***Those goddamn disclaimers...*** All characters of Daria are property of MTV. I have
absoluely no intention of stealing them, or harming them in any way... ;-P  This fanfic was
created solely for entertainment purposes. You can sue me if you want, but I wouldn't reccomend
it... All I got is $11 and my pet bird... :)


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***Description*** Lawndale faces the possibility of losing the most cynical member of their
population due to a tragic car accident... Everyone tries to cope with the possibility of life
without Daria. Will Daria be okay? Will Trent be able to deal with the guilt?

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                            Losing Daria
                                by Tazzie

    Trent jerked to attention from his not-so-sound slumber. He shook his head to rid himself
of the images in his dream. But he knew he could never be rid of them, for they were his very
reality.
    Daria and Trent were the only people occupying the room. Only the sounds of Daria's
breathing, the hum of the machines, and the beep of the heart monitor could be heard. Fresh
tears formed in Trent's eyes. He slammed clenched fists on the arms of his chair. He felt so
goddamn useless!
    He drew in a deep breath and let it out. He thought of his dream, although it was hardly
a dream. It still stuck so vividly in his mind, that fateful night. It had happened, alright.
Only a month ago, in fact...

--- ONE MONTH BEFORE ---

    "Trent," said Daria in a very slurred voice, "we should get going. It's pretty late."
    "Alright," said Trent. He was worse off than Daria. He was hammered. He and Daria had
been drinking at the Zen for close to two hours now. They had never even asked Daria for ID.
    Trent and Daria miraculously made it to the car in one piece, except for the fall Trent
had on the slippery ice of a cold mid-winter.
    They finally climbed into the car. It took Trent five minutes to be able to identify the
correct key to stick into the ignition. And finally they were driving along.
    Daria's parents, and Quinn, had decided to take a vacation to a ski lodge to enjoy
winter. Daria had snorted and said to have fun, because she would rather stay in Lawndale.
Especially after having admitted to having feelings for Trent, and Trent admitting feelings for
her. She had wanted to stay and enjoy Christmas with her new boyfriend. So they decided to stay
at the Lane residence for Christmas break.
    Trent took a sidelong glance at Daria. She was now sound asleep. Trent smiled. He took a
few moments to admire her divine beauty. How could every guy in Lawndale make a fuss over
Quinn, and not over Daria, Trent thought to himself.
    Trent had taken a moment too long admiring Daria. When Trent turned back to the road, all
that greeted his view was a sturdy looking pole. Trent had virtually no time to react. He had
no time to swerve to the side, nor did he have time to hit the brakes. The car plowed straight
into the pole at a considerably high speed, in addition to the ice speeding them up a bit.
    Neither Trent nor Daria had been wearing a seatbelt, and of course in this piece of shit
car, the airbags didn't work. Trent was thrown forward onto the steering wheel with such force
it felt as if he was being hit with a bag of bricks in his midsection. Stars danced before his
eyes. He fought waves of dizziness, for something told him not to pass out...
    Trent blinked the stars away and looked at the passenger side, and to his surprise saw
nobody. A sick feeling rose in the pit of his stomach as he turned to look at the windshield,
or what was left of it. There was a huge hole in the windshield with blood lining the remaining
glass.
    "D A R I A ! ! !" screamed Trent. He threw open the drivers' side door and maneuvered as
quickly and as best he could with his aching ribs. He knew they were broken. But Daria was far
more important right now.
    When he reached the front of the car, the sight of Daria was far more then he could
handle. Tears formated in his eyes. This was all his fault. Daria was sprawled in a fetal
position in a pile of red snow.
    Trent knelt beside Daria on the freezing ground and felt her pulse. He was nearly
jumping for joy when he found she had one, but she was still in need of serious medical help.
Her breathing was oh-so-shallow, and the pulse was extremely weak. Unless she recieved medical
attention in the next ten minutes, she would die. She was ice cold and so pale...
    Trent looked around desperately for some way of getting help. He spotted a payphone a
block away. He ran as fast as possible and dialed 911. The call was answered.
    "911, what is your emergency?" said an elderly woman on the other line.
