Chapter Text
Breathe, he had to breathe. It wasn’t supposed to be a hard thing to do; humans did it all the time without even thinking about it. And yet Danny couldn’t quite get his lungs to work as they should.
The floor of the bathroom was freezing over and he could see the frost going up the walls as well. He wanted it to stop, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t calm down the fanatic rising of his chest. Or the slight shaking that rocked his whole body.
He had just thrown the word freak in his mom’s face. And then, as if he hasn’t done enough damage already, Danny talked about a normal life he wished to have. As if he knew what that even meant. Normal was so far away, and getting farther it seemed. But that didn’t scare him. He wasn’t scared of his normality slowly slipping away. Really.
What frightened him was the persisting feeling of partial truth in his own words. Of course, he didn’t leave because of the reasons he just listed. Danny would never do that to his family. And yet some of it was true. His anger at his parents for not paying enough attention, for example. How could they not see that he flinched every time they mention dissection? How could they ignore his forced smiles when they talked about destroying Phantom?
Danny wasn’t even angry at them for hurting him. It was fine. His skin healed. And anyway what was one more scar in a million? He was angry at them for not listening, for not seeing. He was angry at them for being so close-minded. Because, the fact that they wouldn’t even consider that their research may be a bit incorrect, hurt more than any wound their weapons left. Ever.
And maybe it was hypocritical of him to want his parents to figure out that he was dead on their own. Especially since he has gone to such length to keep it a secret. But he was their child, they were supposed to pay enough attention to get to the bottom of Danny’s problems without sending him to the other side of the country.
They wanted him to behave and Danny wanted them to listen. Both were near impossible if you asked him. Because he couldn’t be the happy child they remembered from before the accident. And they obviously wouldn’t hear him out, they just proved that by leaving him here.
With a bunch of people that did not really want him here at all. He could tell they didn’t, and honestly, Danny couldn’t blame them. Who would want to babysit a mentally unstable kid for two days? Especially if that kid’s supposed to teach you how to use ecto guns.
On the bright side, he could check if the infinity stones did arrive on Earth safely without sounding suspicious. Frostbite said they did, but double-checking couldn’t hurt. Plus, he could survey the Avengers and their abilities. It would for sure benefit him to know their powers. He just wasn’t sure yet if he will need that particular knowledge to run away from them or to help them fight Thanos.
That probably depended on how easily they judged others by the information they got. Too bad he didn’t see their reaction to the GIW’s video or his parents’ research. It would be helpful to know if he should fear them or not.
“Maybe I should call Tucker and ask him how to hack into the security,” Danny said out loud. He noticed a few cameras in the meeting room when he entered earlier. So technically he could still see their reactions. The only problem was that he didn’t know anything about computers. Or hacking.
“I don’t believe you could, Mr. Fenton. I’m sorry to inform you but the boss hasn’t granted you permission to access any electronics in the tower. So calling ‘Tucker’ is a rather hard thing to do unless you have a mobile of your own. Which, from what my scanning tells me, you don’t.” A slightly robotic female voice said and Danny jumped.
He looked at the door, cursing himself for not paying enough attention to notice that someone entered the bathroom. He quickly willed the ice from his breakdown to disappear. He prepared to use possession to make the person forget about the icy floor and walls. But when he glanced around he noticed that the door was closed and that there was no one there besides him. “What the…?”
“Neither do I think you have the skills to hack into one of the most complicated codings in the world.” The voice continued. It was coming from the ceiling, Danny noted in confusion. “No offense meant, of course.”
“Who- What are you?” He frowned at the direction of the voice. Was it some kind of a ghost? The kind he couldn’t see? Like Youngblood?
“It’s Friday.” Answered someone sheepishly. Danny turned towards the door and this time there was someone standing there. A kid with slightly curled brown hair and a hesitant smile on his face.
Peter Parker... And also Spider-man, Danny recalled. He’ll have to give Mike some credit for guessing right about this: Spider-man was a minor. No doubt about it. And the kind of a minor who wears a shirt with science pun printed on it apparently. Danny approved. Well, he approved of the pun, the science… Not so much.
“No, it’s not. It’s Thursday.” He responded because he was pretty sure it wasn’t Friday the last time he checked.
