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dcxdpdabbles · 8 months

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Passion for Fashion Part 3

Danny nervously twirls his thumbs as Dan paces before him, mumbling insults to the Waynes under his breath. They were supposed to go third in the walkway line, as it was supposed to be in alphabetical order, but just as the computation was going to begin, a disaster struck.

Tim Drake-Wayne had been kidnapped. In broad daylight, as the teenage CO-CEO was getting out of his limo, a group of men broke through the crowd, swinging guns around and demanding everyone to get on the ground and give them their valuables.

Of course, there were security who attempted to gain control of the situation, but it seemed that three of their newest hires were traitors and in on the heist. A shoot-out was ensured.

Drake-Wayne had been taken in the chaos, and Bruce Wayne had passed out from worry. He and the rest of his kids were on their way to a hospital- a secret location to deter further kidnappings of the remaining Waynes- and the first runway of the competition was canceled.

Danny hadn't seen anything from the model changing room, but Dan had forgotten his make-up bag in the front entry and had gone back for it while Danny changed. He had been front and center when the whole thing went down.

"Who just lets themselves get taken like that!?" Dan huffs, practically spitting fire. According to the ghost, Tim Drake-Wayne's actions were an act, and the teenager had been able to get away from his kidnappers but didn't.

Dan found his nonaction insulting since it paused his fashion show.

"Um, look around you? Situation awareness." Danny tells him, gesturing to the cage they had been shoved into. While the people had been preoccupied with Tim Drake-Wayne's kidnapping, a second group of men had gone in through the backdoor and taken all the models.

Danny had thought it was the staff moving them until he noticed a few people crying as they were placed into vans. In his defense, most people aren't used to seeing someone armed like he is, so the gun-waving hadn't tipped him off.

Dan had joined him later when he followed the coordinator- another traitor- to the vans, and his counterpart had only gotten upset when they took his make-up bag.

"Please, this is just metal." Dan rolls his eyes, bending the bars and straightening them out again to prove his point. Danny doesn't mention the electric buzz the bars release, as neither is really affected by the shock. It's more of an annoying light show. "Sides, it's not like we're human. Not like them."

He tilts his chin to where other models sob in their cages below. They are all waiting for their new owners to pick them up. At least, that's what Danny was able to gather from the men's taunts. They were taken by human traffickers, who had buyers look at the competition lineup and pick which model they wanted before the actual kidnapping.

Danny and Dan were in such high demand they would be sold at an auction that would take place while the rest of their pals kept the Bats busy. Danny had no idea who the Bats were or why they would save them instead of the police.

"Tell the whole world why don't you?" Danny hisses, twirling his thumbs more " If they found out what we are we could be turned over to this world version of the Guys In White."

"Oh no, I'm shaking in my human boots." Dan rolls his eyes. He resumes his pacing. "If the Waynes had taken this seriously, we could have been seeing the results of the judge's panel already."

"Dan, this is a little more important than your fashion Obsession."

"Excuse you, my Obsession is a medical condition," Dan huffs, sliding down the cage bars, and for a brief second, his hair flickered to white before it settled back into black. A flash of pain crosses his face. "My core is killing me."

Danny winces. "Right, sorry, that was insensitive. How about I steal you some paper and pens so you can design a ball gown?"

"I like that."

Danny turns to the bars, bending them open and closing them behind him. He carefully makes his way across the giant shipping crates, to an office at the top right corner.

They are at the docks, hidden somewhere in a warehouse among many crates that will be shipped out, and Danny is honestly a little offended they have yet to be found. Sure, the kidnappers had driven through the sewers on a strangely built road that led them here, but surely someone would have noticed the apparent fact the van disappeared at a fake dead alley?

Weren't there cameras in almost every corner of the city? Dan had warned Danny about them while doing his Obsession-driven research, and both agreed not to Go Ghost while in public due to them.

Now, they could escape, but Danny wasn't kidding about the Guys in White or whatever their equivalent was here. He would rather know what level of competence they have before he makes any rash moves.

Danny also wants to see his fellow models' buyers, and he would like to have a word with them. His ghost Obsession may not be protection- much to the shock of many- but Danny has always had a moral compass that pointed to protecting others around him.

Dan knew and respected this about him, so his counterpart was willing to sit and wait for the buyers. He's just a little angsty since it disrupted his obsession.

Danny grimly peeks into the office window when he sees the coordinator talking on a phone. There doesn't seem to be anyone else around, so he carefully opens the door and creeps up behind the man.

"-If you ever want to see your son again," The man is saying, smirking. Danny can't see it due to the man facing away from him, but he can hear it in his voice.

On the desk is a laptop that repeats what he said only, the sound sounds robotic and unrecognizable. Is that a voice changer? "I suggest you ask Batman to find your boy before it's too late."

Batman? The man they were supposed to help save his humanity?

Danny knows it's a risk, but this is too much of a chance to pass up. He carefully picks up the office chair and brings it down hard on the disgusting man's head. The coordination lets out a chocked grunt of pain, but he's out like a light when he hits the ground. His phone flies across the floor, and a voice is heard speaking urgently.

Danny ties the man to the bolted-down desk using zip ties- the same ones they had used on him and the rest earlier that day, before picking up the phone.

"Hello? Is this Batman?" Danny asks, jumping slightly when the laptop repeats him in a creepy robotic voice. "Wait hold on, I think I can get rid of this voice thingy."

"...what?" A man asks over the phone, but Danny pays him no mind as he tries to click some boxes.

"Hello, testing one two three," Danny says, wincing when the voice changer makes him sound high and unnaturally squeaky. He sounds like he's trying to audition for Alvin and the Chipmunks. "Hello? Hello? Wait, I think I got it."

"Who are you? Where is Tim?" The man asks, and Danny almost rolls his eyes. He hates it when someone interrupts him while he's working with tech.

"Wait-there it is! Can you hear me alright? Do I sound normal?"

"....I can hear you."

"Awesome! Are you Batman, and if so, have you considered the importance of mental health activities? Like hugging your kids once a day? That really boosts your serotonin and dopamine levels." Danny asks, attempting to channel Jazz as much as he can. There is muffled sound across the phone line, like someone is attempting to smother a laugh.

"No, this is Bruce Wayne." Mr. Wayne says after a moment pause, "You have my son?"

"Oh," Danny tries not to sound as disappointed as he feels, but he may have failed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne I don't think your son is here. I think they were using him to distract you and the police of the missing models."

There is a strange lake of sound on the other line before Mr. Wayne responds. "Can you tell me who I am speaking to?"

"Danny Fenton. I was one of the models that was taken." Danny says, then he realizes the cops must be listening in because that always happens in movies; he lowers his voice and tries to sound in shock. "I think we're in a warehouse? I'm not sure, but I was in a cage when I woke up. They said they're going to sell us. I escaped, but there were guards everywhere, so I tried hiding in the office and heard the man you were speaking to come in. I hit him with a chair."

"Mr.Fenton," A new man says suddenly, "I know this is a terrifying situation, and I-"

"Are you Batman?"

"....No, son, I'm Commissioner Gordon"

"Oh."

"Do you want to speak to Batman?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask why?"

"I need to tell him to hug his kids."

Danny waits a few seconds for a response, but he hears nothing, not even the wind. They must have muted themselves. He leans on the desk, mindful to give the kidnapper a solid kick to make sure he's still out, and glancing over to the window to make sure there aren't any guards coming his way.

"Mr. Fenton, did they give you anything strange?" Commissioner Gordon asks

Danny thinks for a moment before humming. "They gave all of us something in a needle. I don't know what it was, but it felt funny. My brother has been acting weird since he got it."

"Okay, you're doing good. " Commissioner Gordon sounds like he is frowning but the words cause something in Danny's core to pur."Okay, son, everything is going to be alright. I need you to do something for me. Every Gotham warehouse has a serial number; you can find it in the main office on the power box. Do you see the box?"

Danny glances around until he sees the small little green box. He hurries over to it, throwing the door open. "I found it."

"Good. Can you read me the number?"

Danny reads them off as quickly as he can. Once all ten digits are within the police's hands he asks again. "Do you know if Batman partakes in his kid's interests?"

"I can ask him for you."

"Would you? That would be great. It's important to let people know you care about them by showing an interest in what they are passionate about. My brother Dan really likes making clothes, and even though I don't think I can model, I do it for him, you know?"

"You're a good brother."

"Thank you.....I'm tired Mr. Gordon." Danny says suddenly eyelids becoming heavy. He slides down the wall a lot like Dan did before.

"I'm sorry to hear that but I need you to keep talking to me, Mr. Fenton."

"Batman should tell his kids he loves them. His love language may be an act of service, but Nightwings' is words of affirmation. Nightwing needs to be told he's loved."

"Mr. Fenton! Stay awake for me! Mr.Fenton!" Danny hears someone yelling, but his core is purring even more now, and the sound is luring him to sleep. Suddenly he thinks of his counterpart in the cage waiting for his paper and pen.

"I have to go. I promised Dan I would get him some stuff so he could design some clothes. Bye-Bye."

"No! Don't hang up-!"

Danny drops the cell phone after pressing the end call button and ignores it when it rings again. He hurries over to the desk, looking for paper, but finds the table lacking. Thankfully, an open suitcase has sheets that he borrowed and a few pens.

He takes them all and runs back over the crates to where Dan is. Once he arrives, he notices many models are no longer distressed. All of them are smiling with a dazed look, and a few are even giggling. He waves at a few as he hurries back to his cage.

Dan is there, muttering under his breath and twisting his fingers in the air as if he were drawing in the sky. Danny bends the bars and holds up his prize. "I got the stuff!"

"Thank the ancients! I was never going to finish Mr. Hot scales suit without it!" Dan cheers, turning one of the sheets over to a clean side. He throws his whole body on the ground, using the smooth surface to start his ball gown.

Danny watches him for a moment before his purring core is too much. Dan reaches out to grip his leg, enclosing it in his warm palm and that's all Danny needs before he's fast asleep.

Dan continues to draw for a few more minutes before he, too, is overcome with sleep. Neither notices Red Hood or Robin bursting into the warehouse, guns and swords blazing, just as the buyers arrive. They or any of the models are unaware of the smackdown that happens until everyone involved with the scheme is behind bars.

Robin finds their cage, stepping through the bent bars and pausing at the sheets of paper scattered across the slumbering teenagers. He flips one incredibly designed ballgown only to have his eyes widen at what's written down.

"Robin to Batman," he says, staring at the paper and pressing his communicator. "I have a complete list of everyone who was buying today and past buyers. We can dismantle an entire ring with this."

"Good work, Robin."

"It wasn't I who found it. It was the Fentons."

".....Are they hurt?"

"Drugged but otherwise unharmed."

"Good."

There is a pause before Nightwing speaks up "Tell me you love me B."

"No"

Danny Fenton's eyes briefly open to stare into a surprised Robin's eyes. "Tell him Batman his humanity is at risk. Says the Ghost King."

"They gave him the good shit," Spolior laughs, having heard Fenton through the coms.

Elsewhere, Tim Drake-Wayne stares at Killer Croc aka Waylon Jones who is replaying the video of Dan Fenton catcalling Waylon from his cage right after the fashion designer was dosed with high levels of morphine.

"Hey Papi, why don't you come up here and let me dress you up in the proper wrapping for a walking gift like you?"

"Hey...hey are you from the EverBurning tribe? Cause those are the hotest legs and tail I have ever seen!"

"Mr.Hot Scales, I promise Danny is the only ally of FarFrozen. I'm team EverBurning all the way! Kiss me!"

"What the actual fuck?" Tim asks, and Waylon nods.

"I have no idea, kid. The first time any of my merchandise flirts with me."

#dcxdpdabbles #dc x dp crossover #Passion for Fashion #Part 3 #tw: human trafficking #tw: drugs #Danny and Dan were somewhat able to fight off the drug #Dan was in his right mind when he was catcalling #Look Dan is more ghost then human and thus finds nonhumans hot #Danny's obsession was hinted. Can you spot it?#The twins got in situation #Bruce is worried about them

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ghostreblogging · 1 year

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Omg like I had this dream about it yesterday. So what if batfam decided nope we're gonna ghost proof this house. And in the way they did it, they didn't use blood blossoms, ectoranium etc (blood blossoms are extinct and hard to find in large quantities and ectoranium is a space metal that nobody knows exist yet or confused with kryptonite) They used magic, so it's little less noticable.

