidly on the ground below him. That’s what he needed to do. Find that hole amidst the surreal surroundings and fall through it so he could hit the ground and come back to reality.

“Sandford needs you.” Danny’s voice was getting closer now. He was almost there. “The other officers need you.”

Then he was there.

“I need you.”

Nicholas could feel consciousness pouring in from every angle. He could not yet open his eyes, but he could hear completely – like mornings when your eyes are still glued shut, but you’re completely awake. He needed to say something, anything just to let Danny know that he was there. He struggled to find his voice. It felt like forever since he had used it last. He was pretty sure the last thing his vocal chords did was scream.

“You can’t leave Sandford in my hands, not even for a few hours, I’ll balls things up, won’t I?”

Here it was, Nicholas could feel his dry throat constrict as he forced the word out.

“No…” he heard a gasp and felt the hand holding his own tighten slightly.

“Nicholas?!” Danny’s voice was a barely audible whisper due to his mixture of shock and relief.

Nicholas took in a deep breath, feeling like he had just spent who-knows-how-long under water and was finally breathing fresh air again. He then used every muscle it took to pry his eyelids from their taut embrace and once he had adjusted to the sudden intrusion of white light, he looked for the voice of the source. He found it soon enough and smiled.

“No, you won’t.”

Chapter Text

“Nick?” Danny wasn’t really sure what to say. Blinking a few times, he couldn’t hold back his smile as he realised that he was, in fact, not going crazy, and Nicholas was, in fact, awake. He didn’t know how to react, what to say, whether to laugh or cry.

“Hey Danny…” Nicholas said, letting out a long breath.

“I don’t even…” Danny couldn’t get out his words.

Nicholas weakly pointed to the door. “Do you think… maybe… doctor?”

Something in Danny’s head clicked and his eyebrows rose. “Oh, yeah! Gimme a sec.” he stood up from his chair so fast that Nicholas thought it would fly across the room and he rushed over to the door, pulling it open with enough force for it to collide with the wall. Nicholas flinched at the crash it made but couldn’t stop a small laugh escaping when the door bounced off the wall and proceeded to squash Danny between it and the door frame. He heard Danny call for the doctor and merely moments later, an older man entered the room.

“Nicholas, this is Doctor Roberts. He’s been looking after you since… well… you know.” Danny introduced the man and found himself lowering his head as his sentence trailed off.

“Thank you, Doctor Roberts.” Nicholas tried to sit up but winced as a sharp pain shot through his body like a thousand knives. He knew, however, that the source of the pain had been caused by only one.

“I’m just glad I could help, Nicholas, I’m glad to see that you’ve decided to join us. Though I would recommend staying still for a while. Too much movement will only aggravate your injury.” Nicholas nodded. Doctor Roberts turned to Danny. “I’ll go and give Sergeant O’Reilly a call, let him know.” Danny nodded and with a smile, the doctor left the room.

“Travis?”

“Yeah,” Danny began to explain as he pulled up his chair. “You see, when you didn’t arrive on your train, I got a bit worried. I remembered you giving me Travis’ number before you left in case I needed to call you so I figured he might know where you were.” Nicholas smiled as Danny relayed the day’s events to him, proud to see how far he had gone and that he knew all the right places to search for answers. “… So now I’m here. I’m so glad you woke up, Nick. When the doctor said you might not, I just-“

“Wait…” Nicholas wasn’t sure if he heard right. “He said that?” had his injury really been that bad? Danny nodded and Nicholas sighed. That really put it into perspective for him, showing him just how close he had come to… He tried to chase that thought from his mind. The main thing was, he was awake and hopefully on his way to a full recovery.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

“Nicholas!” the inspector looked up from his glass of water to see Travis standing in the doorway. Danny smiled and stood as he entered the room. “How are you feeling? Right, stupid question.” He added when he saw Nicholas’ eyebrows raise.

“Thanks, Travis. Danny told me about what I missed. I appreciate everything you’ve done.”

“Hey, don’t mention it. I’m sure you’d do the same roles reversed.” He paused. “Right?” he spoke with a jokingly questioning tone before laughing. He pulled up a spare chair and sat down next to Danny at the foot of the bed.

“So, I suppose you’ll want to know what I remember.” Nicholas enquired. He knew the process; someone gets attacked, you pry them for anything they can recall before it disappears into the recesses of their mind forever.

“As soon as you’re ready, Nick.” Travis responded. “You’ve not been conscious that long, if you’d rather wait a bit then-“

“No, it’s fine.” Nicholas offered a small smile before closing his eyes and tracking his mind back to the moments leading up to the attack. “I was sitting on the pier, trying to clear my head. I got up to leave…”

Nicholas felt the pain in his side and his vision went white. He blinked away the tears and fought to shake the hand that rested over his mouth, letting a groan of intense pain get lost in the skin of its cover.

