Daniel's expression changed, his face paled and panic seemed to bubble up to the surface. His brown eyes darted back to where he had come from. "I... She said she'd look after them. I didn't want to but I needed to know it was you first. If it wasn't..." There was a soft, quick flicking sound as his right thumb rubbed his right ring finger over and over, the skin looked raw in the torchlight. "If it wasn't, Jessie wouldn't have to go through that."
"It is me, and you still do that, so I'm still just me." Shine murmured. "And Honey will."
"Then she's up at... Honey's," he replied, tripping over the name. "And you're not just. You never were."
"Then what was I?"
"Someone who deserved better. Who I should have told sooner."
"Told me what?"
"That I love you."
"I loved you too, still do," Shine wrapped her arms around herself.
Daniel looked at her, standing there like that before he reached for her. "I love you, Angel. I'm sorry I was complete idiot."
Shine moved into his arms. "Yeah, you really were."
He wrapped his arms back around her. "I know." He turned his head and kissed her temple. "Do you want to come back up there with me?" He really needed to check the kids were ago, he could feel the anxiety of being away from them tightening his chest.
She nodded, sagging into him. "You're really real?"
"I am. I really am." He reached out a shaky hand to brush the hair from her face and tuck it behind her ear. "You definitely are, right?"
"Yeah," she tried to pull her arms from around his neck, not wanting him to see the scarring.
Daniel felt her arms move to his waist and he unconsciously leaned away, not wanting her to feel how thin he was beneath the heavy coat and layers of clothing. "So, back to Honey's?"
Shine nodded. "I need to see Jess"
He lips quirked into a faint smile and he nodded. "Right. I think I came from this direction." He turned and took a step and a hiss of pain left him as he put weight through the ankle he had turned earlier.
"What did you do?" Shine asked
"I think I step in a hole or something just before you spoke," he muttered. "It's fine, just a twist."
"You'll need help to get back up there," Shine murmured. "I should fetch Buck."
"I'm fine. I'll just tighten my boot," he said, dropping into a crouch to do so.
"Are you sure? Most of the others are stronger than me," Shine murmured
He pulled the laces as tight as he could, tying them before he stood up again. "It's not the first ankle I've turned since leaving." He gingerly tested his weight through it, grimacing but he was pretty sure he could manage.
"We have a lot to talk about, about while we've been apart," Shine replied. She held out an arm to him. "Lean on me?"
"We do." He nodded and shifted to do so. "Sorry."
"For having to be close, no problem."
He quirked a faint smile, his lips and facial muscles straining under the action as if unused. "At least it isn't that far."
"And she'll have fed and watered them. She's nice like that," Shine replied
"They were asleep. They'll be out for hours." The two children had been exhausted. They all were. Daniel just pushed himself through it to make sure Jessie and Dylan were OK.
"Who else is there?" She tensed
Daniel was concentrating on walking. "Huh?"
"You said they?"
"Oh. Oh! Yes. Jessie and Dylan."
"Sam's boy? So they..." Shine's voice shook
Daniel nodded, his face sombre.
Shine bit back a sob. "Does Jess want to see me?"
"Course she does. It's why we're here."
"Because Jess wants me?"
"Because we do."
Shine kissed him again. "Then let's go."
Daniel quirked a small smile and nodded. He began to walk again. Well, hobble. His ankle really did throb but he could ignore it right now.
"I never thought you'd come," Shine muttered
"I started to think we'd never reach here... That you wouldn't be here..." Daniel admitted. He hoped the kids were OK. That they hadn't had any nightmares while he'd been gone. He didn't know if this Honey would be able to quell the panic that would rise if they woke to find him missing.