tales of the passerine - danny fenton being bruce wayne's first kid
okay okay. so this is like a continuation/elaboration of my oneshot/prompt i wrote about the idea that Danny was the first batkid. We have a lot of aus where he joins the family after the rest of the bats do, right? So hey! Lets shake things up a bit. Danny is the first to be adopted by Bruce Wayne.
Danny's parents and unfortunately Jazz die shortly after the events of TUE -- how so? I was gonna say an ecto-filter explosion, that would call back to the TUE explosion and trauma behind that. But lets do something new! Carbon-monoxide poisoning.
It's not too unexpected for something to break in the Fenton house, especially with the Fenton parents' questionable understanding of proper weapon handling and lab safety. The water heater broke from a stray shot by one of the weapons, and was promptly MacGyver'd incorrectly. Danny went to stay with Tucker for a guys' night, and came back to a dead silent house.
(Danny's neighbors got a very unfortunate shock when he ran to the next house over in hysterics.)
There was a lot of shuffling around with CPS, the police. People had to be called in to handle the equipment in the lab, and the GIW was rumoring to show up in aid to clearing the scene. When Danny heard of that, he immediately went and dismantled the ghost portal to the best of his abilities. He burned the physical blueprints of all his parents' inventions, their blueprints on the ghost portal, and their most dangerous weapons were destroyed beyond recognition. Anything to prevent the GIW from getting their hands on his parents' tech.
It opened up another investigation, but he was not under the list of suspects. He was placed in the care of Vlad Masters, where they then went back to the rebuilt castle mansion in Wisconsin. Danny, terrified of the future that has once passed and may do so again, shuts down in his grief. Inadvertently, he ends up somewhat repressing his ghost half. Something Vlad, who is grieving Madeline but relishing in Jack's demise and his custody of Daniel, is not very happy with.
Vlad's... gone into a bit of a mental health spiral. He's becoming increasingly possessive over Daniel, the final remnants of his friends and a liminal being like him. He doesn't like that Danny's repressing his ghost half -- both out of genuine concern as a ghost, but also because of his desire to control Danny and groom him into the perfect son. If you ever had a phase where you read Dark SBI found family fics, first off; me too bro, and second off; those are the vibes I'm thinking of.
Danny's mentally shut down from grief! And fear. He's dropped into a bad depressive state -- paralyzed with grief and the terror of the inevitable. Clockwork saved his parents because he believes in second chances, but what's the point of that when his family ended up dead anyways? Danny doesn't wanna believe that he's destined to become evil, and he's holding out onto that hope, but it's a thin line, and he feels utterly hopeless and trapped. He hasn't used his powers or ghost form since he trashed the lab, and Vlad has alarms set up to prevent him from trying to escape.
He's also unintentionally cut off Sam and Tucker -- both of whom are so scared and concerned for Danny too, and are trying their damndest to reach out to him. He keeps ignoring their texts. Danny basically haunts Vlad's manor. He goes out to eat if he has to, attends parties Vlad drags him to, and stays in his room all day if he can.
At parties, Vlad doesn't allow Danny to leave his side, or really talk to anyone -- not that Danny wants to. A product of Vlad's increasing possessiveness. Well, he almost doesn't let Danny leave his side. Danny has a habit of slipping off to hide somewhere for the parties whenever he can, and Vlad reluctantly allows it so long as he stays alone.
This becomes an advantage when eventually, Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham after missing for years, and holds a bright charity ball to celebrate the return. Vlad has been chomping at the bits to get his hands on Wayne Industries, and with the return of its owner there is no better opportunity to wipe out his rival. He goes, and he as normal, brings Daniel with him.
Vlad thinks Wayne will bleed his little heart out for Daniel's poor orphan sob story -- he's a fellow orphan himself, after all. He's not wrong; Wayne's little heart will bleed, just not in the way that benefits him.
Bruce sees Vlad and Danny approaching before they're even close enough to introduce themselves - and like with many of the children he will soon come to care for, it's like someone set a mirror into the past right in front of him.
Danny Fenton's suit is tailor-made for him, and despite the fact that it's his perfect size, the sag in his shoulders, the ducked down head, and the way he hunches into himself all pictures the image of a child in shoes too big for him. There's a far away, glazed over look in his eyes and grief marble-cut into the lines of his face. There's not enough makeup in the world that will hide the dark circles under his eyes.
("My nephew, Daniel Fenton." Vlad's hands are possessive on Danny's shoulders. Bruce immediately notices the way the boy tenses under his touch. "His parents passed recently, and as his godfather I was designated his guardian.")