    "My girlfriend and I crashed into a telephone pole and she went through the windshield.
There's blood everywhere. And her pulse is really weak." Trent descibed his surroundings as
best he could and hung up. They'd promised to be there in ten minutes. Trent didn't know if
Daria could hold on that long. He ran back to her.
    He knelt beside her again and found that she was still breathing. He took off his coat
and sweatshirt and wrapped her in them. It would do her no good to freeze to death. He took her
gently in his arms and cradled her like a small child.
    "What have I done to you, Daria? What have I done?" said Trent, furious with himself. All
he could think about was Daria dying, and never being able to see her beautiful brown eyes, or
soft auburn hair again. Trent continued to rock her gently in his arms until the ambulence
arrived and the EMTs took over. And then Daria was gone, leaving Trent standing there like a
lost puppy. A police officer approached Trent.
    "Ah, excuse me, son. What happened?" asked the officer. Trent explained the ordeal with
full detail and when he stopped, the officer quit writing and looked up sincerely. And then a
stern look crossed his face. "Were you driving drunk, son?"
    The whole experience had sobered Trent somehow, making as if he never had a drop of
alcohol. Trent figured that if he told the truth, he would get into trouble, maybe go to jail,
and probably never even be able to see Daria again if she survived. And then if she didn't, it
would be man-slaughter. "No, we were just at a club watching a band and all I drank was coke."
    The officer looked him up and down. He seemed to believe the story. The sincere look
returned. "You okay, kid?" he asked, noticing the way Trent was sort-of doubled over.     
    Trent nodded, "Yeah, I think I broke a couple ribs, but it's no big deal--" The officer
interrupted him.
    "I'll give you a lift to the hospital. They'll fix you up a bit, and you can go see your
girlfriend," said the officer kindly. He helped Trent into the car. It was so warm inside, and
Trent began to feel mildly better. He ran his fingers through his hair, worried about Daria.
    They hardly spoke on the way to the hospital. When they arrived, the officer explained to
a nearby nurse what happened to Trent, and the nurse took him to get an x-ray. Trent followed
the nurse into the x-ray room. The nurse told him how to lay, and to lay perfectly still. He
obeyed and the ordeal was over within minutes. Trent began to get nervous because he wanted to
see Daria and her condition. Trent waited in the waiting room for the results of his x-ray for
nearly a half hour. He was getting irritated when the nurse came back.
    "Hmmm..." she said, "Two broken ribs. Follow me so I can dress the wound." Trent followed
her, and ten minutes later, he was fully bandaged and on his way to Daria's room. He knew
nothing of her condition, except it was critical, and that she was in intensive care. He was
scared to death of what he might see when he entered the room.
    Daria looked horrible. Her face was bruised and cut badly. Her beautiful hair was hidden
by gauze that had been wrapped around her head. Her leg was in a cast, and had been elevated.
And her arm was also in a cast. Tears again formed in his eyes.
    "Oh, god," he uttered. Jane jumped up at hearing him. He hadn't even noticed her sitting
over by the window. She ran over and hugged him, wordlessly. She broke the embrace a few
moments later by punching him on the arm hard.
    "Ouch! What was that for?!" he asked.  Jane's voice came out like a child's voice.
Frightened and pitiful.
    "God dammit Trent! You and Daria could have died. Daria *might* die. I could have lost
my brother and my best friend tonight! You fooled everyone else, but you damn sure didn't fool
me. I know you were driving drunk, Trent. What the hell were you thinking??? Why didn't you
just call a cab? Or at least wear a seatbelt!?" asked Jane. She put her head in her hands and
sobbed.
    Trent hugged Jane again. "God, Jane. I'm so sorry. It wasn't my plan to put anyone
through this." Trent paused and let go of Jane looking into her eyes. "What's wrong with Daria,
Jane? Is she going to live?"
    Jane shifted her gaze to the window again. When she spoke again she sounded so distant.
"Trent... She's... She's on life support. They don't know. She broke all of her ribs, fractured
her wrist, broke her leg, and 'suffered severe head trauma.'" said Jane, sadly. She shook her
head and turned her sight back to him. She looked concerned. "How about you? Are you okay?"
    "Fine. Just a couple broken ribs. Don't worry about me," he attempted a smile, but
failed. He turned to look at Daria. He walked towards her bed and took her good hand. Tears had
begun flowing again.
    "I'm so sorry, Daria."

