[Third Person Pov]
"Well this is embarrassing…" Danny said, his voice a little hoarse as Sam held a spoonful of warm soup in her hands, carefully steadying it with her other hand underneath so it wouldn't spill.
"Here comes the airplane," Sam said, already committing to the bit as she made quiet airplane noises with her mouth, moving the spoon forward in a slow, deliberate arc.
Danny immediately twisted his face away in protest. "I can't believe you, of all people, would use a mode of transport that wastes valuable resources and pollutes the environment. Shame on you."
Tucker let out a short laugh from where he was sitting nearby. "He's got you there, Sam. That's very off-brand for you."
Sam rolled her eyes, unimpressed, but didn't lower the spoon. "It's metaphorical. The airplane isn't real, so no actual pollution is happening. Now stop being dramatic and eat."
"I'm not being dramatic," Danny insisted, though the lack of strength behind his voice completely undermined his argument. "I just think there are more environmentally friendly ways to deliver soup."
"Yeah, it's called my hand, which I'm using right now," Sam shot back, narrowing her eyes slightly as her patience began to wear thin. "Now eat before my arms get tired."
There was just enough of a warning in her tone, and in the look she gave him, to make it clear she wasn't bluffing.
"…Fine," Danny muttered after a brief pause, his resistance crumbling as he grew noticeably bashful. He leaned forward and accepted the spoonful.
Tucker immediately looked away, trying and failing to hide his snickering, which only made Danny's embarrassment worse.
"My turn!" Tucker suddenly exclaimed, leaning forward and reaching toward the spoon with far too much enthusiasm. "Here comes the choo-choo train!"
Danny reacted instantly, slapping his hand down and knocking Tucker's away, causing the spoon to clatter back into the bowl. "Tucker, I love you, but absolutely not. There's a limit to how much I can take."
Sam broke into laughter at that, while Tucker pulled his hand back and rubbed the back of it with an exaggerated wince. "Okay, wow, I see how it is. Don't worry, I understand," he said, putting on a mock-offended expression as if he were on the verge of tears.
…
Bruce walked up the stairs on his way to check on Danny and see how he was doing, but he stopped just before reaching the door when he heard the sound of voices coming from inside.
He stayed where he was, listening as the low murmur of conversation turned into easy laughter shared between the three of them.
A small, almost imperceptible smile formed on his face at the sound of kids simply being kids. Deciding not to interrupt the moment, he turned around and quietly walked back the way he came.
…
They stayed with Danny a while longer, keeping him company. At one point, Sam left briefly to take the empty dishes downstairs and returned with a glass of water and a pill Alfred had given her for him.
"Thank you…" Danny said softly as he took the pill from her, swallowing it before finishing the glass of water.
Tucker watched the exchange out of the corner of his eye, his expression shifting slightly as he took note of the subtle tension in Danny. He had been picking up on it for a while now, something unspoken that lingered in the way Danny acted around Sam.
He didn't say anything about it, but he knew Danny well enough to recognize when something was bothering him.
'Doubt he's going to say anything with me here. Seems like a private matter,' Tucker thought, a little uneasy. He figured it probably had something to do with whatever complicated history Danny and Sam shared, and it wasn't really his place to pry.
After a moment, Tucker checked the time and let out a small sigh. "I wish I could stay a little longer, but I need to head home soon. You know, curfew and all that."
"Oh," Danny said, clearly disappointed to see him go.
Sam glanced between them and started, "I'll—"
"You can stay a while longer if you want," Tucker cut in quickly, waving a hand to dismiss any hesitation before she could finish. "I know how worried you were about Danny and all that."
"Seriously?" Sam asked, tilting her head slightly as she studied Tucker's expression.
"Yeah, I don't mind," Tucker replied with an easy shrug, like it wasn't a big deal at all.
He stood up from his seat, stretching a bit before reaching over to give Danny's leg a light, friendly pat. "Get well soon, man."
"Thanks, Tuck. I really appreciate it," Danny said sincerely, offering him a small but genuine smile despite how drained he felt.
They said their farewells without much fuss, the usual casual back-and-forth that came naturally to them, and Tucker made his way out. The door clicked softly shut behind him, the quiet sound leaving the room noticeably still now that it was just the two of them.
Danny glanced over at Sam for a brief moment, only to look away again just as quickly, his gaze dropping to his lap. His hands rested there, fingers loosely intertwined as his thoughts drifted. He couldn't remember the last time it had just been the two of them like this, alone in the same room, without Tucker around to fill the silence.
Not since the whole Desiree fiasco. Back then, things had been… simpler, or at least easier to understand.
The only other times they had really spent time alone together were back when they still had the label of boyfriend and girlfriend. Back when moments like this didn't feel so complicated.
Sam watched him quietly, her eyes softening for a moment before narrowing slightly as she picked up on the shift in his expression. The guilt on his face wasn't subtle, not to her.
"Danny?" Sam asked, her voice carrying both concern and a hint of suspicion as she leaned forward just a little.
"Sam, there's something I need to tell you…" Danny said, his voice hesitant, like each word had to be pushed out past whatever was holding him back.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked as she moved closer, sitting right beside him on the bed without hesitation.
Danny swallowed, his fingers starting to fidget more noticeably now. "There's this girl… and one thing led to another that resulted in the two of us…sharing a kiss," he admitted, his eyes staying fixed downward as he spoke.
Sam's eyes widened at that, the reaction immediate and impossible to hide. Her breath hitched slightly, and she bit down on her lip for a moment as she processed what he had just said.
"I… see," she said slowly, her voice tighter than she intended, each word measured as she tried to keep her composure.
Her smile returned, but it didn't quite reach her eyes this time, turning stiff around the edges as she looked at him. "And why exactly are you telling me this, Danny… it's not like we're dating."
The words stung the moment they left her mouth. Danny flinched almost imperceptibly, the impact clear on his face, and it stung just as much for Sam to have said it.
There was a brief silence that followed, heavy with everything neither of them was saying.
At the end of the day, it was simply human nature at work, creating situations that hurt without either person truly meaning for it to. Lines got blurred, expectations lingered, and feelings didn't just disappear because labels did.
Danny wouldn't share what he knew because he believed he was keeping them safe. That instinct came from the fear of having already lost his family, not once, but twice. This reality wasn't like the cartoon he remembered; It was DC, and it was far from family friendly, harsh and unforgiving in ways that didn't give second chances. He had already experienced that cruelty more than once, and in his mind, the further Sam and Tucker were kept from that part of his life, the safer they would be.
While Sam wouldn't reveal that she knew because, just like Tucker, she understood Danny far too well at this point. She knew he was still carrying the weight of what happened to his parents, the kind of trauma that didn't just fade with time. Anyone would have been affected by something like that.
And if that truth were forced out into the open, if Danny were pushed into accepting that they already remembered and were already a part of that side of his life, it wouldn't bring relief. It would only make him double down. He would grow more guarded, more overprotective, trying even harder to shield them from everything, even from himself. That kind of distance, built out of fear and good intentions, would only strain what they had left, creating walls where there used to be trust.
Danny needed to be the one to open up on his own, to choose to extend that hand and let them back in. Anything else, no matter how well-meaning, even if she wanted it more than anything in the world, would risk doing more harm than good.
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