For some reason, that Danny didn’t get, Peter busted out laughing. “Emm no, that’s not- It’s not-” Danny’s eyebrows knitted together in uncertainty when Peter collapsed into another fit of snickers. “Sorry, it’s just uh, Friday she’s Mr. Star’s Al. She’s like the brain of this entire building. You can call on her if you need anything and she will help. If it’s in her’s capabilities. And yeah I… I kinda know it’s Thursday.”
“Oh.” Another Al, huh. New York seemed to be full of those. How annoying. If all of the Avenger’s data was put under the watch of some robotic artificial intelligence how in the hell was Danny supposed to hack into it? Looked like he would have to get their thoughts about ghosts revealed in some other way.
“Um… Danny?” Peter asked to get his attention. He sounded a bit uncertain, maybe even afraid to use Danny’s name. “We should head back to the others if you’re okay now.”
“Ah, so what they sent you to get me back into their eye range or something?” He could tell by the way Peter shifted and awkwardly denied the accusation that he was right. Just perfect. He was gonna be watched twenty-four-seven, wasn’t he?
“They’re just worried,” Peter explained after he saw the disbelief on Danny’s face.
“Sure, they are.” Worried about Danny leaving, he would bet. How he was holding up after that conversation he just had with his mom was probably very low on Avengers’ scale of worries. But then again if you have to trouble yourself with saving the world from a mad titan and a psychotic ghost-hunting organization he guessed an upset teenager was really close to nothing in comparison.
Too bad they didn’t have a clue that Danny could be hella dangerous if he wished to be. He knew that If he had a real breakdown, the kind that leaves a person feeling empty on the inside, he would be a threat. Then he would most likely register on the list of issues New York’s superheroes dealt with.
Danny hoped he never made it on that list. Not because he was afraid of them but because he was afraid of himself. Or of what he could be.
He pushed the superfluous thoughts away and looked towards Peter who was watching him with poorly hidden curiosity. Danny sighed, then he surrendered to fate and made a move to follow the other boy to wherever he may lead him.
An accidental glance at the mirror stopped him though. There was still blood on his face. And he looked like shit. Never mind that, he looked like that most of the time.
“Just give me a second to wash this off and then we can go.” He said to Peter.
“Is it yours?” Peter asked while he scrubbed dried blood from his face. Danny raised his eyebrow at the Spider-boy, which seemed to make the latter even more nervous than he previously was. “The blood, I mean. Not that you have to tell me if you don’t wanna. It’s none of my business or anything! Uh, maybe I should just wait outside…”
Peter’s babbling made Danny snigger. No one was ever that edgy around him. At least not when he was in his human form. “It’s fine, I don’t mind you asking. It probably is super weird for me to just walk around covered in my own blood, so really it’s not like I didn’t have it coming. Or well, maybe it’s not that strange for you to see people randomly covered in blood...” Danny added since it was very likely that Peter dealt with blood a lot as Spider-man.
“Why?” Peter frowned. “Why wouldn’t that be weird for me?” He asked and Danny silently cursed himself because he forgot that Peter didn’t know that Danny was aware of his secret identity. Oh goody, this was gonna be fun. ”Don’t get me wrong, New York is not the safest place to live in but still… People aren’t as chill about blood as you would think.“
“Uhm…No. I just thought… Cause you’re hanging out with superheroes and all that. But uh yeah, I guess it makes sense that you’re not there when they get back from a fight, so…” He trailed off with a nervous laugh. Great, looked like they were both neurotic messes now.
Danny thanked the Ancients that this turn of conversation made Peter anxious. Not because he enjoyed making others feel bad but cause that meant that Peter was too busy trying not to reveal himself to notice Danny’s own anxiousness.
“Nope, I’m just an intern… I bring coffee and stuff… Definitely don’t do anything blood-related.” He said and stared at Danny, who stared right back.
Seemed like Peter was trying to tell if Danny brought his lie by searching his face. Unfortunately for him, Danny knew how to make his expression look like he wasn’t dying of expiration on the inside. Like come on, an intern, really? That was the ultimate cover Peter chose for himself? Then again, Danny couldn’t judge since there was a solid chance that he would have fallen for the lie if he didn’t already know the truth.
Still, it was stupid. Especially since Peter obviously had no idea what interns around here did. Neither did Danny though so really it was anyone’s guess.
After a minute or so Peter finally gave up and broke the staring competition. “Um so, are we going back to-?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.” Danny said before the question was even finished. He had to stop himself from adding please at the end of his reply. He was eager to end this chat.