The hand that had been holding the knife proceeded to reach up and grab the scruff of his jacket, yanking it halfway down so that Nicholas’ arms were pulled behind his back. The attacker held it in place, tightening their grasp on the jacket so that it acted as a temporary restraint. Nicholas couldn’t move at all – partially due to the jacket now binding his arms together but mainly due to the pain of the blade that was still protruding from his side. He saw a second person circle to his front and begin searching his pockets.

Was this just a random attack? Or did they know that Nicholas was a police officer?

He tried to focus his gaze on the second person, however his vision was blurred, making it difficult to tell person from backdrop. His breathing was shallow as he felt intrusive hands grab his wallet. Other than the sound of feet scuffing the floor in the struggle, there had been no sound until a sudden shout made Nicholas jump.

“Oh shit!” the person, a man, holding his wallet yelled. “This guys a cop!”

“Fucking perfect!” the man holding him replied. Suddenly, Nicholas felt himself tumbling forwards. His arms were still behind him so he couldn’t break his fall and he felt his lip split as it painfully connected with the pavement. He just lay there, listening to the two men debate on what to do.

“Just leave him here. Let’s go!” the first said.

“But what about the wallet? It’ll have your fingerprints all over it!”

“Well we’ll take it with us, get rid of it somehow, now come on!”

The men began to move, but one of them yelped. “Wait! The knife!”

Then Nicholas felt it. The pain was indescribable as the blade was pulled from his side. His last conscious thought was the image of his own blood staining the pavement before a boot collided with his face and everything went black.

Danny and Travis stared at Nicholas as he recounted the attack, mouths open in a mixture of terror and disgust. With a deep breath, Nicholas opened his eyes and looked at the pair.

“I’m afraid that’s all I can remember…”

Neither of the sergeants could find their words, but it was Travis who managed to collect himself first.

“Don’t worry, Nicholas.” He stated. “We’ll get them.”

Chapter Text

Danny had listened to Nicholas recount his attack with complete intent. Hearing him describe each moment, Danny felt like he was actually there, watching his friend being stabbed. He tried to prevent his mind from conjuring up an image of Nicholas lying on the ground, unconscious and bleeding profoundly from the wound, but it was impossible not to. He imagined it must have been the same when he had been shot.

Really, what had they done to deserve this?

Danny was just a regular guy. A regular, laid back, movie loving, bumbling guy who spent his free time from watching films walking the streets as a police officer. Nicholas was a man who never wanted to see evil prevail. He always wanted to make sure that justice was served and that the wrongs were put right. Neither of them were bad people, why did they then have to be put through all of this?

After he had told his story, Nicholas had been ordered to rest by Doctor Roberts, who gave him a sedative to help him sleep. Danny had watched as Nicholas’ eyes drifted shut when the drug took hold and he smiled at the peaceful look on his face; very different to the pained appearance it had shown earlier.

Danny thought back on Nicholas’ mentions of the attackers. They clearly sounded like amateurs; if they had mentioned getting fingerprints on his wallet, then they mustn’t have been wearing any gloves. They obviously hadn’t understood the concept of preparation, which gave Danny a slight bit of hope, as if they were only amateurs, then they may have slipped up in more ways than one and that could be the break that they needed to crack the case. The two men had been shocked that Nicholas was a cop. Maybe that might put them on edge a little, might knock them off their game knowing that they had just tried to kill a police officer.

Once Nicholas had fallen asleep, Travis had gone. He needed to get back and see how they were going with the search for the attackers. As he had left, Travis had reassured Danny that he would call if anything happened, so the young sergeant found himself constantly checking his mobile to make sure he hadn’t missed any calls.

Danny wasn’t sure how long Travis had been gone when his number appeared on the screen. He answered it quickly, praying for good news.

“Hey Danny. Just wanted to let you know that we may have a lead.””

“Great! What have you found?”

“Well, it’s more of a question of who we have found.”

Danny’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I’m not getting my hopes up for anything, but earlier on, a body was found in a warehouse that is not too far from where Nicholas was found. He had been beaten to death and was covered in blood, but the thing is, there was some blood on him that looked older. This man has only been dead a short time so his blood is fresh, still quite wet, but the other blood is dried on.”

“Which means it may not be his.” Danny added, now following what Travis was saying.

“Exactly, now we can’t know for sure, but we wanna double check. Earlier on, the guys down at the lab managed to find some partial fingerprints on the knife. Nothing fantastic, but it’s worth a shot so we’re gonna run his prints and see if they match at all.”

Danny let out the breath he had been holding and with a glance at Nicholas, he nodded. “Thanks for the update, Travis. Fingers crossed, hey?”

“Yeah, I’ll call you later.”

Click.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

12 hours earlier

Tim opened the door to the warehouse, glancing around to make sure that no one was watching before slipping inside. He looked down and saw that his shirt still had some of that policeman’s blood on it.

“Did you get it done?” Gus asked.

“Yeah.” Tim slowly walked across the room to where Gus sat with a beer. He watched his partner for a few moments before snapping. “I can’t believe you’re just sitting here!”

