Guilt is probably the most painful companion of death.

- Coco Channel

Walking through the bush with Danny at her side felt like a fairytale. The trees were ghostly in the beam of their flashlights and the dirt that kicked up beneath their feet hung suspended, glimmering in the air. It was ethereal and bittersweet, and Leah felt consumed by the surreality of it all.

But she could feel the seconds ticking down too. Cassandra was setting a brisk pace down the cliffs, and Leah knew that soon she'd leave this world behind, and Danny with it.

It sent a desperate energy through her, one that demanded she get answers before their time ran out. And yet, every word that rose to her lips halted before escaping. She'd come to the sudden realisation that she didn't know what to say to Danny. He knew everything about her. Everything she didn't. Where were you meant to start in that situation?

"Leah?"

She glanced over as Danny's voice broke through her thoughts and found him watching her.

"How much do you, um..." Danny scratched the back of his head, glancing away from her. "Cassandra said you don't remember much. So, I was just wondering... Do you really remember me?"

His uncertainty was such a stark contrast to all her memories of him that Leah wanted to cry.

"Yes," she said quickly. "Of course. Not everything, but I have pieces. And I remember Seth. I dreamt about both of you every night."

Danny sighed and smiled crookedly. She could see the relief in his eyes, and she'd never been so thankful that this world hadn't obliterated everything.

"But I don't remember much else," she admitted. "I remember what our parents look like, but nothing about them. And I've been told other things by Cassandra and Jared. I know about the S.I.S and the rebels. I know I'm here because Brenton wants the Mors Mortis Device."

Danny's eyes were dark as he watched her, the night draining their colour. "Is that all? You can't remember anything else?"

Leah shook her head.

Danny nodded and rubbed his jaw. "It's more than I hoped for. Cass made it sound like..."

He trailed off again, glancing away from her.

"I'm sorry," Leah said, watching him. "I've tried to remember, I really have, but I —"

"You're sorry?"

Danny's interruption came so abruptly that Leah jumped and Cassandra's torch swung back towards them.

"What do you mean you're sorry?"

Leah came to a stop and her torch lit upon an intense anguish in Danny's eyes that made her shrink back.

"This is my fault," Danny said. "Not yours. I was meant to protect you. You're here because of me!"

Leah stared at him, shocked. "What are you talking about?"

"That night on the bridge! That's where you got caught, wasn't it?"

"I — I don't — All I can remember from the bridge was you..." Leah's voice faded away.

"Me dying?" Danny asked.

"Yeah," Leah said awkwardly. "I have dreams about it."

Danny groaned and turned away, jerking forward again to follow Cassandra's quickly fading figure.

"But that's okay," Leah exclaimed, stumbling over roots in a desperate attempt to keep up with Danny's suddenly fast pace.

He didn't seem comforted by her words, but he slowed down.

"I'm so sorry, Leah," he said brokenly.

"Stop saying sorry!" Leah said. "It's not like you could've stopped it. You died, Danny! You did all you could."

"That wasn't the problem," Danny said. "The problem was that I didn't stay dead."

Leah blinked. "What?"

Danny glanced at her again. "So, you don't remember?"

Leah fidgeted. "I remember parts of it."

Danny was quiet for a moment and then his torch swung around, checking their surroundings. When his search revealed no more than trees, he turned back to her.

"Do you want me to tell you the whole story?"

"Yes," Leah said, flicking a branch out of her way.

Cassandra was leading them down an overgrown hiking track and they were moving fast, the lights of Byron Bay growing larger with every step.

Danny nodded and then began.

"When I died we were living in a country town just outside of Sydney. Mum and Dad wanted us to stay outside of the city – less security cameras and people who could recognise us – but we were close enough. The rebels had taken up a base there and it made it easier to track them.

Most of the S.I.S had gone into the city that day. One of our members had disappeared two weeks before and an abandoned truck had been found in the western suburbs that had traces of her DNA in the back seat."

"Her?" Leah asked.

"It was me," Cassandra called back. "I was the one missing."

"Right," Leah said, trying not to cringe.

"Mum and Dad were gone, but we still had a few bodyguards," Danny said. "As far as we were aware, the rebels didn't know where we were, or what names we were living under, so we weren't worried. But then they came. We were outnumbered. The bodyguards did what they could, but we realised we'd be caught unless we got out of the house."

Leah listened to Danny quietly, trying to revive some memories to matched his words.

"We couldn't let them get Seth, so he hid as we fought our way to the car and drove off. The diversion worked, but we only made it as far as the river before they managed to drive us off the road. They smashed into the passenger side of the car and your door ripped off. At first, I didn't realised you'd fallen out and by the time I did, they'd already surrounded you."

Danny swallowed. His voice had grown distinctly weaker the longer he spoke, and Leah had a feeling that if he wasn't turned away, she'd see tears in his eyes.

"I didn't know what to do. I'd run out of bullets, all I had was a grenade. I could see them lifting a gun to your head and I just panicked and threw the grenade and ran out of the car. And then I died."

The silence that followed was deafening as his words rung in Leah's ears.

"The grenade must've blown up the railing," she said numbly. "It gave way behind me just after you were shot and I fell into the water."

Danny was quiet.

"So, you died when they shot you?" Leah asked.

"Yeah."

Leah frowned. "That doesn't make sense. I can remember seeing you after that. I remember trying to get you away from there. You were still alive."

Danny scrunched his eyes closed. "No, I wasn't. Not really. I came back, Leah. Through the whirlpools."

Leah's eyes widened.

"I knew I'd left you there by yourself," Danny said. "And I was terrified for you, so I went back. When I woke up, the pain was unimaginable. I could feel every cell in my body collapsing, I couldn't even move. I realised I'd made a mistake, but I didn't realise how badly I'd screwed up until you appeared.

The rebels still hadn't found you. You'd hidden somewhere in the wetlands. But when you heard me in pain you came back. You ran back onto the bridge and tried to get us to the car. But they caught us. I died again, and you... well, they took you."

Leah winced at the guilt in Danny's voice.

"It wasn't your fault. You tried to do the right thing," she said.

Danny gave her a sad smile. "That doesn't always make a difference."

He was looking at the ground, kicking at sticks as they moved. They were close to the outskirts of Byron Bay now and the trees were beginning to thin as the ground levelled out.

"Well, I'm still alive. I'm just in the wrong world," Leah said stubbornly. "So, stop blaming yourself. You did what you could."

Danny snorted and glanced up at her. "You're still just as stubbornly optimistic as you used to be. You always used to call Seth and I out whenever we started feeling sorry for ourselves."

Leah snorted. "What did you have to feel sorry for yourself about?"

"I dunno," Danny said. "We were always moving. It was hard knowing that any second we might have to flee to a different city. The rebels were growing stronger every day. It was a lot of pressure to deal with."

He fell silent for a moment, staring into the distance.

"I don't think it's going to be much longer before they find out about Seth," he said softly. "I'd be surprised if they haven't already."

Leah glanced at Danny curiously. "Find out what about Seth?"

Danny froze mid-stride and spun to face her, his brow furrowed. When Leah only looked at him in confusion, his eyes widened.

"What?" Leah asked. Danny's expression was making her nerves rise on end, and her voice rose in pitch with them. "What's wrong with Seth?"

"There's nothing wrong with him," Danny said. "Well, there better not be. He's what we both spent our lives protecting."

There was a sudden awareness pushing against Leah's consciousness, a memory clawing its way to the surface.

"What are you saying?" she asked, but she almost knew the answer already, she could feel it fluttering in the back of her mind.

"He's the Mors Mortis Device, Leah," Danny said. "He's what the rebels are after."