Peter had to agree with him whole heartily cause he was quick to escape the bathroom. Danny exhaled the breath he was holding and noticed that this weird exchange of nervous words actually help him breathe normally again.
He smiled, breathed in, and followed Peter. Well, that was… Awkward.
And it was only the start of the day’s awkwardness. After he followed Peter out of the bathroom he noted the change of direction right away. Instead of returning to the conference room, they hurried towards the elevator. They were quiet for the whole way, neither knowing what to say.
Peter kept glancing back at him as if to make sure that he was still there, the motion reminded Danny of his freshman year at Casper high. Right about the time, he started to become a regular member of the detention club teachers started glancing at him just like that. To make sure he didn’t sneak away, something he became known for quickly after the accident. They were outraged by the fact that Danny managed to somehow escape their sight anyway.
He ignored the reflex to disappear from Peter’s gaze and instead acted as if he hadn’t caught up on the other boy’s motives.
The need to go invisible became stronger when they entered the elevator only to see that it was not empty. A man dressed in a suit stood slightly to the left and Danny couldn’t tell if he was a high-ranked employee or some business partner of Tony Stark. What he could tell was that the man had to be important, his stance and expression screamed importance.
It also screamed that he didn’t appreciate meeting two kids on his way to wherever he was going. Peter had to notice that too because after he pressed the button (to the highest floor, to the surprise of their fellow elevator occupier) he went as far away as he could from the man.
The silence that took over when the elevator started going up was a lot tenser than the one that was between him and Peter in the hallway. Danny didn’t acknowledge it before but he liked Peter and even in an uncomfy situation he didn’t feel the need to get his defenses all the way up around him. Even if he knew that Peter could be dangerous and could hurt him if he wasn’t careful.
Danny didn’t think Peter would want to hurt him though, he didn’t seem the type to enjoy causing pain and that was why Danny thought they could be great friends. If they weren’t both mixed in some outer galactic war that is.
Around that man, however, he felt like he had to be careful, with his defenses on. Danny didn’t really get why though. After all, it was just a man. But a one that made both him and Peter tense up. If they both sensed something off then there was something off. No question about it.
Plus Danny knew from past (painful) experiences that he shouldn’t ever trust appearance. Sure the man looked totally normal but for all Danny knew he could be Thanos in disguise. What was it that his aunt always said? The looks can deceive or something along those lines.
Before he could decide if he wanted to start a conversation with the stranger the elevator came to a stop. It wasn’t his and Peter’s floor so obviously, it was the man’s. He exited and Danny ran his eyes over him once more, looking for something to tell him just who he ran into.
He froze when he saw the DALV logo on the man’s suitcase.
Oh… That was… Not good.
Danny’s stare, which was previously glued to the logo on the suitcase, flew up to the man’s head. He expected to only catch the hair of Vlad’s employee and when that was not the case he jumped. The man was looking back at Danny over his shoulder. His eyes were brown and cold and knowing. Neither broke the stare until the door closed.
Did Vlad send him?.. He couldn’t stop himself from wondering the idiotic question. Of course, Vlad sent him, everything that man did was because Vlad told him to. That was how employment worked. The question he should be asking himself was whenever Vlad sent this man here cause of Danny.
Surely, Vlad wouldn’t go through all the trouble of finding out where Danny was just to get a single unremarkable man close to him. But then this was Vlad and he knew not to underestimate the length to which the other halfa would go to get what he wants.
Was this one of Vlad’s plots or some business deal between Vlad Masters and Tony Stark? They were both rich company owners, it wouldn’t be all that weird for them to collaborate.
But if that was the case then why did that DALV employee had such a knowing glint in his eyes, like he knew exactly who Danny was.
No, just no. Vlad couldn’t be here, couldn’t stalk him even when he moved from Amity. Not when he already had so much on his plate. Thanos, Avengers, GIW,... Danny felt cornered as it was, add Vlad to that equation and he was done for.
He knew it was irresponsible but right then he couldn’t deal with the possibility of Vlad being in New York, so against his better judgment, he banished the thought entirely. Vlad wasn’t here, end of the story. He wasn’t.
“Hey, are you okay?” Peter asked and that was when Danny remembered that he wasn’t alone in the elevator.
Danny nodded not trusting his dry throat to form words quite yet.
“Oh, good. You looked a bit pale after that guy left.” Peter said, sounding relieved. And then after a moment of silence: “So… Do you know him?”
