Page 63 of Lovesick Gods

“In case of nausea, increased appetite, dry mouth…” Danny listed off with a grin.

“I’m serious, Danny. The usual side effects likely won’t apply, but anything else, tell me immediately.”

“I will.” Steeling his expression, Danny was grateful for how much Lynn had obviously put into this even if it left him wary. “Thank you. I’m having a really good day actually, so maybe I won’t even need to take these.”

The knit to Lynn’s brow smoothed out as she smiled. “That’s great, Danny. I’m glad to hear it. And if you don’t feel like taking any, don’t. But if you do, it’s okay to need something to help you feel better.”

“I know.” He did finally understand that. He was sick of feeling like he’d earned his misery. “Thanks, Lynn. Really.”

“Any time, Danny.”

Pocketing the pills, Danny kept his eyes on the door rather than let them stray to Mr. Wayne’s body as he left. He was getting better. Hewas. He appreciated everything Lynn had done for him, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that resorting to pills would only make him weaker.

As he headed back upstairs to his office, he decided he’d only take one if he absolutely needed it.

ß

“Power down, Danny!” Andre called from the other room.

Danny reined in his lightning until it dwindled completely. What had been the sparking, obvious silhouette of Zeus returned to being The Invisible Man. If Andre couldn’t keep the name for Ludgate then he wanted to use it forsomething, and thus he had dubbed Danny’s new stealth suit.

Or at least it would have been a stealth suit—if Danny never used his powers.

One of the storerooms next to the main room in the old morgue had been specially insulated for him to practice various uses of his abilities. While Andre could hear Danny over the comms and watch footage of him on his tablet, Danny only had the sound of Andre’s voice.

The mask of the new suit covered his entire face like he was used to, but the diamond-shaped lenses for his eyes were larger. Overall, the suit should have felt stiffer with the reflectors built in, but one of the benefits of the ‘tiny little mirrors’, as Andre called them, was that the individual pieces had more fluidity than his Zeus suit. If only the stealth portion would work as intended.

“What’s up, Andre? We’ve been testing for almost an hour and nothing’s changed. If I can’t use the suit with my powers, what’s the point?”

“Dude, can you shut down the suit when you talk to me?” Andre disregarded his concerns. “It’s creepy watching an empty room.”

A flare of annoyance spiked through Danny at having his question ignored, but the chance to be devious banished his frustration. Being careful not to spark with any lightning, he exited into the hallway to slip into the main room.

Andre remained fixated on the tablet near his desk, but after a moment, as Danny snuck closer to him, his eyes darted from side to side in suspicion. “Danny?” he said, since Danny hadn’t answered him over the comms. “Daniel Allen Grant, I swear, if you jump scare me right now—”

“You’ll what?” Danny whispered from only a foot away.

“Ah!” Andre flailed spectacularly as he turned to face the disembodied voice of his friend. He pointed an accusing finger in the general direction of Danny’s face. “I will karate chop every inch of space in front of me!” Making a few full-hearted but sloppy chopping motions at the air, he failed to strike anywhere near Danny.

To save his friend from further embarrassment, Danny pressed the button on top of his hand between his thumb and index finger. Andre also had a kill switch for the suit on the tablet and his computer, but he hadn’t thought to use it.

The reflectors flickered and became visible again, revealing Danny in the all black, skin-tight glove of a uniform that shimmered as if he was covered in sequins. He’d joked that it was his Hollywood Starlit outfit rather than The Invisible Man. It had no discernible seams or lines; it was just sleek black with a pair of bug-eyed lenses.

“Don’t DO that.” Andre smacked him in the chest. “I can still take away all of your toys, ya know.”

Danny snickered as he pulled off the mask. “Can but won’t and you know it.” It was a relief to be able to joke so effortlessly again.

Andre tilted his head at Danny in incredulity before returning his attention to the readings on the tablet. “Sorry, man, I don’t think I’ll have the bugs worked out for tonight’s patrol. The reflectors are not fans of your lightning. I need to figure out how to keep your natural electromagnetic waves from interfering with the sensors. Otherwise, Ludgate will see you coming the second you use your abilities.”

Sighed, Danny hopped up onto the desk next to Andre. He was tempted to just wear the suit as it was, try to catch Ludgate without using his powers, since invisibility might be a more effective tool in this case, but he knew it would be better to not give away his best ace in the hole before it was ready.

“Anything else you need from me to work out the kinks?” Danny asked. “I should hit the streets soon. Maybe I’ll get lucky and catch Ludgate without going invisible.” He doubted it, but then, his luck had finally started to turn around. For the first time in a long time, he felt like his old self again.

He refused to believe it had anything to do with confessing how he’d been feeling to Cho or the man’s reaction to it all, rather than just fulfilling sex and a plan to one-up the craftiest criminal he’d ever faced.

A crafty criminal who watched over his neighborhood like a den mother. Who protected his sister with the same fierceness that Danny would use to protect any of his family and friends. Who offered Danny food. Gave into his whims. Never pushed for more than Danny could give in return. And brushed away his tears…

Danny shook his head as he focused on Andre. It was just an act. Just the long game. Always the long game. Eventually, Cho would slip up, show his true nature, and when he did, Danny would have no problem scattering the pieces of his heart like confetti.

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