“You got it, boss,” Priestly said. “This heist will be one to remember.”
Mal didn’t doubt that for a second.
ß
Danny clutched his phone in his hands to keep from throwing it. It had only been a few days since he and Cho were last together, but while blowjobs on Cho’s sofa had been nice, hot, they weren’t enough.
Can’t tonight. Tomorrow?
Patrol. Can’t miss it again. Not after a second heist yesterday from our mystery thief.
Long lunch break?
Danny exhaled a laugh as he swiftly responded, You obviously don’t know what it’s like in a police station.
Actually…
Somehow, Cho still managed to make Danny smile, but it was the promises the man made about what he’d do to Danny the next time they were together that kept him up at night.
I’ll find a time. Keep me posted if anything changes for you.
Eager, Sparky?
The captain’s been riding my ass all week. Would prefer it was you.
Keep thinking about me. Maybe I’ll call later and ask what you’re wearing.
Danny nearly did throw his phone, because Cho’s teases only made it worse. He sent back a middle finger emoji and Cho responded with a smiley face. Dick.
Setting his phone aside, Danny got back to work. The Invisible Man, as Andre had taken to calling the new thief in Olympus, had struck again, leaving almost as much lacking evidence as the first case. They had only two things to go on.
The first was the location of the heist, Olympus City Glassworks: a glass and mirror shop, small, but with enough expensive merchandise that their safe held a great deal of cash during the day. Which was part of the mystery; the heist had taken place before the manager brought the money to the bank, during shop hours. It had to be an inside job.
But then came the second clue: a Virgil Labs business card planted inside the empty safe; generic, no one’s name on it, but enough to act as a calling card that yes, this was the same thief as from the previous week.
Captain Shan had insisted that all of the Virgil Labs employees be vetted a second time, while Danny and his father also looked into the glassworks’ list of current and former employees. They’d split the list in two, which wasn’t long, but Danny was only halfway through his portion.
Pausing in the grunt work, Danny peeked at a different set of files on his desk, hidden beneath a stack of evidence forms—a few old case files on Malcolm Cho. Anything that had happened this past year, Danny knew intimately. He and Rick had even gone after Cho once as the Elemental Task Force, though while they’d been able to pin the case on Cho, they hadn’t caught him. There were several other cases from before that time that Danny knew about, but he’d purposely dug up a few reports he wasn’t familiar with in case he could use anything to his advantage.
Pulling out the files, he looked at them now. The first was an old B&E from before Cho was known as Prometheus. He and Dominque Drake had been caught red-handed by police attempting to break into a home in one of the ritzier neighborhoods of Olympus City. Drake had injured several officers, but Cho held back from doing any permanent damage. He’d given up once they were surrounded. With his powers, he easily could have escaped if he didn’t care about collateral damage. It was instances like that that had made Danny so sure Cho wasn’t all bad when he first encountered him as Zeus.
The second file Danny came to was older, maybe the oldest on record. Danny could tell by the date that Cho would have been a young teenager. He realized as he read the details that while he had only been a kid himself at the time, he knew this case. He remembered it from the news—the day Harold Cho, the Elemental dubbed Icebox by the papers, had finally been captured and sent away to prison.
Icebox was known for a string of brutal B&E’s, as well as for being an enforcer for the Irish mafia. He’d seen jail time but had fled his parole to avoid being saddled with permanent dampeners and had evaded capture ever since for almost a decade, still making a name for himself with occasional robberies and assault.
That night, the police were called to his home about a domestic disturbance. They didn’t know they were closing in on Icebox until they arrived. Given the bruises found on Lucy, it was surmised that he’d been beating his children when young Malcolm Awakened.
Ice had exploded out of him and covered most of the house by the time the police closed in. Cho had protected his sister, but his father, even mostly immune to cold, wasn’t as strong as his newly Awakened son and had fallen unconscious. Elementals triggered by trauma were always more potent in their abilities than those Awakened naturally. Cho might have had a natural Awakening eventually, but that night pushed him to the brink. He could have been a real threat to the police, but he didn’t put up a fight when they came in; he only wanted them to take care of his sister.
‘Cho, Malcolm—found in near catatonic state, mumbling to himself and rocking back and forth while he held his sister, Lucy,’ the report read. ‘Ice surrounded them, covering most of his father, Harold—aka Icebox—but Lucy remained untouched. Malcolm came willingly when police arrived. His only words were on behalf of his sister, to be sure she was safe and would be taken care of. He showed no remorse for his unconscious father or being removed from his home. Adolescent is clearly suffering from extreme duress and trauma. Recommend psych evaluation and immediate conditioning.’
Danny cringed. Elementals didn’t go into normal foster care. Most people hid their children when they Awakened, but if they came forward or were found out, they could choose to have their children trained and safely contained until adulthood when they were old enough to decide for themselves if they wanted to live quietly without their powers or to work for the government. Wards of the state didn’t get the same choice. Officially, they did, but Danny knew it didn’t actually work that way.
