Page 101 of Lovesick Titan

“I wouldn’t have expected you to be. Any of you.”

“But that was before I saw how much he was willing to fight for you. The fact that this group of unlikely allies managed to pull together a plan this huge, working side by side in close quarters for days, proves that you and Malcolm finding happiness together is not the strangest thing we’ve dealt with. If you want to work through the complications that might come up and just be happy with him, I believe you can do it, Danny. I want you to do it. Not that you need my blessing…”

Danny squeezed her hand, ready to tug her in for a hug, because no, he didn’t need her blessing, but that didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate it.

“Isn’t it Dad’s blessing you should be worried about?”

They shifted their attention in unison to see Joey having snuck up on them. He wasn’t looking on in disapproval, but Danny was stunned anyway. Joey had never called John ‘Dad’ in front of him without correcting himself.

“What she said,” Joey nodded at Stella. “Prometheus isn’t so bad. And if Dad hasn’t already, I’m sure he’ll give his approval when this is over.”

“A month ago he would have cursed and hollered,” Danny snickered.

“Maybe,” Joey snickered with him, “but he definitely loves you, Danny. I’m sure Dad would rather have Prometheus watching your back than using it for target practice.”

“Me too,” Danny laughed harder.

“Just be careful, alright? I know you always are, but don’t let Ludgate get to you. This family keeps getting bigger.” Joey fidgeted and looked down at his feet. “I kinda like that.”

Danny understood what he meant—he didn’t want their family to get anysmaller. He wanted to hug his brother like he’d felt the need to hug Stella, but he held back. This wasn’t goodbye; he shouldn’t be saying goodbye. That would only make this harder. It was just a fight, just a villain he had to face like many others before him. This was Danny’s job, and he wasn’t doing it alone.

“Danny?” Mal called before he could think of anything to say.

Joey and Stella parted, and there he stood, gear on, duster and all, including the new goggles Priestly had tweaked. He nodded once to Joey and Stella, no smirk in place, just assurance in the task ahead. Then his eyes fell on Danny.

“Ready?”

R

The hour was almost up. Only a few minutes remaining. They couldn’t risk making Ludgate wait. With Priestly and Andre on comms and Captain Shan listening in for when it was safe to send in reinforcements, the others hung back while Mal, Danny, and Dom entered the mirror trap.

Once Danny gave the signal, Mal looked at the Miasma Field through his goggles and slowly began to bring the radius in closer until it only struck the mirrors nearest them, then he turned it off completely.

‘Fun house’ was definitely a close approximation of their surroundings once the frosted look disappeared and the mirrors aroundthem shimmered with renewed reflections. Dozens of copies of them looked back—more than dozens, since the placement of the mirrors multiplied the reflections infinitely into the distance.

Mal sensed Danny fidgeting at his side, being on his left with Dom at his right. Danny was always antsy, always ready to move, but these nerves were different. Despite standing tall, Danny was afraid down to his core because of what Ludgate had done to him. It didn’t matter if they needed Ludgate to get out of the mirror world once they were in it; if Mal found an opportune moment to kill the man, he doubted he could stop himself from taking it. Like he’d told Danny, sometimes people got what they had coming.

At least that was what he wanted to believe. Taking in all the many Dannys he could see reflected in the mirrors, standing between him and Dom as a unified front against a common enemy, the thrill and adrenaline Mal loved about the best laid plans of a successful heist surged through him like never before. Side by side withDanny Grant, he could admit he didn’t want to let him down.

“Such a lovely gift you’ve brought me,” Ludgate’s voice echoed through the chamber, causing the hair on Mal’s arms to prickle. One by one, the images of him, Danny, and Dom flickered out, replaced by the visage of Ludgate in his silver suit.

Mal side-eyed the exit, just to see the glimmer of light to remind him therewasa way out, they weren’t trapped, this was a trap for Ludgate. Still, he couldn’t help thinking,why’d they have to build it with a ceiling?

“So nice of you to invite me,” Ludgate went on, grinning within his cowl. “But just the three of you? What are the others up to, I wonder?”

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with,Ludgate,” Mal said, smirking when the man twitched at the use of his name instead of his moniker. “Busy schedule this morning. So why don’t you hand over Detective Grant, and we’ll be on our way.”

Ludgate tossed his head back with a laugh. “Always did love your sense of humor, Prometheus.”

The reflections shimmered and shorted out like a faulty connection, and when Ludgate’s image returned, it was focused further back, showing off his entire body, with John Grant tied to a chair in front of him.

“Dad!” Danny cried, flinching forward but managing to hold himself back.

John did not look well. His face was bruised, lip bleeding, teal eyes tired like he’d been interrogated all night, beaten for information he couldn’t offer. Again, Mal wanted to give Ludgate what he had coming, but however this ended, they had to be smart, careful, patient.

“I’m alright, kiddo,” John said between labored breaths. “Whatever he wants, don’t give in. Don’t worry about me. Don’t—”

“So noble,” Ludgate spoke over him, and with a flourish, John was obscured by a stretch of fabric that covered his head and shoulders. It was Danny’s jacket from the night at the hospital. “But we wouldn’t want any distractions now, would we? We have so much to talk about.”

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