The Deal | Dan x Reader 1930's Mobster AU

Flames

So I *cough* set the penthouse on fire in the last chapter, and that's not even the most dramatic thing that's going to happen, trust me, but like-- don't be mad.

Also sorry I forgot to upload this earlier I got caught up in supernatural.

😬

Enjoy~

(Y/n)'s POV

My vision focused, my heart slowing. My ears began to ring, a shrill screaming echo. I can still hear the silence through it all, making me feel empty. A bright light in front of me is blinding and hurts my eyes, keeping me from seeing into the center of where I am. There are no boundaries around me either. Everything seemed to be flooded with the golden-white light, glass like fragility and appearance that I was floating in. Rainbow reflecting orbs hung in the air with the silence and I took a step forward.

My whole world shifted with me, though my legs stayed numb. I had no floor to ground me, and I felt hopeless, like floating through space with unfamiliar stars to keep me company. Yet I'm so alone. The room was stationary, but shifted with each movement I made, in my blinded vision.

I reached out to a glassy water orb, my finger tips resting on the surface. They sent ripples through it, like a stone breaking the surface tension of a pond. A ringing sound resonated when I pulled it away from its spot, a blurry image replaying across the surface of the droplet cupped in my palms. There was a repeating clip of Andrea and Dan, holding each other, bathed in similar light that was all around me.

I let it roll off my hand, it resuming its place among the rest. I picked another one, another of Dan and Andrea. I felt a panic arise in my throat and I felt myself shake picking up another. It was just Andrea and the man who had come for peace. I shoved it away, snatching another.

Was I in my mind? Trapped in my own head?

This one was running, breathing heavy, and I felt the feeling of the supposed memory spreading from my palms where I held the orb to my arms and my chest, through my legs. My breath felt heavy and filled with smoke and I began to choke, watching flames inside the orb flicker and spread, the feelings of heat engulfing me. The film finished with a crash and went black and I dropped it, my body shaking violently.

I can't breathe.

The orb dropped and shattered, shards of water, sticking into my skin, making me collapse, into a pool of my own blood. I was suffocating, curling in pain, my vision blurring. A scream leapt up into my throat, crushed by the feeling of it tightening as the bright light in the center began to grow, sucking me up into its fire.

I reached out the best I could to save myself, seeing no one.

Everything closed in and all was black.

Dan's POV

I sat beside Phil in the tiny waiting room of the infirmary. I stared ahead, my face shifted into a solemn and angry face. My elbows dug into my thighs, just about my knees, but I didn't shift them. My lungs were achy, probably trying to filter out whatever black smoke was stuck to their walls. I felt the urge to cough, but I just sat there with my mouth zipped shut. Everything in the infirmary was quiet except for the buzz in the rooms behind a wall. My toes tapped inside my shoes, and I held the urge to scream inside my mouth, under my tongue.

"Mr. Howell?" I glanced towards a nurse in the receptionist desk, and she waved to the door into the patient occupancy room. I stood up, shoving my hands in my pockets, and Phil stood with me. We both walked in, Phil trailing slightly behind. I walked down the aisle between beds on either wall, paper curtain partitions in between each. I walked to a closed one pulling one end open. A nurse glanced up, holding a bowl and a cotton pad, moving to unblock the patient.

I swallowed shakily, licking my lips to let out a breath as well afterwards. My eyebrows dove inwards and my eyelids began to blink irregularly and frequently to keep from my eyes watering. My jaw quivered and I locked it looking away as the nurse left. I placed my thumb on my lip, glancing back at her.

(Y/n) was pale in the spots that weren't burnt or covered in a light layer of ash. A blanket covered her still body, eyelids shut tightly almost as if she were in pain. Her chest rose with a light wheeze from the dust in her lungs. She was still alive. She had a large burn, on her forehead, a faint outline of blood still dropped down the side of her face. There was dark purple underneath her eyes and her hair was tangled and singed. Bruised and cuts all along her face, still covered in dirt.

An image of a piece of wood laid across her stomach came to mind and I approached slowly, still stone faced. I pulled back the blanket and her torso, littered with burn divots and cuts in the skin, was wrapped around just the center, where the wood had been. I covered her back up and turned my back to her, looking at Phil. He had been watching in horror behind me.

"Ph--"

"She won't."

"Look at her Phil, we might as well just put her out of her misery."

"She's not going to die Dan."

"That's what the doctors said about my mum," I hissed, brushing past him.

"Dan!" He called for me and I just walked away, down the aisle again. Was it fair to kill her the same way this world killed my mom? No. It wasn't fair to me, or to her. Was it because she was around me?

How could they both leave me, in flames?

"Dan, come on, I know what happened to your mom was impossible for you, but look at you now, and I have a good feeling about (y/n) and I don't think she'll die. You don't have to believe me, but please stay with her, and I'll go sort everything else out," Phil said, and I glanced down at my feet. I didn't say anything, just turning around.

It seemed good enough for Phil.

I returned to the bed, where she still laid, unconscious and suffering. I took her red and black hands, shaking slightly, and wrapped my fingers between hers. Hers remained limp in mine.

I'm no good for you.

And yet you stay.

So I might as well stay for you too.

~Calymari