shadow (Closed to Darren)

"Darren!" She ran over to him and grabbed him by his shoulders. "Please wake up... please..." She rested her head on his chest and listened for a heart beat. He had one, but it was weak. Very weak. "Dont leave me... please." She screamed at the crowd of people watching them, "Someone call for help! Dont just stand there! GET HELP!" She tried to lift Darren up, but he was too heavy for her. "Please.... someone... help" She managed to say through chocked sobs. "She whispered in Darren's ear, "Dont go..."

Medics were on their way, they rushed in, pushing Sydney to one side. They knew who Darren was and considered handing him over to the police, but realizing that the man that Darren was collapsed on was a murderer, they quickly put him on a stretcher and took him into the hospital, a secluded ward, where no one would even know he was admitted.

"Right, we need to do a blood transfusion…he's fading, fast! Get on it!"

He had heard Sydney's plea for help but the poison had already taken effect, preventing him from doing anything about it. He couldn't move and couldn't say that he was still alive. Once he was admitted, he was constantly crowded around with medics and doctors.

The blood transfusion was complete. His eyes shuttered open. "Sydney?!" His voice was hoarse and gruff. He could not believe his luck, he was starting to work tomorrow, hopefully Sydney would allow them to go and not miss anymore days off work.

Sydney waited anxiously in the waiting room of the hospital. The doctors would not let her in to see Darren yet. They said as soon as he was stable that she would be allowed to see him. The doors opened and the doctor came out and she jumped out of her seat, "How is he? Is he ok? Can i see him yet?" the doctor informed her that Darren was now in stable condition and she was allowed to see him. Sydney ran to his room and stopped when she saw him lying on the bed and threw her arms around him. "You're ok. Thank god youre ok."

"Simple blood transfusion. Easy to do and doesn't kill." He gave a wink at the end of the sentence. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

He then quickly inquired about whether he would be able to work tomorrow, he wanted to and his condition was rapidly improving.

All throughout the night, he woke up with light-headedness and his legs were incredibly caught with a serious case of pins and needles. He was glad that he was still living, it was really a miracle. Two down, a dozen or so more to go.

"Sydney…did he hurt you?" Darren said, slightly concerned.

Sydney smiled when he told her that he would be fine. "No, he didn't touch me. Although i would have prefered her hurt me instead of you." She remembered how scared she had been the first time he collapsed after Phoenix attacked. She had to witness it twice today. "When are they gonna let you leave?"

"Not sure, probably until I am dead. That's why I think you should find somewhere safe to live…after I fulfill my job and whether it goes well." Darren sighed sadly. His life will never contain what normal people have: a safe job, a home to live in and a relationship.

All that longing wouldn't do much to help him in life, so he gave Sydney a smile, knowing that she was ready to help him.

"I would have preferred me over you. That man would not hurt you, they want you alive. So…when can i start at work? Shall we head over there?"

Darren began to get up, feeling much better.

"You will not die on me, is that clear? " she grabbed his chin and made him look into her eyes, "not as long as I'm alive." She held out her hand and helped him up, "are you sure you're well enough to go to work? Dylan could use our help tonight. He has a really we'll known celebrity coming tonight. So he needs extra security. Are you ready?"

"Of course I am ready, I might as well stay in my usual outfit, we don't have time to go buy a new one." Darren stood up, feeling his blood racing down to his legs. It was a nice but unusual feeling.

He went over, grabbing his clothes and walked into the toilet to get dressed. He came out, fully dressed. The nurse raised an eyebrow but he put up a finger to stop her.

"I'm going and please send the main doctor my regards and thanks."

He walked back to Sydney, giving her the £250 pounds that he had taken out of his bank account. "All yours for the trouble I have caused you."

"Darren..." Sydney eyes widened at the big wad of money he handed her, "I can't take your money." She handed it back to him and started toward the exit, "come on." She thought about how nervous she was for her first night at Pandemonium. She would be performing in front of a huge crowd of people. She started to sweat and felt like she couldn't breathe. She had hoped she would have gotten over her stage fright.

"Look take it. They will never stop hunting me down and…it would be best if I keep you safe by taking them on." He passed the money and put his hand on top of her's to take the money.

Darren walked along the streets, stopping at the door which read Pandemonium. Loads of aliens were queued up outside, all waiting for the rope to be undone and their entrance. Aliens and humans alike. He could see why Sydney was nervous and saw how big his job was.

