#Danny uses he/they pronouns

[thevoidstaredback]

Part 1

Two years had gone by since the portal was opened in the Fenton's basement. Two years since the portal opened, two years since the Ghosts started coming through, two years since Phantom made their debut.

Six months since they'd started calling him a hero.

One week since they'd turned back time. One week since everyone forgotten what he'd been through. One week since they escaped the G.I.W. One week since he'd escaped the Justice League.

Green Arrow and The Flash had been spotted around town. They had no crime to fight, so Phantom had no idea why they weren't leaving. Amity Park is a peaceful place. And when the peace is disturbed, he is more than enough to handle it.

The two heroes of the Justice League had been lurking around for two nights now. How they got into Amity Park was a mystery that no one cared to solve. They could be here if they wanted, but they'd have a hell of a time finding the town once they left.

Back when the town was new, way back turning the Witch Trials, some of the witches on trial cursed the town to never stay in one place. Horrible for tourism, wonderful for local businesses.

Phantom had caught the two heroes watching them for the hour they were out at night. The Witching Hour, when he was at his strongest. They'd made no attempt to approach, though, so they brushed it off.

He still had no idea why they were there.

On the third night, Green Arrow and The Flash were very obviously waiting for Phantom in Trial Park, right in the middle of the town.

If it was two years ago, Phantom would've been excited for the heroes to be here. He'd never met a hero before! But it wasn't two years ago. It was one week after they'd escaped the G.I.W. One week after he'd escaped the Justice League. One week after they'd reversed time and erased everyone's memories so that they could all relive summer without anything to taint the memories.

He joined them in the park, but didn't get close enough that they could grab him. There was no chance for the heroes to remember, but it wasn't a risk they were banking on.

"Green Arrow," Phantom greeted curtly, "Flash."

"Phantom," Green Arrow took the lead, stepping forward. Phantom stepped back as he did. "We've read a lot about you."

If they had a beating heart, it would've beat right out of his chest. "Oh?"

"You've made quite the name for yourself throughout history," The Flash said, "And yet you stay so young. What's your skin care routine? Asking for a friend."

Phantom didn't laugh or even smile. Instead, he asked, "What're two Justice League heroes doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

The Flash flinched back slightly. "Tough crowd."

Green Arrow said, "We've come to check on you. We clocked a Time Anomaly about a week ago and we wanted to make sure you were okay. We would've checked in earlier, but you're hard to get into contact with."

Phantom stared at them, letting their eyes glow in the eerie way they knew unsettled people. "I'm fine."

Obviously, that wasn't a proper answer. "We don't know what happened or where, but we wanted to make sure that nothing was missing."

"If something was missing, would I even know?"

"Um," The Flash said, "Good point, actually."

"Why've you never come before?" Phantom asked.

"Like I said, you're a tricky being to find," Green Arrow answered.

"That's by design." No it wasn't, but they didn't need to know that.

Having said his piece, Phantom flew a bit away, though he stopped when The Flash chased after him.

"Wait!" the speedster called, "We have a few more questions, if you're willing?"

"I'm not." Phantom said. "Goodnight." This time, he turned invisible and flew home. That was enough night stalking for one night, he figured.

***

Late in the morning, just after everyone else had left the house, there was a knock on the front door. Not too unusual, but Danny loathed that they had to get out of bed to shoo someone away.

Invisible, because he'd disabled the Ghost Traps last night, they peeked through the window by the door and spotted two men he'd never seen in Amity Park before.

Of course they recognized Oliver Queen, but who was they guy with him, and what were they doing in Amity Park of all places?

Obviously, they weren't here by accident. Someone had given them directions on how to get here. Directions that were followed perfectly.

Visitors weren't strange. Amity Park welcomed visitors with open arms. But finding her? That was an issue all on it's own. Only people born there can ever find their way back, and most don't ever move out of the city.

Again, horrible for tourism, wonderful for local businesses.

People don't come to Amity Park for fun. The gimmick on the Welcome To sign was overused even before it became true. And the Ghost attacks? Those normally drove people away, even if they weren't in any real danger compared to literally the rest of the country.

The people who did come to Amity Park for fun? They were bad people. People who spilled oil in the ocean and paid it off, people who laughed at the homeless and built hotels on their corpses, people who thought they were so much better because they worked at a desk instead of a restaurant. People who did vile things and were running because they were found out.

People like Freakshow, who wanted more power than he could ever hope to reliably control.

People like the G.I.W who do anything they want and attack anyone they want on baseless claims.

Oliver Queen and whomst-ever-the-fuck was with him shouldn't don't have a reason to be in Amity Park.

He opened the door with a yawn, just wide enough that they couldn't see in the house, but he could talk to them. "'Morning, gentlemen. How can I help you?"

The two didn't say anything for a long moment, prompting Danny to take a closer look at them.

Oliver Queen was the taller of the two by about half a foot. The brunet was obviously a runner, if his built and the way he stood was anything to go by. Oliver Queen's arm muscles were more defined than his leg muscles, so he likely used them more often than he ran.

Or, y'know, he could be an archer.

Danny swore in the privacy of his mind, forcing themself to stay as visibly unbothered as they could.

"I'm Barry Allen," the runner introduced, "And this is Oliver Queen. We're just passing through town and were wondering if you could answer a few questions for us?"

Danny raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms, much more awake than a few seconds ago. "Do you always knock on random doors to ask questions?"

"Well, no," Barry Allen said, "But we saw the sign and figured this would be a nice household to ask about the lay of the land. Anyone who advertises their family name like that should, theoretically, b pretty chill, right?"

"Or supervillains failing to lay low." He couldn't help teasing them, especially when they gave the reaction he was looking for. They huffed. "I'm kidding. My parent's are scientists, but they aren't evil. Manic, sure, but not evil." Holding the door open wider, they said, "Come on in, please excuse the mess." The two shared a look before walking in. Danny closed the door behind them. "So, questions?"

The two took a second before answering, taking seats on the couch after Danny prompted them to. "Yes," Oliver Queen said, "Why was it so hard to get into the town?"

"Startin' off easy?" Danny smirked, "Short answer is that the town was cursed by witches once upon a time."

"And the long answer?"

"Well, Amity Park was founded with the sole purpose of disposing of witches. When the pyres were lit in Trial Park, the witches cursed the two to never stay in one spot. People born here can always find their way back, like salmon, but outsiders need a guide to either tell them or escort them."

Barry Allen looked skeptical. "You really believe witches cursed this whole town?"

Danny nodded, amused by the man's disbelief. "Why wouldn't I? Though, they less cursed the two and more cursed the ground it was built upon. Either way, the way you took in won't be the way you take out."

Oliver Queen asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, the only entrance and exit is along the main road. You come in one side, leave through the other. One side opens in, say, Iowa, the other in Nevada."

The two took a second to absorb the information. Then, Barry asked, "Can you tell us about your town's hero?"

Danny tried not to show any tense reaction to the question, but he could tell by their faces that he'd failed at least a little. Maybe they could play it off? "What about 'em?"

"We were just wondering why he's not been seen anywhere else," Oliver Queen answered.

Okay, they could work with that. "Phantom doesn't really like to leave Amity Park."

"Why not?"

"Because they have no reason to?"

"But what if the rest of the world needs their help?"

"Why would Phantom go out and help the rest of the world when it would rather see them dead than accept even a bit of help?" Okay, so maybe Danny's holding a bit of a grudge. Can he be blamed, though? They escaped the G.I.W barely a week ago! A situation, mind, that they wouldn't've been in if the Justice League had just listened-!

They have very strong opinions on the matter.

"What do you mean?" Barry Allen asked.

Danny didn't look at either man. "I think it's time for you two to go."

"What? But-"

"You'll find, gentlemen, that Amity Park protects her own. Please, show yourselves out."

Reluctantly, they did. Danny didn't move until they heard the door click closed behind them. Sighing, he flopped belly first onto the floor. It had already been a long day and it wasn't even noon.

Part 3

[chekhovs-slinky]

Danny Corpse AU, he keeps his polished bones in a locked case under his bed, but has his skull on his desk as a nice decoration and work companion.

He puts funny little hats on himself, sometimes some little paper accessories (he doesn't want to put any kind of adhesive in his bones, that's just asking for damage- so no stickers, sadly).

Everyone he works with fully assumes it's just a prop skull.

Danny Fenton works at the Daily Planet in a corner where Clark Kent doesn't really frequent.

One day, he has to drop of some paperwork for Mr Fenton- who he's never met despite working together for the past two years, “shit just happens in a big office like that I guess” he says (though Clark swears he’s never heard a heartbeat or any kind of breathing from that office)- and Clark drops everything he's holding when he sees a child's skull on the desk, decorated with a festive pink ribbon patterned with different fruits.

Clark knows exactly what real bone pores look like, and he knows his enhanced sight isn't lying to him. It's either the best fake in this or any universe, or his coworker has a real human child's skull on his desk.

But how does he bring this up to anyone without exposing himself?

[goddessofbees]

So a couple of people have mentioned the jewelry I put on the phantom sibs and I wanted to explain them kinda like a character sheet of my headcannons

If anything is hard to read, sorry 😔 my handwriting might suck... and the spelling....

Yes I know I spelt jewelry wrong.

[moocha-muses]

Happy Pride to Charlie Welsh! (And everyone else.) I meant to convert @kaisosims' set of HRT Clutter last year, but you know what? Free, downloadable hormones are still a great vibe.

Everything's in Plumbing/Misc except for the binders, which are in General/Dresser, there's a custom collection file, and everything's compressed.

Download@SFS

Download@Dropbox

Wishing you all safe and well and happy, and hoping as always that one day we'll enjoy the rights and freedoms enjoyed in TS2's socialist utopia.

-Moocha

[g4rg0y1e]

I’ve been thinking about Damian leaving his life in Gotham to become a bookstore owner in Amity Park, Illinois, like he met Danny in the league and they had an arranged marriage that the Batfam did not know about and Damian didn’t want them to know anyway so he just flat out left and made a new life for himself near his beloved.

Damian owns a bookstore/coffee shop (obviously) and they live in this apartment above the building and the Everlasting Trio find out about this new place in town called The Bird’s Nest and they decide to try it out but as soon as they walk in Danny hears Damian, in this customer service voice say, “Welcome to The Bird’s Nest, make yourself at home.” and he runs to the cashier and sees his lover and breaks down. Damian hears his ugly sobs and looks up in concern.

Upon seeing Danny he rushes over to comfort him and Danny immediately latches onto him and saying things like “I thought i’d never see you again” and “please be real, please” and Damian is like “i’m here, it's me, i’m so so sorry, Beloved.” and Tucker and Sam are like freaking out a little but seeing Damian hold Danny like that they decided to just hang back for a little bit while Danny calms down, and once he can breathe without stuttering and can speak without feeling like the world is ending they all sit down in a booth together and they explaining to Tucker and Sam how they know each other.

