7/12 Instance: 1 Step Forward, 2 Steps Back

[Ult_Sm86]

[timeline: Current]

Danny: He punched the digits into the phone, pressing the keys strongly and anxiously. He had been waiting for his opportunity to call her, he was surprised at how high-strung they were about contacting your loved ones while in rehab.

Danny: He silently prayed she would answer and prove to him that she hadn't forgotten about him like so many had forgotten about the other ... patients.

Jessica: Jess yelped in surprise as her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and answered it without even looking at the number, "Danny?!"

Danny: "Hey." He said quietly. "Oh man... it's so good to hear your voice Jess."

Jessica: She bit her lip, "Yeah, it's good to hear you too.... I miss you..."

Danny: "I miss you too..." He looked around and held the receiver close to his face. "I'm only allowed 10 minutes. I want to tell you what they are having me do. For the ... like steps."

Jessica: "Oh... okay...." she really should tell him about the assembly but ten minutes wasn't a lot of time and she didn't want to rush it.... "Is this the only ten minutes we get or can you call me tomorrow too?"

Danny: "I can't call you again until I've completed the next step. We get 3 phonecalls for each step." He said. He sounded sad, and distant. "I... I don't know if it's completely fair but first thing they made us understand, we don't make the rules. We only apply them to ourselves."

Jessica: "I don't get it... why only three?" Who were the other two for? "I don't like it here without you..."

Danny: "Babe, it's killing me to be here without you, but I gotta do it. They got me calling the people I've hurt, people who I couldn't set pride aside for during my addiction." He hung his head as he admitted "I am starting with Bobby and Laura. And you."

Jessica: "I... Danny.... Bobby's... he's not here anymore...." she got up from her seat and started pacing.

Danny: "And then I-... wait he what? Where'd he go?" Danny felt his heart sink. "I... I can't," his breath quickened and he felt a pang in his chest. "I really said some bad things... and I did bad things and I let him think it was his fault, and it's not."

Danny: "I need to tell him I'm sorry..."

Jessica: "He... he took the fall for the team, Danny.... SHIELD have him now... he did it to save everyone else... This isn't your fault."

Danny: "He what?" Danny felt his eyes swell. "He can't do that... it was all of us! It was me!" He nearly shouted. An orderly near by eyed him. He calmed himself down and whispered into the phone. "He didn't have to do that... It's not right, it's not fair."

Jessica: "I know... but it's done... and there's nothing anyone can do about it now without putting the whole school in danger.... I'm sure he wasn't angry with you, Danny..."

Danny: The pressure of getting it right, going about the steps the right way, had been like a vice on his mind while he slept, squeezing all of the terrible things he had every done to anyone out and spilling into his dreams, causing them to churn and boil over into nightmares. He was haunted by his mistakes. And he was determined to remedy them.

Danny: "What-what about Laura?" He asked quickly. "She's still around right?"

Jessica: "Mmhmm, she's around... still asking questions... tried to teach her about cloud shapes but that didn't go very well... I think she's mad at me."

Danny: "Mad at you? About what?" He asked, confused.

Jessica: "About the clouds thing... I was trying to get her to stop using her head and start using her heart... It backfired."

Danny: "That sounds ... good. Angry is good, at least she's displaying an emotion. I won't tell her this, but I'm glad I got to her that night. It shows she's got some kind of nerve under that skin, no matter how thick it is." He realize worrying about Laura's problems socializing was irrelevant.

Danny: "But... I only have like 8 more minutes. I need to tell you what I've should've told you since the beginning."

Jessica: "Since the beginning of what? Danny... if you're going to use the l word again I have to warn you that I might just hang up..."

Danny: "No, please don't. I just... I need to get this out, please. I have made a lot of mistakes, Jess. A lot of them. And I have screwed up and I have turned a lot of people against me, but the one person who matters most to me is you. Because you're the one singular decision I can look back on, besides coming to XU, that I can safely say was the right decision."

Danny: "I am afraid..." He was reading off a piece of paper now because he knew he'd get choked up at this part. And right on cue, he did. "I am afraid that if I had continued my behavior and my antics I would have lost you and then there would have been no reason to get better. And right now, the main reason I want to get healthy is for you. You're the reason I'm here, no... wait... you're the reason I'm going to come back."