To him, most of them seemed shifty and wouldn't be gained accessed if he had that odd gut feeling. His mind was still on high alert from his latest attack. It wouldn't happen again.

"So, where is this cousin of yours?"

She reluctantly took the money and started looking. Sydney looked around the crowded club until she saw a flash of light blonde hair, “Dylan!” She grabbed Darren’s hand and dragged him through the crowd. “Hey. Dylan, this is Darren. Darren, this is Dylan.” She smiled nervously as she eyed both boys, wondering what would happen. Then, she saw one of the stage people setting up a mic for her performance. She took a deep breath and unconsciously grabbed Darrens hand.

Darren didn't look to see who had grabbed his hand but eyed Dylan closely. His head was tilted to one side ever so slightly. He stuck out his hand for a handshake and shook Dylan's hand. None of them traded any words during the encounter but Dylan was the first to break the silence, he told Darren what he would be doing at the front and how to handle a few situations.

"Don't worry…you'll be great." Darren said. "So, you know where I will be, come and get me when you have a break or an interval."

Dylan walked off, Darren wanted to know where to but stood where he was and slowly let the flow of humanoids, humans, aliens and other creatures in. Occasionally, one would mutter a 'thank you' but other than that, nothing much had happened.

Sydney unsteadily walked up onto the stage and stood in front of the mic. The music started playing, and she opened her mouth to sing. Before she knew it, her set was over and she thankfully ran off the stage. She smiled and accepted praise and spews of congratulations’ as she made her way to where Darren was posted. She smiled when she saw him and poked him playfully, “Hey Bouncer Boy. How’s it going?” She smiled and looked at the long line of people waiting to get in, "Do you want some help with this?"

Darren glanced at Sydney, giving her the most non-irritated smile he could manage. There had been some uproar as Sydney was performing, he had to stop a fair few fights within the song and was shouted at. A lot.

"I'm fine, it's a good job…tiring but good job." He looked at the restless line of people, shouting to let themselves in. He finally unhooked the rope and allowed a hundred more to go in.

"So, how did your song go? I hear a lot of congratulations were said…"

"He…heyyy mate…fancy…letting us…five, four…in?" The alien was clearly drunk and Darren felt his eye twitch and his fist clenched.

"Look, I'm not letting you in on the premises that you are too intoxicated to be in this area."

The alien looked slightly taken aback but quickly corrected himself with a few curse words in a language that he didn't understand.

Sydney noticed that Darren looked extremely tired and then he stopped a funny looking man who was totally smashed. "He was totally off his rocker, wasn't he? but still... he didn't look quite right, did he? Besides being drunk off his arse." She grabbed Darrens hand without even thinking about it and said, "You're doing a great job. If you keep this up, Dylan may promote you to head of security. And I finally got over my stage fright. Tonight is a great night. And I have a feeling its only going to get better from here." She squeezed his hand and giggled.

"That would be nice. I'm around 95 percent sure that I will be seeing this man a few hours later." Darren had his eyes still fixed on the drunk man, would was slowly making his way to the back of the crowd.

He growled in slight frustration, he had to stay still for quite a while and wondered whether he had any sort of shifts. "So, do you have anything that is non-alcoholic for me to drink as I cannot leave my post…"

He smirked at the gesture of her holding his hand but said nothing. Head of security…I feel more secure with Sydney being safe. Darren shook that chain of thought out of his mind, it was an odd thought. But something was not quite right, he felt slightly as if someone was following him. Most likely a Torchwood agent but he would have to deal with that a little later, if it was true.

"yeah i can hook you up." She sauntered back into the club where she had to deal with cat calls and guys trying to get up on her. She ordered both her and Darren a sprite at the bar where some guy had the nerve to smack her butt. She abruptly spun around and smacked the guy across the face. "Watch it." She angrily took the sodas and stormed back outside where she rudely shoved the soda into Darrens hand, "Here."

Darren raised his eyebrow's at Sydney's sudden attitude change, someone must have harassed her whilst she was out getting drinks. He sipped at it thoughtfully. "Want me to deal with him?" He turned to look at her, the man was coming out, his eyes fixed on Sydney.

He stepped in front. "Don't think so." The man looked at him, a cocky expression filled his features. He was lucky that Darren had handled the situation so calmly. "Look, go back inside, there is nothing to see, if you want a smoke, go right ahead."

