Thunderfist's Turmoil Ch. 04

She continued to be a hero at my side. There was never any discussion of her adventuring on her own. Had she wanted to, I'd have supported her decision to fly solo. But aside from a few times Danielle patrolled the city alone because I'd come down with the flu over the years, we kept Crescent City safe together. Even when we were working a case with the Guardian Society, she stayed close. It helped that I had long since stopped being overly protective of my daughter. Her mastery of various animal forms was a wonder to behold. In combat, she was unpredictable and wily. In our sparring sessions, she was often getting the better of me. We joked that I was letting her win, but both of us knew that wasn't true.

It was the same thing at home. I kept bracing myself for her to tell me she wanted to move out. As a member of the Guardian Society, she received a salary that would have allowed her to live comfortably on her own. But she didn't seem interested. Her studies and her career at my side seemed to be all she needed. At a Society meeting, I'd heard her telling Starlight she thought of our partnership as akin to a circus act. Just because one trapeze artist had reached adulthood didn't mean you broke up the act. It seemed to me as good an analogy as any. On some level, I might have worried that Danni was sticking close out of a fear I'd get lonely without her. I asked her about it one night and she made a joke about my trying to get rid of her so I could live the wild life of a bachelor. That was the extent of our discussion on the subject.