Tucker and Sam are like a little concerned about it but they’re like “it’s fine we knew each other since we were toddlers and we got to know each other pretty well in the 15 years before our marriage.”  and so Damian and the Everlasting Trio start hanging out together a lot and they all start to fall in love :]

Meanwhile in Gotham

The Batfam are freaking the fuck out.

They’re frantically searching for Damian everywhere. They call Talia and ask her but she says she hasn’t seen him since his wedding which makes the Batfam panic even more because what wedding??  But she doesn’t say anything and they are confused but that’s not their concern so they contact the Justice League and get them involved like Robin is missing and we don’t know where he could be.  

So the JL are like searching and they come up with nothing and they decide to get Justice League Dark involved like Robin’s missing what do we do?  and JLD is like searching until they run out of other options and decide to summon the Ghost King Phantom and his Knight and Consorts

but they don’t know that the king has multiple consorts… Or that one of them is Damian… SO they summon them and the king looms over his knight as he covers his consorts with his cloak and Batman is like “please.. please, Great King Phantom… I need to find my child..” and the JL and JLD (that dont know their identities) are like omg does batsy think of rob as his child  and the King is like “Who are you looking for?” and Batman is like “Robin…Damian Wayne.” and the king tilts his head then opens his cape and Damian walks out slowly like “oh shit I forgot to tell them that I was gonna make a whole new life for myself in an entirely different state.”  and just goes “…heyyy.” and the Batfam starts freaking out like “Where have you been?!?” and Damian just goes “I was with my Beloveds.” 

and the batfam is like

“…”

“BELOVEDS, MULTIPLE???” 

[therandomartmaker]

You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.

TW: Graphic Description of a dead body, dehumanisation

Corpse AU/Full Ghost AU

The ghost boy leaned against the frame of the door to the laboratory. How he’d gotten past the anti-ghost security, they’d had no idea, but that was something insignificant, now. Especially in the face of their newest discovery.

There was a corpse, in the shut off portal, rotting and decayed, and familiar.

Dark hair, pale skin, a white, moth bitten shirt with red trim and dark worn jeans, flesh falling off to reveal things they’d never wish to see, not on their precious baby boy. The glint of skeleton, bone, and tooth. The brown of long dried blood, and pink of electrical burns. It’d- no, he’d decayed unnaturally, areas of preserved into pale green-ish tint, other areas as though it’d been years since he’d died, bone whiter as though sun-bleached.

They looked up at the ghost boy; the one that wore a face so very similar to their child. Their son.

It didn’t have a smirk of victory, vindication, resignation- it didn’t have much of an expression on it’s face at all. It didn’t even look sad at the body of a child, one that died at what must’ve been a similar age. It’s lack of empathy proved something to the Fenton parents, they weren’t sure what, but it did.

There was a harsh glow from it, icy blue (inhuman) eyes searching their faces for something.

“Your son opened the portal, no, your son’s death opened the portal. His death is the only reason it opened,” It said. It couldn’t be right, Danny’d never gone down to the lab in years- but his disappearance had happened on the day of the Portal’s first opening. It lined up. It made sense.

“You had two creations, one that’d gotten your love and care, and obsession for years; and the other, of your flesh and blood. You could only have one, and aren’t you happy? You’ve proved your life’s work with the one you kept,” the ghost menace said, and it wasn’t even a taunt. Just as though it was a fact, and maybe. Maybe it was right, they had given up so much time with their children- only to have one of them torn away by what they’d spent so long on.

“Was it worth it?” The ghost boy asked. There was something broken about it, and perhaps they’d been wrong, about ghosts. For once.

“Turn it on.” It asks, commands, as though it had the power, but it wrenched something in the Fenton parents. “Your son’s death has caused more harm than it has done good, let the last ghost upon this land leave, and the loss of your child be your lesson.

Let me go, Mum. Dad.”

[nightingale-prompts]

This was a terrible fucking idea! No one told him cramps hurt this bad!

Danny might have been forgetting to transformation back into a guy at night.

Danny was curled up on his bed in agony. He sent out apologies to every woman in his life. He shouldn't have made a joke about Sam being on her period that one time. He's sorry he even thought it was funny. He will never let Jazz do chores again while it was her time of the month.

Danny really wanted to cry and to top it all off Dani was awake. This meant she was already banging on the door.

"Wake up! Vlad made pancakes!" Dani yelled.

"Go away!" Danny yelled back.

When he eventually felt well enough Danny went to the kitchen to grab some food. There should be a container of strawberries in there and it felt like the only thing he could eat right now. Only it was gone. The container sitting in the trash can.

"My strawberries." Danny gasped in defeat.

"Oh, I'm sorry Danny. I didn't know you wanted them Dan and Dani ate the last of them. You all seem to like them alot." Vlad laughed a little at the end as he washed the dishes.

Danny felt a wave of emotions hit him. He was in so much pain and he just wanted to be left alone and eat some STRAWBERRIES!

"Euhg!!! Why is everything so hard?! And why are you washing dishes by hand!!! We have a dishwasher!!!!" Danny yelled at Vlad.

"We do?" Vlad asked in genuine confusion.

It was no use getting mad at Vlad. He was just an old coot now.

"Isn't everything alright?" Jazz asked hearing Danny yelled.

"Yes, I think. I didn't know we had a dishwasher." Vlad said cheerfully "But I think Danny is feeling unwell."

"Alright, Vlad. I'll talk to Danny. You should go sit down, The Young and the Restless is on."Jazz said taking the syrup covered olat from Vlad.

Once the ex-ghost was gone Jazz tried to talk to her brother who was wiping his face.

"What is going one? You've been acting different lately and while I have a feeling I know something— I want you to tell me what it is." Jazz said in a kind but firm tone.

"I feel asleep after shapshifting and now everything hurts." Danny said quickly.

Jazz paused for a minute. Apparently this wasn't the conversation she was expecting.

"I see. Are you...bleeding?" Jazz asked cautiously to not scare Danny away from this conversation.

Jazz debated getting their mom involved to help but that might make things worse. Jazz still remembered the confusing metaphors for the birds and bees she gave. Jazz shivered at the thought.

"No? Oh my god! I'm I going to bleed down there?" Danny said in panic.

"No! I mean maybe. But it'll be fine! Just describe what you're feeling right now." Jazz tried to calm him down.

"My back hurts, my stomach feels bloated and kina like...shifty? My chest feels sore." Danny listed off the symptoms.

Jazz sighed in relief.

"You just have PMS." She said.

"So, I'm okay?" Danny took the sight a good sign.

"Yeah, it means we have time to get ready. We need to go to the store and pick out what you need. You have alot to lean about what products to use and how." Jazz said "We should also get Dani. She hasn't had her's yet but she might any day now."

Danny froze in place. Was this really about to happen to him? Couldn't he just change back? Why didn't he think of that before?

But he didn't really want to. It was complicated but he didn't want to be a guy right now even if it meant being in pain as a girl. Like somethings one felt better then the other and right now he didn't want to change. Besides there was no telling what transforming now would do to his body. Like what if he still did the thing but as a guy? Like how does that work? Is it like peeing but red?

Danny wouldn't need to wonder as he was dragged around the store learning way too much. He was given one of those book that are used to give the rest of the birds and bees talk. The book was quickly hand to Dani because the patronizing preteen "girl talk" was annoying.

"You know know I've always wanted a little sister." Jazz hinted.

"You have Dani now right?" Danny did not pick up on the hint."

Danny Catfishes- DCxDP prompt

Every time Danny learned a new way to use his powers, he used them for his own gain. This time it was Sam using them for her own advantage.

Danny has the ability to shapeshift. Specifically, he can now change his appearance to look like someone else. Specifically, Sam wanted Danny to turn into a girl to attend a women-only dinner party in Gotham. Sam refused to go alone and not taking her boys is off the table.

So Danny had to go as Danna (Because Dani protested the name Danielle)

The event was stressful to say the least. High heels, makeup, long conversations, tight cocktail dresses. Danny was out of his element.

He ended up slipping up and mentioning that his Godfather (the one he had replaced with an alternate redeemed future version of him) was Vlad Masters. The woman at the event practically bulldozed him to try to have their families or businesses connected to Vlad's company.

Fortunately, he was saved by a helpful lady. Cassandra Wayne and her guest, Barbara Gordon.

Sam and Cassandra seemed to hit it off immediately. The four ended up becoming friends by the end of the night.

It was only after the party that Danny realized that they thought he was a girl. The text messages from them to hang out in the future were too tempting. He didn't know how to explain it but hanging with girls was just different from guys. He considered that he might like Cass and Barbara as more then friends but he didn't, he just really liked talking to them. And maybe the dresses weren't that bad .

Back at the Wayne manor Cass posted a few pictures from the dinner.

"Who's she?" Tim asked, hanging over her shoulder.

"That's Danna. Apparently, she his close to Vlad Masters. The one you're investigating." Cass signed, "I was hoping she'd have info on him and his recent change."

"Can you give me her number? She is kinda cute." Tim asked.

-----

"Hey, Sam? Why Is Tim Drake-Wayne messaging me on Instagram? And why do I have a new Instagram page under the name Danna?" Danny asked.

"Because my parents wanted to know who this new female friend I had was, so I asked Tucker to make a page using your email. We have been uploading daily there. It's kind of fun."

[swampghouls]

MAN! they/them... my beloveds

[thevoidstaredback]

Masterpost

There was a hero that all of the Justice League knew about. They'd only technically been on the scene for a few years, but there were records of them and their heroism going back the oldest human records. They were probably even older than that! They were mentioned in every mythology, every civilization. Quietly, they called them a hero.

They had many names and many domains, but they were most commonly depicted as a psychopomp and/or messenger. Anubis, Hermes, Mercury, Morana, Charun, Xolotl, Valkyrie, Heibai Wuchang, Shinigami, Tarakeshwara, Gupan and Ugar, Isimud, Raja Indainda, and Sraosha were all names they were known by. Now, though, they went simply by Phantom.

None of the Justice League had had the opportunity to interact with Phantom, though not for lack of trying. Something always got in their way when they tried. Until now, that is.

None of the heroes technically remembered anything that happened, but Batman and The Flash had placed contingencies at the very beginning of the Justice League that could track whenever time was messed with. Could it tell them what happened or who did it? No. All it could alert them to was that something in the timeline had changed, though Batman was working on upgrading it for more details.

It was protocol, whenever time's been messed with, to check up on heroes throughout the world. Usually, this was just a quick check from the Watchtower, then a call to their non-emergency contacts, but occasionally a hero would drop by for an in-person visit.

Phantom had been harder to track down than a Bat playing hide-and-seek, and it was even harder to actually get into contact with them!

After two years of sifting through history and mythology books, Green Arrow had finally managed to track down Phantom.

Amity Park, Missouri was not the place he expected to find a being older than human records, but he's seen weirder.