And Tim decides to Invite his new friend over, aka Danny Fenton . Said friend refuses to touch anything while there. He wouldn't sit, eat food, or touch any of the occupants. And when he finally accidentally touches something, the spell works and he is captured with glowing chains or straight up thrown back into the infinite realms.

Danny finally has time for normal teenager shit. He managed slowly go through the bureaucratic shithole that is the infinite realms politics and he managed to come out with his sanity intact. Phantom is no longer a menace but a hero that tragically gave himself up to seal all of the Infinite realms (that is kinda true he did go through a nightmare to make sure ghosts didn't attack the living world and had to do the equivalent of centuries worth of paperwork to do that.)

And all things considered ghosts are a thing of the past for most people. ( He hopes that the ones he allows through keep their oaths and stay hidden)

And he can finally be a normal teenager again, albeit in Gotham of all places. But the death in the city masks his more inhuman traits and he really didn't wanna go through another paper work stuff to register himself as a meta without the meta gene, he would have to do that later though.

But he can do that later, he's on a vacation and he's not doing that.

-_-_-_-

He is standing in the doorway. People around him are getting their umbrellas and sadly he doesn't have one. He was debating internally if he should just go or go back to the lost and found for an umbrella.

He was waiting for Tim as he agreed to come for dinner. The car ride to the Wayne manor was calm, filled with few words.

All changed when he came to find the whole manor was covered in intricate magical circles and traps. He saw atleast few that straight up sent him to the dark parts of the realms and he didn't want to touch that. And as much as he wanted to straight up escape, Tim had been asking for multiple days.

So as much as he wanted to flee, his social skills are shit and he didn't want to risk the awkwardness afterwards.

So he tried his best. Didn't touch the ground floated slightly above it, didn't touch the furnitures cuz apparently it was considered part of the house, couldn't touch the walls. Couldn't even touch the residents before setting the alarms off.

He thinks he pulled it off. Of course he pulled it off everything was going smoothly and he just has to make sure he has everyone in the room in his sights and float a bit. Well until the actual dinner. He couldn't touch the food and he looked quite akward so much so Tim whispers to him.

"You okay? You aren't touching your food."

"Oh I'm okay, it's just-" before he could even start with his sorrowful excuses, someone someone grabs his arm, again it wouldn't have been a problem too it would only raise the alarm, until he is pushed down into the chair thus triggering multiple traps .

Big golden chains appear and he is arleady out of the chair by then. He opens a window and turns to say sorry but he accidentally trips over another trap and is pulled into the realms. He should probably cross Tim out of his list of friends.

-_-_-_-

Tim's friend just fell through a portal, should probably call Constantine about that.

Dick was the first one to speak up after the silence that incued.

"Did we just banish Tim's new friend to the shadow realm?"

"Wait why did he trigger the alarm? He didn't seem all that ghostly, was he like Jason"

"Probably. We probably won't see him again, do we just. . . Push the blame onto Constantine?"

" We are heroes-"

"And how the heck are we supposed to enter the realms anyway? And escape! Constantine greatly expressed that portal was one way only"

*Tommorow*

They see Danny just waltzing through Gotham and they pull him aside.

"What the fuck. You got pulled into the shadow realm yesterday! How do you even trigger the alarms"

Danny who arleady went through the five stages of denial and how tf am I gonna explain "oh you see i am a warlock of....uhhhh

I didn't think this far

OH PHANTOM. THE GREAT PHANTOM"

And after a very stressful meeting with batman and the entire JL dark members cuz apparently his alter ego became a big deal without his agreement.

Where he

Had to speed learn how to create duplicates

Had to fight off a few ghost lawyers cuz they wanted to be a part of "the very important meeting of importance"

Got asked to do magic (he's still learning okay?)

He panicked tried to sell one of his powers as a spell or him just having the copy of his patrons power.

More people got worried about him supposedly creating a contract with a very powerful new unknown diety

Got into the JL dark as a warlock

People apparently trusts him now???? As FENTON??????

Apperantly showing off weaker version of patrons power was a bad idea cuz he greatly overestimated the power limit.

He is a powerful warlock of a powerful "demon"?

WHAT THE FUCK DO U MEAN I- MY PATRON IS NOT A DEMON

"so what is he"

Uhhhhhh a guardian spirit?

Uunhuun soo it's phantom right.?? Leme do some research

WHAT DO U MEAN PHANTOM IS APPARENTLY A GOD AND IS KNOWN GLOBALY FOR BEING THE GOD OF HEROES??

Wait . . . . Clockwork. Oh my god.

Now he is the number one call up magic person for the bats now.

#danny phantom #danny fenton #dp x dc #danny phantom au #is this done yet?#danny phantom crossover #batman #dc x dp

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halfdeadfullgay · 24 days

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DPxDC idea

This started as just an idea but I couldn’t stop writing

Hear me out, the same basic gotham/batfam just replace Catwoman with the Catwoman from Batman Returns(the Tim Burton version) because she is semi ghostly/liminal with her whole nine lives thing. I personally think this version of Catwoman should be included more in DPxDC.

Like the tropes of Danny running away to Gotham, running into [insert dc character], living on the streets(optional), and ClockWork telling him that something needs to be returned to the dead(optional) would work perfectly. Idk if the last one is actually a trope but it’s in a lot of fics.

Basically Catwoman has a little unmarked grave where she got pushed out the window with a small cat statuette, someone steals. ClockWork wanting to make sure his son figure the prince of the dead is safe and maybe an excuse to see how he would do with a common royal task. Catwoman gets word it’s stole and goes to steal back.

It’s kinda like that one Spider-man meme where they’re pointing at each other.

putting the read more cause this got longer than intended

Like obviously Danny can sense/knows of the death around the batfam(and gotham in general) and how none/only one of them talk about it. So he just leaves it, that’s the family’s own issue, maybe he’ll get back into the hero thing later but he needs to focus on staying off the GIW’s radar.

As he’s still settling in, ClockWork sends him on a small errand. Just steal back something(a little cat statuette) that was taken from an unmarked grave, should be easy and simple but his ghost sense as he finally finds what CW sent him for.

At first he thinks it’s one of the batfam but remembers that the only one who actually makes his ghost sense go off is Red Hood but Danny is far from Crime Alley. That’s when something, someone moves out of the shadows. It’s Catwoman and to him, she reeks of death. He stands there for a second, Catwoman was going for the same thing he was stealing. Was she just going for it just because it was a cat or was it connected more?

On Catwoman’s side, she’s had to do a double when she realized that this was a teenager, a child. She hadn’t accounted for someone else wanting to steal the statuette but then again it’s hers. The statuette was left in the alley where she had lost her first life. She had gotten word that it was taken. Why would someone else want it?

She didn’t let her guard down, even though it was just a teen, there was something off about him. Mainly the way his eyes reflected like a cat’s when light hit them and how he seemed to notice her before she showed herself. She was about to speak when the kid opened his mouth.

“I’m gonna assume this is yours?”

#dpxdc #dcxdp #catwoman #danny phantom #batman #I love catwoman having her nine lives #please let them interact like this #I love catwoman adopts danny tropes #just an idea #might write a fic #idk man

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samgirl98 · 7 months

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Forgotten Demon Twin 4/?

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Damian crossed his arms. A part of him wanted to be angry at Danyal. How dare he lie to them? They wanted to ensure he was fine, and here he was, not telling them the whole truth.

Then, the guilt set in.

Damian wouldn’t have to have asked if he had checked up on his brother if he had remembered he had a brother. Why was he so angry? They were strangers to Danyal. Of course, he would keep his secrets close to his chest. He had lied to the League, knowing that it could result in his death. Lying to the famous ‘no killing allowed’ Batman must’ve been easier.

Danyal sat in midair, his legs crossed.

It was difficult to see Danyal as, was he a ghost? Was his brother dead?

“How did you gain powers,” Richard asked, “Neither Talia nor Bruce have the metagene.”

Danyal shrugged but didn’t answer.

“Listen, I appreciate that you guys care enough to come and visit me, even if it is years later,” he mumbled the last part. It still made the family flinch, “But I don’t owe you guys anything. I don’t have to explain the ifs, whys, and buts. Just because you guys feel guilty, you can’t just uproot my whole life and claim to care and want to take me away from the only loving family I have ever known.”

“I’m not in any danger here—”

“You’re a child hero without adult supervision,” Bruce said.

“—And I have everything under control.”

“You shouldn’t have to have everything under control, Danny. I understand the need to help, but you’re young. You deserve to have some help.”

“What makes you think I don’t have help?”

“Really, do your parents know you’re Phantom?”

Danyal said nothing.

“We want to help, Danyal,” Damian said.

A look of anger marred Danyal’s face.

“Help? Like when you said you would help me train, shoved a sword through my shoulder, and then pushed me from a tower?”

Damian flinched and ignored Tim’s judgmental look.

“That was wrong of me. I apologize for everything I’ve done to you.”

Danny was about to say something before stopping. He still wasn’t one hundred percent sure this wasn’t a trap and didn’t want to give Damian a reason to take him back. So far, it looked like the League was no longer involved, but Batman and his…children were an unknown factor. If he could convince them to leave…

“Daniel James Fenton, you are in big trouble, young man!”

Uh-oh. Irate older sister alert.

Every member of the Batfamily was surprised that an angry teenage red-haired girl had snuck up on them.

She was carrying a green and white baseball bat, and her eyes seemed to glow.

Duke noticed she had a weird aura around her, too. It wasn’t as strong as Danny’s, but still there.

“Who are you people? Why is a group of mostly adults meeting my younger brother in the middle of the night in a desolate park?”

The girl looked at everyone at them and gave a double take when she spotted Damian. She turned to Danny.

“Why are they here,” she asked loudly.

“Jazz, this is Bruce and Damian Wayne. They are my biological father and twin brother. Oh, and everyone else is Bruce’s adopted kids, I guess.”

Wow, he had Damian’s introduction skills.

She turned around and crossed her arms. The bat was still in her hands.

“I’ll ask again: why are you here?”

“I just found out about Danny and wanted to meet him?”

Jazz walked up to Bruce and, without hesitation, poked Bruce’s chest with the baseball bat.

“Oh, and you couldn’t have waited until morning and talked to our parents first? You just had to lure my baby brother away from the safety of his home and basically ambush him?”

“Jazz,” Danny whined, embarrassed.

“I’m just saying it how I see it, little brother.”

“There were some outside circumstances that would’ve made meeting,” Jazz interrupted Bruce by banging the end of the baseball bat on the floor. It left a crater.

“I don’t care about you’re ‘outside circumstances.’ Most of you are adults, and you have a minor with you at night without his legal guardian’s knowledge. If you want to talk to Danny, meet our parents first and set up a meeting like a normal person.”

“Jazz, you don’t understand who they are—”

“I don’t care if they’re the president. Rules exist for a reason. Now come, Danny, we’re going home. Tucker and Sam are worried.”

Danny detransformed and followed Jazz. The last thing he heard was the butler say, “I like her.”

He sighed. It was going to be a long ride back home.

____

Tim had yet to learn what happened.

One minute, he was introduced to the Demon Brat’s twin brother (who seemed more mellow than Damian). The next, they had been attacked by some creature that Danny beat in under ten seconds.

He knew Danny had been lying when he opened his mouth, and Cass had confirmed it. He hadn’t had time to interrogate the kid, though, before an angry red-hair, who reminded him a bit of Barbara, showed up and chewed Bruce out while holding nothing more than a baseball bat.

“Well, that was…interesting,” Duke said.

“I like her,” Jason said, “She stood up to Bruce.”

Bruce glared at Jason. It wasn’t often he got chewed out, and it had never been from a teenage girl. He didn’t like it.

“So, next course of action,” Tim asked.

“Tt, obviously we get Danyal out of this…situation. He shouldn’t have to deal with all of this alone.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, baby bat.”

“Why not?”

“Danny seems to be attached to his adoptive family. He’s suffered a lot in the League. Don’t you think we should consider his feelings?”