--- PRESENT DAY ---

    Trent shook his head. He was still furious with himself. After that night he hadn't left
Daria's bedside. His worst fear beside her dying was that she would wake up alone. He barely
ate now, beside the occasional cup of coffee and a sandwich that Jane would bring for him. His
narcoleptic habits seemed non-existant now, for he slept only about five hours a day, now. The
only time he would leave Daria was to use the bathroom. He hadn't even played his guitar for a
month.
    Jane had come every day for the first two weeks to check on Daria and Trent, but now she
only came once a week. The sight of Daria depressed her. And she refused to sit there and watch
Trent and his poor lifestyle.
    Every once in a while, students from LHS came to see Daria, but in the last week, visits
became sparse. Everyone seemed to have lost hope by now. The only teacher to come see how Daria
was, was Mr. O'Neil. And Trent had called him a moron, and he ran out crying.     
    The Morgendorffers came three times a week, with the exception of Quinn. Quinn had only
come to see Daria once, but this, too, was Trent's fault. A week ago she'd come to visit. Trent
shook his head at remembering this. He'd scared her away, but it had seemed pretty funny...

--- QUINN'S VISIT - ONE WEEK EARLIER ---

    "Quinn, I want you to go in there and see your sister!" barked Helen angrily.
    "Muh-om! It's not like she'll even know I'm there, and I have a Fashion Club meeting
in---" Helen cut Quinn off.
    "Get in there now. She's your sister for Christ sake. Do you not even care that she could
*die*?" Helen asked.
    "Ok, ok. Quit with the guilt trip already," said Quinn glumly, on her way into the room.
    Trent got up at seeing her. He figured she'd want a few minutes to talk to her sister.
He went to the window and peered out. 'She can't be that shallow if she's here to see her
sister,' thought Trent.
    Quinn took a quick glance at Daria and said, "Ewww... She has like a whole bunch of
bruises and she didn't even try to hide them with concealer!" exclaimed Quinn. Trent spun
around and looked at her in shock. Was he really hearing this?
    "Are you serious?" he asked in disbelief. "Your sister is lying here on the verge of
death and all you can talk about is concealer?!"
    "Well, she's like all ugly and stuff," said Quinn. Trent lost his cool right there and
then...
    "You shallow little bitch! You're not even worried that your sister could *DIE*, you're
worried about goddamn fashion! If you weren't a girl I'd throw you out the window!" yelled
Trent.
    "Forget you, then," said Quinn, and she stomped out of the room.
    "And I wouldn't be calling anyone ugly with *that* face!" Trent yelled after her.

--- PRESENT DAY ---

    Trent had been so upset that day. He came so close to throwing her out the window or
beating her to a battered and bloody pulp. So close... But he'd told himself that it wasn't
worth going to jail for. And definitely not worth going to jail for Quinn Morgendorffer...
    It hadn't bothered him that Quinn was worried about looks 24/7, what had fully set him
in a rage was that she'd called Daria ugly. Daria was more beautiful than anything he'd ever
seen before in his life. Everybody marveled over Quinn, but to Trent, she was just
another fashion obsessed loon. Daria had a special aura about her.
    As Trent was thinking, Jane walked into the room. She looked at Daria. She was in the
same position she'd been in when Jane had been to visit, before. She shook her head and then
walked over to Trent. His back was facing her. She walked over and put her hands on his
shoulders. He jumped a mile high.
    "Oh.. Hey Janey," said Trent. "Sorry, I'm just a little jumpy." But Jane wasn't listening
to him talk, she was looking at his state of being. His eyes were so bloodshot from crying and
loss of sleep that it almost looked as if the whole white of his eyes were red. He was as
skinny as a rail from lack of food. And as she looked at his hands down at his sides, they
shook violently. Tears began flowing down her cheeks. Trent looked as if he would fall over if
a gust of wind hit him the right way.
    "Was it something I said?" asked Trent.
    "Dammit, Trent, you look terrible," she managed to say. Trent walked forward and gave his
little sister a hug. Even though he looked bad, his embrace was still strong. As if he
regularly weight-lifted.
    "I'm fine Janey. Just worried about Daria, is all."
    "Trent... We are *all* worried about Daria. But getting sick won't help her at all. You
need sleep and some food. You need to come home," said Jane worriedly.
    "Sorry... I can't leave Daria here by herself. I don't want her to wake up alone, and I
don't want her to... die alone," said Trent, reassuming his seat next to Daria and turning his
back on Jane. His decision was final, and Jane knew it. She sighed and left.
    Trent reached over to stroke Daria's hair, but his hand shook too badly and he dropped it
to his side. He decided to take Jane's advice on one thing, and get some sleep. Trent held
Daria's hand in his and lay his head against Daria's bed, and closed his eyes. He was out of it
within seconds.