Green Arrow showing up in the middle of Missouri alone would've raise more questions than it was worth, so he decided to bring along The Flash because it'd be less weird for the hero who actually lived in the state to be there. That being said, they both decided that showing up in full hero garb would attract a lot of unwanted attention, so they decided to go in their civvies before approaching Phantom at night as heroes. It would also give them a good amount of time to pick out a schedule, if Phantom had one.

Barry yawned as he stepped off the plane behind Oliver. "What're we doing here again?"

"I told you," Oliver said, "We're here to see Phantom."

Barry missed a step, nearly falling on his face. "You didn't say we were here to see Phantom!" he hissed.

"I didn't? Must've slipped my mind."

"You, sir, are an ass."

A huffed laugh from behind made the two turn around.

The girl was a teenager, probably in her last year of high school. She was dressed in a Nu Goth style. Her clothing was all black, though her choker and lipstick was royal purple. Her hair, too, was dyed black with royal purple bangs cut to a point in the middle of her forehead. Her earrings, just poking out from where they were covered by her hair, were of the lesbian and aromantic flags.

She raised an eyebrow at them. "What? You're having a conversation in a public area. I'm gonna laugh if you say something stupid."

Barry rubbed the back of his neck, "That's fair, miss..?"

She looked them both up and down obviously before locking eyes with Barry. "Don't deal with anything even close to magic, man, sharing names is, like, the first thing on the list of what not to do."

It was Oliver's turn to raise his eyebrow at her. "You deal a lot with magic?"

"My grandma's a witch. She taught me most of what I know."

"And the rest?"

"Sam!" The call would've cut her off if she had opened her mouth to answer. She turned to face a kid who was walking over from the direction of the bathrooms. "You're not harassing these guys, right?"

"Nope. Just having a conversation."

The boy looked skeptical behind his tinted glasses. "A 'me' conversation or a 'you' conversation?"

"A Danny conversation."

"That's worse."

"And you're only contributing to it."

The boy sighed, straightened out his shirt, then held out his left hand to Oliver and Barry for a handshake. "Ignore her, she's a jerk."

She snorted, but didn't deny it.

The boy was wearing black jeans, a grey shirt over a white undershirt, a grey plaid jacket, and a red beanie. His glasses were thick, black frames and the lenses were tinted just enough to not be considered sunglasses.

"No harm done," Barry assured, "You are?"

"Tucker," he answered, "You?"

"I'm Barry and this is Oliver."

"Cool, cool," Tucker said, "It was nice to meet you guys, but we've got a ride waiting."

"No problem," Oliver smiled, "It was nice meeting you, too."

They watched the two kids go until they were swept away by the crowd.

"You think we'll be seeing them again?" Barry asked.

Oliver smirked. "How much are you willing to bet?"

Barry laughed. "With our odds? Nothing."

"You're no fun."

Ignoring him, Barry continued on to the bag collection. "Let's just hurry up. Where're we going?"

"It's a town called Amity Park."

"Amity Park?"

"Yep,"

"Weird. I don't remember a town with that name in the state."

"Really?"

"Yeah,"

"Strange," Oliver hummed, "Let's follow the lead wherever it goes, then."

Don't say that," Barry groaned, grabbing his bag, "Because whenever someone says that, it takes forever to get anything done and I only have a week off, man."

"Then get a new job."

"Says you! You could by a small country and still have enough to buy this country!"

"You're confusing me with Bruce."

"That man's richer than god."

"And I'm not?"

"No. You're as rich as god, but not richer."

"That's a fair assessment."

Finding a taxi was easy. Finding one that would take them to Amity Park was a bit harder.

Amity Park, Missouri was in the same state as Central City, but Oliver refused to drive for that long, so they'd taken a plane from Central City Airport to Perryville Regional Airport. From there, they were going to take the state highway to MO-51, get off onto Pcr 917, and finally stop right in the middle of the road.

Another thing Oliver conveniently forgot to tell Barry was the Amity Park was in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't on any maps, no website with any allusion to it held directions, and no one who'd been there could say how to get there.

They did, eventually, find a taxi. Throw enough money at someone and they'll do what you want. However, the driver had stated, in no uncertain terms, that he would be dropping them outside the town and they'd have to walk in a straight line to get in.

The wording had been oddly specific. The two disguised heroes followed them to a T.

In the middle of nowhere, surrounded on all sides by trees, was the moderately sized town of Amity Park. There was a single road that cut through the middle, separating the residentials from the corporations.

(Corporations was a strong word. There wasn't a single Wal-Mart or Amazon Warehouse anywhere.)

On the way in was a sign that Oliver and Barry had both taken photos of and studied until they'd memorized it: Welcome to Amity Park! The Most Haunted Place On Earth watch out for Rogue Ghosts.

'Rogue' was an odd word to capitalize.

"I didn't even know this was here," Barry said in awe of the big green park in the middle of the road. It was the very center of the town and the main road wrapped right around it. "There's been a town here this whole time?"

Oliver breathed in deeply. The air was cleaner than anywhere he'd been, and he's been to some really clean places. There was almost a sweet quality to it, smelling similar to candied apples.

"How as a place like this even exist?" Barry asked. He was kneeling in the grass, examining it closely. It was an unsettlingly perfect shade of green.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Oliver said, "Come on, let's find somewhere to stay."

Part 2

[ellerial]

Danny's been on this planet for ... okay, all his time shenanigans, along with natural time blindness, have kind of ruined his ability to tell. He's pretty sure it has been a while, though.

He's getting kind of bored, tbh. I mean, this underground alien fighting pit was pretty amusing for the first hundred or so fights, but they're starting to get monotonous. And he's pretty miffed at the fact that everyone fighting is kidnapped. And enslaved! Rude, honestly.

He hears the din above raise to an obscene level. Danny looks up as the new contender gets thrown into the pit. His eyes widen, and a feral grin spreads across his face.

The new fighter looks human. It's been so long since he's seen another human-esque person. Ooh, they even smell like earthling! And! Better yet! Simmering below their anger is ectoplasm.

Well, butter biscuits. He wants to fight the human. (Ghost rough house ftw!) But now he also just wants to bust outa this joint and take the human with him. Maybe get a drink. Have a latte, sip some chai tea. No time for a bubble bath, though.

His hand is to his chin, and he's rocking his head side to side in contemplation when the decision is made for him by a right hook to the jaw.

"So rude! I was making a decision!" He starts to duck and weave around the other fighter's fists.

"Sucks to be you. I'm not waitin' for ya to decide how yer gonna kick my ass."

Danny scoffs. "I was," he dodges a kick and the follow up fist it tried to hide, "deciding whether to fight or leave and we could," duck, duck, boop the nose, "go get a drink. I'm sure this planet has a bar or something."

The fighter makes an affronted noise at the boop. "What the fuck? Don't fuckin' lie. You killed all the other fighters you went up against!"

Danny smiles, "Did I?"

"Yes!"

"According to whom?" Danny was king. THE king. Of everything. He was OP af. Like he was going to kill his fight buddies! That's just bad manners! He got all his opponents free with liberal amounts of ectoplasm and creative use of portals.

Block, block, swipe kick. Ooooh, they've got moves. What was that flippy thing???

"OhMyAncients, you're so fun!!" Danny dodges another onslaught before dancing away to put distance between them. "Call me Barghest, he/him. What can I call you? Your pronouns? I need something more than 'new fighter' for my inner dialogue."

The other fighter pauses, looking thoroughly confused. "... Red Hood. He/him?? What is happening right now?"

"Now? I'm gonna tear this fuckin' place to the ground and you and I are getting a drink."

Hood scoffs. "I've seen you fight. You don't have the ability to tear this place down."

Danny glances at the alien ring. There are inhibitors and reinforced containments everywhere. The entire place is built to keep some of the most dangerous beings in the universe inside the pit to fight to the death.

This place was formidable, but it was meant for the living.

Danny shrugs. "I'm here on vacation."

"On vacation." Hood deadpans.

"Yup. I was bored. Thought only using my enhancement powers in a fighting pit would be a blast! And I was absolutely correct." He grins, letting his power flash his eyes green, then blue. "This was fun, but I'd rather chill with you now." He lets his power flash freeze all the containment contingencies around the pit, then lets his power shatter it all into dust accompanied by the lovely screams of the crowd. "I do have a few people I actually have to deal with first, but would you like to get outa here?"

Hood stares at his offered hand for a moment before giving a casual shrug. "Fuck it." Hood walks forward and reaches his hand out before pausing, "I gotta kill some people before we bounce, too."

Danny threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, I don't need to kill them. But I can respect the grind." He takes Hood's hand, and in the next breath, they're behind the owner of the underground ring, most of his upper lieutenants and about 30 alien goons.

Red Hood and Danny move in tandem, each taking a side and weaving their way through the group. They dodge, turn, disarm, and maneuver opponents into each others attacks in some of the most coordinated movement Danny has ever experienced. As if he knew exactly where Hood was going to be, going to strike, going to dip. It's amazing. His thoughts are static except for internal screaming. He stans this human so fucking hard.

As the leader finally fell to Hood's blade (where did those come from???) Danny turns to him with barely contained excitement. "Are we best friends? I think we just became best friends!"

"Uh..."

"Nope. Time's up. You're mine now. Besties forever." Danny opens his armory pocket dimension and pulls out some light body armor, a few blades, a couple of handguns, and an RPG. "New bestie, I bequeath unto thee protection! Let's go blow some shit up!"

Red Hoods smile finally matches his own. "I could be down for that."

[corkinavoid]

DPxDC Not So Artificial Intelligence

Barbara thinks it was Bruce, with his love for new additions to the Cave. Bruce thinks it was Tim, with his late hyperfixation on AI. Tim thinks it was Babs, with her ever evolving network of keeping everything under control.

They are all wrong, but the fact stays a fact: the BatCave has an AI assistant now.

It is not very good at first, not recognizing voices very well and messing up commands, but the Bats write it off as a learning curve. Besides, it never makes the same mistakes twice, and in a couple of months, even the tiniest slip ups fade away.

Its name is Betty. First, Dick named it Bat-AI (a reasonable name), then it transformed into Bat-I for easier pronunciation, and then Steph called in Betty once, and the name was sealed.

And they all love Betty. Betty is the best, keeping track of their everyday lives, reminding them of their civilian meetings and vigilante business, alerting them of any suspicious activity in the city. Oracle finally gets to sleep for more than 4 hours in a day with Betty's help. Tim gets company when he is three weeks in and elbows deep in a case - it's easier when he has an illusion of someone to discuss the matter with, and Betty even offers him insight. Damian learns to do digital art just to have a little competition with Betty. He wins, but the AI is a worthy opponent, in his opinion.

Even Bruce begrudgingly likes the AI assistant. She is competent and helpful, and Alfred seems to approve of how she doesn't let Bruce overwork himself when he escapes medbay to keep searching for answers.

That is, until one day, Tim installs speakers specifically for Betty in the Cave.

The voice that comes from them is not robotic or mechanical.