Danny: He felt tears fall down his cheek and wiped them away. "I am sorry."

Jessica: Jess took a deep breath to compose herself, "You haven't anything to be sorry for, Danny.... I already forgave it... I lost my temper I did and I was angry for ages but that's gone now... Now I'm just worried about you and I miss you... I want you to come home so just... do what they want you to do and come home to me..."

Danny: "I promise I will." He swore. "I just... I need to get over these shakes. I didn't think I was so addicted, I'm not half as bad as most of the people here and yet I'm still having shakes. I threw up my first two nights..." He actually had grown a bit of a beard and had picked up guitar from his room mate. He was regaled with stories of cabins in the Rockies, being alone to yourself and nature. Then in session, the meth stories came out and the cabin didn't sound all that great anymore.

Danny: "Jess, just know... I'm still going to be Danny... I still will lov-... I will still want you. But... I might be different. There's a great change occurring here. I won't be a different person on the inside, not entirely, but I'll hopefully strive to be a better one. But... I'm just trying to keep my chin up about it, I guess."

Jessica: "As long as you come home we can figure out all the details then. I don't care what else happens, I just want you to be happy and well... that's all..." She sat down on the wall and ran a hand through her hair. She needed to say it. "Danny... something else happened recently... there was an assembly about X-force... that's how we heard what happened with Bobby...."

Danny: "What did they say?" He asked. He noticed Corey coming over to the phone booth. Corey liked being called Chili-Dawg. Or C-Dawg. He went to the box and began to knock on it. "Yo, Raaaandyyy, hurry up man I need to speak to my little broski."

Danny: Danny nodded, holding up his index finger and mouthing "One second, man." C-Dawg didn't like that. "Come on man! I'm really stressed out here, dude, you need to open da fuck up and let me in there. I need to hear his voice, make sure he's not in trouble." Danny nodded again, understanding but not wanting to miss what Jess had to tell him.

Danny: C-Dawg knocked harder on the glass, practically banging "Yo! Let me in, gangsta!"

Jessica: Jess could hear everything going on on the other end of the line, "What is his problem? Can't he wait five more minutes?"

Danny: "Jess, I can't-..." He tried to indicate once again to C-Dawg to hold off. He looked to the orderly who was getting interested as well. She had her hand open, hovering over the phone at her desk. "I can't hear you Jess... speak up."

Danny: "I said hurry up!" He shouted. "You want me to fuck you up Randy!? You want me to toss your ass out in the night and watch you go tumbling down the fucking hill into cactuses and shit!"

Jessica: "It- It doesn't matter, it can wait..." It was going to have to.

Danny: "No, I want to know..." He started but C-Dawg had started to try to pry the doors open. Immediately the orderly called the security and the larger nurses over, who were good at restraining. She rushed over and started berating C-Dawg.

Danny: "I'mma fuck you up Randy!" Danny dropped the phone, letting it swing back and forth from the chord. He pressed himself into the corner. "Let's talk this out, C-Dawg, this is silly. You don't need to do this, your'e gonna set your recovery back!"

Danny: Suddenly a shiv appeared in C-Dawg's hand as his arm squeezed through the doors, pushing them open. It slashed at Danny who used his reflexes to knock it back and out of his hand. Suddenly his fists began to glow a bubbly, smokey black. "No!" He shouted. "No! Nononono! NOT black! No! I got it out!"

Jessica: "Danny?!" Jess yellled down the phone, "What's happening?!" This was maddening! She wanted to be there and help him!

Danny: Danny dropped to his knees waiting for someone to come up and just ... help him. Help him get it out. He wanted Jess. He called to her, but C-Dawg was being restrained halfway in the booth and they were starting to pull the weeping Danny out, dragging them both down opposite ends of the hall. As C-Dawg shrieked for his brother's safety, Danny called to Jess that he was sorry. The orderly frowned as she picked up the phone.

Danny: "He'll have to call you back, love. I'm sorry." She then hung up.

Jessica: Jess resisted hurling her phone towards the woods, instead stuffing it back in her pocket and hitting the wall. She took a large chunk out of it. This whole thing sucked.

[Slarti]

[Starfish]

So many dysfunctional relationships; my inner llama is pleased.