("I'm so sorry, the loss must've been terrible.")
("Yes, carbon-monoxide poisoning caused it. Daniel was out with friends, when he came home... they had already passed.")
(Bruce immediately dislikes that Vlad shared the details of their death unprompted -- he likes it even less when Danny flinches at the reminder and hunches into himself.)
Danny runs off at some point earlier into the charity. At this point, parties are still being held at Wayne Manor (because iirc google search mentioned that was a thing at first before it was changed), so he disappears and hides in one of the empty rooms nearby. It just so happens to be the same room Bruce Wayne hides in when he needs a break from all of the socialization.
Thus begins a long, long process of trust. Bruce can't reveal his hand as being smarter than he looks, but he can be compassionate. Kindness needs no measure of intelligence. He keeps Danny company for as long as he can before he runs the risk of being found.
Rinse and repeat. Vlad insistently wants Wayne Industries, and he'll go to as many Wayne parties as he can to get his hooks into the man. The problem is that Bruce Wayne is never alone, and getting him alone is impossible. Finding him too. It's like the man never stops moving. Always talking to someone, always circling somewhere. He orbits around the room as if he isn't the sun of the Gotham Elite's solar system.
Danny's had such repetitive behavior that Vlad never thinks to believe that Bruce Wayne is disappearing to go talk to him. That "Vlad's" son is even interacting with him at all. Danny never gives him a reason to think so, and neither does Bruce.
Danny doesn't actually acknowledge Bruce until a handful of parties in, where he hands Bruce a small slip of paper he smuggled in that says; "don't trust Vlad". Danny's face stays carefully blank, but he's so tense that his hands are trembling, and he's purposely looking away from him. Bruce plasters a smile onto his face, slips the paper into his pocket, and tells him "okay".
(he's been busy with his own goals with the mafia, but he sets aside time to investigate Vlad Masters. He was holding off. Until now.)
Danny does eventually start speaking to Bruce, he's starting to really like the guy. He's starting to see a little hope, even as Vlad is starting to get more and more agitated with him the more he refuses to use his powers.
He reaches out to Sam and Tucker again, and starts trying to reconnect with them. Vlad has spyware on his phone, and he limits the amount of times he can talk to them. A weird parental control lock of some sort that leaves a time limit on how long he can talk to them for. 30 minutes. Danny doesn't tell them anything about Mr. Wayne.
Danny, slowly, wants out of here, and he's slowly gathering the motivation to do it. Vlad is genuinely scaring him -- and Danny wonders just how truthful the past-future Vlad was when he told him that Danny wanted his ghost half separate. He starts trying to come up with an escape plan.
Vlad has anti-ghost wards everywhere around the mansion, and while they're always on, they boost to full power at sunset. The doors and windows are always locked, all main exits have alarms set on them. The only reason it's not super extensive is because Danny hasn't tried leaving at all yet, so Vlad hasn't had to tighten anything.
At night, Vlad locks the door to his room and puts up an anti-ghost ward around the room. The mansion is on the outside westward side of Madison, more entrenched in rural Wisconsin. The closest town is a four-way stop sign with one house on three corners, and an open bar on the fourth. Not much to go.
He refuses to go to Sam and Tucker; Vlad would look there first. It's too dangerous. Vlad would sound alarm bells and have a manhunt looking for him, Danny can't risk going just anywhere. Too much risk of being found, sold out, or caught. There's really nowhere for him to hide.
Until there is. Bruce is telling Danny about the history of Wayne Manor, and says, as casually as saying the weather; "The manor has dozens of empty rooms, I'm sure Alfred wouldn't mind filling another one if he could." And quietly, hesitantly, Bruce places a careful hand on Danny's shoulder, unrestrictive and gentle; "He wouldn't mind getting one ready for you if you need one."
And there it is. There's his out.
Danny, just as quietly, replies; "I'll keep that in mind."
The ball starts rolling.
Now I've been trying to summarize this au as much as possible for length convenience, but Vlad has been steadily growing more and more controlling. More emotionally manipulative. More agitated at Danny for not using his powers.
He wants Wayne Industries under his thumb but he's been steadily growing more and more concerned with Danny. He's started grabbing him, yanking him around, shaking him; trying to goad him into using his powers. He gets angry when Danny doesn't react, or tells him he doesn't want to use his powers. He hasn't outright attacked him, but he's getting there. This has been happening over the time it takes for Bruce to indirectly offer Danny sanctuary at his home.
