Half Life

Promises

Hoarse, raspy breathing was the first thing Danny heard. His eyes felt like they were sealed shut, they were so heavy. Confused images and sounds surfaced in his memory. The pieces of his recent past began to fall into place as he struggled to open his tired eyes. 

Shuttle... inspections. Space Corps had come for him. Sam and Tucker. A tank? Forgotten memories brought back to life. Tubes and wires and tangles of blood and plasma.

He forced his eyes open, realizing as he did so that the horrible sound of rattling breath was his own. The breathing mask and tubes had been removed, leaving his throat raw and painful. Danny coughed, wincing at the waves of pain this triggered in his throat and lungs. A taste of blood trickled through his mouth. Danny swallowed painfully, letting his eyes adapt to his surroundings. 

He was lying on a stiff bed in a small room. There were no furnishings apart from one chair sitting against the wall. The overhead lights were off, but dim illumination shone in from the door's small window. There were no monitors or needles to be seen. But somehow this quiet darkness made him more uneasy than it should have.

Danny slowly sat up , leaning against the wall for support. His head throbbed painfully with every beat of his heart. He still felt as disoriented and dizzy as he had in that plasma tank. It was hard to string thoughts together.

The door handle to his room clicked.

Danny slid out of bed and stood as straight as he could against the wall. They would not come in on him weak and helpless!

A sudden light turned on, blinding him with its abrupt brightness. He shielded his face with one hand, snarling at his unseen intruder. 

"Danny!"

He felt his heart stop. 

"J-Jazz?" he croaked, squinting through the light. Her familiar tight embrace confirmed that it was indeed his sister. Tears, both from the light and the sudden comfort welled up in his eyes. He held onto Jazz like she was the only thing keeping him standing. 

"Danny! Oh my gosh we were so worried! We didn't know- they didn't say... what did they do to you?" Jazz gasped, herding him back to the bed and forcing him to sit down. 

Danny shook his head. "I don't know."

"Danny... oh Danny! Your arms," Jazz choked, one hand covering her mouth in horror. 

Danny looked down at himself for the first time. The black bodysuit he had had in the tank was gone, replaced with a simple short sleeved shirt and sweats. But his spray tan had been completely washed away, revealing his pale green skin for the first time in years. Jazz gently touched the multiple puncture wounds that dug into his arms. Danny could see immediately that these would never completely heal. He would carry the scars of the testing for as long as he lived. 

"Are you okay?" Danny croaked, stifling back another coughing fit. "Did they hurt you?"

"No, but they hurt you!" Jazz said. "This isn't right. This isn't what Space Corps is supposed to be about. We help aliens and planets in need, not hunt them down! Danny, whatever you do, whatever happens, you can't tell them how you survived."

"But I don't know how I survived!" 

"Danny, they'll make you remember. But you can't tell them. You have to promise me that even if they threaten to hurt me or mom or dad or your friends-"

"They have everyone?" Danny gasped.

The door opened again. 

"Time's up," one of the armed guards announced. They moved in to take Jazz.

"Danny, promise me that you won't be blackmailed into this!" Jazz urged, grabbing hold of Danny's shoulders. The guards grabbed her roughly and dragged her away from Danny. 

"Danny, promise!" she pleaded, her blue eyes sparkling with desperate tears. The next moment she was gone, the door slammed, the lights darkened once again. 

Danny sat, frozen and stunned on his bed. Everyone... Space Corps had all his family and friends. And now he knew they had no inhibitions about using force. He slid off the bed and curled against the wall. 

"I'm sorry Jazz," he whispered to the indifferent darkness. "I can't make that promise."