The brat thought about it before deflating a little but said nothing.

“So, I repeat: what now?”

Bruce said nothing, not sure what to do.

Suddenly, the smell of earl grey tea was heavy in the air, and he felt the phantom hand of his late surrogate father.

He took a deep breath and said, “It’s time to meet the Fenton.”

#Forgotten Demon Twin #dc x dp #dp x dc

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disillusioneddanny · 8 months

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Everything is By Design

Day 2 Disney Week: Monster/Damsel in Distress

inspired by Moana :)))))

Dan didn’t know how the hell he was going to find his fucking brother’s core but he had to do something. He watched as Jazz, Sam, Tucker, and Valerie shot blasters and weapons at the monster that was once Danny in a desperate attempt to keep him at bay.

No one knew how it had happened, Clockwork hadn’t even seen it happen but something or someone had stolen Danny’s core and his ghost was reacting horribly to it. Danny was no longer Danny, he had become a monster, a raging eldritch horror who was destroying everything in his wake. Gone was the teenage boy with snow-white hair and glowing green eyes.

In its place was a beast unlike any other. He was a long, serpentine creature with hair bright white but skin a dark black with stars and galaxies covering his body, his face had elongated into some kind of snout with large, sharp fangs that dripped with ectoplasm, his arms had extended and ended in long claws that could rip the core out of any ghost. He was a thing of nightmares and it was taking half of the inhabitants of the ghost zone just to keep him from getting to the human world.

Dan should be there with them, he was just as strong as Danny but Clockwork had sent him on a mission. Had ordered him to Gotham to find the core. From what he could find a man named John Constantine had stolen Danny’s core in an attempt at getting rid of the ghost king, thinking that he was Pariah Dark.

But somehow the core had been stolen from the man and now it was up to Dan to trace the steps to find it. He gave his friends and sister a salute as they fought back the monster that was once Danny and opened a portal to Gotham. Now he just hoped to the ancients he would find the core before Danny made it past the ghosts and their friends and sister and got into the human realms where he would cause real trouble.

Jason Todd stared at the glowing blue orb that Bruce had taken from Constantine and frowned. Something about it was calling to him, begging for Jason to take it and give it back to who it belonged to. The orb sat in a small glass case, something called a ghost shield wrapped around it, keeping anyone from removing it from the container. It sat upon the desk of the batcomputer where Bruce had left it to run tests on it later. He shuddered as he pressed a hand against the shield, feeling a slight shock to his palm as he did but ignored it Everything in him was urging him to take the entire box and run far away.

But Bruce had strictly forbidden that anyone touch the orb. Apparently, Constantine had stolen it from the supposed Ghost King in a bid to keep the human world safe from the monster since he had apparently returned to power. Bruce had taken it from him for fear that Constantine would do something stupid like give it to a demon in return for power.

Which honestly? Jason could see that happening.

“Why are you staring at that thing again?” Tim asked him, shuddering slightly just looking at the strange orb. “Doesn’t it give you the heebie jeebies? It just feels wrong.”

“It’s not supposed to be here,” Jason murmured, unable to fully tear his eyes away from the orb. “Constantine should have never taken it from the ghost king. It wasn’t his to take.”

“Yeah but this Pariah Dark guy sounds scary as fuck, I’m glad we don’t have to worry about a ghost like that,” Tim said stepping forward to look at the orb. “Alfie told me to come get you, it’s time for Dinner and then we gotta head out on patrols.”

Jason nodded wordlessly, unwilling to look away from the orb until his brother started to tug on his arm, pulling him away from the containment box that Bruce was keeping it in.

“What is your deal with it?” Tim asked, giving his big brother a worried look. Jason shook his head, the distance between him and the orb large enough to help him think clearly again.

“I don’t know but something about it is calling me, it’s wanting me to take it, to get it and run away,” he admitted, glancing back just as the elevator doors shut. Tim frowned and gave his brother a once over.

“That’s weird, why?” He asked.

Jason just shrugged his shoulders and said nothing else about the orb, something in him still tugging at him to go back to it.

That next week Jason continued to feel a tug to go back to the orb, to take it with him and run as far away as he could. He didn’t know where he would go with it or even what he would do with it but something was telling him that he needed to run away and return it to the Ghost King.

He sped through the streets of Crime Alley, trying to do his best to not think about the orb. At the moment he was mentally reciting the first Twilight book just to keep his mind off of the orb, it wasn’t working super well but it was enough. He slammed on the brakes of his motorcycle, though, when a sharp tug yanked at his being. It felt like the orb but more dangerous, not only that but it was in his territory. He felt the hair on his arms raise slightly as the feeling grew stronger and stronger until a being appeared in front of him.

He was unlike anything Jason had ever seen in his life. The being was a fucking tank as he walked slowly towards Jason, his white hair like flames dancing at the top of his head, his skin a light blue color. He wore a strange black and white jumpsuit with a black cape flowing from his back. His red eyes were glaring holes into Jason’s very being and when he opened his mouth to speak, sharp fangs revealed himself.

“You,” he snarled out, a blue, clawed hand grabbing Jason’s shirt roughly and tugging him close. “Where is it?”

Jason shoved at the being but his grip was tight and he barely moved an inch at the shove. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“The core,” he growled out. “You reek of it, where the hell is it?”

Jason pulled a gun from his holster and pressed it to the being’s chest. “If you don’t let me the fuck go right now, I’ll put a bullet in your chest.”

The man, monster, being? Jason didn’t know - laughed and pulled him closer. “Do it,” he whispered, his eyes narrowed and without another word, Jason pulled the trigger. The thing snorted and spat the bullet out onto the ground, the metal hitting the asphalt with a soft clink. “Where is it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jason growled out.

“It’s an orb, light blue and cold as ice. I bet when you looked at it, it was begging you to take it and run away, wasn’t it?” He asked, pushing Jason away from him and crossing his giant arms over his chest. “Take me to it.”

“Are you talking about the orb that Constantine stole from Pariah Dark? That shit’s dangerous I can’t take it,” Jason said with a scoff. “And I’m not giving it to you just for you to return it to that tyrannical bastard. Constantine told us what he was like and it’s a good thing he doesn’t have that power.”

The being sneered at him. “Pariah Dark isn’t the king of the Infinite Realms anymore. The throne belongs to King Phantom now, or it will when he takes the throne. He’s a fucking kid and your dumbass friend? He basically just stole his heart,”

At that Jason stilled. It was a kid? The king was a fucking child? “How old is he?”

The being raised an eyebrow at that. “He’s sixteen, right now he’s just the crown prince. He doesn’t get to take the throne until his eighteenth birthday, until then I’m ruling in his steed. Now take me to his core before I force you to.”

Jason stared at the being, weighing his options as best as he could. If this guy was right, that kid was missing his heart and Constantine had told them that the ghost king wouldn’t survive longer than a month without the orb being inside of him. That it would be a slow and painful death, fitting for a monster like Pariah Dark. But if it really was just a sixteen-year-old kid, not only that a sixteen-year-old ghost who was missing what was basically his heart. Well, that changed things. That changed a lot of things and between that and the fact that everything in Jason’s being had been screaming at him for the last week to take that orb and run, well it only made sense to go along with what this guy was saying.

He wasn’t about to be the reason a fucking sixteen-year-old ghost faded from existence.

“If he’s a ghost how does he age?” Jason suddenly asked.

“Confidential. Now, can we go?” He asked, waving his hand in a hurry-up motion.

Jason sighed and looked at the being. “Who are you?”

The being gave him a tired, exasperated look and pinched at the bridge of his nose before he looked at Jason once again. “Dan, Dan Phantom, Lord of the Infinite Realms. Brother of the Crown Prince. Now take me to my brother’s core before I rip yours out of your chest and show you how it feels.”

Jason automatically pressed a hand to his chest before he slowly nodded and started up his bike. “Follow me but keep your mouth shut. The name’s Jason,” he muttered before he sped off down the street and to Wayne Manor.

He sped down the streets as fast as he could, Dan keeping pace with him as he flew through the air at breakneck speeds. Jason watched as the being kept shooting him distrustful glances now and again as they made their way to the manor. Jason pressed the button on his bike that opened the entrance to the Batcave and the two made their way inside.

The crime lord watched as Dan looked around the cave for a moment and flew straight to the containment box and grabbed at it, only for a loud crack to sound through the air and he was thrown into a wall.

Dan let out a loud curse as Jason parked his bike and walked over. “Who put a goddamn ghost shield around it?”

“Batman,” a new voice said, turning around in the chair and Jason couldn’t help but groan as he met his younger brother’s glare. “What are you doing Red Hood? And who did you bring into the Batcave?”

Dan snorted at that. “You call it the Batcave?” he asked, glancing at Jason, amusement clear on his face.

“Shut the fuck up,” Jason muttered before he looked at Tim. “We’re taking that orb, Replacement. Constantine was wrong when he took it, he never should have stolen it from the guy he took it from.”

Tim frowned and watched as Dan pulled something from inside his chest and aimed it at the containment box. “What are you talking about? Pariah Dark is dangerous, Constantine told us he could destroy existence as we know it.”

“Pariah Dark doesn’t exist anymore,” Dan said, aiming a small futuristic gun at the containment box and shot it, only for the ghost shield to react and throw him back into the wall once again. “Danny ate his core two years ago. If that sad trenchcoat fuck actually paid attention to the news of the Infinite Realms and kept up, he would have known that sooner. But he’s a dumbass who doesn’t get his information from the source. Now someone take down the ancient’s damned ghost shield.”

“Are you a ghost?” Tim asked, looking over Dan’s form.

Dan tore his eyes from the core and glared at Tim. “What the fuck does it matter to you?”

“Well, if you weren’t, you’d be able to just open the box,” Tim said with a shrug as he produced a small remote. “But if you are a ghost, how do we not know you’re not just working for Pariah Dark?”

The ghost let out an inhuman snarl as he marched toward Tim. He grabbed him by the collar of his suit and yanked him in the air as he wrenched the remote from him. “I don’t give a fuck if you trust me, you are an insignificant welp who doesn’t understand that larger things are at stake right now. You want to know what we need to get this back to Phantom?”

Tim gulped and glanced past Dan to look at Jason who was frozen in place.

“If I don’t get my brother’s core back to him, he fades from existence but before he does, he will destroy everything in his wake trying to get to his core before that happens. Half of the Infinite Realms is fighting to keep him at bay as we speak. And before long he will overpower all of them. And if you think that Pariah Dark is terrifying? Imagine a starving ghost who is desperate to get his core back. He’s going to destroy everything in his path just trying to get his core back. Lives will be lost, homes will be destroyed, and civilization will never be the same. I know this dimension, I destroyed this dimension once upon a time. And if the Justice League died trying to fight me, they’ll be destroyed before they can even try to fight my brother. Now get the fuck out of my way.”

With that, Dan unceremoniously dropped Tim to the floor and pressed the button on the remote to turn off the ghost shield. Jason dashed over and grabbed the core before the ghost could and shoved it into his pocket.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Dan demanded, storming towards Jason who just glared at him.

“I’m going with you to return the core. If you’re telling the truth, I’ll give your brother back his core. But if you’re lying and it’s being taken back to Pariah Dark, I’ll destroy it. Now, let’s go give your brother his core back. Yeah?”

Dan gave him a simmering glare and ripped a portal open in the middle of the cave. “You’re a fucking pain in the ass.”

“Thanks, if you want you can be a pain in my ass later. Now let’s go,” Jason said motioning towards the portal. Dan simply glared at him and grabbed the collar of Jason’s jacket and dragged him through the portal.

And Jason definitely didn’t swoon, not at all.

Jason followed Dan through the realms and stopped short at the sight in front of him. “I know this place,” he said, his brow furrowed as the portal closed behind him. All around him were green skies and purple-looking islands that floated in the air. He looked around at the island they stood on and frowned. “Why do I know this place?”

“You stink of death,” Dan said with a grunt as he started walking. “Likely you died at some point and became a ghost but when you came back to life you forgot all of your time in the Infinite Realms.”

Jason frowned. “Is that why the core was calling to me?” He asked, looking around at the looming trees around them, the destroyed land that surrounded the two of them. “What happened here?”