The man spat at him, Darren simply stood there, his fists clenched. He knew that if he lashed out, something was bound to go wrong, but the anger was building…he wouldn't be responsible for killing a man for simply spitting on his shirt, it annoyed him that he wasn't doing anything.

"Refrain. From. Spitting. Sir." Darren's lips formed a line as he attempted to keep his calm.

“Its fine. Really. I just…” The guy from inside came out then and made a bee line straight for her. She groaned and got ready to tell him off, when Darren stepped in front of her. Some words were said that she couldn’t hear, then the guy spat on Darren. “Gross. That was not cool.” She took her soda and threw it right in the guys face, then she pinned him to the ground. “Apologize now!” The guy did so then ran off when Sydney let him up. “Here, let me help you with that.” She took a napkin form the stand and started wiping Darren’s shirt. “Thanks for standing up for me.”

Darren was impressed, a slight flicker of a smile on his lips. He stood still as Sydney began to wipe his jacket. "Thank you. It's no problem."

Suddenly, from the crowd, another face appeared. It was definitely not a friendly one. He walked over to him, hoping for a civil conversation. That wasn't a good sign…he was growling, his eyes set on Sydney.

"Sydney, slowly get back inside." He called over his shoulder, Darren didn't want the man and him to lose eye contact. The man easily towered over him, making him feel small. The man cracked an odd smile and began to speak, his voice ghostly. "Well…well…I can't express how disappointment in how you have deteriorated."

Darren struck out first, hitting him to the ground. The queue gasped, seeing this bouncer attack a 'innocent' man. He began to punch him, the man fighting him off. Finally, he hauled the man up and pushed him away, giving him an intimidating look.

Sydney ran inside the building and watched from the doorway as Darren struck the guy in the face, "Darren!" Sydney knew Darren would never strike first without a reason. She trusted him. She waited for the man to leave then ran over to him and hugged him, "What was all that? Are you ok?" she looked down at his hand and saw blood, "You're hurt. Let me help you get cleaned up."

Darren smirked. He never thought these fights came and went so quickly, he grimaced with slight pain as he realized that he was actually bleeding. The adrenaline rush began to slow and his heart rate was back to normal.

"It was nothing. Simply 'nother friend of mine." Darren said, hoping Sydney would catch his drift. He went back to his stand, many of the aliens stood still, eyes fixed on Darren. He opened the rope and allowed another crowd to go in and out.

"What an evening this has turned out to be…" He muttered to himself. Annoyance creeping into his voice. "Anyway, Sydney. How long is my shift?"

"We get off at 10. Which is no actually. Come on, lets go home." She clocked them both out and took his hand as they started walking down the street towards her house. "If you want, you can stay the night." She said all nonchalantly. She hoped he would say yes, she didnt wanna stay alone with all these people trying to kill her

"Yea, might as well." Darren said, scratching the back of his head. "Besides, you have many of Torchwood's people, who would love to kill you."

He walked behind Sydney, occasionally pausing to hear whether they were being followed but there was only the sounds of passing traffic. Darren was tired, bloodied and very hungry. He knew that one more attack would snap him and he would go berserk, not just on the attacker but on everyone.

On that note, he was just crossing the road as a car sped down the road, hitting him. Darren was mildly hurt but his anger was boiling over the top. And he snapped, swearing and going up to the alien who sat in the front of the car, wrapping his hands around it.

Pedestrians were quickly on their phones and calling the police as Darren turned to Sydney, seething with anger. It was too much, a knife slid out of his back pocket and was held in his hand, approaching her.

Sirens were approaching, policemen got out, quickly ramming Darren to the ground, hurriedly putting the cuffs on. Darren struggled, yelled as they placed him in the back of the police van.

"M'am? You alright? You can ride in the front if you want, but I wouldn't aggravate him any further. Tell us what happened."

Soon, they arrived at the station. They quickly confiscated the knife and wrapped him in a straightjacket. A police guard stood on the opposite wall, many other prisoners screaming.

Sydney watched as the car hit Darren making him go crazy. She screamed as he pulled off the door and turned to her with a knife in his hand, "Darren.... Please. Darren, this isnt you." She backed up quickly and feel to the ground. She started crying as 2 police men forced him into the back seat of squad car and took them both downtown. When they reached the station, Sydney sat outside the cell they put Darren in and started crying even more, "Darren what happened? Please talk to me."