It definitely has human intonation.

"Hello, Red Robin," the voice - a male voice, actually - greets him with slight amusement. Tim feels an uneasy feeling sinking down in his stomach.

"Betty?"

"You know me as such. I would prefer it if you called me Danny. He/them pronouns."

Remind him, who installed the AI?..

---------------

Danny got trapped inside the Batcomputer somehow - I suspect Technus had a hand in it - and decided to embrace it. He used to be a vigilante himself, so why not help this whole family of vigilantes while he is at it? They look like they need a hand.

[fireinmoonshot]

plus one | joaquín torres x reader

Pairing: Joaquín Torres x Reader Summary: You help Joaquín get ready for a gala that he and Sam are attending – though because of the 'no plus ones' rule, Joaquín would rather stay with you instead... and he intends to convince you to let him. Warnings: I don't think I use any pronouns or gender specific terms in this (please let me know if I do and I'll fix my warnings) but it is mentioned that reader has hair long enough for Joaquín to tangle his hands in. There are references to nudity. It's also slightly suggestive at times but nothing specific. Word Count: 3.2k A/N: Surprise! It's been a whole month since I last wrote for Joaquín, and then this morning I woke up to those photos of Danny at the Mission premiere and he is so Joaquín in them that I was inspired. I was literally plotting this out at work cause I couldn't stop thinking about how good he looked in that outfit and then I started working on this the second I got home. I'm actually so happy with how it turned out considering I haven't written for Joaquín in a month, but I have missed writing for him so much. I really hope all of you will love this! 💗

“Angel, I really don’t think that Sam would mind that much,” Joaquin calls from the bathroom, fresh out of the shower. He hooks a towel around his waist and moves to stand in the doorway so he can see you, sitting cross legged on the bed, staring down at your phone. “I seriously think he’d be cool with going alone.”

You look up from your phone, eyes falling on your half-naked boyfriend, and forget how to speak for a moment. His hair is still wet and so is his chest – he’d clearly forgotten to dry himself off properly, wanting to talk to you so badly and attempt to convince you to let him stay home again.

Ever since he’d found out that there were no plus ones allowed at the gala he and Sam had been invited to, he had decided that he didn’t want to go. Sam was going to be there too, so it wasn’t like he was going alone, but for some reason, the simple fact that you couldn’t go made it so that he didn’t want to go either.

“Are you listening to me, angel?”

You blink, tearing your eyes away from his chest where you’d apparently been staring, and nod. “I am, but you’re still going to the gala, Joaquin. You made a promise to Sam.”

Joaquin pouts a little and walks across the room towards you. You try not to focus on the fact that the towel around his waist is tied incredibly low and instead, look at the wet footprints he’s leaving as he walks.

“Baby, you’re gonna get the carpet wet!” You scold him, standing up from the bed just as he reaches you. You place your hands on his chest and start to push him backwards towards the bathroom. “Dry yourself off before you come out here. You know better.”

Joaquin’s pout turns into a grin as he’s pushed backwards by you. He finds it adorable when you get so frustrated over the small things like that, and the fact that your hands are on his bare chest is just a bonus. “Well, stay with me in the bathroom while I dry off, then, cause I don’t wanna have to yell at you just to talk to you,” he says, allowing himself to be pushed back to the bathroom. 

“Fine,” you sigh, moving to take a seat on the toilet lid. 

You try your best not to stare as Joaquin undoes the towel around his waist and gets to work drying himself off. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before – the man does have a habit of wearing nothing or very little around the house – but it still has the same effect on you every time. You make an effort to look at his face instead. 

“I can just text Sam and tell him I’m sick or something,” Joaquin suggests, trying to get back to the topic of the gala. “He wouldn’t know if I’m lying or not.”

You groan and lean back against the cistern. “Baby, you are not lying to Sam about being sick. It’s just a few hours. You’ll probably really enjoy yourself when you’re there. It’ll go so fast and then you’ll be home.”

Joaquin picks up his boxers and pulls them on, frowning to himself as he does. He’d really thought that maybe, you watching him dry off after his shower might give you a reason to finally relent and let him stay home… he’d clearly underestimated your ability to stay true to your word. “You won’t be there, though. It’s not going to be as fun if you’re not there with me.”

“So you never had fun before you met me?”

He turns to look at you, a cheeky smile on his face. “Never.”

You roll your eyes and pick up his dress pants, sitting beside you on the vanity, and throw them at him. “Just get dressed, silly.”

“I’m just saying,” Joaquin says, catching the pants and pulling them on. “I’d have so much more fun if I stayed home with you. I’m sure I could could come up with something we could do. There are so many options.” 

He does the button on the pants up and looks at you, eyebrows raised. You can tell by the look on his face exactly what he’s thinking and shake your head, trying not to laugh. 

“C’mon, angel. What do you say?” He hums, taking a few steps closer to you and reaching down to tuck a piece of your hair behind your ear. This is definitely going to work. He knows that you’ve always been susceptible to his touch. 

Joaquin almost smiles as you stand up and place your hands on his chest. He places his own hands on your waist and tugs you a little closer to him. 

“Baby,” you start, and Joaquin nods at you, his eyes wide and full of hope. “I love you, but I swear if you don’t pick up that dress shirt right now, put it on and finish getting ready, I’m never touching you again. That means no hugs, no kisses, no–”

Joaquin groans and steps back away from you. “You’re killing me here, angel.”

“You’ll live,” you laugh, sitting back down on the toilet lid.

He picks up the dress shirt from the vanity and pulls it on, maintaining eye contact with you the entire time. The pout on his lips is so cute that you almost stand right back up and kiss him, but you know that if you do, there’s no way Joaquin is leaving the house.

“I might not,” Joaquin huffs, starting to do the buttons up on his shirt. “It’ll be hours without you. I’ll be all alone in a giant room full of strangers.”

You watch as he does the buttons up all the way to the top and can’t help yourself from standing up and taking a few steps towards him. The pout on his mouth stays in place. 

“You’re the most social person I know, Joaquin. Since when do you fear a room full of strangers?” You ask, reaching up to the top button of his shirt. “Anyway, I’ll be eagerly waiting for you to come home if that makes you feel any better.” 

Joaquin’s hands find your waist again as you unbutton the top button of the shirt. His breath hitches. Has he finally won you over just by being fully dressed and pouty? His grip tightens on your waist as you unbutton the next button. Then, you drop your hands.

“Angel.”

“There, all done,” you smile, leaning up to peck his lips. “Now, come on. I’ll dry your hair and style it for you and then you’ll be all ready to go. Sam will be here soon anyway.” 

You move to step away from him and walk out of the room but Joaquin is quick to pull you back to him. Before you have a chance to object, his lips are on yours. You moan a little at the contact which only spurs Joaquin on more. His hands slip underneath the fabric of your pyjama shirt as he manoeuvres you up and onto the vanity behind you. He uses one hand to push your legs apart so he can stand between them. The other hand moves to tangle in your hair.

It takes every ounce of control not to start unbuttoning the rest of Joaquin’s shirt as he kisses you. You can’t even fist the fabric in your hands, not wanting to crease it when he’s about to leave for a fancy gala. His hair, though, is open territory. Despite the fact that it’s still damp, one of your hands weaves its way into it and you can’t help but tug a little. The noise he makes into your mouth is one you wish you could hear over and over again.

Reluctantly, Joaquin has to pull away to breathe soon. His forehead falls against yours, his breathing heavy. One of his hands rests on your thigh, the other one that had been in your hair now gently holding the back of your neck. 

“You ready for me to dry your hair now?” You ask, voice a little teasing.

Joaquin rolls his eyes and stands up straight. “You can’t seriously expect me to still go to the gala after that, can you?” 

Smiling, you put your hands on his chest and push him back a little, just enough for you to stand up off of the vanity. His hands stay firmly on you, the one that had been on your thigh now resting on your hip instead. 

“You say that as if I’m the one who initiated that, baby.”

He can’t help but laugh a little at that. You were right – he had been the one to initiate the kiss. He just hadn’t expected you to get quite as into it as you had. “Okay, fair call.”

You reach down to take one of his hands. “C’mon, baby.”

Joaquin allows himself to be dragged out of the bathroom by you and smiles a little at the fact that only minutes ago, you’d been pushing him back into the bathroom and now you’re dragging him out of it. He allows you to dry his hair, enjoying the feeling of your fingers running through it and the warm air from the hairdryer. He especially enjoys the fact that you lean down once it’s all dry and kiss him just behind his ear. He almost turns around and tugs you down onto his lap then and there. He’s surprised he manages to stop himself.

It’s not too long later that you’re standing beside him just inside the front door of your house. There’s a limo outside waiting to pick up Joaquin to take him to the gala. Sam’s already waiting inside, probably very impatiently.

“You sure it’s too late to back out?” Joaquin asks, his arms wrapped around you, hands resting on the small of your back. “I could still pull the ‘hey, I’m feeling sick all of a sudden’ card.”

“No, Joaquin,” you shake your head. “You’re going.”

He groans and throws his head back. “Ugh, fine.”

You take advantage of the situation to stand up on your tip-toes and press a kiss to his neck, right above his Adam’s apple. You can feel him tense up at the sudden contact and feel satisfied that you’ve succeeded in your intentions as you see the look in his eyes.

“What was that for?” 

“I’m just giving you another memory to think of when you’re out tonight,” you shrug your shoulders. “You look so handsome that I couldn’t help myself. You should wear shirts like this more often.”

Joaquin chuckles. “Thank you, angel. I think I need another memory though.”

He leans in and kisses you again. It’s only a quick kiss, even though he’d like nothing more than to make it more than that, but it’s good enough for him.

As soon as you break away, there’s the sound of the car horn honking outside – Sam’s way of telling Joaquin to hurry the hell up.

“Now, you really have to go,” you laugh, pulling yourself out of his arms to open up the front door. You shiver a little at the cool evening air and it makes Joaquin want to wrap you up in his arms all over again. “Baby, come on.” You reach out and grab his hand, pulling him forward until he’s finally out on the doorstep. 

Joaquin smiles at you, just enjoying the feeling of holding your hand. 

“Okay, you go out and have a good night, okay? Text me when you’re on your way home. I’ll try and stay awake for you as long as I can,” you give his hand a squeeze and then let go.

“I won’t be late, I promise. I don’t wanna keep you up,” he says. Joaquin isn’t going that easily, though. He steps forward and gives you another quick kiss. “I love you, angel.” The words are murmured against your lips. “I want more kisses when I’m home, okay?”

Laughing, you gently push him away from you. “Hurry up, you’re keeping Sam waiting!”

“Only when you say you love me too!”

“I love you too. Now go!”

Joaquin grins and finally turns around, starting to walk down the path towards the car. He’s about half way there when he turns on his heel and starts running back to you. You watch him, amused, as he makes his way back towards the house. Unsurprisingly, he meets you with another kiss – this one a little longer and a little rougher than last time.