Dan sighed. “Well, this was the spot that I left everyone to go find the core,” he said, looking around. “It looks like everyone is gone now which isn’t a good sign. The reason the core was calling to you was because of what you are.”

The crime lord gave him a puzzled look, his brow furrowing slightly.

At that Dan let out an even more dramatic sigh that bordered on a yell. “Don’t tell me you don’t know what the fuck you are,” he said, throwing his head back to glare at the green sky above him. Jason said nothing, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at the ghost. Dan looked back at him and blew a strand of his fiery hair out of his face. “You are a revenant, someone who died a horrible death and came back to life for revenge. There’s ectoplasm running through your body, you know green gooey shit? And because you’re a revenant you’re still considered a citizen of the Infinite Realms. You have an automatic desire to please your king. How long were you dead before you came back to the world of the living?”

“Six months give or take,” Jason grumbled, following as Dan continued down a destroyed path. “Where are we going if they aren’t here?”

“We’re going to follow the pull of the core,” Dan said with a shrug. “If you hold it, it’ll try to direct you back to my brother. It wants to go back to him just as badly as Danny wants to have it back.”

Jason gave the ghost a distrustful look. “How do I know you’re not going to try to take the core from me as soon as I take it out of my pocket?” He asked, his eyes narrowed into slits, not that Dan could see beneath the safety of his helmet.

“I won’t, scouts honor,” Dan grumbled. Jason just stared at him for a moment before he pulled the core out and held the orb in his hand. It suddenly grew brighter and Jason felt it start to tug at him to continue straight. “Now let’s go,” he ordered and the two started walking.

Jason stayed silent, rolling all of the information he had just learned around in his head as he looked around the piece of land they were standing on. To the right side he could see the tips of a large castle looming over the trees, parts of it were broken and destroyed. “So, if you’re his older brother, why aren’t you the king instead?”

Dan glanced over at him. “It’s complicated.”

Jason looked up at the man. “I died, stayed dead for six months, and then woke up in a giant pit of shit that you call ectoplasm. I doubt it’s that complicated.”

The ghost let out a huff of amusement. “I’m not his brother,” he admitted before he looked straight ahead. “I’m him.”

“How can that be true?”

“There was a future with a bad incident, that incident resulted in me happening instead. It made me angry, I wanted to destroy everything and everyone. And I did, in my timeline I destroyed everything in my path, the Justice League tried to stop me at some point but they were nothing, they were a pebble in my way. Shit happened, I decided the best course of action would be to go back to make sure that I became Danny’s future but all it did was give him a chance to stop me and divert that timeline from happening–”

“I don’t want to hear anymore,” Jason groaned. “Timeline shit makes me sick to my stomach. So you’re an alternate version of him. Let me guess, since you’re a war criminal you don’t have a right to the throne?”

Dan pointed a pair of finger guns at him. “Bingo,” he said with a sharp grin. Jason just made a face and nodded before he looked out at the area in front of him and frowned.

“It wants us to keep going straight but this is the end of the island,” he said with a frown.

“Then we keep going straight,” Dan said with a sigh and scooped Jason up in his arms unceremoniously, holding the man bridal style.

Jason spluttered in response, pushing at Dan’s chest. “What the fuck? Let me go!”

“Sorry but you can’t fly,” Dan said with a smirk before he took off in the air. Jason gritted his teeth as the ghost started to fly. He said nothing except for when to tell Dan to make a left or a right or continue straight as he flew them through the air. That and he tried to not think about the way he could feel the bulging muscles in Dan’s arms pressed against his body. Nor the fact that for a ghost, Dan smelled amazing. The scent wafted through his helmet and flooded his nose, old leather, tobacco, and a pine scent that reminded Jason of nights out in the woods camping with his brothers.

It was nice.

“So,” Jason said after a while, trying to tear his concentration from focusing on Dan and his stupid fucking body. How the hell did a ghost smell that fucking good in the first place? Wasn’t he supposed to be dead? “If Phantom is a ghost and he’s only sixteen, how is he going to age to become old enough to take the throne?”

“Phantom isn’t fully dead,” Dan told him, glancing down, a small frown on his face. “He’s what we call a halfa. Half ghost, half living. He can still age, he–we really had our accident when we were fourteen. The reason I’m not still a halfa is that I had my human half ripped out of me and became a full ghost. Danny never had that timeline so it’s different for him.”

“I was fifteen when I died,” Jason said and Dan let out a groan. “What?”

“I don’t want to hear your tragic backstory, Jason,” he said and looked down at the core. “Has it made any tugs or indicated where we need to go?”

Jason frowned and shook his head. “Keep going straight,” he muttered and looked up at the ghost. “You’re an asshole, you know that? And that’s saying something because I’m a fucking asshole, but I think you’re even worse than I am.”

“Oh shut the fuck up,” Dan muttered. “And quit sniffing me, I can hear you under that fucking helmet you freak.”

Jason balked at that. “I’m not sniffing you. I just simply noticed that you smell good,” he muttered, turning to look away from Dan and his stupid pecs that were pressed against his arm.

“Whatever you say,” he said with a smug smile on his face.

“Stop it, quit smiling at me like that,” Jason said, crossing his arms over his chest, the core now tucked between him and Dan who shivered at the cold that exuded from the core.

“I can’t help it,” Dan said, still smiling at Jason with that stupid, smug look. “You’re adorable, you think you’re all mean and scary and you’re just this little human. It’s cute. You’re like a teddy bear.”

Jason let out a shout and shoved at Dan’s chest. “Shut up! I am not a fucking teddy bear! Do you know who the fuck I am in my world? I’m the Red Hood, I’m a fucking Crime Lord. I’ve murdered people and taken down giant crime operations! I’m not cute.”

“You’re cute, it’s not a bad thing Jason. Some people just have that cuteness factor, it’s okay,” Dan said with that stupid smug smile that Jason wanted to punch off his ugly little face. He hated him. He couldn’t wait for this asshole to stop flying so he would never have to be in his arms again. What a smug little prick. Soon the core started to vibrate wildly in his hands and he tapped at Dan’s chest.

“It’s doing something, we’re close,” he said just as a loud roar sounded through the area. Jason shuddered at the sound, everything in him aching now to go to the being that made that noise, to do whatever he could to calm it, to make it happier.

“Yeah, we are,” Dan said with a sigh and took off flying even faster than before, clutching onto Jason tight as he sped through the Infinite Realms, and the scene before them chilled Jason to his bones.

“That’s your brother,” he whispered, staring up at the giant monster that ripped an entire island in half.

“Yup. Now give me the core, he needs it,” Dan said, setting Jason down on the island where other ghosts stood at the ready, weapons aimed at the monster destroying everything in its path as it fought against the nets and shields and beams shot at it.

“Dan!” A woman shouted and the two men looked over to find a redhead running towards them. She barreled into Dan’s chest and let out a sob. “Please tell me you found it. It’s getting worse, he’s getting angrier. I don’t know how long we can contain him.”

Dan smiled and brushed a strand of hair out of the redhead’s face. “I found it Jazz, we’re going to him now,” he said softly and glanced at Jason who wordlessly handed him the core. Dan gave him a single nod and flew up to return the core to his baby brother.

Jazz, on the other hand, turned and gave Jason a curious look. “And who are you?”

Jason sighed. “The idiot who found his core,” he said, watching as Dan flew close to the being and pressed the core into its chest. Jason watched as he slowly turned from a monster to that of a small, teenage boy. Dan caught the boy just as he started to plummet to the ground and held him close.

Dan flew back down to Jason and Jazz and smiled. “He’s going to be okay. He’s out cold but he’ll be fine when he wakes up,” he said softly, looking down at the sleeping teenager. He then raised his head and looked up at Jason and smiled. “Thank you.”

Jason nodded once, staring down at the sleeping teenager and then back up at Jason. “It’s fine, I didn’t do shit.”

Dan just smiled. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll take you home,” he said and looked around before spotting a giant yeti coming their way. “Perfect, he’ll be able to get Danny comfortable until he wakes up.”

Jazz just looked between the two and then looked Jason up and down. “Aren’t you that crime lord from Gotham?” she asked, screwing up her nose slightly.

“Yeah,” Jason said, rubbing at the back of his neck nervously. “That’s me.”

“I can’t believe Dan and I have the same type,” she grumbled before stomping away just as Dan returned.

“Alright, let me get you home,” he said, ripping open a portal. Jason looked at it before he looked back at Dan and carefully took off his helmet.

“Can I see you again?” Jason asked, furrowing his brow and pulling his bottom lip behind his lip as he waited nervously for a response.

Dan let out a soft curse and cupped Jason’s face. “I fuckin’ knew you were cute,” he said with a small smile. “But yeah, you can see me again. I’ll stop by soon,” he murmured before pressing a soft kiss to Jason’s cheek. “Now go before I have all of the Justice League trying to hunt me down to find you.”

Jason blushed hot for just a moment before he nodded and slipped through the portal. Hopefully, he’d see Dan again, and hopefully, it would be sometime soon.

#dpxdc #danny phantom #batman #dis writes #dis dreams #dpxdcdisneyauweek2023

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luxaofhesperides · 1 year

Text

those who serve.

CHAPTER FOUR: a job.

read chapter one, two, three on tumblr or the entire fic on ao3.

10k+ words again..... i remain the queen of not shutting up <3

. . .

“Wait,” Dick says, reaching over to open the glove box, “Before we go, we need these.” He pulls out some hats, squished together to fit on top of the many CDs rattling around. He smooths out a dark blue baseball cap, then hands a black hat to Danny. “Disguises, kind of,” he explains.

Danny looks down at the hat in his hand, then back at Dick. Sure. Why not. He’ll wear a hat as a very bad disguise since Dick seems to think it’s important. He doesn’t really want to know the details as to why they need to do this, so Danny’s gonna roll with it.

He puts the hat on and looks at Dick for further direction.

Instead of getting any of that, Dick slips on a pair of sunglasses and grins at Danny. “Alright. Ready to brave the dangers of a Gotham shopping mall?”

“...Sure?”

“Great!” Dick kicks open his door and hops out. Danny follows much more sedately, getting out of the car more like a normal person, then closing it quietly. He takes a moment to look up at the mall, a large building with strings of lights hanging above the walkways. The parking lot is filling up quickly despite it being a weekday morning and people are bustling about, heading into stores or cafes.

It’s much bigger than the two malls in Amity Park. This is the kind of place Paulina and Star would be spending all their time at if they could, wandering around and buying whatever caught their eye.

Danny would have just hung out in the food court with Sam and Tucker, maybe caught a movie or wasted the hours away in the arcade.

Being here, without them, aches like a bruise. He would give anything to just be a normal teenager hanging out at the mall with his friends. He wouldn’t have to worry about ghosts or avoiding his parents or dreading going home because he’s too tired to fully dodge all of his parents’ weapons.

“Ready to go in?” Dick asks. He moves closer to Danny and his voice is much softer; it’s more gentle and concerned than excited, now.

Danny tries to plaster a smile onto his face, hide his true feelings and not ruin Dick’s day out. “Let’s go,” he says, fiddling with the sleeves of his hoodie just to have something to do with his hands. It’s better to focus on twisting the fabric than to think of the life he lost long before he ever ran away to this dimension.

He starts walking before Dick can grow any more concerned about Danny. They’re here for a reason and that’s to get Danny daily necessities so he can start working. It’s not for fun, it’s just an errand to run.

He doesn’t get too far before Dick is besides him, throwing an arm around his shoulder to keep him close.

“Sorry if this makes you uncomfortable,” Dick murmurs, “But we need to stick to each other. Just in case, you know?”

“Just in case of what?”

“Kidnappings, usually. Or so we don’t lose each other if we need to evacuate. Or to stick together if a rogue attacks.”

Sure. Why not. This is just what happens in Gotham, apparently.

“Okay,” Danny says, weakly. “How likely is any of that happening, by the way?”

Dick hums, considering the question as they reach the walkway, full of potted plants and a fountain, lined with small stores, cafes, and a bakery. “I’m not too sure about the numbers, that’s something you’ll have to ask Tim. But the risk is definitely higher with us, being part of the Wayne family and all.”

“I’m not part of the family, though.”

