The shadow of the dual mountains embraced the exhausted members of Vanguard as evening approached. The waterfall, rising a good five-hundred feet up, steadily poured crystal blue coolness into the wide collecting pool. Running off in twin streams on either side, the mountain water plunged off a three-thousand-foot drop into the thin mist below.
Danny stood ankle-deep in the icy water, peering over the side with great care. After a moment, he leaned back up, realizing that the team was secluded on an enormous precipace, halfway up a mountain range. Thick, untouched grass covered the ground, a few trees dotting around the perimeter of the wading pool.
Hearn said nothing. He thought nothing. Merely, Danny stared out over the vast horizon before them, drinking deeply the calmness of the moment. The sheer serenity of nothing but the rushing water, and the few screeches of birds far, far in the distance.
Sam strolled up next to him, his feet remaining on the grassy blanket of earth. He opened his mouth to speak, and paused almost immediately.
He and Danny had known each other for quite a while. They knew the others habits and traits. Recognized moods.
This was one of Danny's 'Quiet Times'. When Sam could see in his distant expression....in his slacked posture.....the need for...just a moment alone. Just a moment of silence. To get his bearings.
To get his thoughts in order.
....to calm his nerves.....
Danny was born and bred the leader of Vanguard. However, he was only human. And, it was these human moments that....out of all of Vanguard.....only Sam Dawson could see. Not just because he had gotten to know the man, as a friend....
....but, because Danny....allowed him to see them....
Of everyone he had encountered in the 21st century, Sam Dawson was the closest thing Daniel Hearn could come to describing as.....a 'best friend'.
Dawson simply turned his gaze, following Danny's stare into hazy field of stars that slowly revealed themselves....far out over the horizon of the oncoming night.
They said nothing....made no sound....for close to five minutes....
"Status?" Danny finally asked, his voice one of calmn demanor.
"Well....let's see...." Dawson replied, the two finally turning to face each other. "Priest and Mason suffered minor wounds. Nothing serious. Magma singed the tip edge of Bri's left wing. She'll be fine, and so will the wing. She may not want to overdue it, though...."
"What about Baxter?"
"Not sure what's going on there.....his skin seems to be....mutating..."
Danny just nodded, arms folded.
"Drake pulled his calf muscle, but blames it on his being 'rusty'......" Sam continued. "....Raptor and Phil are fine.....Adem's half-blind....Grimm is still out..."
"Michaels?" Hearn asked.
"Fine....but, he's starting down a spiral....blames himself for Bri's wing...." Sam replied, tilting his head towards the group. "....you may want to give him a talk....let'em know it's okay...."
"Hrm." Danny grunted.
If there was one down-side to the job of leadership, it was the 'Pep Talk'.
He hated the 'Pep Talk'.
"You know....you could talk to him, if you want...."
"...Danny...." Sam sighed with a small smile.
"...okay, okay..." Hearn nodded. He turned back towards the view, taking in the sharp crescent moon barely grazing the edge of the horizon. "Sam...what are we doing here......?"
Dawson grinned, nodding with the infered tone of his friend's voice.
"What we do best.......save the world, and charge a blasphemous fee...."
No matter how much he tried, Danny couldn't suppress the chuckle this caused, shooting the nastiest look he could muster at his friend.
The two allowed the happiness to proceed its normal course, feeling this might be the last moment they got, for quite a while to come.
Danny's eyes hardened back up, staring directly at Dawson.
"Are we in over our heads?" he asked. "I mean, invading a small country is one thing.....but an entirely new dimension?"
Anyone else that could have seen this might have been shocked to see Hearn's self-doubt break through....
A rare moment of vunerability.
"Danny...." Sam shook his head with another sigh.
But, not Dawson.
He had always been Dan's emotional bouncing board......his steadfast strongarm of alliance.
Danny needed Sam.
But, Sam wasn't a leader. Not like Danny. He may have possessed the skills....but not the fortitude the Australian so casually expressed.
Sam needed Danny.
"I mean it, Dawson...." Danny replied. "....we're on a blind journey, with impossible odds.....preparing to face god-knows-what.....and our power has already been halved. What are we doing out here?"
"Whatever it takes." he said. "Whatever we have to....to free these people.....to survive...."
The leader said nothing, looking back over at the crew sitting lazily throughout the comforting foliage.
"Night's coming...." he finally spoke. "....let's set-up camp here for the night....maybe we'll get a chance to regroup...."