“No.” He answered. It wasn’t exactly a lie but Peter seemed to sense that there was something Danny wasn’t telling him.
“Well do you think he knows you? He looked at you kinda weird.” Peter sounded like he genuinely just wanted to keep the conversation going, but to Danny, who decided that NO Vlad did NOT send this guy here because of him, it sounded more like prying.
“He doesn’t.” It came out a bit harsher than he wanted it to.
Peter looked a little lost and Danny felt a pang of guilt. “Um, okay,” He said carefully.
Then the silence. Again. And this time it was Danny’s fault for lashing out at Peter. Just cause he was frustrated. How childish was that?
“I’m-” Danny’s apology was interrupted by the loud ding that announced their arrival to the top floor. Why was it that every time he tried to fix things up he got interrupted?
The self-centered anger gave its place to cautious curiosity when he heard voices of the Avengers discussing something in a rather irritated manner.
“...You really think that’s a possibility?” Danny didn’t really know the Avengers, or how each individual of the group sounded like, and since he couldn’t see them from where he and Peter were standing it was even harder to tell who said the words. His bet was on the arrow guy though.
“Yes. I think it’s the best explanation we have right now. Of course, we don’t have all the facts but still.” Answered a female voice and this time Danny knew exactly to which Avenger it belonged. Black Widow or Natasha… One of the original six Avengers, the one Mike talked about on his second day at Agape Academy, and also the one who called him out for lying earlier.
“I don’t know Nat. They are a bit violent, there’s no denying that. But their ferocity is, from what I gathered, pointed only at ghosts.” Said Bruce, at least Danny suspected that that was the voice of the Hulk.
He wasn’t really all that interested in guessing how Avengers sound though. Not when the percentage of them talking about Danny’s parents was steadily going up. Narrowing his eyes he willed himself to listen more closely. Peter, beside him, was pretty much doing the same thing and Danny thanked the Ancients that the other boy’s curiosity outpowered the decency to not eavesdrop on his elders.
“Yeah sure, that does seem about right. They don’t want to hurt other humans, much less their kids, as it is in this case. But here’s the thing… If they thought that someone was let’s say possessed or overshadowed by a ghost I think there’s a high chance that they would hurt the violated person. Even if the said person was their son.” Argued Tony.
Wait, what?
Danny felt… He didn’t know what he felt. They were talking about his mom and dad… Hurting him? It seemed deranged and he almost laughed out at the absurdity of it all. Had the laugh left his mouth it would sound not only a little hysterical.
He should be angry at them for even thinking of something like that but then…Wasn’t he just in a bathroom going over every time they pointed a gun at his head? Wasn’t their assumption correct?
No. They didn’t know. His parents. They didn’t know. If they did- If they did… They wouldn’t…
Peter was looking at him and Danny knew that he saw the truth that was written all over his face. Peter’s eyes locked with his, asking for reassurance that the Avengers were wrong. That his parents weren’t abusive. And they weren’t, they are not. And yet Danny couldn’t look at Peter any longer, couldn’t bring himself to mask his confusion. He averted his eyes, and the other boy gasped quietly.
“Also, Danny’s behavior does show some signs of, well, past abuse. I admit that running away from home is not unusual among teenagers but the way Danny pulled it off very much is. Not to mention that the kid is a bit jumpy around his parents.” Continued Tony, even though Danny really wished he wouldn’t.
“He has a habit of touching his wrist too. It could be a comforting action he does when he’s nervous, maybe because he wore a bracelet he liked in the past and his hand unintentionally searches for it when he gets nervous. But, earlier when he was arguing with his mother he did it right in the exact moment she mentioned imprisonment. It could be a coincidence of course, though I didn’t see him do the action under any other conditions.” Natasha added and Danny heard enough.
He stepped into the living room just in time to see a stunned Captain America ask: “Would they go that far..?” All of the mighty Avengers looked highly disturbed by the idea that Natasha just hinted at.
“No, they wouldn’t,” Danny said through clenched teeth. He didn’t know if it was the truth though. They never had a chance to actually chain him to an examination table. He hoped they never got the chance so that he wouldn’t ever have to see what they would do.
But, parents aside, Natasha wasn’t all that off with her guess. There was never any kind of bracelet on either of his wrists.
All eyes on Danny widened, telling him that they didn’t expect him to overhear their conversation. And yet they looked more unconvinced than apologetic. They didn’t think he was telling the truth.