“You’re close enough that the distinction doesn’t really matter. Criminals will see you as an easy way to either access the Manor and family, or an easy target for ransom. Though the average citizen is still at risk too, so you’d have been in danger either way.”

Apparently, there was a point in having Tim and Bruce discuss insurance and kidnapping policies. For once, it’s not absurd rich people things; it’s a legitimate concern in Gotham.

“Anyways!” Dick says, smoothly moving along, “What do you want to get first? Clothes? Things for your room? Weapons?”

“Weapons?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you’re trained in whatever you’re interested in using.”

Danny side-eyes Dick as they enter the mall proper. “I prefer martial arts to weapons,” he says.

Dick just nods. “We can train you in that too. Whatever you want, Danny.”

“Let’s just get some clothes, first.”

Inside, the noise of the morning crowd echoes off the walls of the mall. The ceiling is high and lined with skylights that don’t do anything when most days in Gotham are cloudy. It’s the most people Danny’s been around in a while and all the noise and movement makes him jittery, anxious, and close to clawing his skin off.

“This way,” Dick says, lowering his voice. He easily guide Danny through the groups of people walking around the mall, heading towards a clothing store with dim lights and barely audible music playing. There aren’t many people in there and it’s quieter in the store. Quiet enough for him to feel like he can breathe without feeling his throat tighten with oncoming panic, at least.

“All good?”

Danny slips out from under Dick’s arm and takes a slow, steady breath. “I’m fine.”

“Alright.” Dick doesn’t push, but he clearly doesn’t believe that Danny’s fine. Which, yeah, he’s not and he’s clearly bad at hiding it if Dick can pick up on it immediately, but Danny also doesn’t want to talk about it ever. So Dick will just have to take all the bad lies Danny’s giving him and deal with it.

He moves around the store, hoping to stop the conversation from continuing. He idly flicks through the racks of clothing, searching for things that are in his size.

Most of the clothes in the store is more suited for Sam’s style, really. Danny doesn’t think he can really pull off fishnet tights, especially while working as a butler. He does grab some plain black shirts, both short sleeve and long sleeve, and a gray sweater.

“That’s all?” Dick frowns at the few pieces of clothing Danny’s taken, but he leads them to the cashier regardless of his disapproval. He also takes out his wallet and hands over a card before Danny can protest.

“I can pay,” he says, and Dick shrugs.

“Sure, but I have more money than I want to deal with. I’m more than happy to pay for you, Danny. Don’t worry about it.”

The cashier scans the items, bags them, and hands the receipt to Dick.

Her eyes widen when she does and she makes a strangled sound in the back of her throat. “You’re—!”

“Shhh,” Dick shushes her, a finger to his lips.

She presses her lips together tightly and nods.

That is… a weird reaction. Is she scared of Dick? Is Dick well known enough to the average citizen of Gotham that they clam up and get nervous when they see he’s around? What exactly is his role in the Wayne mob family?

He glances at Dick just in time to catch him lowering his sunglasses a bit to give the cashier a wink, then takes the receipt while Danny grabs the shopping bag and considers going invisible so he’s not seen near Dick any longer. But the cashier doesn’t seem scared anymore, not with the red on her cheeks and the smile she isn’t quite able to bite down.

“Is that going to happen often?” Danny asks as they exit the shop and back into the crowds of the mall, which are steadily growing louder as morning fades into afternoon.

“Hopefully not,” Dick answers, “We’re kinda big in Gotham, so I might get recognized. But that’s why I got disguises!”

“Disguises that barely work.”

“Well, I wanted a wig, but no one else let’s me have one. The few times I’ve bought some, they immediately go missing.”

“Can we leave and just order everything I need online?”

Dick sighs, looking over Danny with a critical eye. “If you really want to, I suppose we can. But part of the reason why we’re here right now is so that you can get used to Gotham. This is a busy place full of people and it’s the best way to acclimate you to the city that’s not throwing you at a rogue or a gang.”

It hits Danny then that this might be part of his butler training. A way to prove that he can handle himself and that the Wayne family mob won’t need to worry about him too much. The weak disguises might be to test if he can keep secrets and not blow Dick’s cover.

Would they do that to him?

Well… Danny can’t confidently say that they won’t, so it’s safer to assume that this is something they would do. Are actively doing, even.

He lets out a slow breath, rolls his shoulders back, and resolves himself to seeing this through. “Alright,” he says, “Let’s keep going.”

“That’s the spirit!” Dick grins, and Danny can’t help the way he twitches, biting down on a reflexive need to respond with no, I’m the spirit. Another downside of being in a new dimension where no one knows his secrets: everyone’s missing out on his death jokes. It’s a shame, really, because Danny is hilarious.

Dick leads him through the mall, keeping an arm around Danny’s shoulders to steer him through the crowd. Danny peeks into the stores they pass, hoping something will catch his interest so he can finish up with this errand and leave the mall sooner rather than later.

He stumbles to a stop when he spots a NASA shirt on a clothing rack, and a black hoodie displayed beside it, Ursa Major and Minor decorating the front.

“Hm? Find something you like?” Dick asks as he urges Danny in. He follows Danny’s gaze and makes a thoughtful noise in the back of his throat. “Here, let’s see if they have your size.”

He’s rummaging through the racks before Danny can respond, pulling out shirts to check their size. As soon as he finds a medium, he’s holding it out to Danny, who takes it without thinking, moving on autopilot.

“Wait,” he starts, “We don’t need to—”

“Of course we do! We’re here to build up your wardrobe. What’s the point if you’re not getting things you actually like?”

And then he grabs one of the hoodies for Danny too, as if to make a point.

Dick holds it up and looks at the design with a critical eye, then asks, “Do you like space?”

“Yeah,” Danny says. There’s so much more he wants to say, but he bites his tongue. This isn’t the time or place to start gushing about how much he loves space; he needs to buy what he needs and then leave. That’s all he needs to focus on.

“Well?” Dick prompts, “What do you like about it?”

“Can I just buy these and go?” Danny asks, “Talking about space is too distracting.”

“Oh. Well, I guess I can ask again later, yeah?” And Dick actually looks disappointed. He’s got this kicked puppy dog look that makes Danny feel incredibly guilty, but he won’t allow himself to be distracted. He’s on a mission and he’s going to see it through.

They spend another few minutes browsing that store. There’s more clothes here that’s to Danny’s taste and he pulls a few pairs of pants he can wear that don’t scream ‘teen hooligan’. Which mostly means there are no holes or rips in them. He checks the prices and tries not to wince at the prices; mall stores are always more expensive, and while it’s not a big deal to rich mob families, it is to Danny, who has spent most of his time in this dimension homeless and penniless.

The cashier of this store barely glances at them as they scan tags and stuff clothes into a large bag. They don’t notice anything about Dick when he shoves Danny’s hand down and holds out his own card, again, and pays.

Shockingly, Dick’s bad disguise works. Though it might just be because this store is much busier than the first gothic store they shopped in.

Danny hurries out of the store, hoping that he can stop here for the day. He doesn’t get his hopes up too high, though, when he catches sight of the way Dick’s eyeing the food court.

He’s trying to come up with excuses to avoid the area—full of people and noise and too much everything—when Dick’s smile suddenly falls and his eyes go cold as ice.

He grabs Danny a second before the first gunshot rings out.

Immediately, the mall is full of shouts and movement as people rush to get away; either to find a way out of the mall, or into a store where they can hide. More gunshots follow, and a skylight shatters, raining glass down onto the frantic crowd.

Dick grabs Danny’s arm and pulls him away from the food court. Danny keeps pace with him as they sprint through the mall, searching for safety.

Behind them, Danny can hear people screeching and laughing. Before them, at one of the mall’s entrances, he spots a group of people dressed in dark, torn clothing, and strange metal bands around their bicep. Some hold large guns while others have spiked baseball bats or machetes.

From the sounds if it, there’s a group at every entrance.

They’re trapped in.

Dick hisses a curse under his breath and ducks through the crowd, dragging Danny behind him, and ducks into a small space between two stores. There’s a door that leads to an employee only area, but it’s locked.

Most of the crowd goes quiet after that. Danny looks behind them to see people cowering in stores, frantically typing on their phones; he hopes at least one of them is able to contact someone who can help. A few are still out in the open, crouched behind benches and massage chairs, holding onto each other.

“Aww, don’t be so scared,” someone croons, “We ain’t gonna hurt you too much. So long as you give me your wallets, we’re all good.”

A robbery, Danny realizes, an extreme robbery.

He’s not a hero. He doesn’t want to be a hero when he doesn't need to be. There are, apparently, many heroes in this world who can help but none of them are here. It’s just Danny and a bunch of civilians, at the mercy of whoever this gang of thieves is.

It’s just Danny and Dick, stuck hidden away, because Dick is a bigger target than anyone else.

“We’re going to be fine, Danny,” Dick whispers. He’s tucking his phone back into his pocket and taking off his hat and sunglasses. “Don’t worry.”

Danny’s not worrying. He’s concerned for the safety of everyone else, but he’s not worried about himself. What are they going to do, kill him a second time? Fat chance.

The problem is that the only way Danny can do anything is by going ghost, and he can’t do that with Dick holding him back.

Outside their hiding spot, glass shatters and more gunshots go off. “Don’t be greedy now!” someone shouts, then cackles, “Just pass over what you’ve got in that cash register and we’ll be on our way.”

From farther away, someone says, “Don’t get smart with me,” and smashes a counter. From the sound of it, they actually smashed their fist through the counter.

Most people don’t have that kind of strength.

“Dick,” Danny says, and Dick shushes him.

“It’s fine. Help will be here soon.”

Danny focuses his hearing, trying to make sure no one is getting hurt or killed. The gunshots and destruction are just intimidation tactics. As long as people cooperate, this day won’t end with a body count. Footsteps get closer, loud against the tense stillness of the mall.

He shifts his weight, then steps forward, placing himself in front of Dick.

“Danny, what are you—”

“Dick.” He can hear the echo in his voice, the sound of something inhuman rising to the forefront. “Stay behind me.”

There’s no time for any warning, for any reassurance. Three gang members walk by and find them.

“Well look what we have here!” one of them jeers, swinging around a baseball bat, “Two little pigs tryin’ hide from us!”

“Come on out, piggies, before we have to drag you out,” another grins, all teeth.

The third is a large man who doesn’t seem very… cognizant. He twitches, breathing heavily as his eyes dart around. All three of them have a strange gleam in their eyes, one that reminds him of the mugger who went after Alfred.

Are they drugged?

Danny slowly steps forward, eyes fixed on them. They make condescending whistles and clicks, treating him like a scared animal. They don’t know how tightly Danny’s holding onto his humanity, how badly he wants to let go and make them beg for mercy.

A hand grabs his. “Don’t, Danny.”

“Well, shit!” one of the gang members says, “That’s a Wayne! How much do ya think he’ll sell for?”

They don’t wait any longer. They rush in and grab Danny by his shirt, dragging him out. Danny takes a moment to glance behind him to see Dick caught by one, arms twisted behind his back. There’s a furrow in his brow, a look of barely concealed panic on his face, and he catches a single comment about making good use of a pretty boy like him before the rush in his ears drowns it all out.

The first one doesn’t even have a second to understand what’s happening before he’s on the ground, knocked out cold. Danny slips up, his humanity pushed back, and claws at the end of his fingers cut through the skin of the his temple, leaving the gang member to bleed onto the floor.

Cold mist wafts out of his mouth and he runs his tongue over the sharp fangs in his mouth.

“Danny, don’t!” Dick cries, and then he’s twisting his body into a strange shape, easily slipping out of the grasp of the gang member who holds him. He swings a kick up, knocking them out quickly, and reaches for Danny but Danny’s already moving.

The big guy slams his fists into the place where Dick was standing. Danny hisses at him a few feet away, dropping Dick back onto the ground, safe and sound.

“Touch him and I’ll rip every bone out of your hand,” he growls.

The big guy doesn’t care. The big guy might not even understand what Danny’s saying, too lost in his drug induced delirium. He charges, bellowing, and Danny grabs one of his arms and throws him onto the floor. Before he can get up again, Danny slams his foot onto his chest and holds him down, slowly pressing the air out of his lungs. He’s baring his teeth in a snarl, leaning closer, ready to rip into his flesh and make him cry when Dick smashes a baseball bat into the big guy’s head and knocks him out.

