Chapter 39: You Can't Handle the Truth

October 10, 2010

"So, Danny, tell me the truth: who's your favorite Winchester?"

"... You called me in the middle of my tattoo session for this?" Danny finally replied after a moment of quiet.

In the two weeks since Danny's spat with Castiel and the delivery of Klaus' threat to Damon, the oldest Salvatore had decided that he needed a break – from Cas, his brothers, everything. On the 27th day of September, he had packed his bags, taken Damon's car, and driven up to Sioux Falls to spend time with his baby mama and their unborn son. Bobby was less than thrilled to have him there, seeing as how he didn't much care for the fact that he was a vampire. He was, however, very understanding of his need to get away and spend time with his family, so he didn't put up much of a fuss.

He spent most of his time with Karen, showing her pictures of the crib he had put together – something she gushed over endlessly. She informed him that the baby had spoken to her, and said that he would be here 'soonish'. While they weren't quite sure what their son's definition of 'soonish' was, they both decided that they had to get a lot of stuff done in very little time. This prompted the two to head out of town for the weekend to purchase some things for 'little Damien,' as they had started calling him.

By the time Danny was done with his vacation, he had a trunk packed with baby clothes, bottles, formula, diapers, wipes, and everything else he hadn't known he needed. On his way back, he decided to make a pit stop in Chicago to get some new tattoos from Ramone, the vampire who had done his previous ink jobs. He had an anti-possession symbol tattooed on his chest over his heart, despite the fact he couldn't get possessed, he thought the design was cool and badass. He then gave Ramone a piece of paper, upon which was what he wanted on his left arm. It was as Ramone was working that Dean called to ask his inane question.

"You're getting inked up again?" Dean asked in a tone of disbelief, his question momentarily forgotten.

"What're you getting this time? Raphael turning into salt?"

"Hmm, good idea, but no. Thought I'd go the more sentimental route and do a little 'in memoria' and have the names of people I've lost written in Enochian on my arm," Danny replied, looking down to where Ramone was currently inscribing Lexi's name.

"Huh, that's... cool, I guess?" Dean finally said, his tone unsure. "Whose names have you got?"

"Uh, there's Mia, Julia, John, Jo, Ellen, Lexi, and Gabriel," Danny answered after a moment of thought. "I'm only counting people I actually cared about who have permanently died. Otherwise, there wouldn't be enough room on my entire body for that list."

"I know everyone else, but who the hell're Mia and Julia?"

"Julia was the first person I ever fell in love with, and Mia was my birth mother," the hybrid was silent for a moment. "I may never have met her, but that doesn't mean I don't care for her."

"Right... why Enochian?"

"Embracing my heritage," Danny shrugged his right shoulder, receiving a look from Ramone. "Why'd you call to ask me who my favorite Winchester is?"

"Uh, no reason..."

"Dean," Danny replied in a gruff tone, imitating Cas.

"Don't give me the Cas voice."

The two bickered back and forth for a moment before Dean finally relented and told him about a case he and Sam were working on. When someone in the town they were in asked for the truth, anyone they talked to gave it to them – no matter how brutal or cruel it was, they had to say what they genuinely felt. Danny was intrigued by this, wondering if – as the vessel/reincarnation of the archangel of truth and justice – he'd be able to do something like that one day. Dean was more curious as to why whatever power was at work there wasn't affecting the hybrid.

"Nephilim power, baby. Not a lot affects us," Danny grinned, despite Dean not being able to see it. "So, I wouldn't recommend trying it out on Kate. She'd kick your ass when she finds out that you tried to use someone's mystical powers to manipulate her."

"Don't you mean 'if she finds out'? Unless you plan on snitching -"

"Don't need to. She'll find out, because you'll tell her," Danny replied, glancing at his arm to see that Ramone was almost done with Gabriel's name.

"Oh? And why would I do that?" Dean questioned.

"Because she's the one person you never lie to or keep secrets from and vice versa."

Dean was silent for a moment before saying, "I hate it when you're right."

"Most people do."

Danny turned into the driveway of the Lockwood mansion later that night, rolling his eyes at the ostentatious bright lights. Were it not for the fact that Damon said he had something important to ask me, I wouldn't even be here. On his way back to Mystic Falls, he had received numerous texts and calls from both Damon and Klaus, neither of which he answered. He'd done a pretty damn good job of not getting involved in their little feud, and he wanted to stay out of it as long as possible. However, when Damon sent him a text that he needed to talk to him about something that could save Stefan's life, Danny had no choice but to heed the call.