Instead of being interrupted by a car horn honking this time, it’s the sound of Sam’s voice that makes Joaquin pull away from you, his hand still resting on your back. 

“I swear if you don’t get into this car right now, Joaquin, I’m replacing you as Falcon!”

Joaquin’s eyes widen almost comically, but even though a part of him really believes that Sam would do it, it doesn’t stop him from leaning in to peck your lips again before he turns back around and starts running towards the limo.

“I love you, angel!” He yells as he’s running.

“Love you too,” you call back through your laughter.

You watch as he gets into the limo and then notice the window rolling down. He waves to you until the house is no longer visible and then finally looks at Sam for the first time since he’d gotten in. 

“Next time, we’re negotiating for plus ones.”

~~~

It’s late by the time Joaquin comes home – much later than you’d anticipated. You’d attempted to stay up as long as you could, but when you hear the key in the front door, you’re half asleep in your bed, the room only lit by a lamp on your bedside table. 

“Angel, are you sleeping?” Joaquin’s voice wakes you up a little.

Stifling a yawn, you push yourself into a seated position as the door to your bedroom opens and Joaquin walks inside, a smile on his face the second he sees you. His hair is a little messy, likely from a night of dancing or other tomfoolery, and his shirt is creased like you’d expected it to be when he came home. 

“Hey, baby. What time is it?” You ask, rubbing your eyes a little. You’re pretty sure you’d fallen asleep for at least a little bit there, but you have no idea when or for how long. “Did you have a good night?”

Joaquin crosses over towards the bed and is about to sit down on it when you stop him. 

“No outside clothes on the bed.”

He chuckles and starts to undo his belt. “You just trying to get me naked, angel?”

“If I wasn’t about to pass out, I’d say yes.”

He removes his dress shirt and pants, leaving them in a pile on the floor and leaving him in only his boxers before he climbs up onto the bed beside you, his phone in one of his hands. He slides underneath the covers and wraps an arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer to him so he can lean in and press a kiss to your cheek.

“It’s like… one a.m., I think,” Joaquin starts, answering your earlier question. “And I had the best night. You were right, angel. I really enjoyed myself once I was actually there.” He pauses for a second, then his eyes light up as he remembers something. “Oh, they had a whole room full of ice sculptures! Have you seen them before? It was so cold in there, like a giant walk-in freezer. They even had a sculpture of me! Wait, I took a picture…”

You smile, leaning into his side as he unlocks his phone and opens up the camera roll. He swipes past about ten selfies of himself before he gets to the ones he wants to show you – the ice sculptures. You’re definitely gonna be asking for copies of the selfies tomorrow.

“I took photos of everything so I could show you,” he explains, stopping on one ice sculpture that is unmistakably Falcon. “How cool is that! I’m an ice sculpture. I mean, not anymore. I’m probably just a puddle of water now but still.”

It’s sweet, the way he’s so excited about how much he’d enjoyed his evening. Even though it’s one in the morning and you wish you were fast asleep, you’re glad to be experiencing the wonder in his eyes and the joy in his voice. How he can be so energetic so late at night though, you don’t understand. 

“That’s super cool, baby,” you hum, no longer looking at the photo but up at him.

Joaquin locks his phone and sits it on his bedside table. “Honestly, I think it might’ve been one of the best nights of my life,” he admits.

You raise your eyebrows. “Oh, that’s funny coming from the man who didn’t even want to go in the first place,” you chuckle, amused. You’re a little more awake now, simply from seeing how happy he is. “So, you don’t need those kisses you asked for anymore, then? I can just go back to sleep then.”

He looks down at you. “Okay, so I didn’t say that.” 

One of his hands moves to cup your jaw, his thumb gently swiping over your cheek, as he leans in to kiss you again. Despite the fact that he had had a really great night at the gala, it would’ve been made a million times better with you there. And after the kisses you’d shared while he was getting ready, he’s been waiting for this one all night.

The kiss is different to all the ones you’d had before. It’s slow, soft and gentle. It doesn’t last very long, though. Joaquin can tell how tired you are and the last thing he wants is to keep you up any later, especially when he’d been out later than he’d intended on. 

“That was nice,” you mutter after he pulls away from the kiss.

“It was,” he agrees, then tilts his head downwards to briefly capture your lips in his again. His teeth nip at your bottom lip, unable to help himself. “But you should get some sleep now, angel. It’s late and you were falling asleep when I came in, I could tell.”

You stifle another yawn and shake your head. “No, I wanna stay up with you longer. I missed you tonight.”

Joaquin’s heart clenches in his chest. You’d been so adamant for him to go, but all this time you’d been at home missing him. You’d even tried staying awake until he’d come home and had barely achieved it. 

“I’ll be here when you wake up, angel,” he says, pressing a kiss to the corner of your lips. “I missed you tonight, too. Every second that I was at that gala I wished you were with me.”

You smile sleepily as you shuffle down so you can lay down in the bed. Joaquin moves to lay beside you, putting his head on his own pillow, the hand that had been on your face moving to rest on your hip. 

“You looked really handsome tonight, baby,” you murmur. 

“Thank you, angel,” Joaquin replies softly. 

“Next time,” you yawn, unable to stop yourself this time, and shuffle closer to him, burying your head in his chest. “You should negotiate for a plus one.” 

Joaquin can’t help but chuckle as he wraps his arm around you. “One step ahead of you, angel.”

~~~

Joaquín Torres Tag List (Please let me know if you’d like to be added!)

@sidkneeeee @dead-inside-but-happy @lay-lay-5 @marchingicenotes7 @phucboy @davinashifts333 @lomlbuckybarnes @laurenjbb @chansburgah @blackwidownat2814 @mischiefmanaged71 @madzlovez @marvelwitchergilmore @brittnicki @rheas-ripley @bcystar @victorsbathroomstall @giona45-5 @voodoo-tofu @happypopcornprincess @antixsocialx2 @innazra @lllucere @moonxnite @peacefangirl @ahoodgirl @ssinphetel @hiireadstuff @florkt @daisydadestroya @nanni197 @multiversefanfics

[luvemmdubb]

picture you | joaquín torres x f!reader

pairing: joaquín torres x f!photographer!reader

summary: Joaquín takes a liking to his and Sam's photographer.

note: no use of (Y/N). she/her pronouns are used for the reader. just a short lil fluffy oneshot inspired by the pic of danny above :) hope you enjoy these awkward babies as much i enjoyed writing them! special thanks to my pookie-wookie baby @buckyspancakes for beta reading 😘😘 (also this was crossposted on ao3)

word count: 1765

“Okay, just tilt your head a little to the right.”

“Like this?”

“Sorry—my right, your left.”

Joaquín obliged your request, quirking his head slightly to the your right. He clasped his hands together casually in his lap and flashed a smile that had heat pricking up the back of your neck.

“Perfect,” you couldn’t help but mumble. As you snapped photos, you hoped the camera was blocking the blush that had inevitably kissed your cheeks.

When an old friend from college called you about taking pictures to accompany an article she was writing, you had originally thought your schedule was too busy. But when she mentioned who she was interviewing, you managed to shift your schedule around to accommodate. Talk about a portfolio booster—it wasn’t every day you got to take photos of Captain America and the Falcon.

Well, and you had a teensy-weensy little crush on Joaquín.

You remember the first time you saw him on television. It was footage of the White House summit, the one where President Ross announced the whole adamantium thing that ended up going south.

Though before all that, you saw footage of Sam, who was accompanied by Isaiah and, at the time, an unknown man. A very attractive unknown man. 

You hadn’t even really been paying attention to the television until he had caught your eye. He had on an all-black suit, and his hair was slicked back. Setting your phone down, you couldn’t help the low whistle that left your lips. “And who is that?” You had asked your roommate. 

“The new Falcon—Joaquín Torres,” she had told you.

“Oh, he’s fly, alright.”

Your roommate swatted your arm. You couldn’t help it—you were a sucker for those brown doe eyes he had. Not to mention that smile. Damn.

When your friend called about the photography gig, you knew you would’ve been an idiot to refuse. I mean, it was a win-win situation. You’d have the opportunity to actually see Joaquín in person, and you’d be getting paid for it.

Which is how you ended up spending your Friday afternoon with two superheroes in a hangar.

Joaquín’s laugh snapped you out of your little daydream. “‘Perfect’? Now, I’m not so sure about that.” He scratched his neck and broke eye contact with the camera. His smile shifted from that picture-perfect one he flashed for the camera and turned more shy.

You kept snapping photos. Sure, you appreciated the eye candy, but you also didn’t play around when it came to taking pictures—you knew how to keep it professional.

“Now, Torres,” a voice called out from behind you, “I know you aren’t getting bashful on me.”

You peeped over your shoulder. “Oh, Mr. Wilson!” You quickly corrected your posture, clutching your camera close to your chest. “It’d be great if I could get some photos of you both.” Remembering it was Captain America you were talking to, you quickly added, “If you don’t mind, of course.”

You went to pull the other chair back beside Joaquín, but Sam quickly stopped you with a gentle pat to your shoulder. “I’ve got that,” he told you.

Pulling the chair over, he plopped down, slinging an arm around Joaquín like an older brother would. You couldn’t help but smile. 

“That’s perfect.” You peered through the viewfinder at the duo and began snapping photos. 

Through the tiny square of the viewfinder, you watched as Joaquín nudged Sam gently with his elbow, making eye contact with him before locking eyes with the camera again. Sam murmured something under his breath with an eyebrow raised, to which Joaquín nodded confidently, a broad smirk on his face. Sam laughed, shaking his head, making Joaquín nod again, more adamantly this time.

You didn’t have the slightest clue what kind of interaction was happening between the men in front of you, but you didn’t really care—not when it was giving you such good photos.

Through whispers, the two seemed to go back and forth with one another until Sam seemingly ended the conversation with a resolute shake of his head.

Whatever that meant.

“I think that’s enough for right here,” you said, letting the camera rest against your torso. “I just wanna get a few more of you guys by the plane, if that’s cool.”

“Oh, for sure,” Joaquín quickly answered, making Sam let out a low chuckle. Joaquín shot him a look—it wasn’t quite a glare, but it was enough to make Sam purse his lips together tightly, just narrowly avoiding a smile.

You snapped a few more shots of them by the plane, then a few with the airstrip in the distance. Just as you were about to guide them to another background, your friend emerged from the hangar. 

She called your name. “You’ve done more than enough pictures; thank you again.” 

You nodded, smiling. “Of course.” Looking back to the duo in front of you, you said, “Well, I guess my time’s up. Thanks for being such great models.” 

Sam stepped forward to shake your hand, which you accepted graciously. Joaquín only gave you a tight-lipped smile and a nod, his expression seeming miles away.

Not that you faulted him for that though, it had been a long morning. 

You turned around, retreating back into the hangar to grab your bag. As you got your things together, you heard footsteps nearing behind you.

“Are you a camera?” 

