The trip took much longer than he'd hoped, and he'd been right in assuming he'd wind up taking a ship back. That would have been fine, except the damn thing had sunk  miles out from the shore, forcing him and the other passengers to struggle to shore on planks and leaky lifeboats.

He'd done it though, all without losing a single item from House's order.

He was feeling victorious- Until only a few hours into the last leg of his trip back he'd begun coughing and his body shakey and unsteady by the time he reached Greg's door and began to knock.

He'd invited Greg around. It was his day off from school, and it would be nice to spend some time together- Even if things were complicated right now. Greg was grieving, and Danny was starting to take steps to open his business. Things felt unsteady and strange, but Danny was stubborn, and wanted to try and navigate it all. He wanted to make all of this work somehow.

It had been a nuisance at first. Doors opening on their own, taps running when he knew he'd shut them off. Nasty water in the shower and strange smells lingering in the hall. Things had come to a head tonight, however, when he'd turned on the stove to boil a pot of water, only to have flames come roaring up out of the cooker. 

There had been a panic, but eventually Danny had shut off the gas, only to have the kitchen door swing open behind him and knock him to the ground. Knives had sprung from the block on the counter, scattering around him and only barely missing him.

And then peace again.

Shaking, Danny stepped into the living room and pulled out his phone to call the person he trusted most.

"I need your help, Greg. There's been someone in my home," he whispered.

He'd woken up in his own bed. Alone. Safe. Normal. Danny didn't understand why or what that meant. His first instinct was to call Greg, but his phone wasn't working at all. the screen was shattered and when he plugged it in there was no sign of life.

He supposed he'd have to go get a new one.

Coffee in hand he found himself just walking, past the hospital where Greg should be checking in for his shift, past the flat Hex shared with Flynn and the others, then past the hotel where John had been staying. He could have gone into any off those places, but he just wasn't brave enough to see who was there and who remembered him.

He stared at John's hotel a beat longer, then began to walk again.

 

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.

After getting Fin home, Danny had done the same for himself, getting his homework done at last before calling it a night. House's text was what woke him mid-day. ...Apparently he was getting that lunch after all.

Car still in the shop, Danny took the tube into the city proper, meeting Greg in a diner he'd never been to before.

He spotted House in a booth and went to join him, dumping his bag on the seat beside him as he slid into the booth.

"Rough night?" he quipped.

(from here)

That uncomfortable flutter of nerves hit Danny again, and he was surprised by how hard it was to shake them off before nodding and following after Jack. He'd done this so many times, why was this any different? Perhaps because it had been so long, that was all he could think as he brushed the feelings away and found a smile.

He'd been having nightmares again. Not that they had ever truly stopped, those bad dreams laced with images of the staged room and the trunk. They had never truly left him, they'd just become less frequent. However, ever since Halloween, they were back in full force, with friends now, even. There were new nightmares now, nightmares starring the... The thing he'd seen that night. The strange vision wearing Alex's flesh. A frightening hallucination surely painted by a rough night out, and a tumble back into bad habits and pills.

He'd been doing so well, he'd been looking after himself, but- Ever since that night, he'd been slipping. He did his best to put on a good show for Hex, but when the other man worked the night shift, Danny was back at the bars and the clubs. There were little baggies hidden in his cigarette packs, and dark circles under his eyes. He'd lost weight again, slipping from trim to gaunt, and more than once he'd forgotten to take his meds.

He was a mess, and though he hid it fairly well, he knew it couldn't last. Hex likely already knew something was wrong, it was only a matter of time before it all came crumbling down around him, Just one more fuck up to add to the pile.

It was late, well after midnight, and Danny sat in the middle of the living room floor, half naked and shaking. He'd taken... he'd taken two of the blue and one of the pinks, and that wasn't right. That definitely wasn't right, was it? No, it was... It was supposed to be the other way around. ...Definitely. His heart was going a million miles a minute, and Hex was due home any moment. He just needed to come down. He just needed to come down and go to bed, and then everything would be fine. Hex wouldn't have to know, and tomorrow he'd do better. Tomorrow he'd- He'd stop. Tomorrow he'd do right. He could fix this, he could be better.

He felt cold, and his hands shook as he looked at the last pill in the bag, his paranoia getting the best of him.

They tampered with it. He thought. They did it to Scotty, why not you? They already got you once... It's poison. You took poison.

That's what he had himself convinced of as he lay down on the rug, like a man settling into his grave. The drugs were just drugs though. Not poisoned, not tampered with. ...Just too much for his fragile system to take.

from here

"I packed to stay, remember? Wasn't planning on vanishing in the middle of the night," Danny replied with a slightly cheeky smile.