Statistically, most Elemental orphans ended up as government agents or criminals—never catch and release; never dampened to live normal lives. Some disappeared from the system all together. Back when Harold was first hauled away, Cho was separated from Lucy for years, until the day she Awakened too.
Her foster mother came upon her playing inside a greenhouse she had erected from winding vines and flowers, enclosing her from the outside world. She refused to come out or to create a doorway for anyone to enter until they agreed to let her see her brother.
Meanwhile, Cho had already met Drake in Juvi, making the three of them an almost unstoppable gang of raw power that got smarter and more influential every year they were active. Icebox was long gone by this time. He’d been killed in prison less than a year after his capture. His biggest fault was relying too heavily on his abilities. Without them, forced to wear dampeners full-time, he couldn’t stand up to the trained muscle he picked fights with in the yard. His arrogance was his undoing, whereas his son would come to escape prison without the use of his powers time and time again.
If Cho had been like Thanatos, or even more like his father, he would have been a much bigger threat to the city. Instead, he remained a simple but talented thief.
He wasn’t a monster. Not back then.
Danny jumped when a message popped up on his computer. His father had gotten a hit on one of the glassworks’ employees. He was running a few ideas past Lynn and Andre, and then he’d get back to Danny with his findings. Danny replied with enthusiasm that was easier to fake over text and promised he’d finish his portion of the list as soon as he could. Researching Cho would have to wait.
Later, Danny didn’t know if he should be angry or relieved that before the end of his shift, when he thought he might have a couple hours to spare to see if Cho could rearrange his schedule, he got a message from Andre saying that he, Lynn, and John were waiting for him downstairs. He stared at his phone in longing before lightning jumping down to the morgue.
“Whoa, kiddo!” John held up his hands as Danny
sparked into existence right next to him. “I don’t think I’d be too happy if you landed on top of me one of these days.”
“Sorry,” Danny offered a shaky laugh as he rustled his fingers through his hair and dropped his messenger bag on Andre’s desk. “Feeling kind of rushed today. What did you guys find?”
Lynn stood looking over Andre’s shoulder at the computer screen. Danny and John joined them and regarded the mug shot they’d pulled up. There was nothing particularly defining about the man, other than his teal eyes. Mid-30s, brown hair, no prominent features; neither unattractive nor good looking. He seemed the epitome of the everyman.
“Cassidy Ludgate,” Danny read from the photo. “What do we know about him?”
“He’s the only former employee of the glassworks with a record,” Andre said. “He was fired last year. And—and this is the real kicker—he disappeared from Olympus City the day after Thanatos was defeated.”
The blood drained from Danny’s face. “What does he have to do with Thanatos?”
“We don’t know yet,” John jumped in, “but it’s that much more likely he’s an Elemental. Maybe he has ties to Thanatos. Maybe he…admired him.”
Danny’s stomach churned at the thought.
“The real question is how is he breaking into these places? What’s his power? Walk through walls? Turn invisible?” John turned to Lynn and Andre for their thoughts.
“That fits some known Light abilities and it would make naming him easier,” Andre said, since he was rather fond of ‘The Invisible Man’.
“But it wouldn’t explain the amount of loot being taken,” Danny burst his bubble. “Even if he could make the loot invisible too, how did he do it all so quickly?”
“Ability to…shrink things and…?” Andre tried but tapered off.
Lynn interjected, “Unfortunately, we don’t know enough to pinpoint his powers yet or why he disappeared when he did. He’s registered as Light leaning, so he was likely in hiding.”
“Meaning we’re still at square one,” Danny huffed.
“Hardly.” John slapped him on the back. “We have a name, Danny. A face. Someone had to have seen the guy, even if his last known address is over a year old. It’s something. We’ll put out an APB and see what comes up.”
“Yeah, I guess…” Danny wanted to be pleased, but he also wanted a target. Not just a name, but a location to track the guy down and…
Rolling his shoulders to keep that jolt of anger from climbing, Danny reminded himself that he didn’t want to hurt him. If he had to throw the guy around a bit to bring him in, fine, but he had to be better than that. He had to be better than Thanatos. Better than what Thanatos had made of him.
John’s hand coming down on his shoulder again startled him. “You beat yourself up, kiddo, but you’re playing detective as well as full-time superhero. Don’t be so hard on yourself. We’ll get him.”
“I know.” Danny pulled on a smile. “It just would have been a nice way to start the night’s patrol if I could put this one behind us.”
“The night’s still young. Maybe the APB will get a hit.”
Danny highly doubted luck was in his favor.
While he got into costume and prepared for a long night, John headed upstairs to get things rolling on the APB.
“Danny, can I talk to you for a minute?” Lynn came over as he was about to pull down his mask.
“Uh sure.”
Bringing him out into the hallway that led to the various storerooms, it was clear Lynn meant for this to be a private conversation. Great.
“I just wanted you to know that I’ve been researching possible ways to use medication on you,” she said. “Not just because of how you’ve been feeling lately, but for pain too.”
“That’s…great.” Danny burned through pain killers too quickly for most of them to be of any use to him. The rest of the topic wasn’t one he wanted to discuss right now, but he mustered a smile for her efforts.