Gus looked up at the younger man. “Excuse me?”

“I just ran out there, the sun is starting to come up, cars are starting to drive past, and there I am, dumping a knife and a cops ID into the friggin sea!”

There was a pause. “And?”

“And! I just risked my neck after what we did and all you’re doing is sitting here drinking a beer!” his words didn’t seem to make Gus flinch. “We just killed a cop, Gus!”

“Actually, we didn’t.”

Tim did a double take. “What?”

“Just got word our friend was taken to hospital, is now conscious and on his way to a full recovery.”

Tim couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You… What?!” this just made things ten times worse. And Gus was still just sitting there, sipping from his beer as if nothing was wrong. “Well what are we gonna do now?!”

“Well, first, you are gonna calm the fuck down.” Gus sat up straight and pointed at Tim, who sank into the seat opposite him. “I don’t need you freaking out like a bloody baby, alright?”

“Well, how’d you expect me to react, Gus? We stabbed a cop, dumped our shit in the sea and now we find out he’s not dead and the police are probably on our way here right now to find us.”

“They won’t find us.”

“Well, what if that cop remembers? What if they do find us?”

“They won’t. We’ll just make sure that he doesn’t live long enough to remember.”

“Whoa…” This was getting way out of hand now. Tim quickly got to his feet. “That’s it. I’m gonna turn myself in.” With this, Gus shot up from his chair and approached the other man.

“No you’re fuckin’ not.” Tim began to back up as Gus walked intimidatingly towards him.

“Why not? I’ll just tell them I worked alone and then that’s done. You go on with your other little jobs and everything goes on perfectly.”

“You’re not handing yourself in, Tim. That cop is gonna know there were two of us. How could you keep him restrained, have your hand over his mouth and search his pockets at the same time? I ain’t letting you walk out that door, mate.”

Tim suddenly regained his composure and leaned in to Gus. “Try and stop me.” He turned and began to make his way to the door. Suddenly, a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and spun him round. Once he was facing Gus again, his jaw was quickly the victim of a sharp punch and he was sent flying backwards, unable to stop himself from falling to the ground. Before he could get back up, Gus was on top of him, striking him repeatedly.

As Gus continued the attack, he watched Tim’s body go still and he could have sworn he saw the life leave his eyes.

I have to do everything myself don’t I?

Chapter Text

Danny was still in his seat next to Nicholas’ bed, reading the newspaper while his friend slept. Every so often he would glance over to make sure he was ok, but other than that he felt quite relaxed. He felt his phone begin to vibrate in his pocket and he quickly whipped it out.

“Hello?”

“Danny, we’ve got some good news.”

“I like the sound of that sentence.” Danny smiled a bit. “What is it?”

“Well, I think lady luck is smiling on us today, as those partials on the knife came back as a match to our mystery man. His name is Tim Riley. We don’t know much about him, but we know that he lives not far from here with an old friend, apparently.”

“What do we know about the friend?” Danny knew it was a long shot, but maybe, just maybe, ‘lady luck’ would smile a bit more.

“Not a lot either, managed to get a name from house records. Gus Taylor, 36 years old…” he could hear Travis reading from something. “Whoa, get this. He’s got a bit of a criminal record here…”

“How much is a ‘bit’?”

“Three counts of armed robbery and one assault on a security guard.”

“Think he could be our second guy?”

“Possibly. We’ll head over there now, call you when I’ve got something.”

“Cheers.” Danny hung up and felt his stomach flip as he looked over at Nicholas. Maybe by the time he woke, they would have caught the man responsible for this.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

No more than half an hour later, Danny felt his phone vibrate again.

“Travis, how’s it going?”

“Not good, Danny. He’s not here.”

Danny sighed. Damn… he thought. “So what now?”

“Well, Evans and Doyle are gonna keep searching, but I was thinking of popping back up to see Nicholas again. Is he awake?”

“Not right now but I’m sure he will be soon. He’s been out for a while now.”

“Great see you shortly.”

The line went dead and Danny sunk back into his chair. They had been so close to catching this guy and he just managed to slip out of their grasp. Resting his elbows on his knees, he pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to calm his nerves.

“Danny…?” a groggy voice came from the bed and Danny glanced over to see a fuzzy-eyed look from Nicholas.

“Hey, look who’s awake.” He forced a smile. “How you feeling?”

“Ugh… Like I got hit by a bus… What I miss?”

“Well, we’ve had a lead and also a bit of a setback, but I’ll let Travis explain it when he gets here.”

“Travis is coming?”

“Yeah, wanted to see how you’re doing.”

Nicholas nodded. “How are you doing?”

“Me?” Danny asked. “I’m fine, why?”

“Well, you look pretty rough-“

“Ha, look who’s talking!” Danny laughed.

“No, you know what I mean. Have you slept or eaten at all in the last 24 hours?”

“Uh… Can I stand on the 5th amendment?”

