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It was just there in an alleyway. It was embedded into a trash bag at an angle, neck first.
At a glance he could see that at least three strings were broken, a tonal knob was nowhere to be seen, the knob that switched which ability it would emit was snapped in half and barely hanging on inside the guitar. It was covered in grime and burn marks, covering up half of the purple and teal paint job.
Danny bit his lip as he hovered there in the alley, just staring at the guitar. He knew Ember very well and his mind was filled with many worst case scenarios at the sight of the broken guitar. He knew that Ember would never willingly let her guitar leave her presence if she could at all ever help it, so why was it here and damaged so badly, what happened to her?
He shook his head harshly, snapping out of the spiral of bad thoughts, remembering having seen Ember not a day previous, madder than usual and with a different guitar than her normal one. She hadn’t even returned his witty banter, just attacked him with a reckless abandon that he hadn’t ever seen in her since they first fought.
Floating forward he gently picked it up and took the time to examine the damage done to the guitar. There was a severe dent in the frame of the guitar itself, the bridge for the strings was snapped in half and was only staying on from the tension of the remaining strings. Several of the tuning pegs were snapped clean off.
All in all the outside looked like it would be able to be repaired, except for one very worrying issue that he wasn’t sure would be fixable. There was a deep crack running across the middle of the neck, it hadn’t snapped clean off but he knew, even with his limited personal knowledge, that was a severe piece of damage to any musical instrument.
He couldn’t see any more obvious pieces of damage to the guitar, but he decided he would have to do some research if he was going to fix it up for Ember.
That stopped Danny short, and he blinked in shock. Was he really going to fix the guitar of one of his more dangerous enemies, giving her back her primary weapon and making her all the stronger for it?
Danny bit his lip again in thought.
Yes, he knew how important this guitar was to Ember. She may be an enemy, but he wouldn’t wish the loss of something so precious to her if he could help it. He nodded to himself and took a look around the alley to see if anybody was around before turning invisible and intangible and flying straight back home.
---
After about a day of research and internet sleuthing, he was able to figure out what he had to do and buy in order to fix the guitar. It took some time but he was thankfully able to convince Sam and Tucker to help him source the materials and tutorials in order to fix the guitar. Sam and Tucker didn’t trust Ember to not immediately attack Danny when he returned the guitar, but they both knew that when he got it into his head to help someone, there was no stopping him.
They extracted a promise from him to be extra careful when returning the Guitar, and to wear a Fenton Phone so as to be able to stay in contact the entire time, so they knew if he needed help, both of which he grudgingly agreed to, but felt the nice warm fuzzy feeling of being loved and fussed over by both of his friends.
In the days that he was waiting for the materials to arrive, he did some more research on the way electric guitars were made and many repair videos so he would know how to fix the issues to the best of his ability.
He also took many pictures on his phone of all the pieces of damage and sent them to a few forums asking for assistance in methods of repair under a random user name, in which he got a surprising amount of assistance from the many strangers on the internet.
Finally the materials came and he got to work with Sam and Tucker, who had insisted that they help him so that he didn’t “accidentally break it the rest of the way in attempting to fix it alone.” He couldn’t help but to smile at their support, snarky as it may be.
Together it took them about three days of Cleaning, replacing all the broken parts, undenting the ectoplasm based wood, and very carefully using Danny’s telekinesis to apply the glue better than any brush was able to, and gluing the neck back together, sealing up the crack like it was never there in the first place. Finishing it off with giving it a fresh coat of paint and it looked like it did in that very first battle he had with her.
All the while, they had been taking pictures and posting the repair progress to the forums, getting feedback and positive affirmations that they were doing shockingly well for having never done it before.
Danny beamed at his two best friends. “Thanks guys, this would have been so much harder without you two.”
Sam and Tucker smiled back, a soft understanding one.
“No problem man, we got your back no matter what!” Tucker said, slapping him on the back.
“Yeah, somebody has to watch your self sacrificing ass, even with something as mundane as this.” Sam said with a smirk, shoulder checking him gently.
Danny smiled sheepishly, and rubbed the back of his head with a soft laugh.
“I know, I just really appreciate you both being willing to help me help Ember, I know you two don’t trust her, but I just.. I couldn’t just not help... So thank you.”
Tucker and Sam exchanged a quick glance at each other and gave a nod before gathering Danny up in a big hug, making him squeak as he was lifted effortlessly off the ground and he was sandwiched between his two friends.
No more words were said and he just happily accepted the hug from them both, thinking how he had the absolute best friends in the world.
---
“Alright Danny, so you understand the plan, yeah?” Sam asked while going over his form again, fussing over him in her worry.
“Yes Sam, Wulf will take me as close to Ember’s Lair as he is able to, I go into her lair and drop off the guitar and I get out as quickly as possible while leaving an envelope with the pictures and note before she arrives. If she arrives before I am able to do that, I hand it over to her with the envelope and get ready to fly away as quickly as possible.” Danny recited the plan for the twenty-seventh time today.