Even Peter, who came running in after him, seemed uncertain.
Stark was the first to talk. “Kid-” He started with so much caution that Danny felt like he was five, and about to have his reality crashed by the realization that his mom and dad weren’t the heroes he believed them to be in his childhood, again.
“No! They’re not- They don’t… It’s not their fault! “ He said and figured a bit too late that what just left his mouth sounded like a confession. It sounded like a confession a lot. “They don’t hurt me!”
His fristed hands were shaking and he felt like he might freeze something again if this conversation didn’t end soon. The fact that they were all looking at him didn’t help. And they looked with eyes full of pity. As if Danny was delusional and didn’t know what he was talking about.
“They don’t.” He repeated. But this time it didn’t come out laced with anger and frustration and a bit of denial. This time it came out weak and defeated. Danny could feel his core pulsing with his mixed emotions, ready to turn New York into a giant ice rink.
“Okay,” said Clint softly. “...Then should we go check out ecto guns before dinner?” The others agreed and Danny knew they were being nice, changing the subject for his benefit.
He knew that they didn’t believe him. (He wouldn’t believe himself either)
Nevertheless, they could keep pushing him to tell them more, but they didn’t and he was grateful for that. He wasn’t naive enough to think that this was the end of the conversation. Danny chose to ignore that for the moment though, happy that he could concentrate on something else. Even if this something was ecto guns.
Because of the uncomfy stuff, they talked about before training the atmosphere in the gym was a bit dark. Not to mention awkward. Danny managed to get his emotions under control on the way and was now admitfully fascinated by the gym.
It was polished and enormous and filled with machines for exercising that Danny never even heard of. Along with modified running tracks, a high ceiling, and equipment made from vibranium, it was obviously made so that it could handle a bunch of super-humans training in it.
Stark led them to the target practice and gave Danny a gun so that he could show them how to use it. Iron-man was clearly not happy about giving him the gun though. In fact, he looked a second away from just throwing the damn thing out of the window. Danny almost wished that he would.
Others weren’t too enthusiastic about him possessing the gun either. Still, they let him do his thing, and after he explained how to get the gun to power on he held it to the target and fired. The targets were human shape even though a lot of ghosts didn’t have human complexion it was the closest they could get at the moment.
He didn’t need to explain that the only way to fatally hurt ghosts was to shot their chests, their cores because his parents already did that part for him before they left. Danny fired at the chest and... Missed.
Not all the way, but just enough off so that he hit slightly out of the circle that represented the core of the ghost. Well, what could he say? He didn’t usually fight with guns, of course, his aim wasn’t perfect. Plus, when he fought he rarely went for the fatal blow.
Danny shrugged and handed the gun back to Tony, who also missed and shot a shoulder instead of the place where, if they were fighting humans, would be a heart. He guessed that Stark was more familiar with blasts coming from his hands, so it was understandable.
Next to try her luck was Natasha. She nailed it. Not surprising, from what Danny gathered guns were her preferred weapon. That, the natural talent and the training she received made her the highest danger among Avengers to Danny. He wasn’t sure he could doge if she pointed that at him.
Bucky, Clint, and Sam shot it inside the circle as well. Peter and Steve missed a bit. Probably because their preferred weapons were quite different from guns. Well, maybe Peter’s not so much but then again it looked like he didn’t want to shot anyone with a gun anyway.
When it was Peter’s turn Danny noticed that few of the Avengers were a bit confused as to why Peter was there. They didn’t know that Spider-man was this kid, did they? How strange.
Bruce decided he didn’t want to try and when it was Thor’s turn Danny almost got hit instead of the target. Thankfully, he dogged it time. It would suck if these people figured that the weapon they were handling could really hurt him.
Then suddenly, just as Clint was going for the second time, some kind of alarm went off. Danny looked around the room to see if others knew what the hell was going on. Some were confused but they all seemed ready to fight if the situation would demand it.
“Friday, fill me in. What’s going on?” Said Tony and Danny could tell that the alarm was bad news from the tightness of his voice.
The Al obliged. “It would seem that an unidentified man has just stoled a weapon by the name of Arrow of Thrym from one of the highly secured valutes in the tower, sir. Mr. Hogan and the rest of the security are currently trying to locate the man without any luck. He’s not showing on any of my cameras either. Would you like me to put the tower under lockdown?”