    Trent's sleep looked anything but restful. He tossed and turned. Or, as much as you could
in a chair... But because of Trent's sleep he was unable to see Daria's eyes flutter open. She
looked around with a lost and confused expression on her face. She looked to her right side and
squinted, seeing her glasses and then putting them on.
    Daria looks to her left side and sees her hand is being held by some guy with scraggley
black hair. She jerks her hand away from him and huddles all the way to the right side of her
bed, distancing herself from him. At this, he springs awake.
    Trent, seeing Daria awake, is overcome with joy. "D A R I A ! ! ! You're *AWAKE*! ! !" He
gets closer to her attempting to hug her, but she shrinks away, seemingly in fear.
    "Daria... Wh- what's wrong?" asks Trent, worriedly, facefaulting.
    Daria finally speaks, in a voice that is unlike her usual deadpan. "Daria? Who? Who are
you? Where am I?"
    Trent gapes at her in utter dispair and horror. "Daria.. I'll be right back. I promise.
Don't move." And he runs out of the room at a sprint. He returns a moment later with a doctor
and nurse at his heels.
    The doctor looks annoyed. "What is the meaning-" he finally looks in Daria's direction.
He then looks at Trent. "She's awake?" Trent nods. The doctor stalks over to the bed. "Ms.
Morgendorffer, how are we feeling?"
    "Morgendorffer? What's that? What're you talking about?" asked a confused Daria. A frown
crossed the doctors face, and he looks sincerely at Trent.
    "I was afraid this would happen," said the doctor, sorrily.
    "What?! What's wrong with her?!" exclaimed Trent.
    "I'm afraid she's got amnesia," said the doctor. "Her memory will probably come back
soon, if it's ever going to."
    "What the hell do you mean-" Trent, realizing this is scaring Daria, walks over to her
and says, "Your name is Daria. Daria Morgendorffer. And my name is Trent Lane. I'm your
boyfriend Daria."
    "You're not her boyfriend!" says an offscreen voice. We pan to the doorway and see a
mischevious looking Quinn standing there. "Her boyfriend is *MUCH* more popular than you!"
    A look of utter and complete rage crosses Trent's face when he realizes what Quinn is
doing. "YOU GODDAMNED LITTLE BITCH!" screams Trent, lunging at Quinn. He tackles her to the
ground.
    "SECURITY!" yells the doctor. And moments later, some men in green uniforms appear and
haul Trent off.
    "I WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO, QUINN MORGENDORFFER. AND YOU ARE SURE AS HELL NOT GOING TO
GET AWAY WITH IT!" yells Trent as he is dragged offscreen. Quinn turns to Daria, who smiles.
    "Morgendorffer... Hey! That's my last name. We must be related!" says Daria.
    "Yes, Daria. I'm Quinn, your sister. And we're going to be best friends..." says Quinn,
wearing the evilest smirk you can imagine.

--- MONTAGE SEQUENCE - MUSIC: LIT - "MISERABLE" ---

    Outside the hospital. We see Trent being thrown out on his ass. He turns and shakes an
angry fist at the guards. Then, we see him walking away, eyes on the ground, sadly.
    
    Later, at a some bar. Not the Zen, but a bar much more wild. We see a bartender pouring
Trent a shot of tequila. Trent picks up the shotglass, does a "cheers" gesture, and then downs
it. He makes a sour face, and then nods at the bartender.

    Some time later, we see a weaving Trent with four or five empty shot glasses in front of
him. No doubt once filled with tequila. The bartender is pouring yet another shot of tequila.
Trent salutes again, and downs it. Yet, this time there is no sour face.

