#alpha ethan

Blinding white and static.

A scream ripping from his throat.

And then darkness.

Only for a moment.

His eyes blink open and he's surrounded by trees.

He sits up slowly from his spot on the ground. He notes the absence of the cold that should be seeping into his skin as his fingers grip for purchase in the moist earth under him.

once upright, his hand finds its way to the spot where he was stabbed and finds unmarred skin.

where was he?

and, more importantly, what happened?

Moonlight filters through the trees, beckoning him forward. His eyes flit around nervously, his body tensed and ready for anything.

Fortunately, or unfortunately—he's not sure what he wants, nothing happens. For miles he walks, the only sounds his boots on the earth and the nighttime sounds of forest animals.

All things considered to anyone else, this would be normal. But for a Hawaiian shapeshifting guardian dragon spirit like Danny, nothing is normal.

Fire crackled along his skin as he threw a fireball at a nearby tree. "Powers, check." As quickly as the tree burned to ash another sprang up in its place. "Interesting."

Danny should not feel as relaxed as he was in this unknown place. But there was just something about it that felt like his childhood home, a place he hadn't been back to in years. But obviously he wasn't home, because trees didn't just replace themselves in Beacon Hills.

He continued on, his feet moving as if having a mind of their own. He noticed the moon was getting brighter, so maybe the edge of the forest was upon him.

Rolling his shoulders, he shook out his wings—leathery purple membranes that blended almost seamlessly into the darkness of the wood. He gave a sigh of relief as the night breeze fluttered through them and then took off speeding the rest for the way through the wood to push off into the air just as the Earth gave way under his feet.

Flying was Danny's favorite. Don't get him wrong, shooting legit fire from his hands was brilliant, but being up in the air and free was like nothing else. The feeling was indescribable.

Eyes closed and weightless, Danny flew circles in the air for what could have been either 5 minutes or an eternity. Until he felt like he was being watched.

His eyes snapped open and in a flash he was descending upon the watcher, a roar rumbling from deep within his chest.

Electric blue eyes blinked up at him once Danny's vision cleared.

"I knew there was something more to you," the person says from below him. A clawed finger drags down Danny's face, cupping his cheek. A soft chuckle brushes against Danny's lips. "Took you long enough."

Danny cannot believe what he's seeing. He shoves the creature away, shaking his head. "No. This has to be a trick. You're—he's dead. What are you?" Danny yells, frantic. He calls the fire back to his hands. "Take off his face."

"Danny, calm down. It's really me."

Tears steam on Danny's face from the heat. "No. No no no. I watched him die. You can't be real."

"But I am, sweetheart."

"Prove it," Danny demands through gritted teeth, eyes wild. Many foes have tricked him before but this was the worst. To masquerade as his dead lover? 

"If something happens, find me."

Danny freezes and the flame in his hands flicker for a moment. It's a moment of weakness, Danny screams at himself in his head, but everything else in this place has been off. So maybe, just maybe he could afford a moment of hope.

"Ethan?"

A smile so beautiful and familiar breaks over the creature's face. "In the flesh… kind of."

"But you're… how… am I—?"

"Welcome to heaven." Ethan's eyes blink back to brown as his arms spread wide to indicate where they are. "While I'm glad it took so long to see you, you really do know how to make a guy wait."

The lack of cold; the vanishing stab wound; the guiding moon; the regrowing tree, all of it made perfect sense at the utterance of the word Heaven. Wow.

"Heaven," Danny utters in awe. "So I'm dead? And you're really here?"

"Yep. Seems to be whatever you make it," Ethan answers, almost proudly. "What took you—oof." Danny cuts off his question with a soft tackle, sealing his lips to his, taking the one thing he's been craving for years after losing Ethan.