It all comes to a head when Vlad stops going to parties at all -- something Danny has to pretend he isn't upset about -- because Vlad doesn't want him around other people anymore. Vlad rarely goes now without him, and only leaves to go to a Wayne function or to handle something at VladCo.
Danny can't wait for Vlad to leave long enough to escape. So he leaves during the night of a big storm. Vlad's locked him in his room, but Danny doesn't bother trying to go for it; he goes to the alarmed window instead. Danny's been repressing his ghost half so long that he can't access his powers immediately anymore -- he can feel it, he knows its there, but he can't quite reach it.
He breaks the lock by hand.
Immediately the alarm goes off through the entire castle, filling the room with red, and he scrambles for the rope the Wisconsin Ghost left for him a few months back. Danny's already out and climbing down the side of the castle before Vlad even reaches his door -- the only good thing about the entire room being ghost-proof is that Vlad can't get in that way.
The rope ends before it reaches the bottom, and he's still twenty feet in the air. It won't kill him if he lands it right. Danny takes his chances, and drops. He breaks his ankle, but he survives.
And he fucking books it to the back garden. He hears Vlad shrieking over the thunder and rain.
I'll save the full experience for a future oneshot, but Danny makes it out into the nearby woods and forcibly experiences what it's like to be in a horror game, trying to hide from the thing that's hunting you. There's only one thing going through his mind; "i'm going to die"
I have this mental image for this scene. Very stereotypical horror imo. Where Danny is hiding behind a tree, with a hand over his mouth, and Vlad is a few feet away from him, glowing ominously red through the trees, trying to search for him.
Danny doesn't get away from this unscathed, but he does get away alive. That's all he could ask for. He gets away by getting his ghost half awakened long enough to transform into Phantom and fly to Gotham.
But he gets to Wayne Manor, he gets to Bruce. Or, at least, Alfred answers the door from his insistent pounding. Danny's just in tears and Alfred gets him in the living room, wrapped in a towel, with ice on his swollen leg before he has to step out and alert Bruce.
Bruce already breaks multiple traffic laws on a nightly basis. And that's just with the sheer existence of the batmobile itself, not including the speeding and military artillery attached. He breaks double the amount trying to speed back to the cave and get out of the suit.
Right off the bat: Bruce will know, at least before Dick enters the picture, about danny's powers. He'll figure out something considering the fact that Danny traveled from Wisconsin to New York in a single night. That'll be a bit of complicated affair, but I've already got something in mind.
Actually it'll probably be very soon after Danny joins the family, because Bruce tries to offer to fight for custody for Danny - the state Danny was in at arrival is clear enough evidence for a trial. But Danny immediately shuts it down, says it's not going to work and then Vlad will know Danny's with him and he won't be safe. He tells him that Vlad cannot know Danny was with Bruce.
Danny's biggest regret was not telling his parents he was a halfa, and while he doesn't want to tell mister wayne (yet), he does tell him about Vlad being one. He needs to know why Danny can't be seen with Bruce. So he tells him, and Danny's current plan is to just hide out from Vlad until he turns 18. That way, he has no more legal jurisdiction over him. After that? He's not sure.
And to wrap this up, since this has already gotten very long and I can make more posts about this au later; I've thought about it, and I'm going to say that Danny does become a vigilante before Dick enters the scene. He goes by, as you probably guessed; Nightingale. "Gale" for short.
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Chiaki was relieved to finally get to sleep at home again. The walk from Towa city to the apartment complex was long and included stealing an abandoned car, as well as Izuru carrying the trolley with Nagito and Monaca inside with his bare arms while walking on ground so covered in rubble it's a miracle it was walkable at all.
Once they'd gotten inside, the first thing Chiaki did was head into the bedroom and flopping down onto the bed. Despite how tired she was, she felt far too dirty to fall asleep right away. Izuru walked inside carrying a sleeping Monaca, and gently laid her next to Chiaki on the bed. "You will need to shower before going to sleep, Nanami."
"Mmm. Don't wanna."
"Nanami."
"Kamukura-kun."
Chiaki knew she was just being petty again, but she really didn't feel like dragging herself up so soon after having laid down. Izuru seemed less than pleased. "...Fine, I will assist Komaeda in washing himself first, then I will make you shower. I will drag you in there myself if necessary."
"Will you strip me too?"
"...If necessary."
"Hm okay. I'll let you do that then. Less I gotta do the better."