“Danny, you’ve really been watching too many American movies.” Nicholas smiled. “But seriously, go get something to eat. And get me some water while you’re at it, please.”

“Can’t it wait until Travis gets here? I mean, I don’t really wanna go anywhere…”

“Danny, really. Where am I gonna go?” he held up his arm to show off the IV drip in his hand. “I might as well be chained to the bed.”

“But what if you need help and I’m not here?”

“Then I have my trusty button.” Nicholas picked up the help button and wiggled it about in the air with a smug smirk. “Now go.” He shook his head when Danny raised his hands in defeat. “And don’t come back until you’ve eaten!” He laughed as his friend gave him a quick ‘jog on’ gesture before exiting the room. Once he’d left, Nicholas let his head flop back onto the pillow and released a sigh.

Merely seconds later, he heard footsteps entering the room. He held back a smile.

“Danny, what do you want now?” he opened his eyes to find that it wasn’t Danny. A strange man shut the door and locked it before turning to Nicholas. When he spoke, his voice was terrifyingly familiar.

“To finish what I started.”

Chapter Text

Nicholas froze. Memories from his attack came flooding back to him in an instant and left him paralysed with fear. He watched as Gus approached the bed, staring at him with pure evil in his eyes. Reaching into his pocket, Gus pulled out a small vile and a syringe. Nicholas squinted and saw a name on the side of the vile.

He immediately recognised the name of the contained liquid and his heart raced even faster. The liquid that he was holding was a form of neuromuscular-blocking drug. Not good. He had no clue where his attacker had got it from and quite frankly, he didn’t care. He knew if he yelled for help it wouldn’t make the situation any better. Looking down at the bed, near his hand lay the help button. He frantically grasped for it with his fingers, but Gus soon caught on and placed it on the table next to the bed. Nicholas stared at it, as if doing so would magically press the button. He looked back up and saw that Gus had now filled the syringe with the drug and was approaching the IV drip. Nicholas followed the tube with his eyes from the bag to his hand and immediately threw his other hand into action in an attempt to dislodge the drip. Yet again, Gus was too quick for him and as one hand pierced the needle through the bag and began to pump the liquid in, the other grabbed Nicholas’ arm and pinned it above his head. He lifted the other hand to try and free his arm from the grasp but Gus was too strong for him. Once the syringe was empty, Gus proceeded to grab the frantic hand and pin that one to the bed too. Nicholas began to thrash about, desperate to escape. He opened his mouth to scream for help, but Gus quickly secured both of Nicholas’ hands under one of his own and brought the other down to his mouth. Restrained and essentially gagged, Nicholas’ only hope now was that Danny returned sooner than he had told him to. Darting his eyes to the window, he begged his friend to appear, but he didn’t.

After a few more moments of struggling against the iron grip, Nicholas felt himself slowly losing control of his limbs. His entire body began to relax and soon he fell limp. He watched Gus let go and realised that things were not getting better and he was now completely at his attackers mercy. Gus grabbed his arms and placed each of them at his sides and then removed the pillow from underneath Nicholas’ head.

Oh my God please no…

Nicholas tried with all his might to move any part of his body but, as he guessed, his will power was nothing compared to the effects of the drug that was now flowing freely throughout his system. He saw the pillow coming down towards his face.

“Sweet dreams.” Gus smirked before Nicholas lost sight of everything and began the fight for his life.

Chapter Text

Travis wandered down the hospital corridor feeling rather useless. He thought he would be able to solve this case and move on, but something or someone didn’t want him to. He just hoped that Nicholas would be ok that he hadn’t figured it out yet. Yet being the operative word.

“Evening Doctor.” He saw Doctor Roberts approaching.

“Ah, Sergeant O’Reilly. I thought you were in with Nicholas already.”

“Sorry?”

“Well, not too long ago I saw a man go into his room, he looked a bit like you.”

“Really?” Travis was confused. He didn’t know anyone else who was planning on visiting Nicholas. He suddenly realised something and pulled a photograph out of his pocket. It was of Gus Taylor. “Is this the man you saw?”

“That does look like him, yes. He resembles you a bit.”

Travis began to panic. “Was Sergeant Butterman in there with Nicholas when this man went in?”

“No, I think he had just gone to get something for Nicholas. What is it?”

Shit. Travis thought. “We need to get down there, now!”

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Travis and the doctor ran down the hall to Nicholas’ room and looked through the window. Travis couldn’t believe what he was seeing as he stared at Gus pressing down the pillow on Nicholas’ face. The inspector wasn’t moving at all.

“Oh my God…” he rushed to the door and turned the handle but it wouldn’t budge. “Key! I need a key!”

“I… I don’t have one…” the doctor responded. “It’s back in my office.”

Travis grunted. “Oh we don’t have time for that!” he lifted his foot and kicked at the door. It didn’t open the first few times, but after multiple attempts, it swung open and he rushed in, pulling out his gun as he did. Gus looked up at the officer but kept a firm hold on the pillow. Travis hated shooting people but it was that or Nicholas’ life. He pulled his finger down on the trigger and watched as Gus fell to the ground in a lifeless heap. The doctor rushed to get assistance.