Most of the Avengers narrowed their eyes at the news, except for Thor, whose eyes went wide. With recognition?
“I doubt a lockdown would help if even your scanners can’t find the fucker. Keep me updated, Friday and if nothing new pops up I’ll handle things on my own later. Oh, and go through camera footage from today. If you find someone on there that doesn’t belong, do tell.” Tony said with an angry frown on his face.
Danny guessed it was a low blow that someone managed to break into his highly secured tower.
“What’s an Arrow of Thrym?” Asked Peter after a moment, his curiosity getting the best of him again. Danny was happy he asked though cause he was just wondering the same thing.
“It’s an otherwordly weapon confined to here after SHIELD went caput. From what they could tell it didn’t have any special powers and at the time it didn’t strike my interest so I’m not entirely sure what it does or why someone would want to steal it.” Tony explained.
All of the room’s attention was redirected at Thor when he let out a grunt that sounded a lot like a lough. “Oh, trust me my friend it’s more than just an ordinary arrow. I wasn’t sure at first that I indeed heard correctly when your robot lady mentioned the legendary weapon of nine worlds. But there’s no denying the inevitable.” The god of Thunder shock his head.
The Avengers exchanged looks and Danny had a creeping feeling that he didn’t want to know more about this arrow.
“And what exactly does the arrow do? You know, except for being an ordinary arrow.” Asked Clint. He seemed to enjoy a conversation about arrows, even when in a bad situation.
“It’s a weapon of Jotunheim, the destroyed world. It’s a weapon that slowly corrupts the essence of frost giants, turning their ice black. That’s all I know about it and even that is from centuries-old tales that may not prove to be true. It cannot however hurt someone without an ice interior, so not to worry; it’s harmless to anyone except frost giants. And they’re all dead.” Thor explained.
Anyone except frost giants, huh? Why did Danny found this a bit far stretched? He felt the ice pulsing in his chest and tried hard to push down the dread that threatened to overtake him whole. An awful comprehension began to build in his head and he prayed to the Ancients that he was wrong.
__
The night had fallen a few hours ago and he was waiting for his boss’s minion. The man had something valuable he was supposed to deliver to the boss himself and he didn’t want to be late. He checked his watch again. Three minutes late. The other guy was three minutes late, how unprofessional.
And yet he was the new recruit here not that late idiot who couldn’t even do his job properly. This wasn’t his first mission, but it was the first in which he had to interact with someone other than the boss. He didn’t like it, people were just way too… What was the word again? Boring? Predictable? Unimaginative?
Not all people of course. The boss for example wasn’t any of that. And neither was the boy. The one he stalked on his boss’s behave. But then again they were both not quite human so maybe they didn’t count.
The guy finally showed up six minutes late and he had to wonder how hard it could be to break into the most secured building in New York. With boss’s equipment, not hard enough to be six minutes late, certainly. His friend would call his obsession with numbers OCD but he thought it came in handy sometimes. At least he was always on time.
He took the suitcase from the guy and got on his way. In ten minutes he was in front of the boss’s office for the second time that day. He entered the room after a voice from the inside told him to come in.
After he said his greetings he put the suitcase on the table. The boss opened it and grinned when he saw the arrow. “Do you know what this is, my boy?” Mr. Masters asked him then.
“No, sir.” He answered and waited for the explanation that was sure to come.
“It’s an arrow made to hurt creatures with ice cores, once they come in contact with it their cores are slowly and painfully corrupted and destroyed. Perfect for Daniel, wouldn’t you agree?” Mr. Masters said.
His throat suddenly became dry; he didn’t think Danny Fenton deserved that kind of an end. “Yes, of course...But, sir, didn’t you say you wanted Danny alive?”
Mr. Masters smiled. “Oh don’t you worry, the boy’s tough. I have no doubt that he will find the solution that will keep him in existence. His will is quite remarkable. The arrow’s infection will keep him busy for a while though. And most importantly the arrow will be a perfect gift to seal my and GIW’s partnership. It is a perfect way to keep their suspicion away and their respect close.”
“...You’re giving the arrow to the GIW?” He asked, feeling a bit stunned. “How can you be sure they’ll shoot it at Danny?”
“Because you are going to be the one to shoot it, my boy.” Mr. Masters said with sadistic enjoyment dancing in his eyes.
He swallowed hard and willed any kind of regret to disappear. It didn’t work.