Danny was much more used to Tucker worrying and fussing like this, but seeing as Tucker was out collecting Wulf, he wasn’t there to do his usual fussing, in which Sam was obviously more than ready to take up the mantle on.
Sam nodded and went back to her agitated pacing, looking at her watch and the clock on the wall before resuming her pacing. Tucker had said that he would be back with Wulf in two hours, and it was nearing that time frame.
“It’ll be fine Sam, he promised he would contact us at the two hour mark or when he finds Wulf, whichever came first.” Danny said, trying to calm Sam’s nerves at least a little bit.
Sam opened her mouth to retort before, with remarkable timing, the Fenton Phones buzzed and Tucker’s voice came through.
“Alright, I found Wulf and we are on our way back, see you in five to ten minutes you lovebirds!” Tucker said
Danny and Sam just rolled their eyes and said in unison with a smirk. “We’re your lovebirds, Tuck.”
They heard a choked cough come from the comms and could practically feel the heat of his blush through it, even as they heard a rumbling laugh as Wulf no doubt heard them through the Specter Speeder’s comm system.
Danny and Sam simply just smirked and sat back and waited for Tucker to arrive back at base so they could get the show on the road.
---
The Specter Speeder pulled in and slowed to a stop, with Tucker soon hopping out with Wulf following behind.
Danny flew over and gave a big hug to Wulf. “Wulf! Mia amiko! Mi ĝojas vidi vin sana kaj sana!” (Wulf! My Friend! I’m glad to see you safe and sound!)
"Jes, estas bone vidi vin ankaŭ. Tucker diris, ke vi bezonas min, kion vi celas?”(Yes, it is good to see you too. Tucker said you needed me, what are you up to?) Wulf asked with a glance around the quiet forested area, his tail wagging but ears perked and alert.
“Ne zorgu Wulf. Ĉi tio estos rapida vojaĝo. Mi bezonas, ke vi malfermu portalon apud la loko de Ember, por ke mi redonu al ŝi ŝian gitaron.” (Don't worry Wulf. This will be a quick trip. I need you to open a portal next to Ember's place so I can return her guitar to her.) Danny said, placing a reassuring hand on Wulf’s shoulder, ensuring he wasn’t grabbing hold of him.
Wulf lightly flinched at the contact but he didn’t pull away like he used to in the past, giving a small smile at Danny’s patience. “Mi povas fari tion mia plej kara amiko. Bonvolu esti singarda kun Ember, ŝi estis tre humora, kaj mi nun vidas kial.” (I can do that my dearest friend. Just please be careful with Ember, she has been in quite a temper, and I now see why.)
“Mi estos singarda. Ni Iru.” (I will be careful. Let’s go.) Danny said with a nod.
Wulf nodded back and immediately raked his claws through the air, jumping in before Danny, with Danny only giving a wave to Sam and Tucker before he too jumped through, the portal closing swiftly behind him.
---
He felt that slight bit of stomach drop he always got when he entered the ghost zone, before he was able to orient himself to what was up and down in this region of the Zone.
Next to him, Wulf was pointing to a surprisingly unassuming door that was floating on its lonesome. Looking like a simple front door to a house from the 80s.
“Ŝia kaverno estas tie. Bonvolu esti singarda, Danny.”(Her lair is over there. Please be careful, Danny) Wulf said.
“Ne zorgu pri mi, Wulf. Vi daŭrigas kaj foriras de ĉi tie antaŭ ol Walker kaj liaj goriloj montras siajn malbelajn vizaĝojn.” (Don't worry about me, Wulf. You go on and get out of here before Walker and his goons show their ugly faces.) Danny said with a smile and a wave.
Wulf looked hesitant but nodded in understanding, his ears pinned to the back of his head with his nervousness of being out in the open like this.
Without another word he hugged Danny in his great big arms, easily dwarfing the tiny fourteen year old, before tearing open another portal to who knew where and jumping in.
Danny turned back to the door and tapped his Fenton Phone. “Mic check, one two one two, come in Techno Lord and Goth Queen, Wulf has left and I’m near Ember’s lair, Over.”
Sam’s voice came through the Fenton Phone with nary a crackle. “We read you loud and clear Star Knight. Remember, in and out as quickly as possible. Over.”
Danny nodded, “Understood Goth Queen, In and out, quick and clean. Over. Like my luck will hold up with that.” He said, muttering that last bit.
“Hey, even if she is in there, she might not attack you immediately, Over.” Tucker said, trying to cheer Danny up.
Danny flew up to the door and placed his hand on the door handle. “I mean, yeah that would be nice, to not be attacked immediately, especially since I’m trying to do a good deed for her, but you know how she gets with her guitar, so I’m not going to hold my breath.”
