Only In True Silence Are You Alone (Danny)

[Ana-Lucia Cortez]

Why was she coming here?

That was the single most apparent question that was popping into Ana's head as she made her way from the Stony Pony, with every second she drove, and every step she took as she made her way towards the building where Danny had lived. What she was planning to do once she got there, she wasn't quite sure, but the urge to go to there was strong. Maybe she'd find answers, maybe... something else. Not like she was planning on seeing a ghost, the whole idea of it still seemed foreign, strange, unreal, even though her mind was slowly melting to the idea, that slight part of brain wanting to believe it in way that it would make everything just sound like it was making sense in some way.

After standing outside the door for a better part of ten minutes, her mind torn on whether she really could stop inside, to the place he died. Her mind was screaming to go inside as much as it was saying turn around and go back the way she came. That everything that she was stupid, but yet she still pressed on, turning the knob after she opened the door with the key, and slowly pushed the door ajar.

There was no life in the room that she found. Deserted. Colder. Quieter then it had been then the last time that she had entered it, but then the last time there was someone living in it and now... there wasn't. It was an eerie feeling, as she found herself hugging her arms to her chest as she moved along, slowing taking in the sight of the rest of the apartment. Her apartment now, she noted, still unsure of how exactly she felt about it. What would she do with it? What would she do everything he'd left her?

Exhaling shakily, before she knew it she found herself heading backwards into the apartment, where the bedroom was. Briefly, the memories of what had transpired in there flashed through her mind, still ever fresh as though it was only yesterday instead of a week and how she wished she could change what had happened so she could have stopped him from... But it was impossible to change the past, change what happened, she knew. Letting her fingers run on top of his dresser, she paused as she saw a picture frame with a picture of the both of them in it, she hadn't seen it before. Reaching out she grasped it, taking a few steps back onto edge of the bed as she could only stare at it as both of her hands held it in her lap. She hadn't known he'd still had it after everything... "Why would you..." she muttered to herself, feeling her eyes burn ever so slightly. How could he bear to keep it?

[Daniel Avery]

He wasn't sure how he had gotten there. Staring up at the ceiling for what seemed like an eternity finally made it's way to his eyes closing. But he hadn't realised how long he had been asleep. Or if he really had been asleep. Did dead people sleep?

The sound of his front door opening made his eyes open, and then close again. This was hell, it had to be. He couldn't do anything, couldn't watch TV, talk to his parents that had came in, asking why he had killed himself, why had he left? The only person he could speak to at the moment, it seemed, was the stupid little asian guy.

This was hell, it had to be. And then, something walked in that made him sure of it. He sat up quickly on the bed as Ana walked in.

"Ana!" he said quickly, eyes slightly wide. But she hadn't heard him. It was the same like it had been with his parents. His mouth hung slightly open as she sat down on the bed. The picture she had taken from the top of the dresser...he remembered the exact moment it had been taken. They had been in New York, walking through Central Park...some random old couple had offered to take the picture, and commented that they looked happy. The old couple had also had a good laugh when two seconds after the picture was taken, a bird shit on his head.

He smiled at the memory, but then it quickly melted into a frown as she asked why could he have done it? Slowly he shook his head as his brows narrowed. "No. No, I-I--I didn't! I didn't, I--" He took in a breath in, and then sighed it out harshly, suddenlly angry. Angry at himself, at Ana, at Miles and the entire situation.

"Why?! Why would *I* kill myself, tell me that! Why the FUCK would I kill myself, I--I have EVERYTHING to live for. I've--I've got the best job in the country, I've got more money than I know what to do with, I've--I've got YOU! Why would I do it if I have you?!"

[Ana-Lucia Cortez]

For a few more moments, as she could do was stare and gaze at the picture, her fingers running, tracing the lines in it. It was only making her more upset with each passing minute, though she managed to keep her resolve. She wouldn't cry, she wouldn't cry, she repeated in her mind, but it was getting harder to, and before she could stop herself, she felt one and then another streak of wetness, slid down her cheek, curving under her chin. So much for trying to be strong. She was so tried of being strong, and the facade, the stone wall she tried keeping up finally crumbled. "All my fault, right?" she mumbled to herself, because that's all she could think. Everything was always her fault. If she had done something, stayed, maybe this wouldn't... it wouldnt have happened.