Furrowing your brows, you glanced over your shoulder and noticed Joaquín. He had one hand perched in his pocket casually, and the other was scratching the tufts of hair on his chin. A confident smile was gracing his features—was this guy ever not smiling? Well, not that you were complaining, he was a beautiful man.

“I have my camera right here.” You lifted your camera bag to show him, a gentle smile playing on your lips.

“No, no. I said, ‘Are you a camera’?”

Sitting your bag back on the chair, you turned around to face him. “Sorry?”

“Are you a camera? Because I smile every time I see you.” 

You stared, eyebrows raised. Did Joaquín Torres just use a pickup line on you? Heat crawled up your neck.

“You get it?” He added, his confident smirk faltering the tiniest bit. “It’s b-because I think you’re beauti—”

Laughter bubbled out of you so involuntarily that it hurt your throat. “Sorry, sorry.” You put a hand over your mouth in an attempt to stifle your giggles, but to no avail. “That was—it was really nice,” you managed to get out in between giggles.

Joaquín looked sheepish. He had one hand rubbing the back of his neck while the other fiddled mindlessly with the bottom of his shirt. A light blush rested on his cheeks.

 It was such a stark contrast from his usual demeanor—or the way he carried himself earlier—that it made you embarrassed. 

Oh my God, you thought. I was just laughing in his face. 

“I’m flattered,” you quickly stammered, “Seriously, like…” You gestured generally with your arms, not even sure what you meant, but knowing you had to do something with your nervous energy. “I was just caught off-guard, that’s all.”

He nodded in understanding. His eyes darted to and from yours. “Well, I—uh—guess maybe I’ll see you around? Do you, uh—”

“Do you want my number?” You blurted. Immediately after saying it, you could’ve smacked yourself in the face. Real smooth. 

He opened his mouth and closed it again before nodding. You fished your phone out of your pocket and held it out to him only to realize he was doing the exact same thing. 

You swapped phones, fingers brushing, with sheepish smiles on both of your faces. It felt like you were back in middle school again. “Get it together!” You mentally screamed at yourself.

You punched your number into his contacts, saving it as your name with a camera emoji. As you looked up from his phone, you noticed that his eyes were on you instead of your phone. He quickly looked back down, thumbs flying across the screen.

You couldn’t keep the smile off your face when you noticed the tips of his ears were crimson. “Here.” You held his phone back out to him.

Handing yours back to you as well, you stuffed it back down into your pocket, picking up your camera bag again. “I’d better hear from you.” You jokingly jabbed a finger in his direction.

Joaquín’s lip curled into a smirk as he saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”

You tilted your head at him before looking beyond his shoulder, a stiffer smile breaking out onto your face. “Mr. Wilson,” you started. “Thanks again for this opportunity.”

Sam clasped a hand on Joaquín’s shoulder, making him jump slightly. “‘Course.” He smiled. “Better make us look good now.” He pointed at you, his brows raised accusatorily. 

You mocked Joaquín’s salute, a grin on your face. “I’ll send over the proofs and stuff before anything is published. You guys have a good one.” You let your gaze linger on Joaquín for a second before making your way out of the hangar.

Joaquín called your name. “I’ll text you!”

You squeezed your eyes shut, mentally screaming and jumping around like a schoolgirl before peering over your shoulder with a nod and what you hoped was a charming smile.

As your footsteps grew further and further away, Sam turned to Joaquín. “You’ll text her?” He asked. “What’s that all about?”

Joaquín nudged Sam with his elbow, a smug look on his face. “I told you it’d work.”

“You didn’t…” Sam squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “Which one did you use? Tell me it wasn’t the camera one.”

“Bro, what was wrong with the camera one?”

“My god, you used the camera one…”

“Dude, she’s literally a photographer; it was perfect.”

Sam sighed.

“Why are you sighing? It worked!” 

Sam rubbed his forehead like he was attempting to fend off a headache. “Nothing, man. We just seriously gotta work on your game.”

 “What?” Joaquín threw his hands in the air. “Should I have used the other one?” 

“No.”

“I’m not a photographer, but I could picture us—”

“Just stop.”

Joaquín opened his mouth to continue arguing but was interrupted by his phone dinging. He fished it out of his pocket, initially furrowing his eyebrows before a broad smile broke out onto his face. “Dude, we’re made for each other.” He turned the screen so that Sam could read it. “Told you it worked.”

The top of the screen listed your name, and the message read:

Are you an owl? Because I think you’re a hoot.

[nolita-fairytale]

hard launch | joaquin torres x fem!reader summary: you and joaquin hard launch at bucky's congressional fundraiser.

warnings: allusions to smut (minors dni), tooth-rotting fluff, lots of flirting, joaquin w/ danny ramirez curls, spoilers for captain america: brave new world, swearing, idiots in love, use of she/her pronouns, mentions of food, friends to lovers

word count: 2.6k

a/n: this takes place in the same world as and for us, it won't be long, but can be read as a standalone piece.

masterlist

You’ve barely knocked twice before the door swings open, revealing one very handsome Joaquin Torres. His curls have grown out since you’ve seen him last, and the way he looks at you takes your breath away. 

“You’re early!” he practically cries, his face lighting up as he takes you in. “You should’ve called me! I would’ve picked you up at the train station.” 

“I wanted to surprise you,” you interject, the sweetest smile on your face as you throw your arms around your boyfriend’s neck. 

“Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re here,” he groans, the feel of your body pressed against his, surreal and perfect. He takes a deep breath, reminding himself of how good you smell, as the two of you remain in his doorway. 

“Your hair!” you cry, running your fingers through his soft curls.

“I need to get it cut. It’s so long,” he shakes his head, though he can’t help the grin that’s permanently, he thinks, spread across his lips. “Don’t! I like it like this,” you tease him flirtatiously, giving his hair a playfully little tug. 

You pull back, just enough to plant one on him, pressing your lips to his. 

“Hi, baby,” you say softly, your heart practically melting.

He kisses you once more, this time for just a little longer than your last one. 

“Hi, mi corazon. It’s so fuckin’ good to see you,” he sighs, happier than ever as he pulls you in for another tight squeeze. “C’mere.” 

“It’s so good to see you. How was your trip?” you ask him, after Joaquin tugs you into his apartment, insisting that you let him get your bag. 

You listen to him as he explains the majesty of Wakanda, and how absolutely geeked out he got when it came to the tech, as you take in his apartment. It’s much bigger than you expected—and certainly much bigger than yours—your eyes glazing over the large windows that line one of the walls of his living room that look over Washington DC. 

“Holy shit… is there something you’re not telling me. Like are you rich now or what?” you blurt out, unable to hide your surprise. 

He chuckles, shaking his head, your duffle bag in hand as he answers: 

“Uh… no. Sam called in a favor to help me get the place and as for the rest, uh, well… VA loans.” 

“Woah.” He smiles, utterly charmed by the look of awe on your face, the crinkle in the corners of his eyes an indicator of such. 

“Can I give you the tour?” he offers, offering you his hand. “It’s not a huge place but… yeah, it’s nice.” 

You take it, gladly, taking every chance to be connected to the boyfriend who you haven’t seen in a couple of weeks, due to his work trip to Wakanda. You know he’ll have plenty of pictures to show you—of Wakanda, of his new suit, of all the things he got up to—and yet you know there’s plenty of time for that later. 

It hasn’t been very long since his trip to Philly, where a night of reminiscing led to a love confession that’d change the course of your relationship with him forever. 

That, and mind-blowing sex.

He takes you through his kitchen, one he barely uses, even with its long kitchen island that overlooks his spacious living room. Even with how roomy the apartment is, it’s not like it’s much more than a living area and a bedroom, so it’s only a matter of time before you end up there. Joaquin shuffles you through his bedroom door, to find, once again, large city-facing windows with the curtains pushed open. Curiously, you peek through his large bathroom area to catch a look at the adjoining bathroom and walk-in closet. Joaquin places your bag down on the floor of his bedroom, his bed made neatly from years of mastering perfect military corners, with a happy sigh as he watches you explore. 

“Convenient that your bedroom was the very last stop on this tour,” you note, leaning up against the door frame of the ensuite. 

“No ulterior motives, I promise,” he replies, holding his hands up in the air as if to say, ‘I’m innocent.’ “Well,” you take a step forward, especially now that his hands are free. “Maybe I have ulterior motives.” 

“Oh yeah?” he chuckles, a small smirk threatening the corner of his lips as he takes a few more steps towards you. “Yeah. You see,” you begin, giggling as you feel his arms wrap around your waist, pulling you in so that you’re flush against his body. “It’s just… I sort of have this condition where if I’m in a room with you for longer than five minutes, I have to be naked.” “That’s so funny,” he plays along as you’ve now wrapped your arms around his neck. “ I think I have the same condition.” “Oh my god, I wonder if we’ll be included in the same medical study,” you let out a false gasp.

He shakes his head again, crashing his lips against yours, determined to spend the rest of the afternoon making you fall apart with his hands, his mouth, his cock, till neither of you can think straight. It doesn’t take long before he’s pulling you down on top of him, leading the both of you to his bed so that he can do just that. 

*

“You don’t think it’s too much skin?” you ask, suddenly shy, as you stare at your reflection. 

The silky, sage green, floor length dress that you wear, is deceptively modest at first glance: a high neck halter cut that shows an obscene amount of back with how low it dips, with the sweetest little button detail trailing down your low back. 

“Holy shit. You are so out of my league,” is all Joaquin manages to get out, as soon as he sees you. 

“Just answer the question, loverboy,” you tease him, turning towards him. 

Joaquin’s barely dressed, save for a black pair of trousers, in all of his shirtless glory—his hair, at least, styled. It’s his turn this time to lean up against the door frame of the ensuite as he looks you over, his words caught in his throat, like he didn’t just give you some of the best orgasms of your life mere hours ago. 

“I think…” he trails off, at a loss for words at how beautiful you are. He scratches the back of his head as he takes his time, searching for the right ones. “... that it’s just right, babe. People get all kinds of dressed up for these kinds of things. It’s-, you’re perfect.” 

“I-,” you chuckle, especially in regards to his final words. “... doubt that I’m perfect. I just mean, well, I don’t want it to be… you know… too sleazy or anything. I know it's an important fundraiser for Bucky.” 

“Well, if you ask me, I think you’re gonna help Bucky raise more money,” Joaquin flirts with you, a little more confident in his ability to tell you exactly what he thinks of how stunning you look. “Hell, I’d be halfway to giving up my life’s savings if I saw you at one of these things.” 

“Well, then it’s a good thing I’m going as your date,” you flirt back. “Can’t have that.” And then. “Okay, but you need to get dressed! Didn’t you just say that Sam said the car’s gonna be here soon?” 

“Ah shit. Yeah, give me like five minutes,” he swears, hurrying back into his walk-in closet for the rest of his suit. 