Of course, he could be lying. Danny conceded as he stepped out of the car and walked toward the entrance of the house. He quickly spotted Alaric and Damon making their way across the paved area in front of the mansion, talking as they did so. Danny jogged to catch up with them, straining his vampire hearing so he would know what they were talking about.

"... A bit of a dimmer switch, which is a huge problem," Damon was saying.

"Why?" Ric asked, stopping in his tracks.

"Because I can't predict how far he's willing to go until somebody gets killed," Damon replied, turning around to face him.

"Suddenly you care who lives and who dies?" Ric questioned in a tone full of skepticism.

"I have a small list," Damon answered, looking over Ric's shoulder and spotting Danny close by. "You're on it, big bro."

"I'm flattered," Danny said in a tone full of sarcasm, the corners of his lips twitching upward as Ric whirled around swiftly to face him. "Good to see you again, Ric. Karen sends her love."

"Thanks, how is she?"

"Doin' good, Damien's been very good to her – so she's not uncomfortable," Danny replied, keeping his answers as vague as possible.

"You're not really naming him Damien, are you?" Ric asked with a mildly exasperated sigh.

"Nah. Damon's been calling him that, so that's what we've been using when we're out in public. It grows on you," Danny smiled.

Damon gave a self-satisfied smirk at this before he asked, "Any idea when he'll be sailing through the canal?"

"Dude, c'mon, that's my sister," Ric complained, throwing Damon a mildly disgusted look.

"He said he'll arrive 'soonish', but we have no idea what that means in the grand scheme of things," Danny shrugged, interrupting their bickering before it could truly begin. "Could be today, could be next month."

"Very vague. Wonder who he gets that from?" Damon snickered, receiving a playful shove from his older brother.

"Hopefully he doesn't take after his father too much," Ric commented dryly, making his way to the front door.

"As long as he's not as naïve as his mother, I'm okay with that," Danny replied with a small shrug, ignoring the look Ric shot his way.

Danny was well-aware that he was not the best person in the world – not the worst, but certainly not the best. He wasn't a hero, nor was he a villain. He inhabited a morally grey area in between the two extremes, and he was perfectly okay with that. No one outright expected the best of him or the worst, and that was just the way he liked it. He had discovered that trying to live up to someone's expectations was both exhausting and pointless – his years spent with Elijah were a testament to that – and ultimately, you would just end up failing them.

All those years spent trying to be Lukas Mikaelson for Elijah when I should've been Daniel Salvatore for me. Danny lamented as he followed Damon and Alaric inside the mansion. Wasted my time, even if I did learn a valuable lesson from it all: always be yourself. He took a drink from a nearby server before making his way over to the model of the old Wickery Bridge and picking up the little model car that was on there. After receiving a look from both Ric and Damon, he put the car back and held his hands up in surrender, widening his eyes comically.

He finished off the last of his glass of overly expensive wine before wandering off to go get another one. He heard Damon say a few words to Ric before his brother followed after him. Damon stayed by his side the entire time Danny was getting a drink, not saying a word – which was starting to irk the hybrid. He wanted to ask me something, and now he's not saying anything? I get not wanting to talk about it in public, but he could at least try to make conversation.

"Y'know, I don't need a babysitter," Danny informed him, plucking a canape from a nearby tray and putting it in his mouth. "I'm a 1300-year-old hybrid, not a child."

"I'm not babysitting you, I'm just trying to spend some quality time with my favorite older brother. Y'know, before you run off and ditch us again," Damon replied in a flippant tone.

"Yeah, that was pretty selfish on my part," Danny conceded with a tilt of his head. "But, do you really want me to get involved in yours and Stefan's ongoing feud with Klaus? You never know, one day I might get so frustrated with you lot and accidentally blow you guys up."

Damon stared at him for a moment before asking, "Is that actually possible?"

"Of course," Danny replied, taking another canape and walking away, his brother close behind. "I still don't have full control over my abilities – which are intimately tied to my emotions, by the way. If I get angry enough, I have the potential to level the whole town. At least, according to Cas, anyway."

"Right, and we're just gonna listen to the guy who got you hooked on angel blood?" Damon questioned, rolling his eyes as they came upon Klaus talking to Carol Lockwood.

"When it comes to angel crap, yeah," Danny answered, tilting back his glass and chugging down its contents. "I trust him, Damon."

"Of course you do," Damon rolled his eyes again before strolling over to Klaus and the Mayor. "Look what the cat dragged in. Nice vest."

