Dan and Jack head into the living room and almost instantly, Stephanie is on her feet and pulling the Irishman into a hug. Jack hugs back, visibly exhausted. Dan heads to Matthew's side and kneels down, holding his shaking hand while keeping his gaze trained on Jack and Stephanie.

"What did they do to you? Are you hurt?" Stephanie asks, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"No, I'm fine, Steph. They just cleaned up my chest," Jack replies. "Cry is fine as well."

The image of Jack's bloody, bruised chest flashes through Dan's mind and he winces, wrapping his free arm around his legs. Matthew squeezes his hand, brown eyes boring straight into Dan.

"You okay?" he asks, his voice a mere croak.

"Um, yeah, I'm okay," Dan replies weakly.

Matthew doesn't seem convinced, but he doesn't push it. Stephanie moves back to his side and her hand replaces Dan's. As the Brit stands and moves towards Jack, she crawls onto the couch beside Matthew and tucks her head against his shoulder, eyes fluttering closed. Dan takes Jack's wrist and pulls him into the hallway, leaving Matthew and Stephanie alone.

Dan and Jack head to Jack's room and sit on his bed, just like they've done so many times before. The Irishman settles onto the bed and looks around, bursting into tears a second later. Dan's brow furrows and he settles beside him, one arm wrapping around his shoulder.

"Oh God, sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me," Jack chokes, scrubbing uselessly at his eyes.

"You can talk to me," Dan replies.

"I know. Um, it's just... everything. Getting kidnapped over and over again, getting tortured, missing Mark... it's just too much."

Dan nods and says nothing, just keeps his arm around Jack's shoulder. He wants so badly to tell him about Phil, but he can't find the words. He can't bring himself to open his mouth and actually say it out loud. He can't tell Jack that he loves Phil Lester if he hasn't even said 'I love you' to Phil yet. Jack lies down, leading Dan to remove his arm from his shoulders. Dan lies down as well and the two of them stare at the ceiling, the only sound that of their soft breathing.

"Jack, this sounds weird, but I love you," Dan says quietly. "I'm really glad you're home safe."

Jack looks over at Dan for a moment, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I love you too, Dan."

Silence falls between them again, but it's not an uncomfortable silence. It's actually peaceful, and in that peace Dan lets his mind run off with fantasies of Phil. His blue eyes are seared into Dan's brain, his smile infectious. Every little thing Phil does is precious, and Dan can honestly say that he never thought he could feel this way for anyone.

He exhales and opens his eyes, glancing over at Jack. The Irishman's eyes are closed, chest rising and falling with each slow breath. Dan watches, and after making sure he's completely asleep he takes a deep breath.

"I'm in love with a hero," he whispers. "I'm in love with Phil."

Jack doesn't stir and it's clear he didn't hear, but Dan still feels better. At least he 'told' somebody. With the weight off his chest, he closes his eyes again and lets himself fall asleep.

The sun shines weakly behind a thick veil of cloud. Dan stands in the middle of a street, his eyes jumping nervously from one pile of burning rubble to another. Phil stands a few feet ahead of him, water swirling around him. Behind him, the other villains stand and watch him with hatred in their eyes.

"Phil?" Dan squeaks.

Phil continues to glare and Dan looks down at his hands, which are engulfed by flame. He tries to put it out, tries to extinguish his fire, but he can't. Instead, his hands move on their own accord and he shoots balls of fire towards his friends and Phil, tears starting to pour down his cheeks. Phil easily deflects the flame, his eyes growing colder the longer he goes. His hands start shaking more and more, and it doesn't go unnoticed by Dan.

"Phil, you have to stop! You're going to kill yourself!" he yells.

Phil shakes his head, and as Dan's hands continue to act on their own and as Phil continues to defend himself and the other villains, his exhaustion becomes visible. The hero destroys one more fireball before collapsing, his chest barely rising and falling anymore. Dan races over, but before he reaches him the ground opens up and swallows Phil whole.

A scream jolts Dan from his nightmare. His eyes fly open and he's up in an instant, breathing hard. Jack's eyes fly open and he bolts in the opposite direction, nearly toppling off his bed. The two watch each other, tears staining Dan's cheeks as much as they coat Jack's. The Irishman's eyes are wide as saucers, fear obvious.

"Um..." Jack starts, but there aren't really any words he can say. They just woke each other up with their respective nightmares. What can you really say?

Dan runs his fingers through his hair, sniffling and curling in on himself. Jack looks away, scrubbing at his cheeks.

"Sorry," Dan whispers.

"No, I'm sorry," Jack mumbles back. "I'm the one that screamed."

The Brit shakes his head, but he can't bring himself to speak. Sometimes, he really hates his silence. Jack curls up into a ball and buries his face in his knees, visibly trembling. Dan reaches out and places a warm hand on his back, wiping tears from his eyes with his free hand.

"There's probably something for us to do. Let's..." Jack's words die in his throat and he shakes his head.

"Just relax, okay? We both need recovery time."

The Irishman nearly laughs, but the sound is humourless. "This is so dumb. We just woke each other up with our nightmares and now we both need to recover."

Dan sighs and lies back down on the bed, one arm resting over his eyes. He still can't talk above a very soft whisper, but he speaks anyway. "Our entire existence is one horror after the other, Jack. I wish I was surprised, but I'm not."

Jack lies back down as well and silence falls once again, but unlike the peacefulness earlier, this silence is filled with unease. Dan doesn't dare let his eyes fall shut again, so he just stares at the ceiling and waits for his pounding heart to calm.