In all the time you’ve known him, Joaquin Torres hasn’t been the most punctual human—outside of, you can only imagine, his commitments in the military. But of course, that’s not the version of him you’ve known your entire life. The Joaquin you know is the one that’s always thirty minutes to an hour late to the function, so you know you have to keep him on a timeline. 

You dig through your bag for the pair of heels you plan on wearing tonight, then make your way out to the living room to give him some space to finish getting ready. You take your time making sure that you have everything you need packed in your clutch—your phone, your ID, and lip gloss—before beginning to put on your shoes. 

You smell him first, having walked through a cloud of cologne he's sprayed, before hearing a shuffle of footsteps till he’s standing in front of you, dressed fully in an all-black suit. It takes everything you have in you not to let your jaw fall on the floor. 

“Told you I could get ready fast,” he smirks, unaware of the effect he has on you. 

You’re still figuring out how to metaphorically pick your jaw up off the floor as you rise to your feet, your lips beginning to curl into a smile. 

“You should only wear this,” you compliment him, feeling like your heart might burst out of your chest. 

“You like?” he asks, his eyes lighting up. “I love,” you emphasize, as you make your way towards him. 

“Good, because it’s my best and only suit,” he sighs, feigning relief. 

“Well, I don’t know if it’s your best,” you reply, cheekily. 

He shoots you a questioning look and you’re quick to remind him that your personal favorite suit is the one he was born in. 

“Ah yes, my very best suit,” he agrees with a chuckle. “Can’t exactly go out in that. Now that would be too sleazy.”

“Hell of a way to help Bucky raise campaign funds,” you tease him, joking along with your fine ass boyfriend. 

“Lucky for you, and only you, you’ll get to see me in both this weekend,” he winks in your direction, outright flirting with you. 

You smile. 

Because you know it’s true: 

You’re the luckiest, to get to be loved like this. 

"We should eat something before we go. There's never any real food at these things," Joaquin states, heading towards the kitchen area. "Oooooh! We should totally pick up a pizza on the way home," you suggest.

"Ugh, my girl thinks of everything," he grins, as reaches for a bag of white bread on top of his fridge.

You giggle together over PB&J sandwiches before Joaquin gets a text from Sam that says something along the lines of:

Car’s here, lovebirds. 

*

You ride with Sam and Joaquin in the car Bucky sent for the three of you, mostly observing the way Joaquin interacts with his friend and mentor with ease, practice, and the charm you’ve known your entire life. You wish you could say the same for yourself, but this all feels so new to you, especially as you stand next to your boyfriend, clinking glasses and making small talk with some of the most important people in Washington. 

“Sam, I mean. Captain America, sir. I-,” you stammer out, still navigating how starstruck you feel as you stand in front of Thee Captain America. 

“I told you. You can call me Sam. In fact, I insist,” he reminds you, his voice gentle yet certain as he tries to put your nerves at ease. 

“Yes, sir. I mean, Sam,” you smile, this time with a little more confidence. 

“And what do we have here,” you hear a voice say, as Buck Barnes approaches the three of you. You watch as Sam and Joaquin exchange hugs and greetings with the man of the hour before his attention turns to you. 

You introduce yourself, followed by a firm handshake from Bucky. 

“Bucky, this is my girlfriend,” Joaquin introduces you, at the same time that Sam adds:

“The kid’s girl.” 

“Wow,” Bucky marvels, his eyes darting from you to Joaquin, then back to you, before, with a laugh, declaring, “You are so out of his league. It's great to finally meet you.” 

“Buck,” Sam says, something warning in his voice.

“That’s what I said!” Joaquin exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air, feeling more vindicated than ever. You laugh, “Ehhh, I think I got pretty lucky with this one. Just had to put up with him being a pain in my ass all through our childhood.” 

“Well, you’ll be glad to learn that nothing’s changed in the pain-in-the-ass department,” Sam adds, playfully. 

“C’mon, Torres. I got someone I want you to meet,” Bucky announces.

“You good?” Joaquin asks you, his eyes soft. 

You nod, “Of course. Go shmooze, or whatever else it is you guys do at these things.” 

“Don’t worry, Torres. I’ll take good care of her,” Sam ensures, instilling confidence in the both of you with a nod, as Bucky ushers Joaquin away. 

“You look empty. Should we grab another drink?” you ask Sam this time. 

“Sure,” he replies, leading you through the crowd and back to the bar. 

By the time you’re waiting for your drinks, you’ve learned about Sam’s sister, Sarah, and his two nephews. It’s not like you were able to talk much the last time you saw each other, just barely in the same place at the same time, both worried about Joaquin. He’s finishing a story about the best plate in New Orleans, noting that next time he’s back home, you and Joaquin should join him. 

Joaquin catches your eye across the room, as if to check in with you, even though he’s supposed to be chatting up the men in suits Bucky’s introduced him to. When you know the men in suits aren’t looking, you give Joaquin a thumbs up to let him know you’re doing just fine, earning a soft laugh from Sam. 

“Glad to see he’s treating you right,” he says, as if he’s learned all he needs to know from the small interaction. 

“I-, yes. He’s the best,” you reply, halfway to swooning over Joaquin to… well, sort of his boss. 

“Sam,” you start, faking confidence in calling him by his name and not Captain America. “I uh… I never got to thank you. For calling me. You know… to come see Joaquin when he was in the hospital.” 

“Oh, no need to thank me. Seemed like talkin’ to you was making things better. Glad he could have a piece of home with him,” Sam explains with ease. 

“I just-. I don’t know. I don’t know if we’d be here without, well, without, for lack of a better term, parent trapping us,” you continue, half in disbelief that you’re standing here, thanking him for his romantic advice. 

He smiles, realizing what you’re saying, “Seemed like all he needed was a push. The both of you.” 

You smile in return. 

“Yeah, we did.” 

A beat. “Well, shit. Captain America and a matchmaker? What can’t you do?” you joke, taking a more playful approach this time. “Yeahhhh,” he sighs, jokingly. “Gonna add it to my special skills on LinkedIn. Could be the next Hitch. The reboot."

You laugh, agreeing that he'd be an excellent candidate for Hitch 2, and as you continue your conversation with Sam, it feels like one big step towards becoming a part of this world. It’s certainly not what you pictured for yourself, and yet, standing here with Captain America (who’s quickly becoming your friend, Sam), with the love of your life stealing glances across the room at you, you wouldn’t have it any other way.

[dcxdpdabbles]

DCxDP Fanfic Idea: Burst your Bubble

Danny makes a small mistake that spirals out of control three years later. It starts on a fateful day while working in Clockwork's Tower, covering for the Time Lord. He had pushed for the man to take a break after hearing he hadn't been on vacation since the death of dinosaurs.

It was also recommended by Frostbite. Apparently, the stress of his job was causing Clockwork to lose grip on his age shift. Much like a human grinding their teeth in sleep due to stress, Clockwork's core was rapidly shifting him through his ages, causing aches along his core. When Danny met him, the way he went from child to middle-aged man and finally old adult was just physical proof of Clockwork's stress.

His shifting got under control after they defeated Dan, but that didn't mean his muscles had a chance to relax. He was a little better off the second time Danny saw Clockwork, but when Danny asked if he could return to his parent's college days, Clockwork's form quickly started shifting again.

Danny felt horrible about it, but he was fine taking over for the ghost to relax on vacation. It wasn't even that hard. All he had to do was watch the various timelines and record large catastrophes and bursts of hope. He also had to watch hourglasses that indicated the natural flow of time in multiple worlds. Sometimes, the sand would get stuck, so he would need to stir it with a large spoon, careful to not let anything else touch the golden shine of the time sands.

It helped that the Tower was semi-sentient. It overheard him making up lies about what he was doing on a call with his parents. Danny had told his parents that this summer, he was going away to work as a summer camp counselor, while Clockwork had selected a timeline that was moving at a different speed.

One month in Danny's home dimension was a hundred years in the one Clockwork was relaxing in. When Danny's school started again, his friend would have a lovely four hundred years to enjoy. Of course, this was a tiny break for a being like Clockwork, but Danny promised to take over every summer until he graduated.

The Tower had created a room that looked a lot like a log cabin whenever his parents attempted to video call. It even created a paycheck with actual funds directly deposited into his teen account that his parents had access to.

Their doubts about Danny lying vanished when "Camp Kronos" placed a rather generous amount of money under his name. His dad was even proud of Danny going out of his way to earn his own money. It's been a long time since his Dad sounded like that when talking about his accomplishments.

Clockwork had told him the Tower spoke to him mentally because it was his Haunt, but since Danny was only Haunt sitting, he was directed to a chalkboard that the Tower could use to write messages to him. That's how he knew it was the Tower's doing that his cover was safe back home.

Danny thanked the Tower by cleaning it from top to bottom. When he asked it what its name and pronouns were, the Tower requested to be called "it" and to stop using a capital T when referring to it.

Danny tries, but he still mentally changes tower into Tower since that is its name in his head. The tiles shake in irritation whenever he accidentally says it out loud.

Besides that, the Tower didn't really interact with him. Danny made his own food, did his own laundry, and did his work. There was never a clock in and clock out; the only time he wasn't attending the timelines was when he took short breaks to sleep, eat, bathe, and clean.

But the only time he wasn't watching the time was when he was asleep, and that was because of Tower. It somehow found a way to throw the timelines in his face whenever possible.

He did enjoy using the large tub to soak in bubbles, but Tower shifted the bubbles to reflect different scenes of the timelines he was watching, causing them to flout like the tower was blowing bubbles while Danny sat in the water. If it went that far to ensure that Danny was constantly working, he could see why Clockwork had such a hard time with the core shifting.

Then, one day, while soaking, he closed his eyes, ignoring the shifting tiles and the slight rumbling of the walls as Tower grumbled. He told it that he was taking a short break and it could wait until he was done. He would rest his eyes, no matter how important it was for him to watch.

He couldn't have them close for more than a minute, but that was all the mistake needed. At that time, one of the bubbles' timelines shifted because someone in it was being an idiot and messing with time, and it started to glow with new times and forming.

Sand that Danny accidentally touched when the bubble popped right on his nose. Tower was throwing a fit, shaking everything like an earthquake as the sand fell into the soap water.

He blinked open his eyes, startled, and much to his horror, came face to face with the sand, forming a miniature window into that timeline. A human teenager was staring right back at him, jaw dropped with a healthy building flush rising on his cheeks, as the time sand danced around his eyes, though he seemed unable to look away from Danny.

Windows were often granted to specific individuals favored by Clockwork, causing them to become Seers. It was not a common blessing because, more often than not, mortals could not handle future knowledge.

Even ghosts long dead struggle with the power. The only reason Danny was able to cover for Clockwork was because his brain was both dead and alive at the same time. Madness cause time couldn't touch him because, technically, he was already crazy.

Tower shook again, the stone groaning under its disapproval as Danny became uncomfortable, aware that the only thing protecting his dignity was the white foam low on his stomach. With a yelp, he sank further into the water, his hands covering his important bits out of habit, and he waved his hand to close the window.