Danny doesn’t let up. Doesn’t move at all, still too lost in the instinct to protect, to end the threat through any means necessary, to feel more than a distant glimmer of panic. He knows he doesn’t look very human at the moment, can feel his more monstrous, ghostly features take over.

But Dick doesn’t look scared. He has his hands up, carefully reaching for Danny.

“Hey, come on. It’s fine. We’re fine. Help is almost here.” Another gunshot rings out, breaking the silence, and Dick glances over to the entrance. “Help is here, actually.”

“Either you give up now or I make you wish you had given up. Make a choice, fuckers! I don’t have any patience left for you.” The voice that speaks is strangely mechanical, and when Danny looks over to take note of this new player, he has to wonder why anyone would ever wear a full face red helmet.

“That’s Red Hood,” Dick says, “He’ll take care of them and get everyone out safe, okay? So can you come over here, please?”

Red Hood. Was this one of Gotham’s heroes? This is one he hasn’t heard about yet, but Dick doesn’t seem all that worried, so Danny steps off of the big guy’s chest and allows Dick to pull him over to the side.

No one pays any attention to them once Red Hood throws himself into the fray, a whirlwind of violence as he takes out every single gang member who rushes at him. A few try to run away, but well placed shots take out their knees and leave them curled up on the ground in pain.

He catches a few whispers from a nearby store, as someone says, “God, he’s hot. I kinda want him to punch me like that.”

Danny tries not to make a face at that because 1) he’s dealt with the Phan Club and he’s used to those kinds of comments and 2) Red Hood is literally punching people into the ground. With great force. A lot of violence. The brutality with which Red Hood is dealing with the gang is honestly impressive.

While he doesn’t want to be punched like that, he does want to know how to do something similar. It would be a good move to add to his arsenal.

It takes only a few minutes to deal with all the gang members on this end of the mall. The atmosphere relaxes and Danny sees more than a few people slump over in relief, leaning against walls and collapsing on each other.

“You’ll be fine now,” Red Hood says, “Just sit tight for the police to get these guys, and then you’ll be out of here.”

A few people call out their thanks as he walks by, and Danny thinks that he’s going to leave, deal with the other gang members scattered around the mall. But a few more steps and it’s clear that Red Hood is making a beeline right for him.

Tensing, Danny shoves Dick behind him, feeling a growl begin to build up in his throat.

“Woah, woah, Danny! It’s fine! Red Hood’s not going to hurt us!” Dick hurries to assure, trying to step out from behind Danny. He doesn’t manage to take more than a single step in any direction before Danny is herding him back.

Red Hood slows down as he approaches, no longer marching towards them with danger written in every line of his body. “Huh,” he says as he comes to a stop just a few feet in front of Danny. He keeps one hand on his gun, ready to pull it out of its holster at any moment. “Dick,” he greets, but it sounds less like Dick’s name and more like an insult.

“Hood! So glad you got my message.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not every day I get to save a Grayson in distress. You owe me for this, by the way. I could be home watching telenovelas right now.”

“Aw, come on, Hood, would you really abandon me like that?”

Red Hood laughs, and the hamlet makes it come out staticy and unnatural. “I’d shoot you for fun, Dickface.”

Danny hisses at Red Hood and delights in the way he shifts nervously, not stepping back but clearly apprehensive. He should be nervous; threatening someone under Danny’s protection right in front of him is bold, to say the least.

“It’s okay, Danny,” Dick says again, trying to soothe him. He doesn’t try to move around Danny again, just stays and puts a hand on Danny’s shoulder. The single point of contact grounds him enough to pull his ghostly features back partway, leaving only the toxic green of his eyes and the fangs in his mouth. “Red Hood’s not going to hurt me. He saved us, didn’t he? He’s one of Gotham’s heroes, he’s a good guy.”

“Excuse you, Dick, but I am a crime lord not a hero.”

“A crime lord who helps people! Who is considered Crime Alley’s hero! Just admit it, you’re one of the good guys.”

Red Hood being a crime lord is much more believable than him being a hero. It also makes the familiarity between him and Dick seem less strange; surely, as a crime lord, he’s dealt with the Wayne Mob before. They’ve probably made deals between themselves and done super illegal things together. Dick is the eldest Wayne child, of course he’s friends with crime lords like Red Hood.

The hero thing is something he takes with a grain of salt. From the sounds of things, it’s really just a matter of perspective, and Danny is solidly on the side of not a hero. Sure he saved them, but he could have just had beef with this gang to begin with and decided to get rid of them when he had the chance. He’s like Red Huntress in that way: focused more on attacking threats than protecting the people in danger.

“Hey, kid,” Red Hood says, looking down at the big guy Danny took out, “Are you sure you’re human?”

“Oh my God, Hood, you can’t just ask people that!” Dick groans, slumping onto Danny’s back.

Red Hood crosses his arms. He doesn’t look away from Danny. “It’s a valid question. No one normal can just knock down a guy like this so easily. You take any drugs?”

Danny blinks, thrown by the sudden question. “No?”

Red Hood tilts his head. “Are you being drugged by someone else?”

“Definitely not. At least, not that I’m aware of.”

“Wait,” Dick says, “You think—”

“Well, these guys,” Red Hood kicks the big guy, “have been running around Gotham hopped up on Venom. Or something close to it.”

“Have you talked to Batman about it?”

“Why the fuck would I do that? This is shit in my territory. This is affecting my people. The big bad Bat can keep his nose out of this. It’s my case, alright.”

Dick shrugs, and Danny shifts, trying to keep balanced under the movement. “It’s not staying in your territory, though. They came here in the middle of the day. And speaking of the day, is Signal here?”

“He’s taking care of the other side of the mall.”

“And he’s alright on his own?”

“Relax, he’s a big boy, he can handle himself. If he needed any help, he’d let me know.”

Dick pulls Danny back, smoothly stepping to the side so they stand together, Dick’s arm heavy around Danny’s shoulders, clearly holding him in place. “Signal is another one of Gotham’s heroes. He’s our daylight hero,” Dick explains.

He remembers Duke mentioning Signal at dinner. “Duke likes him, right?” Danny asks, “Signal and… Nightlight? Nighthawk? Something like that.”

“Nightwing,” Dick corrects with a strained smile. Red Hood snorts, and quickly clears his throat to act as if he wasn’t about to laugh when Dick shoots him a poisonous glare.

“Yeah, him.”

“Well, as fun as this has been, I think it’s time for us to go! Bye, Hood, try not to cause too much of a mess once we leave.”

“Don’t worry,” Red Hood says, “I’ll make sure the blood is easy to clean up.”

“Great! Bye!”

And with that, Dick steers Danny away, turning their backs on the dangerous, gun-wielding crime lord. They go back to where they were originally hiding and instead of stopping at the locked door, Dick kicks it open and keeps walking. There’s no time to ask questions when Dick is rushing them through the back, following the green signs pointing towards the emergency exit.

It’s a relief to be back outside. A few rays of sunlight manage to get past the gray clouds that cover the sky, and all the noise and chaos of the mall suddenly feels far away. Sirens fill the city as police cars speed down streets, heading their way, but they’re not here yet.

“Sorry about your first day out being such a mess,” Dick says, “We can try again some other day.”

“I’d really rather just do some online shopping.”

Dick laughs, shaking his head. “Totally fair, after today. C’mon, let’s go home.”

. . .

The foyer is spotless. Danny can’t help but feel proud, even if Alfred did most of the work. The section that he handled, after Alfred showed him which cleaning supplies to use and the necessary steps to ensure everything was properly cleaned, is tidy and almost sparkling.

It’s surprisingly enjoyable work. He’s always hated cleaning, from his own room to any place his parents tried out a new invention or did experiments. But this? Cleaning the manor with Alfred? It’s actually fun.

Seeing everything come together after all their hard work is just as rewarding.

He’s glad he’s allowed to wear casual clothes; there’s no way he can do any cleaning in a suit and have it come out stainless and clean. Alfred probably uses his special magic to remain put together no matter what he does.

“Very good, Danny,” Alfred says once he looks over Danny’s section of the foyer. “You pick on everything so quickly. Soon I’ll have nothing left to teach you.”

“I’m not that good, Alfred, you don’t need to lie. Besides, it’s just cleaning. I’m not coming up with meal plans and organizing events and all the way you do.”

“And you’ll find that those tasks are just as easy to complete once you know how to go about them. Don’t discredit yourself, Danny, you’re an incredibly smart young man.”

Danny ducks his head, bashful, and shrugs. “I’m really not, but… Thanks.”

“Come now. With everyone out of the manor, we can tidy up all the spaces they usually occupy. Let us begin in the family den.”

It’s not like they have anything else to do. For once, the manor is empty of everyone but them so there’s no one Alfred needs to tend to. He doesn’t need to worry about preparing large lunches, either, when Danny is still slowly recovering his appetite.

The family den is one of the rooms that Danny can find on his own, so he doesn’t trail after Alfred, helplessly lost. It’s a nice change of pace. They stop once on the way to grab a vacuum and a duster from a small supply closet in the hall. Danny grabs the vacuum before Alfred can and carries it the rest of the way, feeling inordinately pleased at being able to help Alfred before he can insist on doing everything on his own.

The door is already open when they arrive. It’s one of the few doors in the manor that is almost never closed, except for when they have a lot of food out and don’t want any pets stealing some, according to Alfred. Danny has yet to see any pets, but he’s looking forward to it. There’s so many places they could be hiding and it has Danny glancing around everywhere he goes, hoping to catch at least one of them. He’s hoping for one of the dogs. Maybe a cat.

Damian is the one who primarily takes care of the pets, so Danny doesn’t get to have that responsibility, which he’s only a little upset about. It’s fine, really.

He misses Cujo.

There’s a lot he didn’t realize he was going to lose when he ran away. It just hadn’t been on his mind, not when Jazz was yelling at their parents, and Jack and Maddie were shooting at him, Fenton Thermos at the ready to trap him again. There wasn’t any time to focus on anything besides the panic, the pressing need to go as far away as possible, the fear fear fear taking hold of him and leaving room for nothing else.

It was Jazz who had opened the portal, who screeched and threw things at their parents, creating a distraction as she pretended to be afraid of the ghost who had escaped. But it was Danny who flew in, thinking please take me away to someplace they can’t hurt me.

The Ghost Zone is strange. It’s only a part of the Infinite Realms. More than ghosts exist within that space, living within the fabric that holds the universe together. Full of that much ectoplasm and emotion and constant movement, it’s like nothing else. Danny didn’t know before that moment, hadn’t had the time to realize it until it was too late, that the Infinite Realms are alive.

It heard his plea. It reached out to him, crooning a dizzying song that shook every string crossing the universe, and gave him what he asked for.

Danny didn’t remember much after that. He felt his core spark, wrapped in the embrace of the Infinite Realms, and then he was taken away. The brief flashes he does have of the journey don’t help him piece together what happened. All he has is the fading memory of being surrounded by stars, of aurora borealis dancing around him, of a sudden cold as he was ripped away from home and left in someplace foreign.

He woke up in this universe where he doesn’t exist. Where no one he knows exists in any way. There are no ghosts, no ectoplasm, not Fentons or GIW or Amity Park.

There’s no one, and Danny stares down at the floor, clutching the vacuum in his hands as he’s hit by the sudden grief of losing everyone he’s ever known.

He knows that there’s no way for him to return to his universe. What was once his home is far out of reach. He’ll never see anyone he loves again. Not just Cujo, but Jazz and Tucker and Sam. Frostbite. Pandora. Even Walker and Wulf.

“Danny?” A hand comes to rest on his shoulder, the touch light and gentle. “Are you quite alright?”

He sucks in a shuddering breath and tries to plaster on a smile. It falls flat, and he gives up completely. “I don’t think I can ever go back home,” he confesses, and blinks back the burn of oncoming tears.

“That’s alright,” Alfred says, “You have a home here.”

It’s a nice thought, but it’s not the home he wants. Maybe one day it can be; he’s staying for Alfred, but maybe he’ll want to keep coming back for the other members of the Wayne family. They’ve been nice to him so far, despite being part of a mob, and he thinks he can come to like all of them given enough time.

