No Man's Land (Private)

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera turned her attention to the cat. Gently she ran her hand along the cat's back, enjoying the comfort that it offered. She missed her dog, but perhaps a cat wasn't so bad either. She tried to think on what she needed to do. She had to go back to the band, that was her job, that was her career... it was everything she had ever dreamed of...
She tried to listen to Bowen, but in the end, couldn't hear anything.

[Muffinsquire]

"Yeah, I've got her here at the aparmtment," Bowen assured Danny upon calling him. "She's alright for now, I think. She isn't saying much, although she's little upset."
Danny nodded, feeling his stomach settle al ittle with his relief at hearing about Sera's safety. "Good..." he said. "Tell her to call me....just whenever she's ready. Thanks, Bowen."
"No problem," said Bowen with a shrug. They said their parting words then Bowen hung up and headed back into the living room. "Danny said to call him when you feel better. You can watch the screen if you want. The remote's right there on the table." He pointed to the coffee table in front of her before realizing what else was sitting on the table as well. It was a beheaded, robotic bird, one Bowen had been studying ever since the incident in No Man's Land.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera looked up as Bowen came back in. She shook her head whenever he spoke of the screen. She wasn't really in the mood for watching it anyway. She was enjoying Bowen's pet. She had tried not to pay attention to what was on the table not too far away from her to begin with and wouldn't worry about it now.
"What's its name?" she asked, referring to the cat.

[Muffinsquire]

"Her name's Antoinette," Bowen answered, watching the two of them for a moment. "She's really friendly." He fell silent for a moment, not really knowing what else to do. "What anything else to eat or drink?"
He noticed she didn't really respond about calling Danny, but she didn't seem much in the mood to talk at all.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

"That's a beautiful name..." Sera told Bowen. She looked down toward the cat and repeated the name as she smiled softly. "And... can I have another glass-full please?" she asked of him. She knew that drinking wasn't the best idea, for it was sort of what had gotten her in trouble with Kyle, but she just really wanted to drink.

[Muffinsquire]

"Just one more," Bowen replied as he took her glass and moved into the kitchen to refill it. "You can go get some sleep if you want," he told her after handing her drink back. "There's a spare bedroom and bathroom through that door." He pointed to their left.
As the rest of the day passed Danny slept lightly throughout the day while he waited on Sera to call, disturbed every now and then by coughing and nausea. His fever was running very high and his cold chills did not want to decline. His mother made sure he kept hydrated though.
There were times when he had been tempted to try calling her, but knew he needed to keep his patience. She would talk when she was ready.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera finally went back into the guest bedroom. She pulled out her communicator and stared at it for the longest time, just really staring at it.
Finally, she dialed Danny's number and waited for him to pick up. She still felt terrible and knew that she'd probably just fall to sleep after talking to him.

[Muffinsquire]

Danny was stirred awake by his communicator. He turned his head to see what was making the noise, thinking it was just a noise for a moment. But then he read Sera's name across the screen and became more aware of what was going on. With a little effort he reached over and pushed the button to answer her call, then sat up a little bit.
"Sera..." he said and smiled softly. He was happy and relieved to see her face, although she did appear to be in bad shape.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera was quiet at first as she rubbed her arm a little nervously.
"Hey," she said softly. "You don't... look so good.... I can call you back at a different time... whenever you're feeling better," Sera tried to make up some excuse. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to Danny, but more of the fact that she was scared to. What would he think of her now? He's probably insist on her leaving the band, and then they'd have clashing opinions on that.

[Muffinsquire]

"I'm sorry...I look terrible," he said with a weak smile. "But if you waited...it would probably be a couple of days. But this ain't about me...are you alright, sweetheart?" He noticed himself that she had some rather fresh bruises, something that kindled his anger. But he wasn't going to press her hard for information, knowing she must have been through something traumatic.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera bit her bottom lip and sniffled softly before nodding her head.
"Yeah... I'm okay," she whispered to him. Of course they both understood that was a lie, but it was all that she could tell him at the moment. Did he really expect her to answer no?
"I... didn't want you... getting involved," she finally told him. She had wanted to keep all of this a secret from Danny. She loved Danny and she didn't like hurting him.

[Muffinsquire]

"And what would happen if I didn't," Danny asked. "I'm glad I called when I did...it hurts me to think he's treatin' you like this...when I'm not there to protect you. Does the rest of the band know 'bout this? They would help you too." He could tell she was getting upset, which also made him feel bad. He wished he could reach through the screen and touch her face, but then again he didn't want her getting sick either.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

"This wasn't... the first time," Sera whispered, her eyes looking away from Danny, for she could feel the shame creeping over her. "I haven't told anyone... I can handle it myself..." Sera tried to tell him. She didn't know exactly what to tell Danny, for she knew this was hard for him as well.
"Danny... I don't think... we should be together anymore..." Sera said softly. "I don't want... you getting hurt over this... when you have nothing to do with it..."

[Muffinsquire]

"What," Danny inquired, shocked to hear this. He sat up a little more, as well as he could. "How can you say you can handle it if you keep lettin' it happen? Why didn't you tell when it started? I could've help, sweetheart. We can talk this ove-"
He interrupted himself with a small fit of coughing before quieting himself again.
"Sera...you can't let'em treat you like this..."

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera recoiled softly and still didn't want to look toward Danny.
"Danny... I really.... really like this job... and I have to put up with it right now," she said extra softly. "I don't want you worrying about this... and I don't want you worrying about me..." she tried to tell him.