The teenager moved his mouth in a silent plea, but he vanished in a swirl as quickly as he appeared. It was only a few seconds. Not even ten. Surely nothing could come from that?

A mistake he pushed to the back of his mind.

Surely, not paying attention for just a tiny amount of time could not have caused anything to be too bad.

_____________________________________________________________

"Hey dude? You okay?"

"I just....I just saw an angel...."

"What?"

"An angel. He warned me....showed me....I have to tell Mr.Wayne!"

"Wait! Where are you going!? Tell Mr. Wayne what?!"

"His son is going to die next week!"

"What!?"

"Jason Todd! The angel showed me! I have to warn them!"

_____________________________________________________________

Tower didn't tell on him, and Danny didn't bring it up. Clockwork returned in mid-adult form when the summer ended, looking far more relaxed and no longer shifting forms so rapidly.

He apparently spent four hundred years on a small paradise island, sipping coconut and dancing with locals who thought him a god. He hugged Danny, another large bonus for his paycheck, and sent him on his way.

The following summer, Danny completely forgot about the little accident and never bothered to check on that timeline. Clockwork was unaware there was a major shift in it, so he assumed that the world was moving as it should, though he complained that he had to unclog it a lot more because of a Seer who often opened too many Windows.

It was a testament to how much he needed that vacation for Clockwork to forget he never chose that Seer, despite the young human proving he had the will to handle his visions.

\Danny never realized that Seer was the same teenager he saw back then until one day three years later when Seer was an established fortune teller working as a consultant with some hero society and had used some of the said heroes to try and contact Clockwork.

"Danny." Clockwork started watching the young human set up an altar. "Why is a human attempting to use himself as a virgin sacrifice for me?"

"Ummmm"

"Danny, why does my Haunt claim you gave him the Sight."

"Well....."

"Danny why is Timothy Jackson Drake, who fated to be the third Robin in this time line, now a mere consultant who use his power of Sight for money gain? He's not a hero, did you know that? He merely lives next door to one of that world's greatest heroes and is obsessed with finding his Angel"

"I may have....made a mistake when I was fourteen."

"Danny," Clockwork's faux-friendly tone grew sharper as his form shifted from the three stages of age. "What did you do?"

"I can fix it!"

"How."

"I'll....enter that timeline and set it on the right path? I can answer his summons and convince him to become a hero with the Bats?"

Tower shook as if laughing at him.

"How." The hiss that came from the Time god was almost incomprehensible, with the amount of rage crammed into one syllable

"I'll-I can-Honey pot him!" Danny whimpered, cowering under the withering death glare Clockwork was aiming at him. "I can convince him that being a vigilante is cool and hot, so he'll be Red Robin, and the timeline can be saved?"

Clockwork's eyes darken. "You better not fail me. Send him away, Haunt"

Tower- the traitor- moved instantly. It shifted its stones to drag Danny to Red Robin's cluttered hourglass. It flung him in before he could protest, using Danny to unclog it. He is nearly down in the sinking sand, scrambling for purpose before he falls flat on his bum, and the sand vanishes.

A soft gasp has him looking up. Standing before him is the Seer Tim Drake, who looks beyond happy.

"It's you! My Angel!"

[cosmic-dust-poltergeist]

Clone Danny Fenton amuses me so here's another dumb crossover idea: Danny is one of the "failed" clones of Kon that Tim tried to make, but clockwork snatched his lifeless baby corpse before Tim could dispose of it (Tim just assumed he did when it disappeared, writing it off as he did it while too sleep deprived to remember clearly or something) and CW uses the pit to revive it before dropping him off with the Fentons in a completely different dimension.

Danny knows he's adopted and realizes he's not normal fairly early on, but doesn't manifest the more noticeable of his powers til after his accident, so he blames it all on his halfa status and not the alien heritage he has no way of knowing about. Once shit hits the fan and his dimension is no longer safe for him to live in, CW sits him down and explains both his alien (in more ways than one) and clone statuses. CW then offers Danny the chance to meet his maker and template, which Danny agrees to because why not? He's got nothing to lose. Danny's injured 16 y/o ass is then dropped a short distance from a timberkon (who are now in their early 30s because that'd how time works) date/hangout and Danny just plops himself at their table and steals some of Tim and Kon's food before literally any words are exchanged.

Kon, freaking out because this kid looks like him???: Uhhhh??? Kid??

Tim, bewildered: Who?? What?? Kid, wtf??? Do we know you??

Danny, swallowing his mouthful of stolen food: Yes and no.

Danny, points lazily at Tim: Creator.

Danny, equally lazy point to Kon: Template.

Danny, blinking slowly at Bernard: I don't think you had anything to do with HOW I'm here, but as you clearly are part of this now, surprise, it's a scientific freak of nature.

Danny, ignoring the devastated looks on his "parents'" faces and steals more food while continuing: He/him pronouns and I go by Danny. AND ONLY Danny, not Daniel, not Danno, and certainly not Dan.

Tim, slowly takes a deep breath and slides most of his meal towards the clearly starving child: Danny... You're NOT a freak, kiddo

Danny, seems to beam without changing his expression when he's got the food in his hands before processing how his comment must have sounded without context: Oh-ho! But I am! Finding out I was a half human alien clone was just the icing on the cake, really! I had an accident that I'm pretty sure destroyed all my flimsy human dna. I'm now half something else, that hilariously has a lot of crossover powers so I just assumed my accident gave me all of them before the dude that cradle robbed my dead baby corpse from the evil mastermind lab my creator.. has? Had? Meh. Who cares. But baby me was very dead and then he did something and I wasn't. This is where I inform you I grew up in a different dimension and know jack shit about this one.

Bernard: Okay, I have so many questions

Kon: Me too! What's your other half? What's your dimension like? Why did you seek us out now? What's your favourite colour? Any food restrictions? Do you have a place to stay? Why is your heart rate so slow? What's that buzzing sound coming from your chest? What-

Tim: KON! Let the kid actually tell you answers!

Bernard, sliding some of his food over to Danny while eyeing the subtily stiff way Danny is moving: Plus, the more pressing question is, how hurt are you, Danny?

Kon: You're HURT???

Danny, frowns at Bernard ratting him out before turning his attention back to the food in front of him: I got vivisected, it's fine, it's healing

The adults all suck in a sharp breath before sharing a look. They agree this is their kid now and people can take him from them over their cold dead bodies.

Danny feels 3 shiny new parental bonds snap into place, startling the shit out of him. He didn't think they'd want him tbh, AND he didn't think they'd have enough ectoplasum to even do a claiming like that. He nearly starts crying, BECAUSE THESE PEOPLE WANT HIM.

Tim, concerned: Danny? What's wrong?

Danny, blinking wetly: You're liminals?

Bernard: "Liminals"?

Danny: Human with ectoplasum in their system. I just.. you want me?

Kon, sacrificing what's left of his food to Danny: I don't know what that means. AND of course we want you. You're family now.

Tim, nodding: There's no escape.

The adults all giggles, thinking of different situations with supers or bats or both. It only lasts a second because Danny bursts into tears, just completely overwhelmed by the situation. The adults instinctively get closer, but don't touch, unsure if it would help or worsen Danny's state.

Tim: Danny?

Kon: Would you like a hug-oof!

Danny dives into Kon's side and desperately clings to him with enough force to break a human's ribs. Tim and Bernard crowd closer and rub his back in soothing motions.

Bernard: What's wrong, kiddo?

Danny: Dani should have been here too!

Tim: Danny? I thought your name was Dani?

Danny: She was Dani with one n and an I. I'm Danny with two n's and a y. She- She was my clone, but...

Bernard: You don't have to tell us

Danny: ...She wasn't super stable. I'd help her restabilize every time she started to destabilize, but... but I got caught! She came for help and got caught too! I watched her melt in that shitty lab! There was so much- I wanted- SHE'S GONE!

The adults are devastated. Kon squeezes Danny tightly.

Kon, softly: tell us about her?

And so Danny does. Explaining how she came to be, their first interactions, her strong and independent personality, the little souvenirs she brought him while she traveled to figure herself out, how her condition always worried him, but she wouldn't-couldn't stay with him, and how he wanted to talk about finding her a new name because she deserved to have her own name, not something that reminds her she's a defective clone, but he never got the chance. He has a messy breakdown while explaining her final moments and how his bindings, power suppression cuffs chained to the floor and a muzzle, prevented him from giving her comfort and how SHE apologized to HIM. He thought he was going to die with her in that moment, his core cracking at her loss.

This leads to a short explanation of his ghost biology and how dangerous a cracked core is. And by then, he's flagging, so the adults start persuading the kid to crash in their guest room, with the promise of dinner.

Thus begins the process of timberkon convincing Danny to stay with them. Teaching the kid about his original dimension and the many heroes. They get him so MANY books about space and alien civilizations once they find out his obsession (literally) with that kind of thing. Danny still misses his sisters and friends like an amputated arm, but he slowly rebuilds, letting himself gain a new family and new friends.

His introduction to both the Bats and Supers could have gone better.

He's suspicious and wary of Clark the whole time he was meeting the Kents because of how Clark has treated his own clones in the past. Danny doesn't understand him, and Clark doesn't truly understand, but is more sad than anything about it and accepts he made his bed, now he must lay in it. He warms up to the rest fairly quickly. He's also introduced to Bizarro and Clara eventually and that goes well.

With the Bats, Danny, Bruce, and Dick verbally pace around each other. Bruce deep throating his foot, and Dick not being much better while trying to keep the peace. The rest watch on with amusement before the show is a cut short by Damian of all people intervening. The problem is Damian snuck up behind (unintentionally), grabbed his shoulder while calling Danny "Daniel" (something he was informed to NOT do), and Danny's brain went "VLAD FOUND ME??" (despite there being no way, CW will not let him find Danny) and reacts with violence. Damian barely escaped having any broken bones, that being said, where Danny grabbed to literally throw Damian has DEEP bruising, that arm was dislocated, he has more bruising from hitting the floor, and gained a concussion. Danny apologizing profusely while scolding this 28 y/o man about sneaking up on him AND using a name he specifically told everyone NOT to use. Damian is man enough to apologize while Alfred patches him up. Meeting Duke and Cass is nice, he's unsure about Steph (because how rambunctious she is) and Alfred, Barbara makes him homesick for Jazz, and Jason is funny til he gets a heart attack in the form of Danny offering to eat the corrupt ectoplasum (Lazarus waters) out of him. There's chaos after that, but it eventually calms down, especially since timberkon are protective of their baby and Tim looks like he's about to go super villain on them the moment "tests" are brought up. Danny is embarrassed and pleased as his Creator (he never stops jokingly calling Tim that, Kon gets Template, and Bernard is Human, when they aren't just called their name. Eventually he calls them all dad, though Bernard is sometimes called mom) threatens to ruin their everything if they continue. Threats they take seriously because they know Tim will follow through. After that it goes well.