House

[london_spy]

It was a strange series of events that had led him here, and as he sat in the waiting room of the local A&E, Danny went back through it all hour by hour.

6PM: With class out Danny was back to hunting for the lunatic who'd been targeting fellow students, drugging them and then dumping them at home with no sign of sexual or physical assault. He'd stopped home, changed into club clothes, and set out.

7PM: he'd been walking from the tube to the club when a car started driving along side him- A familiar car. Rich's car.

The window came down, and Rich leaned out. "Get in," the man said, prompting Danny to flip him off. 

Rich laughed, then spoke again. "I know who you're after- If you want them, get in the damn car, Danny."

8PM: Rich had dumped him down the block, having given him a list of what he knew. Apparently he wasn't a fan of this guy either, and while Danny wouldn't consider him a trustworthy source, it wasn't like he had much more to go off.

9PM: He'd headed into the club, spoken to someone Rich had suggested might be in on it all, and had let himself have a drink or two so he didn't stand out like a sore thumb.

10PM: Okay, maybe a drink too many.

11PM: He'd called a car, apparently now was the prime time. He'd used the correct service and rejected drivers until he found one who seemed to fit the bill.

11:15PM: The man had complementary water. It was sealed, and so he took one.

11:30PM: Everything was slow. Fuzzy. 

<i>I warned you. STOP. FOLLOWING. ME.</i>

Was it midnight now? Danny squinted at the clock. He was still drugged, not bleeding, but he was certain his ribs were broken and his left eye was struggling to focus. But he had to wait. They said he had to wait.

His hand was shaking as he pulled out his phone. The screen was shattered but it was still working. Should he call someone? Text someone? No, best not. Best to just go it alone.

Comments

[london_spy]

"They fried my laptop. I can't pull the GPS data until I repair or replace it," Danny said, leaning back on the sofa.

[drfeelbad]

"And I definitely shouldn't be happy about that," House said.

[london_spy]

"He might kill someone, Greg. He might have already," Danny said quietly.

[drfeelbad]

House looked at him for a second and said, "... okay, look. There's a favor I can cash in. Someone who works for, uh, law enforcement. Specializes in this kind of thing, maybe. If I ask them to look into this, will you take off the batsuit?"

[london_spy]

Danny sighed, raking his fingers through his hair.

"Fine, yeah, sure," he lied. "It's not like I can do anything tonight."

[drfeelbad]

When House was stuck in that place bored out of his mind, he was happy to play doctor whenever he could. So when stupidly hot guy who swam in the ocean too much got bitten by a jellyfish but hadn't noticed and didn't know what was causing his symptoms, House had been happy to help out of sheer boredom but was also happy to accept the implication of an owed favor. And a cell number, though at that point it was almost a joke because neither of them thought they'd be leaving that place anytime soon.

"Here," House said, handing Danny his phone with the notes app open. "Write down everything you know."

[london_spy]

Danny hesitated- But what could it hurt to tell a cop. Even if he didn't trust them to get anything done, he could do his own investigating tomorrow.

Taking Greg's phone he typed it all out before passing it back.

"I just want to help," he said quietly.

[drfeelbad]

"I know," said House. "And it's quite... noble, but right now you're in no condition to go fight crime. How are you feeling?"

[london_spy]

"Sober, I think," Danny replied. "Sore. Angry. ...Look, you don't have to stay, I'm sure you want to get home to James, so- You can leave if you want."

[drfeelbad]

"I'm not in a hurry," House said. "I'd like to stay until you're down from whatever that drug was." Pause. "I mean, if that's okay."

[london_spy]

It was still hard to be around Greg, but Danny was also just selfish enough to like the idea he wanted to stay and keep an eye on him.

"Yeah, okay. ...Might want to but a pot of coffee on though."

[drfeelbad]

"You do that, and I'll send this," House said, taking back his phone and trying to find James' number.

[london_spy]

Danny nodded, but took out his own phone as he wandered into the kitchen. He sent a quick text to Hex, updating him and asking to see him tomorrow, before locking his phone and plugging it in to charge.

With the coffee brewing, he wandered back into the living room with a box of leftover pizza from the night before.

"You think I'll have to paint over that?" he asked, nodding at the misspelled warning on the wall. "Don't think you can scrub away spray paint."

[drfeelbad]

"Probably," House said. He'd set his phone on the table and was waiting for Bond to reply. He'd also texted Wilson to tell him that he was being held up at work. He really didn't want to end up talking about Danny.

He reached for a piece of pizza.

[london_spy]

"I've never painted before. Is it hard?" Danny asked as he wandered into the kitchen, returning a beat later with two coffees and sitting down.

[drfeelbad]

"That depends on how much of a perfectionist you are," House said as he ate the slice of pizza.

[london_spy]

"I'm not really at all," Danny admitted, taking a slice as well and carefully settling in on the sofa, mindful of his ribs.

[drfeelbad]

House's phone vibrated on the table, and he picked it up.

A response from Bond: Meet me at the fountain at Piccadilly circus. 1 hour.

House sighed. He supposed he could tell him to wait, but... "My law enforcement acquaintance has offered to meet me," he said. "Now. I suppose you want to go?" He felt better about that, than sending Danny off on his own to do who knows what. And at least this way he might be convinced that something would get done. From what House remembered of Bond, he definitely put off an air of... competence.

[london_spy]

"Yes," Danny said instantly, food forgotten in favour of getting something done.

[drfeelbad]

"All right," said House. "In that case..." He glanced at his watch. "We have to be at Picadilly Circus in an hour."

[london_spy]

"Yeah, no, that's good," Danny nodded. "I'll get changed and I can drive- Or maybe you should drive," he admitted, pushing his hair back and getting to his feet.

[drfeelbad]

"I can drive," House assured him, and picked up the coffee to take a drink.

[london_spy]

Danny vanished and returned a while later, dressed in a simple black t-shirt, clean trousers, and a pair of old work boots. He'd adjusted his bandages and cleaned up a bit, looking bruised but slightly less worse the wear.

"Should we go? Get there early?" he suggested.

[drfeelbad]

"Sit and finish your coffee first," House suggested. He'd already texted Wilson to tell him it would be even longer than he thought, because he had to run some errands after work.

[london_spy]

"I don't want coffee, I want to do this," Danny insisted.