Page 64 of Lovesick Titan

“Course I do,” Michael sat up taller, and even though Danny couldn’t see his eyes anymore since he faced Mal, he imagined the look on the boy’s face was full of devotion. “You.”

The carefully constructed mask Mal wore, even while being more open talking about loving a sister unconditionally, gave way to shock. He covered it quickly, but he couldn’t hide the way his eyes darted to Danny before he answered.

“Well then…do you think you’d like it if someone looked up to you that way?”

Michael nodded enthusiastically, and the smile that cracked Mal’s mask further made him look so handsome.

“Mai will look up to you like that, and all you have to do is be there for her. Protect her, like your mother said, no matter what, and you’ll be the biggest hero in her whole life.”

“Like you?” Michael asked.

The shock didn’t reappear but was replaced with an awful sadness that Danny wanted to wipe away and never see on Mal’s face again. “I’m not a hero, Michael. I just do what I have to, to keep those who matter most to me safe.”

“That’s as much of a hero as anyone needs to be,” Danny said, causing Michael to turn his round blue eyes on him. “Being a hero doesn’t only mean stopping bad guys or putting out fires. Sometimes it’s about...giving up the last slice of pizza. Or giving good advice. Or being there, just to listen, when someone is hurting and needs a friend.” He smiled wider as he felt Mal’s eyes on him with fresh intensity, but he kept his gaze on Michael and leaned in close to whisper, “So don’t let our friend Mr. Winter get away with saying he’s no hero. We both know better, right?”

Michael nodded with a conspiratorial smile this time while Mal, when Danny looked at him again, didn’t try to hide any of the melancholy creeping into his expression or the fondness that played at the corners of his smile. There were so many things left unsaid, things they couldn’t say with a ten-year-old sitting between them.

“You got that, Michael,” Mal said. “From Olympus City’s own superhero—you do your best by your sister, and you’ll be a hero to her forever. And to us. Got it?” Holding out his hand in a forward-facing fist, the pair bumped with gentle force, which Danny thought looked too adorable and out of place but definitely like something they’d done before.

Danny got so caught up in looking at Mal, in being reminded of all the reasons why he’d come to care for this man, that he missed when Michael tried to get his attention.

“Mr. Zeu—” He cut himself off dutifully since they’d told him, and his mother had reiterated firmly in the brief moment they were all alone in the delivery room before the nurses shooed them out, that Danny being Zeus was a big secret to keep. “Um, I mean…Mr. Danny?”

Pulling himself from Mal’s gaze, Danny cleared his throat before speaking. “Just Danny is fine, Michael.”

“Okay.Danny. Umm…I’m sorry I don’t have a Zeus doll.” He’d been sitting so patiently while they waited for the baby to be born, Danny hadn’t realized the boy had a toy tucked into the deep pockets of his jacket until he reached in and pulled out his Prometheus doll made of yarn.

Danny smiled at its appearance, but then furrowed his brow. “Why are you sorry?”

“Coz I didn’t want one.” Michael held the doll in both hands with reverent care. “Mom was gonna make me one, so I could have both, but I said no, coz you…cozZeusis always fighting Prometheus. And he saved us, ya know?”

“I know.” Danny offered Mal another encouraging smile.

“But you’re not fighting now!” Michael straightened again, smiling as he stood the doll up on his legs. “You’re friends, right?”

Those blue eyes…Danny was trapped whether he looked down or up, because Michael was so fervently certain of everything he believed about Mal as his personal hero, and Mal couldn’t believe he was anyone’s hero.

“More like boyfriends, honey,” Lucy’s voice broke into their reverie, and while at first Danny was startled, then disappointed to be interrupted, it caught up to him that he should actually be terrified.

He wasn’t wearing his mask! And she obviously knew it was Zeus sitting there, even though Danny couldn’t see her yet, since her voice had come from behind him. There was the curve of a corner behind his back where she must have come from, which was the only explanation for how Mal hadn’t noticed her either—that and how he’d been staring at Danny.

While Danny’s eyes widened with panic, Mal scowled. “Lucy…”

“Boyfriends? Like…kissing boyfriends?” Michael said, small and hushed like sharing a secret. Lucy snorted over Danny’s shoulder, making him tense at how close she was, but Michael’s expression was entirely contemplative. “How do people who were fighting become boyfriends?”

“Very carefully.”

“Lucy.”

“Oh relax, Mickey. You can relax too,Danny. Mickey kept your secret, don’t you worry. I’m just clever, is all. I can put a puzzle together.”

Danny’s shoulders eased out of their tension, even though he should have been more concerned that his secret identity seemed to have become increasingly less secret in the span of a single day. But he trusted Captain Shan. He trusted Carla and Michael more than he probably should too. And even if it hadn’t been for Mal, he wanted to trust Lucy.

Turning slowly, he looked over his shoulder with a weak smile. “Hi, Lucy.”

Like her brother, she had a knack for looking effortlessly gorgeous—not a hair out of place, makeup flawless, a leather jacket over a well-fitted tank top. Her brown eyes swept over Danny’s face and down his body with a cold scrutiny.

“Hmm. Look atyou. I get why Mickey’s so obsessed. Had him wrapped around your finger the second he saw those boyish good looks.”

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