"...So childish. How boring." Accepting his fate of having to manually wash two grown people, Izuru left the room and presumably got started on helping Nagito shower. Chiaki however, felt herself growing drowsier by the second until she fell asleep.
The sound of something being dragged inside woke her up. She felt rested after her sleep, even if it had been interrupted in the middle by Izuru waking her up for a shower and having moved to sleep on the couch to let Monaca have some space for her first night. Now, Chiaki sat up from the couch, realising her previous human pillow Izuru had been replaced with an actual pillow. Making sure not to disturb Nagito sleeping on her lap, she tried to look around to see what the commotion was.
Izuru walked in from the door, dragging a wheelchair inside with him. He noticed she'd awoken and locked eyes with her for a second before returning to dragging the wheelchair. She noticed him heading towards the bedroom, presumably to let Monaca into it.
Nagito was still sound asleep.
Some time later, Izuru came out alongside a grumpy Monaca, who was now seated in the wheelchair. "G'morning. Looks like Monaca-san can start moving around herself now. That's good." The girl in question started smiling and wheeled herself towards the couch. "Good morning, Big Sis! ...Huh? Is Mr. Servant not awake yet? ...Did Mr. Stalker do something?" She turned around to glare at Izuru. "...I did nothing. He is simply exhausted"
"Hmm, Monaca doesn't believe you! Mr. Stalker is definitely suspicious!"
"Hm, actually, I saw him put something in the water he made Komaeda-kun drink before sleeping... I think." Chiaki had assumed it was the usual medicine, as Nagito probably hadn't been able to take them while working in Towa City, but maybe it wasn't. "So Mr. Stalker did do something!" Monaca wheeled closer to Izuru and lowered her voice, "...You better hope Mr. Servant wakes up soon, or I'll torture you in the worst way imaginable. I'll cut you up, digit by digit, limb by limb, I'll rip out your teeth and tear out your eyeballs before strapping your remaining head and torso to a stretcher and watch as your body rips itself apart."
Chiaki felt a shiver run up her spine at Monaca's threat, suddenly very glad the little girl seemed to like her. Izuru, on the other hand, was completely unfazed. A tense silence filled the air.
"...Hey hey, I'm hungry, can we have breakfast already? What's on the menu today, Kamukura-kun?" She decided to break the atmosphere by appealing to their stomachs. ...And her own. She was very hungry. "...I will see what we have." And with that, Izuru disappeared into the kitchen.
"Hmph. Why is Mr. Stalker cooking, he can't be trusted." While her dark expression had vanished, she was still clearly unhappy with leaving Izuru to do anything on his own. "...Well, I can't cook, and as you probably already know, neither can Komaeda-kun. Unless you want to cook yourself, you'll have to eat what Kamukura-kun makes."
Monaca paused at her reply. "...Ugh, fine. But if he puts anything weird in the food I'll kill him."
"Okay. I don't think he will, though." A thought suddenly entered Chiaki's head. "...Hey, Monaca-san. Would you like to take a bath? You're probably dirty, right? ...And you could probably do with some new clothes, too. I think I have some clothes in your size..."
"...Why do you have children's clothes in your house. There are no children here. Do you have an illegitimate child or something?"
"...I'm 21. I'm not old enough for kids. ...Not your age, at least. Besides, I've been very careful with protection. Having kids when the world's like this would be bad... probably."
"...Who would you even have sex with? It can't be Mr. Servant, he doesn't like girls, and it better not be Mr. Stalker."
"......"
"...Ew."
"...Anyway, Do you want that bath?" Chiaki tried to get the conversation back on track. "A bath would be great! Monaca's tired of all this dirt meow." ...She's meowing now? "Okay then. I'll go find some clean clothes for you. ...Tell me if you need any help, okay? The bathroom's right over there." Replying with a smile, Monaca went off and entered the bathroom.
Only now remembering the man sleeping in her lap, Chiaki carefully tried to shimmy herself from under Nagito's head, replacing herself with the pillow Izuru gave her once she was free. She went into the bedroom's closet and searched for fitting clothes for Monaca. she found a skirt resembling the lower part of Monaca's usual dress, a white, collared, sleeveless shirt, and a pair of socks the same color as the skirt. Figuring this would be a bit too cold for her, she searched around for any long-sleeved shirts or hoodies to add to the outfit. Althought she wasn't looking for it, she found some child-sized underwear. Oh, right. She'll need to get clean panties too... How lucky. I hope they fit.