    Even later, we see Trent with maybe ten empty shot glasses in front of him. He's weaving
in his chair even more, and he downs one more shot and falls over. He nods at the bartender
after he gets up, but the bartender shakes his head and points to the door. Trent looks angry,
but walks towards the door... Or shall we say... staggers...

    We see Trent staggering down the sidewalk, tears on his cheeks. Then a downpour of rain
starts. Trent doesn't seem to notice, but just keeps walking with his head down, looking at the
sidewalk, sadly, as we see at the beginning of the montage.

    Trent is in the park after dark, sitting on a bench, still in the downpour, with his head
in his hands. He looks miserable.
    (((MUSIC FADES OUT...)))

--- CASA LANE ---

    Jane is sitting on the couch staring at the door. Then it opens and a soaked Trent walks
in. Jane jumps up and hugs her brother. "I was so worried Trent. The Morgendorffers called and
said that Daria was awake, but she has amne-" said Jane, but Trent interrupts her in an almost
non-understandable, slurred voice.
    "Amnesia. God fucking damnit. And that little bitch takes her away from me. Right after I
get her back, she takes her away from me! I'm gonna kill her." With that, he walks over and
flops upon the couch.
    "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Trent. You're making no sense. Start from the beginnning,
okay?" says Jane in utter confusion.
    "Right after Daria woke up, I was sitting there, telling her who I was. And when I said
I was her boyfriend, from out of nowhere, Quinn pops up and says, '*You're* not her boyfriend,
her boyfriend is way more popular,' and then I got thrown out for tackling her. So I went and
had a few drinks. God, this is all because of when I called Quinn ugly and threatened to throw
her out the window. Now Daria will never like m-" Now it's Jane's turn to cut someone off.
    "STOP! I get the idea. Trent, it's going to be okay. Daria WILL get her memory back. She
just needs to be reminded of things. And she will *love* you again."
    "Yeah. Okay, Janey. Whatever you say. If you need me, I'll be in my room banging my head
against the wall until I forget all this shit." And with that, we see Trent stagger off, and
we hear a door slam. And, without fail, we hear a repeating *bump, bump, bump, bump...* against
the wall until one particularly loud one. Everything falls silent after that, except for the
sound of rain on the roof.
    "Well... Maybe he knocked himself out." Jane pauses. "I have to get this straightened
out." And with that, Jane grabs a black raincoat and heads out into the downpour.

--- CHEZ MORGENDORFFER ---
    
    Daria, Jake, and Helen are sitting in the living room as a *family* watching T.V.
A doorbell sounds, and Daria says, "I'll get it. The doctor said I need to get used to doing
things again."
    "Alright, kiddo," says Jake. He, for one, seems happy to see a more social Daria. Daria
gets up and limps over to the door. Her leg seems pretty much healed, except for the limp. As
do her arm, and ribs. She opens the door.
    "DARIA!" yells Jane in jubilee, obviously forgetting that Daria has no idea in hell who
she is. She hugs Daria tightly, but Daria pulls away. We see Jane crying, as she is so happy to
see her best friend up and around again.
    "Er, who are you?" asks Daria confused. Jane bites her lip, sadly.
    "I'm- I'm your best friend. Jane. Jane Lane."
    Daria shakes her head. "I'm sorry. I don't remember... Why don't we go up to my room and
get re-accquainted?" Daria says in a voice that Jane would never recognize if it weren't coming
straight from her mouth. Then she gives a big smile, much bigger than any Mona Lisa smile.
    "Er... Ok," says Jane, nervously. Obviously feeling awkward around such a weird acting
Daria.
    
--- THE PADDED CELL ---

    We see Daria sitting on her bed, and Jane on the floor looking at Daria. Daria finally
starts to talk. "So... How long have we been best friends?"
    "Ah... Ever since you moved here from Highland... About a year, or a year and a half. And
Trent is-" Jane was cut off by an offscreen voice.
    "Stop right there, Jane Lane!" We pan to the door and see Quinn, like we did at the
hospital, except she is surrounded by the fashion club. "I need to have a word with you. NOW!"
    "Wha-" And Jane is yanked out of the room by Quinn and the fashion fiends.
    "You need to leave right now, Jane. You're going to screw everything up," says an angry
Quinn.
    "What the hell are you talking about?"
    "I've got everything rigged up... I'm setting Daria up with a college guy...     You will
not ruin this."
    "You won't get away with this, Quinn."
    "Watch me."

