A/N: Set during the end of "Lisa Says". Spoilers, obviously.
Away from Home
"I think I have to stay here, for now," says Daniel, and he sounds determined.
But with his mom gone, he sinks to the ground, his face in his hands. Not crying, just hiding from the world for a second. Toby can understand that.
He wonders whether he can help bring him back – to the world, if not to home. Whether he should.
Deciding to try, he walks over to the same doorway Maggie had just left through, and goes in, quietly.
Quietly, but not quietly enough. Daniel hears him and all but shoots to his feet like a rocket, bringing his hands down as he turns. The relief is evident in his face as he sees Toby, who doesn't have to read his thoughts to know Daniel had mistaken him for his mother.
Toby feels sadness spring up in him at that reaction, and he knows that, yes, he needs to do something. He's screwed this whole situation up enough, anyway; for him to do what he can to rectify it is only fair.
So he says, "Your mom's just worried about you."
"What do you know?" Daniel asks, but there's no real venom in it, just the tone of a teenager, so Toby doesn't bother rising to it.
"I know she's scared for you," he reiterates instead. "That you were almost killed and she has a right to be."
Daniel's head dips down in a nod; he's not contesting that. "Sure, she's worried for me," he says. "I know that. But she's worried about me, too. That I'm making the wrong decision," – his voice is derisive – "or that I'm going to ruin my life, or something. She doesn't get it, that I'm happier than I've ever been, that I'm finally me, that there is no decision and even if there were, it's been made.
"She just doesn't get it," he says, and his voice is pained, "and if she doesn't want me, then I don't need her."
Toby puts a hand on his shoulder, lightly, trying to be a supportive presence for this kid who's suffering a decided lack of those at present.
"I get it, man," he says. Daniel looks doubtful, but Toby continues undeterred. "Hiding, lying, it sucks. And you just want to be who you are, like everyone else. But you've had your entire life and your mom's had one day. It's hard to hear that stuff from her, but give her time. She's trying, you know."
Daniel meets his gaze and shrugs a shoulder. "I know."
"She needs you to try, too," says Toby.
Instead of retorting with sarcasm or anger as Toby had half-expected, Daniel bites his lip. "I know that, too. But I can't go back. Not now. I need to live my life, and I can't live it for her. Sure as hell can't put it on hold for her."
"No, you can't, and no one expects you to," Toby replies. "But give her some time, let her mourn the daughter she never had, and then go back. Because you can't lose her, either. And it's obvious she doesn't want to lose you."
He's apparently crossed a line with the cheesiness, as Daniel's mouth quirks in a grin. "Part time shrink, eh?" he asks.
"No," Toby answers, smiling back, "just someone who knows what it's like to be alone and doesn't want you to have to."
"I won't," Daniel assured him, his small smile genuine now.
And as Toby left the building to meet Oz, he heard Daniel in the hallway, giving his mom his contact information, so that when she was ready, she could call him.
Toby had no doubt she would.