I am very sorry for taking so long to update! D: College classes (*cough* ENGLISH 112 *cough*) and finals week nearly sucked the life out of me. But now I've got a few weeks of winter break! YAY! (/^_^)/

So here is a nice, long, apology-chapter. I would've baked up some apology muffins, but muffins usually don't transport very well across the interwebs... :P

Anyways, thanks again to everyone who has reviewed/followed/favorited this story! :) I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own nothin'...

Danny blinked slowly as his vision came into focus. He squinted against the light, snuggling deeper beneath the blankets. The teen was reluctant to get up just yet. Judging by how rested he felt, he guessed he must've had a very good night of sleep. Danny sighed contentedly. He hadn't slept well like this in a very long time. He yawned, and spared a lazy glance around his room.

The first thing he saw, of course, was the bookshelves.

Huh. That's funny. He didn't remember ever having so many books, or even shelves, for that matter. Danny frowned. He certainly didn't remember falling asleep in a library, either...

The teen's brows furrowed in confusion. Then suddenly, he realized one very important detail...

This wasn't his bed.

Or the floor.

Or a cell. Or even his bench at the park.

Danny's eyes flew open and he bolted upright; his breath caught when pain suddenly flared up in his abdomen. Danny let out a ragged gasp and fell back into the sofa weakly. He gripped the side of the sofa tightly, his knuckles white.

This was not good. This was very not good.

He was injured, and in a strange place with who were probably some very strange people who probably had some strange, sick fetish with books and shelves and pointy objects and half ghosts, or maybe just with teenagers in general...

Danny shuddered violently. He could feel it; literally see it happening all over again...

... pain tearing viciously through his body. His heart hammering in his chest as he tried to wrench himself free...

He stopped himself right there, realizing that his mind was quickly taking him to a place where he did NOT want to go. Once he had calmed down enough to allow for more rational thought, Danny realized three things.

First of all, he was warm and fairly comfortable.

Second, he was obviously not-dead.

And, as far as he could tell, whoever had brought him here wasn't trying to kill him.

Of course, the teen wasn't going to go so far as to assume that he was safe. Though, at the moment, no one was trying to shoot him or anything. He'd count that as a plus.

Still, Danny's mind felt clouded and foggy. Where was he, exactly? What'd happened? He blinked, memories of the past few days flitting briefly at the edge of his mind.

The city... yes, he remembered making it to the city. He remembered the feelings of panic and fear, and the burn in his legs as he ran faster than he'd ever had in his life. He vaguely recalled being shot at, and stumbling into a darkened alley.

Everything was a bit fuzzy after that.

Carefully, he lifted up the hem of his shirt, and was surprised to find his middle wrapped in a heavy layer of bandages. He frowned, giving it a tentative poke. As his fingers met his injured stomach, Danny let out a hiss of pain. Accelerated healing or not, it would probably be best if he stayed put for now.

Danny glared up at the ceiling, and huffed impatiently.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed; his sensitive hearing picking up a strange new sound. Danny's breath caught in his throat as he realized that he was no longer alone. Slowly, he turned around, and found himself face to face with a dog.

Or, more specifically, a fairly large dog. With what were probably some equally large teeth. The thing sat down right in front of the sofa and, meeting Danny's gaze, it let out a soft "woof".

Danny swallowed hard. "Easy there. Good dog..." the teen coaxed breathlessly. He was definitely not in a good position to defend himself at the moment...

The dog watched him intently, its dark eyes gazing at him with what Danny sincerely hoped was a look of curiosity, and not one of ravishing hunger. It stood up suddenly, and the teen froze as the dog came closer. It snuffed gently at his hair, its breath coming out in warm puffs of air against Danny's own cool skin. The teen squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for his impending doom...

And then suddenly, to Danny's surprise, the dog began to lick his face.

"Whoa, ok!" Danny laughed weakly as he tried (and failed) to defend himself from the sudden onslaught of canine affection.

Reaching to scratch behind the dog's ears, the teen sunk back into the sofa.

Then he heard a sharp whistle.

Danny flinched involuntarily at the sudden noise. The dog's ears perked up, however, and it ran over to the other side of the room.

Danny tensed, realizing there was someone standing in the doorway. As he gazed at the 'someone', all hopes of him having been rescued by a sweet, harmless, little old lady flew out the window.

The large dog belonged to a large man.