Taking a shaking breath, she put the picture on the mattress beside her, then hunching over a moment as ran her fingers through her wild hair and then put her head in her hands in an effort to calm down some. Being in this place... it was bad idea. She shouldn't have came. Ana shook her head at herself, and after another shuddering breath she got up from the bed, picking up the picture before she went over to the dresser and put it back in it's place, rubbing her hands where her ring was, idly. However, out of the corner of her eye, something caught her attention, and she adjusted her gaze to quickly snap her attention towards what she saw.

For a mere split second time froze, the image of the man that was in her thoughts, poised on the bed looking at her, eye to eye. Taking a step back, her heart stopped a second as she swirled around... but nothing was there. Glancing back into the mirror, the result was the same. Nothing. Nothing was there. It was all in her head. Taking a breath, she closed her eyes, rubbing her eyes. She was tired. There was nothing there. No ghosts like Miles said, it was in her head, mind playing tricks on her because she hadn't slept in what seemed days.

[Daniel Avery]

She had seen something!

...or had she? As she jolted back, Daniel found his footing and lifted himself quickly from the bed. "Hey--hey, it's--" she turned, away from him, towards the window, and he sighed out hard, a loud groan of frustration escaping his mouth. "God I am so TIRED of this shit!" he said to no one, because no one could hear him. "I'm TIRED. Okay! I get it! I'm DEAD!" he held his hands out, looking up towards the ceiling. "I'm DEAD!" he said loudly. "I understand and accept that I'm NO LONGER LIVING, can I go now?!"

Except no one was answering him. Frustration overtook him, and he lashed out, sweeping the picture of he and Ana off of the dresser, though his eyes widened when he saw it slide right off and fall to the floor. In shock, he could do nothing but stare at the picture, and then look at Ana.

"...well, son of a bitch."

He eagerly moved, knocking another picture over, watching as it fell to the ground. A wide smile crossed his lips. "YES! YES, Take THAT you stupid little asian--HEY!"

As Daniel tried to swipe something off of the counter yet again, his hand passed right through it.

"...SON OF A BITCH!"

[Ana-Lucia Cortez]

The sound of something hittting the ground didn't go unnoticed to her, and it startled her out of the reverie that she had surely found herself in. And then with another following, this time she heard the unmistakable sound of glass breaking and it made her freeze, unsure what to expect when she turned around, unsure if she wanted to actually see what was behind her. Dropping her hands away from her face, she slowly turned but once more... there was nothing there, but something had fallen, she was sure of it.

Moving around the bed against, and away from the window to investigate, she located the sound of the noise, two picture frames laying on the floor, one of them the one she had just held in her hands. From where she had put them, it was impossible that it, along with the other, would have been able to just fall and hit the ground. Taking a shaking breath, she crouched down, hestiantly like she was afraid they'd zap her if they'd touched her. But that wasn't the case as she lifted the broken one up, being careful to avoid the small glass fragments before she set them on the dresser, this time, not setting them upright, ignoring the cold chill the rattled her spine. But that wasn't the biggest issue at hand...

It came to her, as she went to look around for an explanation, and instead, there was a shadow cast suddenly over her shoulder as she reached down to pick up the next one. Slowly straightening up, she swallowed the thick lump in her throat as it wasn't exactly a shadow, but rather a figure of a person suddenly that just seemed to appear out of thin air. Rapidly she began to blink, her eyes sliding up the figures frame, before her eyes settled on a face that seemed to make her heart stop, and not in the good way either. Her lips parted, wanting to utter something, but instead the object in her hand slipped her hand, falling to the floor where she heard the glass on it shatter this time, her throat going dry as she could only stare, her mouth unable to utter anything, words failing her.