Waking up slightly dazed, Daniel starts to fidget around in the bed he now finds himself in.

“Where am I?” He asks as he begins to come around.

“Hospital” Michael tells him, holding his hand tightly.

“The last time we heard bells, we were retreating” a familiar voice mumbles next to him.

“Tommy” Daniel mutters with great relief.

“How you feeling?” He asks

“So, soooo much pain” he replies quietly.

He looks up to see the Haven soldiers sitting around Angel, who has not yet woken up.

Exhausted, tired and fed up, Daniel falls to sleep.

News reports have been put together of all the incidents taking place in Stannoss, and one person in particular, is not pleased.

Viewing the TV reports and various articles on screens in front of him, the king paces up and down impatiently.

“Your majesty …” His personal assistant ‘Jacob’ attempts to say.

“That idiot, that fucking idiot, he disappears for months on end and then turns up out of the blue, in Stannoss of all places” the king begins to rant.

“I’m gonna kill him, I’m gonna fucking kill him” he continues to ramble now storming out of the room.

“Your majesty, you have a meeting with the admiral” Jacob informs him.

“Tell her to fuck off!” He snaps and storms off.

“Um … Dooley noted” Jacob mumbles.

Practically marching down the corridor, the king takes an abrupt turn into a study room, the queen is quietly admiring the gardens, viewing them from one of the many windows in the room.

“That fucking idiot!” The king remarks announcing his presence loudly.

“Hello to you too” the queen replies.

“A message from the admiral, ahem … You fuck off” Jacob states, peering his head around the doorway before disappearing again.

“I take it you have seen everything that is going on?” She asks moving over to sit down with him.

The king is now sat down sprawled out with his hand covering his face in a dramatic pose.

“He’s gonna be the death of me” he mutters.

“I’ve been informed he’s using that bloody nickname, I can’t understand why, there isn’t anything angelic about him, whatsoever” he continues to rant.

“Oh really, and there was me thinking you calling him that was charming” she mutters in a teasing manner before picking up her saucer, and taking a sip out of her cup.

“We were kids back then, and you, are not funny” he replies with a glare.

“Admit it, you miss having him around” she remarks.

“Hey bitches” the prince yells announcing his presence from underneath a pile of blankets next to the coffee table.

“Late night was it?” The queen asks.

“I’ve still got music ringing in my ears” he replies.

“I can’t believe we are in the middle of a war, and all you can do is go out partying” the king remarks.

“Someone’s got to enjoy themselves” he mutters back.

“Well enjoy it while you can” the king reminds him.

“Yeah I know, I’ll be going off to fight bla bla bla, ahhh man my head is killing me” the prince replies clearly in discomfort.

“So what are we going to do about this situation?” The queen asks.

“I think it’s clear that we need to become more involved in the war, acting as buffer zone clearly isn’t working anymore” he replies.

“I don’t like how close they have gotten” the queen remarks.

“It’s a shame Flumina fell, those chocolate coated bagels with a custard filling where to die for” the king mutters.

“Time to make a choice” she states.

“Shouldn’t we be helping protect everyone?” The prince mumbles.

“What would you do then?” The queen asks him.

“How many countries have fallen now, five? Six? Don’t you think it’s time we went on the offensive” he states his point of view on the matter.

“I’m so glad none of us are related, if you two where family we’d just be arguing all the time” the king tells them.

“So you agree with me then?” The prince asks, now leaning upright.

"You have to remember the reason we are staying out of the war" the king reminds him.

"Yeah, the king and queen before you two dying" the prince replies.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Well remembered, that isn't the main reason though" the king remarks.

"If we get involved fully, it will give the other nations an excuse to use a higher grade of weaponry" the queen explains.

"Because of the Sky Scrapers?" the prince asks.

"That's right" she replies.

"They are classed as weapons of mass destruction for a reason" the king ponders looking off into the garden.

"We need to try and avoid a greater cost of life" the queen states.

The prince notices the princess hovering in the open doorway to the garden listening to what is being said.

"What do you think?" He asks her.

"I agree with you, we should be doing more to help" she replies.

"I think we should go and fight, people our age are dying, and they can't defend themselves, and that's unfair" the prince states his opinion on the matter in agreement with the princess.

The king looks over to the queen and she nods in agreement.

“Looks like we’ve made our choice then” he states and heads out of the room.

“JACOB! GET ME THE ADMIRAL!” He can be heard shouting as he disappears back up the corridor.

Back over in Stannoss, general Watchtower has advanced troops beyond the city, along with the air force in an attempt to maintain the ground they have taken back.

Now back on his feet, Daniel has been roped in along with every other able-bodied person to begin repairing the city, and clearing the rubble.

Michael can’t help but notice Daniel seems to be in a happy mood for a change, listening to him humming to himself.

“What’s up with you?” He asks curiously.

“Tom didn’t die, and, we’re still alive” he replies with a smile.

“Careful, I might get jealous if you start lulling over this Thomas” Michael taunts him.

“He was right you know” Daniel mutters.

“About what?” Michael asks.

“It doesn’t matter what’s facing him, he always has a smile on his face” he replies now sweeping the floor.

Michael drops what he is doing, and drags Daniel by the hand over to a wall, before pushing him against it, and kissing him intensely on the lips.

Pulling away, he can’t help but notice Daniel blushing, and smirking quite uncontrollably.

“He’s not the only one with a smile on their face” Michael teases him.

