I Saw the Lights Go Out

I Believe the Lost is Something

The door creaked open and Dan lifted his head at the noise. His eyes felt sore and puffy from the crying he'd done last night, and he knew he must look like shit. His eye was swollen and bruised, the other most likely red rimmed and watery. He had a bruise on his left cheek, his jaw was swollen and he still had days old dried blood on his stomach. His hair was greasy, he most likely had patches of stubble, and he knew he smelt. He may not be sitting in his own piss and shit due to his daily bathroom allowance (they untied him once a day and escorted him to a bathroom where he'd be awkwardly watched by some unnamed guard as he did his business.)

Dan was a mess.

"Come to beat me up more?" He croaked, hoping beyond hope that whoever it was would just go away. The door closed, and for one faithful moment, Dan thought he'd gotten his wish, but then the person spoke and Dan's whole world came crashing to a halt.

"Why would I do that, Danny?"

Dan's head snapped up, tears immediately springing to his eyes. His head began to spin as emotion after emotion flooded his brain, he could hear the blood rushing in his ears as his heart rate picked up tenfold. It couldn't be? It wasn't possible. The person walked into Dan's line of sight and crouched down, and Dan almost fainted then and there. It was. Alexander Howell's eyes had not changed since Dan last saw them over twelve years ago, they were still exactly the same colour as his own. Alex smiled as Dan stared at his big brother, presumed dead for twelve years.

"How?" Dan whispered, tears once again making tracks down his chin.

Alex shook his head forlornly and looked at someone behind Dan, "Can we untie him please?"

Dan was suddenly embarrassed, it was one thing crying in front of his big brother, but there was someone else there witnessing him cry. He couldn't show anybody else weakness. He felt hands at his wrists as whoever it was untied his bonds, and suddenly he was falling forward, slumping into his brother's arms - his dead brother's arms. Dan was so confused, his addled brain couldn't comprehend how his brother was really here, he felt real, and even smelt real. Dan was 100% sure he was real, but he just couldn't understand how that was possible.

"You're dead." He whispered into his brother's shoulder. "You were dead." He sobbed, his brothers hands were threading through Dan's hair as he cried, just like when Dan was really young and he hurt himself during training. "They told me you were dead. T-twelve years, I-I t-thought you were gone."

"I know, I know, Danny" His brother shushed, rocking Dan back and forth as they embraced awkwardly on the floor. Dan completely forgot about the other person as he openly cried on his brother's shoulder. "But I'm here now. I'm not dead. They lied.

"I'm not dead."

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Dan woke up sometime later, his head resting in his brother's lap, they were still on the floor.

"So why didn't you tell us he was your brother?" someone asked, it was Phil. Phil was the other person in the room.

"You wouldn't have trusted me if I'd told you I was the eldest son of the leader of the Government."

"I would've given you a chance!" Phil protested.

"Yeah, I know you would've, Phil. But do you really think Emma - or anyone else for that matter - wouldn't ave blown my head off the second I told her who I really was?"

Phil didn't say anything, and Dan felt it was about time he let them know he was awake.

"Emma would have eviscerated you." He said, pulling himself up into a sitting position - with some difficulty, due to his stiff joints. He had a slight headache from crying so much, but it was nothing compared to the other pains he was currently experiencing (too many to list). He noted that sometime while he was sleeping, someone had cleaned the blood off of his hands, stomach and face, and also untied the rope around his ankles. Dan was extremely thankful for this.