But none of them will ever be enough to fill the void that comes from the loss of Jazz, Tucker, and Sam.

“May I ask what brought this on? Is it because this is the family den?”

Danny latches onto the suggestion. It makes more sense than thinking about dogs and missing his own ghost pet. And missing his own section of the Infinite Realms. He shrugs and says, “Yeah, a little. Sorry for getting emotional all of a sudden. I’ll just… start cleaning.”

He glances up to catch Alfred’s frown, but gets to work before he can be told to take a break or, worse, talk about his feelings.

He goes straight to an outlet in the wall to plug in the vacuum; it’s an old model with a cord, and he wonders if this is just what Alfred prefers when he’s sure that cordless vacuums exist. It can’t be that the Waynes don’t want to get Alfred decent cleaning equipment because they all defer to him despite him being their butler.

“If you’ll allow me,” Alfred says, grabbing hold of the vacuum before Danny can protest. “These settings,” he changes a few settings on the vacuum, “are best for cleaning carpeted surfaces.”

And then he gets right to it, leaving Danny behind.

While Danny’s plan to just do stuff before Alfred can tell him otherwise works, he forgot to account for the fact that Alfred can, at any moment, hit him with a reverse Uno..

Alfred makes his way through the family den fairly quickly, moving in straight lines across the room. Danny trails after him, making sure the cord doesn’t get caught on anything or tangled, and takes hold of the duster to clean off picture frames on the wall.

One frame tilts as he dusts it, and Danny reaches out to fix it when he pauses. There’s a strange sound of something scraping against the wall. It doesn't sound anything like a frame, so Danny looks back to Alfred to make sure he’s turned away, then slowly lifts up the frame.

Stuck to the back is two daggers in sheaths decorated lightly with gold accents.

None of my business, Danny thinks, and quickly lays the frame to rest flat against the wall, straightened out.

He rolls the duster down from where it was resting in the crook of his elbow and into his hand. He twirls it around once, spots a flurry of dust falling off of it, and resolves not to do that again.

He’ll… get the handle of keeping things clean eventually.

The vacuum cuts off suddenly, and the silence that follows rings a little in Danny’s ears.

“Danny,” Alfred calls out, “Would you mind lifting the couch so I can clean underneath it?”

“Sure,” Danny says without thinking. He reaches the couch and leaves the duster on the edge of the coffee table. He moves to grab the couch and start lifting it when he realizes that couches are heavy and most people are unable to lift one on their own.

He glances at Alfred. “Umm…”

“You may use whatever powers you have at your disposal,” Alfred says very casually. Danny swears he can feel his heart stop at the words. It’s not that he’s been very good at keeping his ghostliness hidden, but it was mostly used for fights and intimidation, but he was hoping no one would talk about it and they could all just ignore it.

Whatever expression is on his face must be bad because Alfred visibly softens. He doesn’t move to touch Danny again, which is a relief because he feels like jumping out of his own skin and disappearing. Instead, he sets the vacuum down and gives Danny his full attention.

“I am well aware of the fact that you are a meta.” Again, what is a meta? He heard it at dinner with the Waynes, but he hasn’t gotten an explanation. So he can’t say that he is a meta, but he also can’t say that he isn’t. “You don’t need to worry. The Wayne family is very good at keeping secrets.” There’s a hint of a laugh in his voice.

That didn’t sound funny or reassuring, it just sounded a little like a threat. The Waynes probably are good at keeping secrets, such as where they hid the bodies of those who were foolish enough to cross them. Danny really doesn’t want any details.

“Metas are protected, and I will never force you to reveal any details about your powers to anyone, including me. But if you have these powers, then it will be good to use them. Cleaning and other small tasks are a good way of practicing with your powers and giving you greater control of them.”

It takes a moment for Danny to process the words, and another minute for his brain to fully reboot after understanding what Alfred’s attempting to do.

He’s trying to train Danny on how to use his powers through simple, every day tasks. This is Danny’s Karate Kid moment, but instead of learning how to fight with wax on wax off, he’s learning how to butler.

Which might be the same thing in Gotham, according to the things he’s heard.

“Okay,” he says weakly, “Sounds good.” And then, instead of lifting the couch, he turns it intangible and invisible so Alfred can vacuum straight through it.

“Oh my,” Alfred says, eyebrows rising at the display of his powers.

“The couch is still here, you can just… ignore it while I’m touching it.”

Efficient as always, Alfred doesn’t let this throw him off his rhythm. He flicks the vacuum back on and continues cleaning, calming walking through the couch as if he does this all the time. Even Jazz always hesitated before walking through anything he made intangible, unable to help it. Butlers are just built different, apparently.

As soon as he cleans the floor underneath the couch, he nods to Danny who takes his cue to release the couch from his powers. It pops back into the visible spectrum, fully solid and intact.

“Would you mind fluffing the cushions and folding the blankets?”

Danny salutes Alfred and gets to it, shaking out each blanket out before folding them, taking the time to make sure each corner lines up and all the edges are straight and even. He leaves them thrown over the back of the couch, piled on top of each other, ready for the next Wayne to collapse onto the couch and bundle up for a movie.

By the time he’s finished and is satisfied with his work, Alfred has finished vacuuming the entire room. It’s a large room and Alfred hadn’t exactly been rushing through it, so Danny’ not quite sure how he got it done so quickly. It keeps surprising him, how competent Alfred is. No one else he’s ever met has been this put together or skilled, especially in the realm of domestic work.

Alfred gathers up the cord of the vacuum and looks over the family den with a critical eye. When he nods, satisfied with the state of it, Danny lets out a quiet sigh of relief.

“Shall we head to the kitchen for lunch, Danny?” he asks, reaching down the lift up the vacuum. Which is unacceptable! Danny carried it in and he’ll carry it out.

He uses a bit of flight to cross the distance between them faster, not held back by friction. He swipes the vacuum from Alfred’s hand and gives him a cheerful grin. “Sure! Now’s a great time for a break, anyways.”

They had spent the morning doing laundry, which mostly consisted of separating everything into different loads and starting the washer. The clothesline strung up outside is primarily for bedsheets and blankets, so they didn’t even need to wait a long time for clothes to dry. Even folding everything and putting them in piles based on whose clothes they were didn’t take more than an hour between them. It wasn’t intensive work, as most of it was just waiting around, drinking tea and talking to each other.

Even cleaning barely put a dent in Danny’s energy levels. He hasn’t done enough to be hungry quite yet, but the thought of eating isn’t as uncomfortable as it once was.

Progress. No matter how small it is.

Hell, soon he might even be able to start asking for snacks in between meals. That will probably have Alfred weeping with joy. Internally, of course, seeing how he’s an old British guy who keeps most of his strong emotions hidden behind the facade of professional calmness.

But while he may be fine on eating for a few more hours, Alfred needs to sit down and have lunch. It didn’t feel like it, but they did get a lot of housework done. They did it together, which cut down on how long each chore took, and Danny can’t fathom how Alfred has kept this manor running by himself all these years.

It’s so much ground to cover for one person, especially one as old as Alfred.

And since he’s busy taking care of everyone, who takes care of him?

Danny, now. He’s determined to return the kindness Alfred’s shown him tenfold.

He’s cemented the location of the hallway closet now. Everything is organized neatly within and it takes barely half a minute to put everything away, bodily blocking Alfred from doing anything to help.

“I will say, I’m unused to having so much free time,” Alfred chuckles, “You are incredibly efficient. You’ll be taking over in no time.”

“As if I could ever replace you, Alfred. Besides, you’re the best cook around! No way will I ever be able to compete against you in the kitchen.”

“Don’t discount yourself so soon. You’ve only recently begun your cooking journey. I have no doubt that you will take to it as quickly as everything else.”

Danny thinks back to the Fenton kitchen, full of tech and wires and scrap metal and tools scattered around. He thinks of food coming back to life, of needing to keep chains and padlocks in one of the cabinets just in case, of constant ecto-contamination. Their house would fail every single safety inspection to exist.

That kitchen wasn’t safe to cook in, and due to that, nothing cooked in it was safe. Most of what his parents made was edible! But it definitely wasn’t safe.

“If you say so,” Danny says, trying not to grimace. He hopes his own halfa biology won’t lead to a food contamination. It’s never happened before, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

Maybe he could brainstorm some safety measures with Alfred. Just in case.

Unfortunately for him, the very thought of discussing his halfa status and nonhuman biology makes him feel nauseous. Alfred is kind and clearly wants the best for Danny, but in that case, what he considers to be best for Danny might be handing him over to scientists or doctors to learn more about him and it’ll be like he never left his parents at all.

“Come now, Danny, it’s time we work on your confidence in the kitchen,” Alfred says, already turning on his heel and walking down the hallway with purpose.

Danny tries to shake all thoughts of violent hotdogs out of his head and hurries to follow, keeping close to Alfred until the halls begin to look more familiar. Being within the walls of Wayne Manor doesn’t feel so intimidating, but it is hard to be intimidated by a place when he’s helping clean it.

The steady disappearance of his anxiety around staying with Waynes is nice. He’s tired of being scared and he hasn’t felt comfortable anywhere like this since before his accident.

And he’s barely run into anything involving their mob business! That’s more than he’s gotten from Vlad or his parents. They’re actually sticking to the conditions he set, including the keep me out of shady shit one.

Maybe Jazz was onto something when she was lecturing him about enforcing and respecting boundaries. This is great.

This job could end up being really good for him. More than he ever expected.

“Do you have anything in mind for what you’d like for lunch?” Alfred asks as they enter the kitchen.

Danny shrugs. “Anything’s fine, really.”

“I would appreciate an actual answer, Danny.”

“Then… how about something easy to make? So I can try my hand at making my own lunch.”

Alfred nods once, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Something simple. Perhaps a sandwich?”

“Yeah, a sandwich sounds great.” He doesn’t say that he already knows how to make a sandwich; pretty much everyone knows that much. It’s just slapping various ingredients in between two slices of bread. Easy. But if that’s what Alfred wants to make, then that’s what they’ll make.

“Let us begin by going to the garden.”

The thought of going outside perks him up, and Danny’s by the door even before Alfred is. The small vegetable garden Alfred’s cultivated is just outside the kitchen, organized into raised beds full of crop.

He accepts the gardening gloves Alfred holds out to him. They’re large on his hands, but not enough to hinder him as he kneels next to the tomato plants. He watches carefully as Alfred clips off ripe tomatoes, carefully holding them as he positions the garden clippers above the stems.

Each tomato is perfectly round and red and he’s half tempted to bite into one just to see if it tastes as good as it looks. As if hearing his thoughts, Alfred drops one into Danny’s hand.

“Go on,” Alfred prompts, and Danny looks up from where he’s been staring at the tomato.

“Huh?”

“Eat it. I can see that you want to.”

Danny flushes and moves to give it back, caught. “Sorry.”

“No need, Danny. I have helped raised quite a few children and teenagers in my time. I know to offer some of the crop when they accompany me out to the garden.”

He should give it back. He’s here to help Alfred, not add to his workload. He should be focused on working because this is his job, the first and only one he’s ever had, and he doesn’t want to mess it up.

But no one else is here at the manor. It’s just him and Alfred and Alfred has given him permission. So Danny takes off one of the gloves to hold the tomato up to his mouth, thanks Alfred quietly, then carefully bites into the tomato.

His carefulness doesn’t matter at all when the tomato is as juicy as it is. He startles and leans forward to let the tomato juice drip off his chin onto the ground instead of onto his clothes. Besides him, he can hear Alfred chuckling lightly as he sets all the tomatoes he’s gathered into a large, woven basket.

“How is it?”

“This is the best tomato I’ve ever eaten,” Danny says, taking another bite. “Ho’ do you do thi’?”

“Don’t speak with your mouth full, Danny,” Alfred reprimands lightly. “I’ve simply had many years of experience tending to vegetable crops in this garden. I know very well what works and what doesn’t. Though the garden has gotten smaller over the years, it is still one of my proudest works.”

He finishes the tomato and shakes his hand to get some of the juice off. He tries to wipe his face off, but it’s hard when he doesn’t have anything to clean up with, so he settles with getting the rest of the drops off and resolves to clean up properly once they’re inside again.