“C’mon” he beckons Daniel and the pair of them get back to work.

“Ouh uhh uhh ucchhh” Angel pines in discomfort.

“This fucking hurts” he rambles on.

“Would you stop whinging, it’s only a scratch” Thomas snaps from his side of the room.

“Tough little trooper aint’chya” he says to him with a smile.

“Tougher than you, you big wimp” he replies.

“Sir, general Watchtower would like to see you” one of the Haven soldiers informs him as they step into the room.

“Ouhh sir, we have gone up in the world” Thomas mutters trying not to laugh because it hurts too much.

“You behave yourself whilst I’m gone” Angel instructs him as he heads off.

“Yeah, yeah, I know” he replies quietly.

Walking down the corridor and into the main entrance of the hospital, he follows the soldiers to a jeep that is waiting for him.

Hopping inside, the engine rumbles to life before they drive off.

It doesn’t take long to arrive at the palace as it is only five minutes away.

Hopping back down, he continues into the palace, where Scarlet is waiting for him.

“Follow me” she instructs him, and he promptly does so.

“I have something that I think will be of interest to you, do you remember that picture you showed me and coordinates that you believed the Sky Scraper to be located in?” she asks.

“Yeah … What about it?” He asks back.

“I think you have been looking in the wrong place” she explains.

“They are coordinates from around eight years ago when we lost contact with it” he points out.

“We’ve had some rather strange reports to say the least, of a hill destroying anything that goes near it” she informs him.

“And you thought, I know, he’s batshit crazy, let him go and sort it out” he replies sarcastically.

“At first, we thought it was a new weapon that Terra Auri has come up with” she continues.

“Right …” he mutters.

They enter into the war room, and walk over to a round table with a map placed on top of it.

“No one can get close enough to take a picture of it, but the description matches your picture exactly” she tells him whilst turning the map around.

“Here” she states, and points to a location on the map.

He places his own map down onto the table and matches the coordinates to the hill.

“Got any spare chinooks?” He asks with a big grin on his face.

Daniel and Michael have both finished their duties for the time being, and are sitting down with the others to have something to eat.

“Mhmmmm this is so good” Daniel mutters happily.

“Can you remember the last time we had anything that tasted this good?” Michael asks, but Daniel is too busy enjoying his food to answer.

“I have some good news” Marissa announces, clapping her hands together to get everyone’s attention

“General Cooper has requested for us to go and help protect the refugees over at the eastern docks” she informs them.

“Antiago is advancing on the south, so they need all the help they can get” she explains.

“Does this mean?” Sebastian asks cautiously.

“Yes, we won’t be seeing any combat for a good few days” Marissa replies.

“Oh thank God” he mutters and lounges back into his chair.

“Not like you to be vocal Seb” Daniel states with a smile.

“I’ve been too tired to even move, let alone speak” he replies looking quite blissful.

“Shall we go and see how Tom’s getting on?” Sebastian suggests.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea actually” Daniel replies, and they make their way back towards the hospital.

Thomas, at this exact moment in time, is attempting to get some rest as Angel walks back into the room.

“Did you behave while I was gone?” Angel asks him mischievously.

“It’s not like I can fucking go anywhere” he replies sarcastically.

Daniel and the others walk into the room, and immediately notice general Watchtower standing by the window with her hands behind her back.

“Good you’re all here” she remarks and walks over to them.

“The good news, or the bad news first?” Angel asks them.

They all look at each other for a moment.

“Good news” Daniel replies.

“Thomas, you will be accompanying these Haven soldiers back to Haven” Scarlet informs him.

“Yay” he mumbles quietly.

“And the bad news?” Daniel asks.

“Well it depends on what you define as bad news” Angel replies.

“Angel here has requested for two soldiers to accompany him whilst he is searching for something, requesting you two specifically” Scarlet explains as she indicates to Michael and Daniel.

“The rest of you will be heading off to the eastern docks, which I believe Marissa has already informed you” she states, and indicates for them to follow her as she walks out of the room.

Daniel and Michael take a look at each other for a moment.

“Do we have a choice in the matter?” Michael asks.

“Yes, it’s up to you whether you come along or not” he replies.

“Either way, I’m leaving in ten minutes, I do believe my chinook is waiting for me” he informs them, and also walks out of the room.

“You should go” Thomas pipes up.

“You know what he’s looking for” Daniel remarks sternly as he sits down next to him, leaning forward clenching his hands together.

“Could be fun” Thomas tells him.

“What do you think?” He asks Michael.

“Could be dangerous” he replies

“Which is code for exciting” Thomas mumbles.

The sound of a chinook preparing to take off can be heard nearby.

“Fuck it” Daniel yells.

“Make it to Haven safely, promise me” he says to Thomas whilst holding his hand.

“I promise” he replies happily.

Daniel and Michael begin to run down the corridor and into the street, following the sound of the nearby chinook.

They rush into the courtyard it has landed in, just as it is preparing to take off.

Running to catch up to it, Daniel jumps into the open bay door.

“GRAB MY HAND” he yells at Michael.

He does so reaching out and Daniel pulls him up into the chinook.

They catch their breaths for a moment and look down at the city buildings speeding by underneath them.

An alarm rings and the bay door begins to close.

“Pair of crazy fuckers you two are” Angel can be heard saying as he laughs to himself.

They fasten themselves in and hold on tight for the ride ahead.

Watching as it begins to get dark again, Daniel and Michael fall to sleep.