Of course, Danny thought wryly. It was only fitting.

The man's gaze fell on him, eyes cool and calm and calculating. Danny stared, mentally sizing him up. The man definitely seemed like the military sort. He was fairly well-built, too. Probably an experienced fighter.

However, it was the suit he wore that made Danny feel extremely uneasy.

The man, who seemed to sense this, relaxed his rigid stance. He took a few steps closer and smiled slightly.

"Look who's up," he said.

Danny watched him warily. His body was tensed like a coil; ready to spring away at the first sign of danger.

Reese studied him for a moment. Knowing how frightened Danny had initially been, he'd half-expected the kid to bolt as soon as he entered the room. The teen, however, stayed put. Taking this as a sign to continue, Reese slowly made his way closer.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

Danny frowned slightly, but didn't reply.

The kid was still frightened, and obviously distrustful. Reese knew better than to push him.

He turned away, and Danny watched from the couch as the ex-operative set to work with cleaning up his own mess from the last two days, the dog following closely at his heels. Judging by extra chair and the mess in the corner, it looked like the man had camped out in here with him. Probably watched him sleep, too. That was a bit creepy...

Danny's eyes briefly flickered over to the trash in Reese's hands. Take out boxes and stale donuts, he realized.

Reese followed his gaze with a knowing look.

"I would imagine you're hungry," he said. It wasn't a question.

Danny said nothing. Honestly, in his current position, things like 'food' and 'hunger' hadn't even crossed his mind. But now that the man mentioned it...

At that moment, Danny's stomach grumbled loudly.

Reese grinned, and the teen's pale face turned a rather impressive shade of red.

"I'll take that as a yes," Reese said.

He left the room (much to Danny's relief), only to return a few minutes later with a small bowl of what appeared to be some sort of soup.

"Here." He said simply, setting it on the table next to Danny.

The teen eyed the bowl suspiciously, watching it as though it would explode at any second. Hunger and curiosity getting the better of him, Danny sat up very slowly, and carefully grasped the bowl in his hands.

He studied it carefully, trying to determine whether or not it was safe to eat. The teen sniffed at it, stirred it a little, and frowned.

It didn't look like it was tainted with anything. Of course, it was probably quite difficult to tell either way...

"If we were trying to kill you, there are many more efficient ways do so." Reese pointed out. Then, as an afterthought, he added: "...and only 23 of them involve soup."

Danny's head whipped around and he stared at the man in disbelief.

Was that... was that supposed to be reassuring?!

In the other room, Harold sighed loudly. So much for tact...

Danny stared wide-eyed at Reese. Reese stared back at him expectantly.

"If you're not going to eat that..."

At this, Danny hugged the bowl to his chest protectively. It had been a long time since he'd gotten food like this, and despite his apprehension, he actually was hungry...

The teen gazed down at the bowl in his hands and, very carefully, he lifted a spoonful of soup to his mouth. Then, gathering his nerves, Danny took a bite.

His eyes widened. It wasn't half bad! Surely, another spoonful wouldn't hurt...

Reese watched in amusement as the young teen proceeded to gulp down the soup within a matter of seconds. Noticing how hungry Danny seemed to be, he quickly went to get more soup. This time, the teen didn't even realize that Reese had left the room until the ex-operative returned with another bowl full of the steaming liquid.

He moved towards Danny, who sat up, watching him intently. There was a strange look in the teen's eyes. Reese met his gaze, calm cobalt eyes meeting icy blue.

The teen turned away awkwardly. He opened his mouth and closed it, as though searching for the right words.

"Why..." he spoke up, "why are you helping me?"

"It's what we do." Reese said simply.

"Oh." Danny nodded. The teen slumped back down, his hands fiddling nervously with the edge of the blanket.

The room grew silent. Reese turned away, and set the bowl on the table with a soft 'clink'.

"There's more food if you're still hungry," he motioned to the soup, "and the bathroom's down the hall." Reese said. "Just let me know if you need anything."

Reese then glanced over at the dog. "Daar blijven," he commanded.

Bear, of course, seemed all too happy to oblige. The dog immediately nuzzled up to Danny, his head resting on the boy's chest.

As the ex-operative turned to leave, Danny's eyes flickered towards him.

"Wait, I..."

The man in the suit paused. He glanced back at the teen, his brow furrowed in concern.

Danny took a breath, and offered him a small smile.

"Thanks."

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