Chapter 64: Back To School

[Third Person's PoV]

Location: Gotham Academy 

Date: March 8th 

Time: 7: 46 am 

Both Danny and Dick stepped out of the sleek black limo, offering their thanks to Alfred as they gently closed the door behind them. The ever-composed butler gave them a small nod and a warm smile.

"Enjoy yourselves, gentlemen," Alfred said before getting back into the car and driving off.

As the limo disappeared down the street, Dick and Danny exchanged a quick glance and a fist bump before heading their separate ways. Danny spotted his best friends, Sam and Tucker, standing near the school entrance, while Dick caught sight of Barbara and a few others from his own circle waiting nearby.

"Danny! Oh, thank God you're back!" Tucker exclaimed with exaggerated relief, rushing over to perform their familiar handshake routine.

Danny grinned. "It couldn't have been that bad without me, could it?"

"You try spending a week at school with only Sam to talk to," Tucker said with a long-suffering sigh.

Sam raised a brow and fixed him with a flat stare. "Thanks, Tuck. Your words mean so much," she deadpanned before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around Danny in a tight, genuine hug.

Danny returned it immediately, his smile softening. 

"Glad you're back," Sam whispered against his shoulder.

"Glad to be back," Danny replied just as quietly.

Tucker rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry... I didn't mean it like that. It's just... there's some stuff I wanted to talk about that you wouldn't really understand."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Like what, games and girls?"

"Exactly!" Tucker pointed at her with a grin. "See? You do understand."

Danny laughed, enjoying the familiar back-and-forth. He had genuinely missed their banter.

As they navigated through the sea of students flooding into the building, Tucker leaned in and asked, "So how was it? How did it feel to step into the world of luxury and insane wealth?"

Danny gave a dry chuckle. "In one word? Annoying. I hated it. I felt completely out of place. The only thing that wasn't terrible was the food—That was really good," he admitted as they headed toward their lockers.

Sam gave him a small smile. "Well, I'm glad to hear that even a week surrounded by the elite didn't change who you are."

Danny nodded as they arrived at their lockers and began pulling out books for their first class. "Yeah, no danger of that happening any time soon."

Tucker caught sight of Danny's overstuffed backpack and whistled. "Whoa. What's with all those textbooks, man? That thing looks like it's trying to kill your spine."

Danny let out a groan. "Bruce is making me study like crazy. He doesn't want me to fall behind in school, and if I don't keep up, he said he'd make sure to have my instructor increase the intensity of my training."

Tucker stared at him in horror. "Okay, now that is literally abuse. Someone call Child Protective Services."

Sam, however, just patted Danny on the back approvingly. "That's actually great. It's nice to see he's on top of your education. I might've really misjudged him."

Tucker gave her an incredulous look. "What happened to the Sam who was ready to burn down Wayne Enterprises because she thought Danny was being abused? Where's your mama bear mode now when it's really happening?"

Sam smirked and crossed her arms. "This situation is completely different, and you know it. If Danny keeps up with his grades, he won't have to worry about extra training. Seems fair."

Just as Danny closed his locker, a voice called out from the side.

"Hey, Danny~" A tan girl in a tight pink top strolled by, flashing a smile. Her Latina accent rolled off her tongue smoothly as she passed.

"Huh? Wha—Oh! Hi, Paulina..." Danny stammered, his smile turning a bit awkward as he waved back.

Before Danny could react further, Tucker slapped a hand across his chest and pulled him closer, his eyes wide in shock and excitement. "Dude. Paulina. Just. Talked. To. You. She greeted you. She knows you exist!"

Sam growled softly under her breath, her eyes narrowing as she glared at Paulina's retreating form.

"Yeah... she did," Danny muttered, a little caught off guard. The old Danny would've been cartwheeling in celebration over a moment like this. But now? He had changed. His heart leaned in a very different direction—and Paulina wasn't part of it anymore.

Sam caught the way Danny's eyes lingered for a moment too long on Paulina's retreating figure. Her glare, sharp as ever, immediately shifted to him.