“The truth is, Danny,” she said softer, causing him to sharpen his gaze on her concerned face, “your serotonin levels have been low. Much lower than I’d like. It’s a perpetuating cycle. You’re depressed because bad things happened, so your serotonin levels are lower, and because they’re low, you feel more depressed, which makes you act out and pull away from activities and people that might provide a boost and rush of endorphins.”
Danny held up a hand. “I know how all that works, Lynn. And I’ve been trying to find some time for more endorphin-friendly activities, but I’ve been busy.”
“There’s always time for your own wellbeing, Danny.” Reaching for his arm, she gave a gentle squeeze.
“I know,” Danny said, even as the chasm in his chest deepened. “Thanks, Lynn. If you figure something out with the meds, maybe it’ll help.” The idea of being able to flip a switch and be happy again would have been comforting, but even if Lynn could find a way past his metabolism, he knew it didn’t work that way.
Lynn opened her mouth to say something more, but Danny heard his phone go off in the main room and leapt at the chance to answer it.
“Just a sec, that might be important.” He lightning jumped to his pile of clothes and answered the call without looking at the ID. “Hello?”
“Hey, Danny, got a minute?”
Stella. He’d been hoping for Cho. “Hey…” Glancing at Andre, then at Lynn as she came in from the hallway, Danny offered an apologetic shrug and walked past her to take the call out of earshot. He trudged down the hallway toward the kitchen. “What’s up?”
“Just confirming you’re joining us for family dinner again this week.”
Crap. Danny had forgotten she’d texted him about that earlier. There went another evening, he thought as his stomach bottomed out, but he’d promised he wouldn’t fall into his routine of ditching. “Yeah, of course. What was that message you sent about playing Trivial Pursuit after dinner though? Can’t we watch a movie or something instead? It’s like you want the night to end in a fist fight,” he forced a laugh.
Stella chuckled. “Well at least now that you’re Zeus, you can heal any bruises I give you in only a few hours.”
“Ha…right.” Yeah, he healed—like his body was a big whiteboard that could be easily erased. “Was there anything else? I have to get out on the streets.”
“Oh, um, yeah, actually…if that’s okay?”
Danny leaned against the wall by the mini fridge, sensing something big coming. “What is it?”
“Look, I know it hasn’t been very long with Joey around, in the grand scheme of our lives, but he’s not going anywhere any time soon.”
“Sure,” Danny frowned, “it’s not like I want him to go.”
“No, Danny, I know that. That’s not what this is about. And I’m not saying now is the best time, I just wanted to test the waters on what you might think.”
“On what I think about what?”
“On telling Joey that you’re Zeus.”
“What?” Danny’s eyes widened as he pushed from the wall.
“He’s family, Danny. He’s bound to find out eventually. Wouldn’t it be better if we controlled that? If we found the right way and time to tell him ourselves?”
“Because the best way to welcome him to the family is to put his life in danger?”
“He’d be in danger anyway, he just wouldn’t know why.”
Danny’s lightning thrummed through him with an audible buzz. He’d thought the same thing so many times, that the people he loved were always and would always be in danger because of him, but no one had ever said it out loud before.
“So being part of my family, just knowing me, is enough to endanger someone’s life?”
“I didn’t say—”
“You didn’t have to. It’s true. Rick died because of me. Mom died because of me.”
“Danny—�
��
“If I could send you and Dad away, I would, to protect you from…”
“From you?” Stella prompted when Danny trailed off.
Raising his fingers to touch the tears on his cheeks, Danny was as surprised to find them there as he’d been the night he fought Camo. He should be stronger than this. He had to be stronger than this.
“Danny, talk to me,” Stella said.
He didn’t want to be sad. He didn’t want to be angry. He didn’t want to be numb. He just wanted to be happy again. He knew that wasn’t something he could feel every moment of every day, but just one, just one day, why couldn’t he have one day? Lately he’d only felt wholly and truly good during and immediately after seeing Cho.
God, he was so messed up.
“Danny, please—”
“I haven’t been myself lately,” he said, not ready to tell her everything, not when he had patrol and needed to get a lead on Ludgate. “I’ve been a little out of my mind,” he laughed, and it sounded so broken, he worried Stella would drop everything to come get him. “But I’m working through it. I have something that’s helping me work through it. I didn’t mean to react like that.” He never did, but the harsh, snap-reactions kept finding their way out of him. “You’re right about Joey, Stella. He should know. Someday. Not now, I’m not ready, but…someday soon. After we’ve talked to Dad and the rest of the team about it.”
“Okay, Danny. That sounds like a good idea. And I’m glad you’re trying to work through things, but you know you can always talk to me, right?”
“I know. That’s why I am. But I can’t exactly bare my soul to you right now when I have a new Elemental to chase.”
“Then you have to promise me that someday, sooner than whenever you’re ready to tell Joey the truth, you’ll get coffee or dinner with your sister and tell me what’s been going on. I miss you. And not just for family dinner. I miss you—just you and me. Whatever it is, I’m always here for you. Just like you were there for me.”
Lovesick Gods Page 16