After a few more minutes of searching, she found she had no long-sleeved shirts or hoodies in Monaca's size. From the bathroom next door, she heard Monaca call out, "HEY, BIG SIS! I'M DONE! CAN I GET THOSE CLOTHES NOW? I DON'T WANT TO WALK AROUND NAKED!" Chiaki decided she'd look for something warmer later, and grabbed the clothes as she walked to the bathroom.
She knocked on the door before announcing herself, "Hey, I've got your clothes here. Can you open the door a little so I can give them to you?" Without replying, Monaca opened the door just enough to outstretch her arm and opened her hand expectantly. Chiaki placed the clothes into the girl's arm and watched as it swiftly retreated back into the bathroom and the door slipped shut. She decided to see if Nagito had woken up yet and walked into the living room.
"Ah, Good morning, Nanami-san! Are you helping Monaca-san? How kind of you! You must be the most hopeful kind of person to help such a pitiful little girl!" Nagito greeted her the moment she walked in. "Oh, you're finally awake. Good morning."
"Say, how's little Monaca-san doing? I hope she hasn't been causing any trouble for you!"
"...You sound like a parent."
"Ah, do I?"
"Yep. Totally a parent."
"Who's a parent?" Chiaki hadn't noticed Monaca get out of the bathroom, but now she was wheeling herself towards Nagito, wearing the clothes Chiaki handed her. "Good morning Big Bro! Monaca was beginning to wonder if you were gonna sleep forever! ...Hm, but since you woke up, I guess I can't kill Mr. Stalker after all... What a shame. Oh well! At least Big Bro is fine!"
"...Please don't kill Kamukura-sama. I like him very much and would prefer having him around! ...And besides, if he dies we won't have anyone to cook for us!"
"Hmm... Okay! But only because Monaca doesn't want to starve to death. Or eat more of the disgusting filth you tried to make for us." Chiaki smiled at their easy banter, their interaction reminicent of siblings. "...Hey hey, Komaeda-kun, isn't it a bit too cold in here to go around pantless? I know your old pair was ruined and all, but you should probably grab some of Kamukura-kun's for now." Nagito's pants had been thrown away yesterday, as Izuru had deemed them beyond fixing on account of the tearing and old, stained blood covering it from the thighs down.
"No. You're not allowed to."
"...Why not? You don't want him to have pants?"
"I don't want him to have Mr. Stalker's pants. They're probably itchy and stuffy and have the insides covered in poison ivy."
"Ahaha, you sure have an imagination, Monaca-san! I often share clothes with Kamukura-sama, so I can assure you that there is nothing of the sort inside!"
"Ew, you share clothes with that guy? I won't allow it! From now on you're not allowed to wear any of his clothes. And that's final."
"...Aha, whatever you say, Monaca-san. No pants for me today, I suppose." Having accepted his fate, Nagito grabbed the blanket that had fallen off the couch when he woke up, and placed it back on top of himself. "...Oh, that reminds me. I was trying to look for a warmer shirt for Monaca-san earlier, but didn't have any in the correct size."
"I don't mind a big hoodie. Just give me something, my arms are cold."
"...Alright, I'll grab a few and we'll see which ones you like the best." Chiaki went back into the bedroom and grabbed a couple hoodies, quickly returning with them in hand. "Okay, I've got a couple hoodies here. Let's try them!"
With that, she first handed Monaca a near-black blue hoodie with orange on the hood's inside and white, sharp 'teeth' coming from the hood's opening. "...It looks stupid. I don't want it."
Next was a large black hoodie with poofy, cuffed sleeves, a crooked cat tail in the back and large cat ears on the hood. "Hm. Cute but too simple. I don't want it."
Then, a yellow-ish green hoodie paired with a leather jacket. "Ew, why is the hoodie neon green? And I hate wearing leather. I hate it. No."
Lastly, a light pink hoodie with bunny ears, a bow on one ear, a cartoon-ish bunny face on the hood, and white patterning on the ends of the sleeves and ears. "...It's far too cutesy and detailed. It makes Monaca think of Kotoko-chan. Hmm... I like it! I'll take this one!"
"Oh Monaca-san, you look adorable!" Nagito got up and walked behind Monaca, holding her shoulders. ...And what's that on his left hand...? "...Komaeda-kun? What... happened to your hand?" The skin had more color than Nagito's usual pale complexion, and yet looked far less alive than he did. Additionally, it had perfectly manicured red nails on the tips, uncharacteristic of Nagito. "Ah, that. My apologies, I must've forgotten to inform you. You see...
I took Junko Enoshima's arm for myself."
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