"I hope you realize," she said coolly, arms crossed, "the only reason she even acknowledged your existence was because you're Bruce Wayne's ward. If you were still just regular old Danny Fenton, she wouldn't have spared you so much as a sideways glance."

"What's wrong with regular old Danny Fenton?" Danny whispered to himself. 

Tucker let out an exasperated groan, tossing his hands in the air. "Who cares why she talked to him? This is Paulina we're talking about. When you look like that, the reason she approaches you doesn't matter!" he sighed dreamily, eyes distant as if picturing some fantasy.

Then his gaze flicked back to Danny with confusion. He blinked once, then twice. "Wait a second… Why are you not freaking out? Normally by now you'd be drooling and saying something dumb like—"

"I would not be drooling!" Danny shot back, cheeks reddening. "That's slander!"

At that exact moment, the school bell rang, interrupting the moment and prompting them to start walking to class.

"I'm sorry, Danny, but I'm with Tucker on this one," Sam added with a smirk. She laced her fingers together, held them to her chest, and fluttered her eyelashes dramatically. "You'd normally be all, 'Paulinaaaaa~' like some lovesick puppy."

Danny chuckled and shrugged, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "I guess... she just doesn't do it for me anymore."

Tucker stopped walking and stared at him in disbelief, arms frozen mid-swing. "Doesn't... do it...? Danny, this is Paulina! Are you feeling okay? Did Bruce Wayne replace your brain with a WayneTech chip?!"

Sam's smile grew wider, her pride practically radiating off her. She puffed her chest slightly and gave Danny a few congratulatory pats on the back. "I'm proud of you, Danny. Maturity looks good on you. You've realized Paulina just isn't the kind of girl for you."

Tucker, however, just watched her with a deadpan expression as they entered the classroom. He narrowed his eyes and thought, 'She's so obvious, it physically hurts. Who does she think she's fooling? I mean Really?'

They found their seats, and Danny settled in, pulling out not just his regular textbooks but a few extra ones—thick volumes on engineering and applied sciences. While Mr. Lancer began the lesson on trigonometric identities, Danny tuned him out slightly and began reviewing diagrams and notes on gear mechanics.

As class ended, the trio left the room, Danny still nose-deep in his book while walking through the crowded hallway. Sam and Tucker walked beside him, dodging passing students.

That's when Dash Baxter strutted by with his usual smirk and delivered a hard slap to the bottom of Danny's stack of books, sending them flying.

"Nerd!" Dash cackled, continuing down the hallway. "Hahaha!"

Danny sighed and muttered under his breath. "God damn it… I thought we were cool, Dash."

Dash only laughed harder and threw a smug glance over his shoulder. "Sorry, loser, but mourning period's over. Back to the natural order of things!"

"Real mature," Sam growled, dropping to the ground with Tucker to help Danny gather his scattered textbooks.

"I guess it was fun while it lasted," Danny muttered with a tired smile. "Thanks, guys."

"Dude," Tucker said as they stood back up and resumed walking. "Why don't you show him the same moves you pulled on those creeps in the subway?!"

Danny rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah... and then what? Get suspended? Bruce would murder me. I don't want to cause trouble for him. He's already doing more than enough for me, the least I could do is behave"

Sam chimed in, her tone thoughtful. "Maybe you should try solving this not with violence, but with peace, you know, killing the bullying with Kindness."

Danny and Tucker turned to each other with identical expressions of disbelief. Danny jerked his thumb toward Sam as if to say, Are you hearing this right now?

They both burst out laughing.

"I'm serious!" Sam insisted, her face unreadable. "I'm just saying, Dash has shown he can be decent when he wants to. Maybe there's a way to get through to him."

But her words only seemed to fuel their amusement. Danny and Tucker leaned against each other, cackling uncontrollably as they walked, clutching their sides.

Sam sighed deeply, shaking her head as they reached their next class. "Why do I even bother…"

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