“Hey! What’s going…” Danny appeared at the door and his sentence was cut short as he saw what was happening. “Oh my God… Nicholas!” he saw Travis standing at his side and watched as he pulled the pillow from their friends face. As the pillow lifted, Nicholas’ head flopped to the side. His eyes were closed and when Travis placed his hand under his nose, he couldn’t feel any breath.

“Doctor! Hurry!” he yelled. Moments later, a group of doctors and nurses rushed into the room and began to work. Travis stepped back next to Danny and before they knew it, they were asked to step outside. Both men stared through the window as the doctors desperately attempted to save Nicholas’ life.

“Please Nicholas…” Danny begged, as Travis put his hand on his shoulder. “You’ve gotta come back…”

Chapter Text

Danny watched as the hospital staff worked on Nicholas, pounding his chest rhythmically, pumping air into his lungs. Danny thought things like this only happened in movies. In movies, they always get the bad guy. The good guys always prevail. And if something happens to one of the good guys, they almost always survive. Danny should have been reassured by this analogy, but the word ‘almost’ was pulling Danny back from being confident.

“Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on…”Danny whispered under his breath, not taking his eyes off Nicholas for one second. He watched his face, mostly hidden under the mask that was being used to force the air back into his body, but he could still see his eyes. Danny waited eagerly for them to open, for him to turn his head and look at him and just say “Everything is gonna be fine.”

He waited, but it didn’t happen. He saw the doctors keep trying and trying but nothing was happening.

He sensed Travis next to him. “Danny…” he began, turning to the other sergeant. “Danny, I know you don’t wanna hear this, but-“

“No…”

“We have to be prepared. Just in case-”

“No.” Danny didn’t look at Travis as he spoke. “I’m not gonna think like that.”

“But Danny-“

“No, Travis!” Danny finally turned to him, the look in his eyes made Travis’ heart break. He knew how fond Danny was of Nicholas. The pair had been to hell and back together and Nicholas was virtually the only family Danny had left. Nicholas was a big brother to Danny and Travis understood that he would not accept the fact they could lose him. Travis just wanted to make sure he realised that life isn’t always perfect and the good guys do leave us sometimes. But he didn’t want Danny to think that he was giving up on their friend. Travis wanted Nicholas to pull through just as much as Danny did. The pair had been good friends back in the day; they used to always go out for a drink together (although Nicholas always stuck to those silly cranberry juices). With one last look at Danny’s tear-filled eyes, he turned back to the window, seeing the doctors still trying with all their might to save him.

Danny could have sworn his heart was beating a hundred times a second. Nicholas would have scolded him for making such an unrealistic statement, but he certainly felt as though it were true. He wasn’t exactly sure how long he had been watching them work on Nicholas but he knew it had been too long. He should have come back by now. Why wasn’t he coming back?

Then he heard a nurse say to Doctor Roberts the one thing he feared.

“Doctor, I think it’s time we called it.”

Chapter Text

“Doctor, I think it’s time we called it.”

Doctor Roberts looked at the nurse who had spoken. He knew that they had been trying to bring Nicholas back for a while by now. He knew that they had to call time of death at some point. He turned and looked through the window at Danny, who was now standing with his hands on the glass, tears in his eyes and shaking his head.

“No! Please, no! You have to keep trying!” he was shouting. Glancing at the monitor, which showed no heartbeat, Doctor Roberts sighed, his heart crumbling for Danny. It was his call. He had to choose in this moment whether they should continue resuscitation or let Nicholas go. It was a huge burden that lay on his shoulders. Turning back to the nurse, he composed himself before giving his answer.

“We keep going.”

“But doctor, we’ve been going for half an hour. God knows how long he was deprived of oxygen before we started.” The nurse did have a point, but they’d brought him back from the brink once before and he was damned if they weren’t going to do it again.

“I understand that, nurse, and I said keep going.” He gave her a stern look before continuing to squeeze air into Nicholas’ lungs. The nurse also picked up her compressions, worried that they were only getting their hopes up. Danny almost felt his knees give out due to sheer relief.

“This is my fault.” he said, after a moment of silence. Travis turned to him.

“What?” he didn’t understand what Danny was implying. “You think it’s your fault that he’s in there?”

“No, it’s my fault that he’s there right now, on the brink of death, needing CPR… it’s all my fault.”

“Danny, how can you think any of this is your fault?” Travis instinctively placed his hand on the sergeant’s arm. “You’re not responsible for what Taylor did to Nicholas.”

“I know, but I shouldn’t have left him, Travis.” Danny’s eyes shifted from him, to Nicholas and to the floor. “He told me to go to get food and I tried to refuse. I told him I would wait until you got here but I gave in and left. I left him alone and now he’s almost dead. I knew I shouldn’t have left him alone. I practically handed him to that psychopath on a platter.”