He took a breath and opened the door, before stopping cold as he came face to face with Ember who looked like she was just about to head out.
Ember blinked and stopped her own movement only an inch away from Danny’s wide eyed stare.
“Dipstick?!” Ember yelled out, jumping back and getting into a defensive stance, her eyes wide in shock. “What are you doing here?!”
“Er, Hey Ember! I didn’t think you would be home! I uh, I have something for you!” Danny said nervously, stumbling over his words.
Ember was silent for a few seconds, her scared expression melting off into an annoyed and confused face. “You have ten seconds to explain what is going on before I start firing ectoblasts at you.” She said with a growl, her hands glowing blue with her charged up energy.
“Okay so about a week ago I found your guitar in an alleyway and I wanted to return it but it was extremely damaged, so I wanted to bring it back to you completely repaired!” Danny said, holding out the envelope and her Guitar.
Ember blinked before focusing finally on what was in Danny’s hands. Her expression twisted from sheer fury before quickly shifting to confusion to anger and then a guarded anxious look as she looked back to his face and the nervously hopeful smile on his face.
Danny shook his hands a bit to wiggle the objects, signalling to her that he wanted her to take them both. Ember hesitantly flew forward and gently grabbed hold of the neck of her guitar, and grabbed a hold of the envelope. He let go and she brought her guitar to her chest. She looked at him like he was about to openly attack her, which seemed remarkably out of character for the normally really loud and confident Ember Mclain. She opened the envelope and pulled out the note and a few of the pictures.
“I found it somewhere in an alleyway, and I just couldn’t leave it there, I know how much you care for your guitar. But like I said, it was very damaged, as you can see with some of those pictures. So instead of bringing it back to you in a very damaged state and having you think I had been the one to damage your stuff, I wanted to fix it up before returning it.” Danny said, nervously rubbing the back of his head and neck.
She pulled out some of the pictures having finished reading the note. She looked very lost, like everything she knew was a lie and she was just going through the motions, it made him extremely uncomfortable with how quiet she was being, so he continued to ramble to fill the silence.
“I got Sam and Tucker to help me of course, it would have taken me so much longer to have done it, and it probably wouldn’t have turned out nearly so well without their help, we documented all the work we did on it with those pictures you’re lookin’ through--” He nodded to the pictures she was indeed flipping through. “I hope it’s up to your standards, we put it back into tune as best as we were able to but we aren’t exactly professionals at it, so you’ll probably have to fix it to the way you had it before.”
Ember just shook her head and placed down the pictures on a table that was nearby, she looked at her guitar closely with that same lost expression, though now a bit less lost as she obviously was quite experienced with guitars in general, let alone this one.
She strummed a few strings and winced as they sounded off to her ears.
She landed on the ground, her lost expression back on her face as she looked at the floorboards of her lair.
“Ember.. Are you okay?” Danny said, reaching out with a concerned expression.
Ember shook her head out of the reverie she was in, she frowned, and opened her mouth before closing it, clearly debating what she was about to say.
“This was a gift from my Mother when I was still alive.” Ember said softly. “This is one of the final ties I have to her and to the Living Realm. This is something that is incredibly personal and anybody else would have held this over my head and extorted promises and power in exchange for this, and it would have worked .”
Danny didn’t know what to say, and his expression must have shown that because Ember continued.
“It would have worked and I would have been powerless to stop it, and you just gave it back to me just like that. Without asking for anything in return, without extracting even a temporary truce. Why?” Ember looked him dead in the eyes. “Why would you give up such leverage over one of your direct enemies?”
Danny’s first instinct was to just say that it wouldn’t be right to do such a thing, but he knows himself, he knows how pragmatic he has become after an entire year, and he would be lying if he hadn’t considered trying just that, to get one of his many villains off his back so he could get some more peace. But that would be a lie if he said that.
“I did so because even if you are an enemy of mine, I still care about your wellbeing, and attacking something this close to anybody is a step too far out of line for me. This is part of you in a way that my love of the stars is a part of me. It would be beyond cruel to hold something dear to you over your head and demand things just so you can get it back. You deserve to be treated with as much dignity and respect as possible and putting you in such a position is doing the exact opposite.”
Ember’s eyes widened in shock, and Danny was scared for a second that she was going to cry with how her face was looking. But her face smoothed out and she looked at her guitar again, she gently set it down on a stand that wasn’t there a second ago and quickly ran at him making him cry out in shock.
“AH!” Danny braced himself, expecting her to attack him for some reason or another before he felt her arms wrapping around him in a hug and she had buried her face into his shoulder, and giving a heaving shuddering sigh despite being dead and not needing to breathe.
“Thank you” Ember whispered, trembling and sounding broken up as she did.
He didn’t say anything else, but just hugged her back, holding her gently as she quietly cried.