--- MONTAGE SEQUENCE - MUSIC: BANANARAMA - CRUEL SUMMER ---


    LHS Cafeteria. Jane sits alone, pushing the food around on her plate. She looks up and
notices that Mack and Jodie have joined her. She smiles a small smile, until she sees where
Daria has seated herself. With the Fashion Club. She's laughing and talking happily. Jane
sighs.


    After school. Daria stands with the Fashion Club talking and a really handsome guy walks
up and leads her off. No doubt her new college beau. Jane, who's been watching from a distance,
stalks off angrily.


    The basement. Trent is looking miserable and playing a song. All of the sudden he throws
his guitar against the wall where it smashes. He knocks over the amp, and walks over to the
wall and bangs his head really hard repeatedly. He seems to be doing a lot of this lately.
Pan to the stairs where Jane looks sad and shakes her head.


    Trent and Monique seem to be out together. 'Nique is kissing on Trent majorly. Trent
seems distracted, to say the least. Monique sighs and turns her views elsewhere.
(((MUSIC FADES OUT...)))


--- CASA LANE - MUSIC: EVAN AND JARON - CRAZY FOR THIS GIRL ---

    Trent walks in with his head downcast, but it seems Jane has been waiting for him. The
minute he walks in, she slams the door shut and pins him against the wall nearest the door with
great force.
    "What the hell? Janey, get off of me." Trent tried to break free, but Jane had him pinned
good.
    "Trent. I. Have. Had. Enough. Of. This. Mopey. Shit," Jane said firmly, her face inches
from Trent's. "You are going to go to the Morgendorffer's place, and you're going to confront
Daria."
    "She doesn't remember me, Janey. She doesn't love me anymore. She-" Jane cut him off.
    "I don't give a fuck. Get your ass over there. She'll remember you. Daria was crazy about
you Trent, and she still will be. Now go." He didn't move. But then a smile crossed his face
and Jane returned it. "Go, Trent." He nodded then turned and headed out the door. Jane allowed
herself a small smile of satisfaction.

--- LAWNDALE STREET - MUSIC PLAYS ON ---

    Trent did a full sprint down Lawndale Street. Smiling the whole way. He kept repeating to
himself, "Daria will remember me. Daria still loves me. Daria will remember me. Daria still
loves me..."
    He arrived at Daria's around ten minutes later. He knocked on the door, Helen answered.
    "Oh, hello, Trent. Are you here to see Daria?" Helen asked.
    "Uh, yeah, actually."
    "She's upstairs with Alex. Go ahead up." Trent smiled and nodded and headed on up.

    Daria and Alex were in the middle of a kiss when Trent entered. He blushed as did Daria.
Alex smiled.
    "Who are you?"
    "That's Grant, Alex," Daria said.
    "Trent. Daria's boyfriend." Trent glanced at Daria who looked a little pale. He would
have been concerned, but he was arguing with Alex.
    "She's MY girlfriend man, back off," Alex said, his voice rising. They started shoving
eachother. Then they heard a "thump!" and looked over. Daria had fallen unconscious. Trent was
the first to get to her.
    "Daria? Daria? Daria!" he said shaking her. He turned to Alex. "Help me move her on to
the bed." Alex nodded and helped out.
    "DARIA!!!" Trent yelled again. Daria's eyelids fluttered open slowly. She looked
confused.
    "Trent?" she asked. "Where am I? Why am I wearing my contacts? Who are YOU?" She pointed
to Alex. Her normal monotone was back.
    "Get lost, Alex. We have catching up to do." Alex looked enraged but left. "Boy have I
got a story for you, Daria." Trent sat Daria down and told her the whole story, which took
nearly half an hour. After he was finished, Daria grabbed him and gave him a long, passionate
kiss. "I thought I'd lost you, Daria."
    "Trent, I'll never leave you again. I promise. You'll never lose me," Daria said.




~~~~THE END~~~~