“Danny, look at me.” He urged the younger man. “Look at me.” On the second try, Danny finally looked up from the floor. “None of this is your fault. I don’t think that, the doctors don’t think that and I’m sure Nicholas… he would never blame you for this. If you’re playing it like that, then I should be blaming myself for letting him walk home rather than forcing him to let me drive him. He made his choice, Danny. He chose to let you get food, just like he chose to refuse my offer at the court.”

“But-“

“No buts, Danny.” Travis’ tone became more authoritative. “It is not your fault. Now I want you to say it. Say that it isn’t your fault.” Danny hesitated. He couldn’t find it in him to convince himself. “Danny, please. I can’t have you blaming yourself for this. Please.”

Danny paused, looking at the concern in Travis’ eyes. He could have sworn he saw a tear there, but it was blinked away before he could know for sure. With a deep breath, he began to speak. It came out as more of a whisper.

“It isn’t my fault.” His heart was screaming that he was fooling himself; that it really was his fault. But he knew that Travis was right, in some strange way.

“Good” Travis said with a small sigh.

Before either of them could say anything, they heard something.

“I’ve got a pulse.”

Chapter Text

“I’ve got a pulse.” A young doctor said, hope in his voice. Looking into the room, Danny and Travis saw the monitor come to life again. It wasn’t strong, but that was definitely a heartbeat.

“That’s it, Nicholas…” Danny whispered. “You’re almost home.” He watched as the doctors checked on Nicholas as the monitor continued to beep rhythmically and began to get stronger and stronger. He turned to Travis who returned his smile of relief and couldn’t stop himself throwing his arms around the other man. Travis was slightly taken aback by the display of emotion but soon found himself wrapping his arms around Danny as he sobbed into his shoulder. Danny couldn’t remember the last time he had cried due to pure joy. Probably in that film about the two nerds, when one guy had been killed but the alien brought him back to life. He couldn’t remember the name of the film, but he didn’t really care.

Nicholas was alive. That was all that mattered.

After a few more moments, Doctor Roberts exited the room and approached the men. Before he could say a word, Danny was hugging him too.

“Thank you so much, Doctor.” He pulled away, knowing that he may have been a bit out of line then, but none of that mattered. “Really, I just can’t even thank you enough.”

Doctor Roberts nodded and smiled as acknowledgement before beginning to speak. “Nicholas is one lucky young man. Though he isn’t completely on the road to recovery as yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well his brain was deprived of oxygen for some time. In a situation where no oxygen reaches the brain for several minutes, it can result in something called anoxic brain damage.”

“So, you’re saying that Nicholas could potentially be brain damaged?” Travis asked Danny’s question for him, seeing as the younger sergeant had fallen victim to silence at the turn of events.

“I’m afraid there is a chance, yes. At the moment, we have no way of telling how long the pillow was held over Nicholas’ face. We need to do some further tests to check for any signs of damage.”

“What kind of tests?” Danny asked, having finally found his voice.

“Well, we’ll start with an MRI. Hopefully that will be able to tell us if Nicholas will suffer any long term effects. We won’t conduct the tests immediately though, so you’re welcome to sit in with him if you like, however he will be asleep for some time.”

Danny nodded at the doctor before rushing into the emptying room. Once all the doctors had vacated the area, Travis began to approach the door, giving the doctor a weak smile before entering.

Chapter Text

After they had cleared away the signs of the events that had transpired, Danny sat watching Nicholas as he slept. Watching the monitor to make sure that nothing went wrong, to make sure that it was doing what it was meant to be doing. Watching Nicholas’ chest rise and fall, unable to prevent himself from picturing the horrific moment when that movement had stopped all together. The two sergeants had watched Nicholas be taken away to have his MRI and once he had disappeared from sight, Danny put his head in his hands and finally broke down.

Despite Travis trying to convince him otherwise, Danny still felt responsible somehow for this. He knew he shouldn’t think that way, but he couldn’t help it. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, why don’t you try and get some rest?” Travis offered. “I can get one of the doctors to find you a bed and I’ll wake you up if I hear anything.”

Danny smiled weakly back. “I’d rather just stay here, if that’s ok.”

“Ok.” Travis nodded. “I’ll just get you some pillows.” Danny flinched at the word ‘pillows’ as Travis left the room. He would never be able to understand how something that is meant to make you feel safe and comfortable could be potentially so dangerous. He shifted in his seat, pulling another close enough so he could rest his feet on it. “Here you go.” Travis smiled, re-entering the room holding two pillows. Danny lent forward as Travis placed one behind his back and the second between his head and the wall.

“Thanks.” Danny breathed. “And you promise me you’ll wake me up if you hear anything?”

