Log: Hank/Dani

[x-mirage.livejournal.com]

Before Dani sees Dr. Barlet's post, Hank goes to visit her and break the news of his departure to her personally. She does not take it well. yay understatement.



Playing DDR wasn't the most useful of pasttimes, but it was certainly a fun one now that Dani understood how to turn it on. She would never admit it, but some of the songs were sort of catching. "Hey, Dr. McCoy," she said as the song ended and she stepped off the game-pad. "What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping we could have a word," he said quietly. This wasn't going to be easy, for either of them, but... well. No sense putting it off. "Somewhere a bit more private, I think."

Nodding, Dani wiped her face on her t-shirt and followed him back to her room. He was nervous, that much was obvious, although she had no idea about what. "Billy's okay, ain't he?" she asked carefully, frowning a little because she had to ask him and did not actually know.

"He's fine. This is about him, though." Hank waited until the door was closed, and took a deep breath. "Maddie... has been offered a position away from the school, which she wants to take," he said quietly. "And... well. I want to go with her. I hadn't anticipated leaving anything like so soon, although I'd assumed that you and I would both leave the school eventually..."

Dani sat down hard on the couch and stared, "You're leaving Billy here?" she asked, shocked. She couldn't believe that he was leaving. She had seen less of him recently, but that was understandable, "I can't...I mean....my powers..unstable...you can't do that!"

"No, of course not!" Hank took a deep breath. "I'm going to take him with me. I... Dani, I honestly believe he'll be safer away from the mansion. After everything that's happened, since his birth alone - and I'd make sure you got to see him, if you wanted to, although not as often as if I were living here."

"Of course," Dani took a shakey breath, that made much more sense."You...have to do what's best....Hank," this was the first time she had called him by his given name. Tears began to slide down her face and wiped them away hastily with the back of her hand. She didn't want him to see her cry now.

"Oh, Dani... I'm sorry," Hank said miserably. "I know this isn't quite how we planned things, when I adopted him. But, I've been alone for a long time, and the thought of losing Maddie when I've finally found her - I can't let her go now." He offered her a handkerchief. "I feel like a selfish wretch, taking Billy away so abruptly, but given that I'm going to feel that way no matter whatI do, the 'happy and safe' option does seem like the best one." And... as much as he wanted Billy to know his birth-mother, and for Dani not to feel too cut off, Maddie meant more.

This shouldn't've been so surprising, if there was one thing she had learned early on in life it was that people you love go away or they die. Either way, they left you alone. "I don't want to see him," she said dully to the carpet, trying to keep her voice from wavering. "Nothing."

"I think maybe you should take some time to think about it, before you decide that," he said gently. "We're not going away forever, and if nothing else, we're going to be coming back at least a few times a year to visit family - which does include you, unless you decide you don't want it to. We'll be in Scotland for at least a while, not too terribly far from Muir, and if anything did happen, I could be here - or you could be there - in a few hours. I don't want you to be cut off from him just because of a little thing like geographical distance. I've always travelled, for work, but that doesn't mean I won't come back again."

Dani shook her head, thankful her hair was long enough to hide behind again, "Don't act like I'm a chidl. I can make my own decisions," she was getting angry now. She was sick and tired of everyone being taken away or going away or being given away, "You said you were gonna raise him Ind'n, you said he would know his heritage. He ain't gonna know nothin' if he's in Scotland! He's gonna think he's some tanned whiteman and have short hair and not know the buffalo or what a medicine wheel is!"

"Dani, I'd be telling you to think this over before you make any rash decisions if you were Nathan's age. It's one of the things doctors are trained to say, like 'put out your tongue and say ah', and 'how long has that been green?'." He sighed. "And Dani... this isn't forever. I have no intention of keeping him in Scotland - without access to television, books, or visits to family - until he's twenty-one. I promised you that he would learn about his heritage, and he will. Right now, though, I don't think he's even noticed that people come in a specific range of colours. I think teaching him about his cultural history can wait until he can sit up on his own."

Logic had no place in Dani's usually logical brain at the moment and she scowled, undeterred by Hank's attempts to placate her. "Do whatever you want," she replied cooly, standing and heading towards her room, "You're his father."


"And you are his mother." Hank sighed. "Dani... I'm sorry. I really am. I'll stay in touch, and if you ever need either of us, I promise, we'll be here as fast as we can."

"No, I'm not," Dani snapped back, "I'm not his mother. Dr. Bartlet is or whoever you marry. She will be his mother. I ain't. A mother is more than just someone who gives birth. That ain't special, women have been doing it forever. Being a mother - that's special."

"I... maybe." Hank sighed. "I'm sorry, Dani. I really am."

"Me too," she said the words quietly, closing the door to her bedroom securely behind her. As far as she was concerned, this conversation was over.

Comments

[x-madelyn.livejournal.com]

Ow.

Um, sorry?

[x-mirage.livejournal.com]

me: oh don't apologize, it's for the best and works out so well right now. I just wouldn't try to approach dani if I was maddie!

dani: *thinks words she does not use*