"Well, thank you very much. Good to see you, Damon," Klaus stated, his eyes brightening when Danny approached. "And you as well, Daniel. I trust you had a lovely vacation?" He received a shrug in response. "Excellent. Carol and I were just discussing whether you two would be tonight's other big benefactors."

"What do you say? Klaus has made a very generous pledge," Carol informed them. "You know how we're chomping at the bit to begin the renovation."

"Not happening. I've got better things to spend my money on," Danny replied, stuffing his canape in his mouth.

"Such as...?" Carol inquired.

"Orphans and puppies. African rain forest. Veterans. Homeless shelters -" Danny began listing, only to be interrupted by his younger brother.

Damon proceeded to inform her that she was kissing the ass of the hybrid who ruined her son's life. Klaus responded that he had saved it since Tyler no longer had to turn on the full moon. Carol then told the two Salvatores that Klaus promised to protect the town – to which Damon argued that his hybrids were who the town needed protection from. Danny took that moment to excuse himself from the conversation, unwilling to get involved in the debate.

He spent the remainder of his time in the Lockwood mansion just wandering around, stealing food and drinking alcohol. On the way to putting another canape in his mouth, he stopped and stared at the little bite-sized snack, a realization striking him. Oh my Lucifer. I've turned into Dean. He stared at canape for a moment longer before shrugging and popping it in his mouth, deciding that there were worse people to turn into. Like Kol, or Mikael or even Giuseppe.

Damon took that moment to appear beside him, informing his older brother that Stefan had just tried to kill a hybrid in the Lockwood house, prompting the older of the two to groan at their youngest brother's stupidity. He had Damon take him to where the hybrid was still laying, unconscious in an empty room and stared at him for a moment. After thinking through his options carefully, Danny yanked the hybrid's heart out of his chest before snapping his fingers, setting the body ablaze and destroying all evidence that he was ever there.

"Problem solved," Danny stated once the fire died down and all that remained was a pile of ash. "Get a broom and dustpan and clean up the mess."

"Uh, thanks?" Damon said, looking at the large black spot on the floor. "I was hoping you'd talk to Klaus or Stefan, but I guess this works."

"When are you going to get it through your head that I'm not getting involved in your pissing contest with Klaus?" Danny questioned, leaning against an accent table.

"When are you going to stop playing pacifist and actually pick a side?" Damon shot back. "You can't stay in the middle forever, Danny. You have to pick a side sooner or later – might as well be now."

"Why?" Danny inquired, folding his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow at him. "Why do I have to choose? Why can't you guys just leave me alone and let me be?"

"Because you're our brother," Damon informed him. "And Klaus' bestie. We need to know if you're our ally or our enemy. We need to know if we can trust you, Danny. Like we used to before all this crazy vampire shit even started."

"Of course you can trust me!"

"Then tell me, what does Klaus have hidden in the locked coffin? Tell me, and we can trust you again," Damon told him, placing a hand on his older brother's shoulder.

Danny looked at him, confused at the question. Locked coffin? What's he on about? When he voiced that very question, Damon informed him that they had four coffins. Three of them contained Klaus' siblings, but one of them was locked. They were under the impression that there was some type of weapon in there that could beat Klaus, but they had no clue what it was or how to open it.

"Honestly? I have no clue. Well," Danny amended after a moment of thought, tapping his chin. "That's not completely true. I have theories and guesswork – but that's all I have, Damon. I'm just as lost as the rest of you."

"You really expect me to believe you?" Damon scoffed.

"No, because you're skeptical and untrusting by nature," the hybrid informed him bluntly. "I may have done some shady shit in the past – kept things from you, ditched you – but I have never, not once, ever lied to you or Stefan, Damon. I don't know for certain what's in that coffin – I'm not even sure I want to know – but I have a strong feeling that, whatever it is, it's going to backfire on you spectacularly."

"Oh, please, when has that ever -"

"Mikael."

"Yeah, you got me there."

A/N:

Questions, comments, concerns, criticisms, etc. are welcome. Requests for updates are not. (Seriously, gives me really bad anxiety when I see them.)

Soooo, here's the thing, Word deleted some of the stuff I wrote on the current chapter of "Always" that I'm working. As is expected, it somewhat diminished my desire to continue writing the story. That's not to say I'm giving up on it, more like I'm taking a short break while I try to figure out where to go with the story.

In the meantime, I'll be posting chapters for other stories I've been working on in my spare time - two of which I'm quite excited about. The main one I'll be focusing on is based in the Harry Potter world, with an OC I am eager to explore/develop. Hope to see you all in my upcoming stories!