“On my life.” Travis nodded and once again disappeared, leaving Danny alone. He rested his head against the soft pillow and closed his eyes, but his mind was racing. Thoughts of what had happened over the past 48 hours occupied his mind like bees in a beehive; rushing around, bouncing off the walls of his brain. He decided to do what he and his cousin Edward used to do as kids. If they couldn’t get to sleep, they would think of a film that they knew off by heart and watch it in their head. He picked one from his mental DVD collection and pressed the play button. Thanks to the distraction, he was asleep within minutes.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

“Danny…” a voice was calling him out of his slumber. “Danny.”

“Mmmm?” he soon realised that the voice belonged to Travis and his eyes shot open. “Travis? News?” he was forcing words out before they were even registering in his mind.

“Well, yes. News.” That didn’t sound good. He never said ‘good news’. Just ‘news’.

“And?” he sat up straight in the chair and Travis motioned for him to come outside. He got to his feet in a bumbling manner and followed the sergeant into the corridor. “Travis? What is it?”

“The doctor said there’s been some complications.”

“Complications?” Danny’s heart started to race again. “What sort of complications? Is Nicholas gonna be alright?”

“I don’t think so, Danny.” Travis began to pace. “Why did you have to leave that room? Why did you leave Nicholas at the mercy of that psycho?”

Danny couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I…” he didn’t know what to say. “I thought you told me not to blame myself for this… you told me it wasn’t my fault…”

“Yeah, well…” Travis looked up with anger in his eyes. “It is your fault, Danny. It’s all your fault. Every. Last. Bit.” Each word of Travis’ final sentence was accompanied by a small jab to Danny’s shoulder with his index finger.

“But-“ Danny was interrupted by a second voice coming from behind him.

“He’s right, Danny.” it was Doctor Roberts. “You should have been watching out for Nicholas. Why weren’t you?”

“I…” Danny wanted to fight the words, argue that it wasn’t his fault, but he couldn’t get them out. All possible thoughts of appealing disappeared when a third voice came drifting through the air.

“Danny…” he knew that voice. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see its owner. “Danny, look at me.” With a deep breath, Danny turned to face him. The sight of his frail body nearly made Danny’s legs give out. Nicholas stood at the end of the dimly lit corridor wearing his thin white t-shirt and hospital pants. His skin was pale and the injuries to his face seemed emphasised by the lighting. He began to walk, his bare feet barely making a sound on the cold hospital floor as he approached Danny at an agonisingly slow pace. “Why weren’t you there, Danny? Why did you leave me there to be hurt? I don’t understand…” Danny couldn’t stop looking at his friends eyes. Those normally bright blue orbs were now dull and almost lifeless. In them was the most sorrowful look he had ever seen. Tears were rippling along his bottom eyelids but none fell.

“You told me to go, Nick…”

“You should have fought harder!” Nicholas almost shouted the words as he froze on the spot, still a few meters away. “Remember when you rescued me from the NWA? You told me to go, to leave you there. But did I?”

“No…” Danny whispered.

“I didn’t. I came back for you. I didn’t leave you there to be destroyed by the evil that was right on your doorstep. Why couldn’t you do the same for me?”

At those words, Danny noticed a red patch appear on the side of Nicholas’ white shirt. He wanted to warn Nicholas, let him know of the red on his shirt, but the words became lost as he watched the stain grow and grow. He tore his eyes from the blood to see Nicholas’ face. A thin stream of blood now dripped from the corner of his mouth and ran down his chin.

“Danny…” Nicholas’ voice was choked by his own blood and it was then that a single tear fell from his eye as he collapsed in a heap on the floor. Danny made to run to him, but he was stopped by the strong arms of Travis and Doctor Roberts gripping his shoulders. He couldn’t free himself from the grasp and could only watch as the pool of blood underneath Nicholas spread quickly and his breathing became slower and slower until it stopped.

“Nicholas!” he screamed.

“Danny!” he opened his eyes to see Travis standing over him. Glancing around, he noticed that he was still in Nicholas’ hospital room and he was still sitting in his seat. Had that really all been a dream? Or was is one of those horrifically real premonitions, like in the movies?

Please just let it have been a dream… Danny thought as he looked up at Travis.

“Danny, we’ve got some news.”

Chapter Text

“Danny, we’ve got some news.” Travis’ words echoed in Danny’s mind. News. That’s what he’d heard in his dream. Right before…

“What news?”

“They finished the tests on Nicholas.” Travis slowly let a smile creep onto his face. “Everything’s gonna be fine. No brain damage.”

Danny was glad he was sitting down at that point otherwise he feared he may have collapsed. He couldn’t find a way to speak; the relief was too much for him, rendering him unable to string two words together. He could only smile back at Travis who patted his shoulder.

“The doctor is gonna bring him back down here in a minute, ok?” Danny nodded at Travis’ words. “I just have to run back to Nicholas’ flat, he asked me to grab his bags.” Before Travis could leave, Danny found his voice again.

“He asked you… he’s awake then?”

“Yep, and already asking to see you.” Danny’s joy felt indescribable. He watched Travis leave the room and only a few minutes later, Nicholas was wheeled into the room.

“Hey.” Danny said, standing up and approaching the bed.

“Hey yourself.” Nicholas’ voice was still weak but the smile he gave showed that he was ok.

“Should I ask how you’re feeling, or is that a stupid question?” Danny gave a small laugh when Nicholas smacked him on the back of the head.

“You got off lightly, that’s only cos the bin is too far away.” The pair smiled as Danny pulled his seat over and dropped into it. Nicholas soon noticed the expression on his partners face was a far cry from the usual happy one. “Danny, what is it?”

“I’m sorry, Nicholas.”

“I… Huh?” Nicholas didn’t understand. “Sorry for what?”

Danny was once again unable to get his words out, but this time it was due to the sobs he was trying to fight back. “I… I’m sorry for leaving you.”

“Leaving m…” it suddenly dawned on Nicholas what Danny meant. “Oh, no no no… Danny, don’t you be thinking like that.”

Danny looked up from where his gaze had been pinned to the floor. “But… I thought you… I assumed that you thought it was…”

“What? You thought I’d blame you for what happened?” Nicholas couldn’t believe it.

“You should. This is all my fault.”

“No, Danny. None of this is your fault.”

Hearing Nicholas say those words, hearing them actually come from his mouth, gave Danny a bit more reassurance that they were the truth. Travis may have told him that it wasn’t his fault and he may have said it on Nicholas’ behalf, but hearing it come directly from his partner had been what he needed. He felt a hand grab his own.

“Promise me you won’t ever think this was your fault.” Danny’s nod wasn’t enough for Nicholas, who tilted his head and waited to hear the words.

“I promise.”

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Travis arrived about half an hour later with Nicholas’ things and after a brief discussion, he had to leave to do “a considerable amount of paperwork.”

After Travis had left and the doctors had done another quick check on Nicholas’ vitals, he motioned for his bag.

“Danny, can you grab something from my bag for me?”

“Sure, where is it?”

“It’s just in that little front pocket. No, the other… yeah, in there.” He watched as Danny reached in and pulled out the only item that was in there. He couldn’t stop the smile creeping onto his face as Danny’s eyes lit up at the Big Ben beer opener in his hand.

“Thanks, Nicholas!” he grinned.

“Well, I promised, didn’t I?”

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Once Nicholas was released from hospital, he and Danny were driven back to Sandford. Nicholas had insisted he was fine to take the train, but Danny had insisted he didn’t. Once they reached Nicholas’ cottage, it was agreed that Danny would crash there for a few nights, just to be there if Nicholas needed any help. Well, it was more Danny forced Nicholas to agree.

“Why? I appreciate the offer, Danny, but I’m fine.”

“But I wanna be here if you need me. And no you’re not fine, you almost died. Twice! So you are definitely not fine.”

“Can’t we just agree to disagree?”

“Not this time, Nicholas. I’m staying.”

So there Danny was, sleeping in the spare room in Nicholas’ cottage. The first night was fine, as Nicholas was so tired that he was out before his head hit the pillow. Danny remembered wondering to himself how someone who had spent most of the past week unconscious could possibly be tired.

It was the second night when the problems started.

According to the clock, it was about 1:30am when Danny was woken up by a noise. At first he couldn’t figure out what it was, but after a few moments he realised that it was coming from down the hall. From Nicholas’ room. Danny shot out of bed, rushing along the corridor before opening Nicholas’ door.

His friend was lying on the bed, his arms thrashing about, his head turning from side to side. As Danny stepped closer to the bed, he noticed tears were pouring down his cheeks and he was mumbling something. It sounded like “Let me go.”

Danny wasn’t sure what to do. He knew it wasn’t always a good idea to wake people up when they were having a nightmare, but he was worried that Nicholas might hurt himself. He approached the bed and reached out a hand to Nicholas’ shoulder. The second he touched him, his eyes shot open and his arms began to wave about in an attempt to hit away the intruder.

“Nicholas. Nicholas!!” Danny felt awful grabbing Nicholas’ wrists the way he did, but it was the only way he could prevent either of them being injured. “Nicholas, stop. It’s me.”

Nicholas’ movements came to a halt and he blinked a few times before staring back at him. “Danny?” he then moved his gaze to the hands holding his wrists. Danny realised his mistake and quickly released him.

“I’m sorry for scaring you, Nicholas. But you seemed to be having a nightmare…” Danny crouched next to the bed. “I didn’t know what to do.”

“S’ok…” Nicholas began. “I’m sorry for freaking out… it’s just…” he looked back down to his now free wrists. “That’s what he did…” Danny understood what he meant and shook his head, sitting on the edge of the bed and putting his arm around his friend as he began to cry into his shoulder.

“I didn’t realise.” Danny let him sob, not wanting to tell him to stop. He knew first hand that people telling you to stop crying is the last thing you want to hear when you’re upset. So he let him cry. “It’s ok though, Nicholas. He’s not gonna get you now. You’re safe now.”

And Nicholas knew that he was.