Alfred stands slowly, his knees clicking, and Danny winces sympathetically. He takes hold of the basket for Alfred and rests it in the crook of his elbow.

“Spinach or cucumbers?” Alfred asks suddenly.

Danny blinks at Alfred, then thinks about it. He doesn’t eat much of either, but he’s heard Sam talk about how cooking spinach makes it shrink to the point of there being no spinach. Cucumber would probably go easier, so he says, “Cucumbers. Why?”

“That’s what we will get next to make lunch with.”

Are there cucumber sandwiches? Is that a thing? If it is, Danny’s never hear of it, but he trust Alfred to make it good.

Alfred leads the way to a shadier portion of the vegetable garden where long tendrils full of dark green leaves twist their way around a metal trellis. Hanging from the vines are cucumbers in various stages of growth; some are large and heavy, while others are still small and not quite green, covered in bumps.

“Why don’t you pick a few, Danny?”

“How do I know if it’s ripe?”

“Look for ones that are large and have a good color to them. The less visible bumps in the skin, the better.” Alfred holds on up as an example, then cuts it with the gardening clipper and lays it into the basket besides the tomatoes.

Danny takes the clippers and begins shifting through the leaves and vines, looking over all the cucumbers he finds with a critical eye. He finds one that looks good close to the dirt and takes it in his hand to look over. Alfred doesn’t stop him as he lifts the clippers, so he figures it’s good enough and adds it to the basket.

“How many?” he asks, finding another cucumber ready to be picked.

“As many as you like. We can always get more later.”

Just to be safe, Danny gets five cucumbers. This lunch may be for just the two of them, but the rest of the family requires a lot more food. Whatever’s left over after Danny eats can be used in other dishes for the Wayne family.

He has no doubt they’ll be stopping in the kitchen first as soon as they return. With cooking like Alfred’s around, even Danny would be visiting the kitchen often in the hopes of sneaking a few bites of what he’s making.

Luckily, he doesn’t have to by virtue of being Alfred’s sous chef.

They don’t get anything else out in the garden, leaving with their small basket of fresh produce. He’s looking forward to seeing what Alfred can make with these just as he’s starting to look forward to eating.

He’s not super hungry, but that doesn’t mean he can’t eat as much as a regular human.

They return to the kitchen after putting away their gardening gloves into the small storage box by the door, and Danny sets the basket down on the counter as Alfred goes through the fridge, getting ingredients.

As he’s pulling out plates and a butter knife, he asks, “Would you mind setting out a small frying pan onto the stove?”

“Sure!” Danny chirps, then looks through the cabinets below the counter until he finds what he needs. He sets the frying pan out just as Alfred’s pulling the bread box closer from where it was placed against the wall.

“Now,” Alfred begins, “This isn’t quite a sandwich, but it is very easy to make. You may adjust everything to match your own preferences, or the preferences of others.” He pulls out two slices of bread and sets them on the counter.

“Wait, don’t we need a cutting board?”

“A very good observation,” Alfred says. “But not in this kitchen. When it was remodeled many years ago, I changed the countertops. Instead of granite or marble, these are butcher block counters, which are used as cutting boards.”

“So the entire counter is a cutting board.”

“Precisely.”

With that, he grabs the butter knife to cut a small slab of butter to drop into the pan. “I will be teaching you how to make bruschetta and crostini. These are toasted breads that come with a variety of toppings. We will stick to a classic bruschetta and a salmon, cucumber, cream cheese crostini.”

Alfred pulls open one draw to reveal a knife block and wide range of knives, all different sizes.

“For smaller and softer ingredients like the ones we will be using, you may use a smaller knife. A medium size will be best.” He takes hold of his own knife and Danny gauges its size before grabbing one that seems to be similar.

He sets the knife down on the counter, keeping the blade pointed away from him, and grabs the basket to place in front of them, easy to reach. He follows Alfred’s lead and grabs a tomato, washing it off lightly in the sink, then sets it down in front of him.

“When you are using a knife, always keep the fingers of your nondominant hand curled so you do not accidentally cut them.” Alfred demonstrates, holding his tomato in place with his left hand, curling his fingers so he makes a loose fist. He slides the flat blade of the knife against his knuckles to show how it can’t cut his fingers, then waits for Danny to do the same.

As soon as he does, he’s showing Danny how to cut tomatoes without squishing them or getting juice everywhere. Then he instructs Danny on how to peel cucumbers and cut them.

Once they get everything slices and ready, Alfred flicks on the stove and moves the slab of butter around to make sure it coats a much of the inside as possible. He then takes a slice of bread and places it into the pan.

“We don’t want it toasted too much. Lightly on both sides will do.”

Danny hesitantly accepts the spatula held out to him and hopes he doesn’t make Alfred waste bread. His attempts at making toast without a toaster usually leads to at least one side being charcoal black.

But Alfred is patient and attentive, instructing Danny when to flip each piece of bread to ensure they are lightly golden on both sides. He goes over what to add to make bruschetta, what to add to make crostini, and allows Danny to assemble both.

It doesn’t look very pretty, but it tastes amazing when they sit down to eat.

“You’re a really good teacher,” Danny says, finishing up the last of the bread.

“Thank you,” Alfred smiles. “It helps that I have a wonderful student.”

“Can you teach me more? It can be later if we need to do more cleaning or something.”

“All of that can wait until tomorrow. Would you like to try your hand at baking?”

Danny lights up, grinning, and says, “Yeah! Can we make cookies?” Cooking is one thing, but baking in another. He’s not half bad at baking when he can muster up the motivation to make things. Following recipes is easy and unlike with cooking, baking requires precision and sticking to what’s written. He doesn’t know how to make too many things, but brownies were easy for him during the few times he actually baked them.

“Of course. Shall we make chocolate chip or would you like to do something else?”

“Chocolate chip to start, I think. And then we can see what else we can make, if that’s okay?”

“That sounds perfectly fine,” Alfred says, “Let’s clean up first before we get started.”

Danny all but leaps out of his chair, eager to start, and gathers their dishes to put in the sink. He washes as Alfred takes hold of a dish towel and gets to work drying, putting everything away where it belongs.

The time spent baking goes by quickly after that. It’s much easier and less stressful than cooking, and each time a batch of cookies comes out picture perfect, Danny can’t help but grin.

They’re all placed into various containers once they cool, each one filling up with just half a batch. The chocolate chip cookies where then changed into double chocolate cookies, followed by jam cookies and lemon cookies. The smell of it all fills the air and Danny doesn’t bothering smothering the pride he feels when he catches sight of all the cookies covering the counter.

From there, it’s easy to transition into preparing for dinner as the late afternoon hour brings with it a promise of everyone returning home.

He puts his newly learned cutting skills to use as he helps Alfred make a potato gratin to accompany the carbonara he’s making for dinner. He’s even able to make the salad by himself, although it didn’t require much except cutting and tossing once he added the dressing.

The first people to arrive back in the manor are Damian and Bruce. They appear in the doorway of the kitchen suddenly, and Danny only had a split second to realize that he’s being watched before Bruce greets them both. The sound of his voice makes Danny twist around to look at him, make sure he’s not too close.

Bruce doesn’t move from near the door. He only goes a few steps into the kitchen, enough to get close to the island where the last batch of cooling cookies lays. Damian looks over Alfred, then turns his sharp gaze to Danny, studying him.

He leaves without a word and Danny can only hope Damian wasn’t looking for anything nonhuman about Danny. That’s really the only reason he can think of to explain to scrutiny, and he doesn’t like it.

“Did you make these?” Bruce asks, picking up a lemon cookie. It’s supposed to be dusted with powdered sugar, but they hadn’t cooled enough before both he and Alfred got caught up in preparing dinner.

Danny nods, a small thing, barely noticeable, but it makes Bruce smile. Not a big, theatric smile meant to distract. This one is smaller, more genuine and soft.

“May I?” He lifts the cookie up, waiting for permission.

Bruce is the master of the house. He doesn’t need to ask for permission. It’s not like any of the cookies are for Danny, anyways. He doubts he has the stomach to handle one, let alone the five batches he made.

He glances at Alfred, hoping the butler will take over. But Alfred simple keeps himself busy at the stove, firmly keeping himself out of the conversation.

“Um, sure,” Danny answers, hesitantly.

“Thank you,” Bruce says, and takes a bite. Danny watches him carefully for any signs that it’s bad, that he doesn’t like it, that he’s disappointed that Danny doesn’t live up to Alfred’s skills. But he doesn’t. He eats it calmly, then grabs a second on. “These are delicious.”

Danny’s shoulders slump; he hadn’t realized how tense waiting for an answer had made him.

“If that is all, Master Bruce,” Alfred cuts in, “Do go wash up. Try not to spoil your appetite before dinner.”

“Alright. Do you know if Tim is going to be here for dinner tonight?”

“I haven’t heard from him today. Perhaps you should reach out to him if you would like him to be here.”

“Right. Right, I’ll… do that. And Danny,” he turns his attention away from Alfred, the lightness of his tone at odds against the dark light of his eyes. It almost feels as if Bruce can see through him, searching for all his secrets. “I’ll be in my study if you need anything, alright?”

“Okay.” Danny turns around and ducks his head, trying to focus but he can barely remember what he was doing before. He just stands, tense, frozen with his hands gripping the edge of the counter.

He hears Bruce move, his suit shifting as he straightens out. “I also heard about the incident at the mall, yesterday. Dick only told me about it today.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Though this isn’t required of you, if you’d ever like to learn self-defense, let me know. I have trained in many different martial arts and I would be happy to teach you.”

That… wasn’t at all what he was expecting to hear. He was more prepared for an interrogation about what he is. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Bruce fired him for being inhuman. Half-human. Whatever.

He opens his mouth to say something along the lines of no thanks I don’t plan on being seen in public ever again, but what comes out instead is, “If you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t. We can get started this weekend.”

Danny’s traitorous body nods even as he mind goes what the hell do you think you’re doing. This was not in the plans. This was not in any plan! There was no previous discussion about that. Danny was fine with the kidnapping policy and the very specific types of insurance he was given.

Having Bruce teach him self-defense feels like something from a fever dream. But here they are, Bruce leaving the kitchen with an agreement from Danny to have weekend self-defense lessons.

“Alfred,” he says, blankly, after Bruce leaves.

“Yes, Danny?”

“Is it too late to fake my death and run away?”

“No need for such dramatics. Self-defense is important, especially in Gotham, and Master Bruce has trained every child that has been in this manor. He will teach you well.”

That’s not really the problem.

The problem is that Danny doesn’t know his limits against regular humans. He has no idea how much strength to use against them. He’s even worse about staying human during a fight. The last thing Danny wants is to go full angry ghost against Bruce for the high crime of trying to help him.

But if Alfred says it’ll be fine, then Danny will need to trust in that. Surely Alfred will talk to Bruce about Danny’s powers and they’ll be better prepared to face him.

He’ll just have to do his best to be a normal-ish person and hope things work out. Knowing his luck, however…

At least he has cookies to accompany his misery.

#dc x dp #dp x dc #dp x dp fanfic #alfred's apprentice au #butler danny au #fic #my writing #sooo much worldbuilding here. v excited to share my plans for danny and everyone and gotham #can guarantee that no one can predict what i'll be doing with this fic #in the last three chapters #(pls let three more be enough)

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centralperkchenford · 6 months

Note

A prompt for you. What if it was teenage Ava and she just hot her first period and Lucy is the home, and so Tim has to help her. I bet he would be so helpful and supportive albiet awkward

I combined like two other prompts just like this one! I hope y’all like it

Rated T. CW: period blood

A prompt for you. What if it was teenage Ava and she just hot her first period and Lucy is the home, and so Tim has to help her. I bet he would be so helpful and supportive albiet awkward

Ava gets her period and Lucy comforts her and tells her it’s normal 💗

Ava has her first period but Lucy isn’t home so Tim has to help/explain it to her 🩸

You will always be our little girl

“Dad! Dad!” Ava’s panicked voice calls from upstairs. Tim looks towards the stairs and moves towards the stairs when her voice rings again and this time it sounds like she’s crying. Tim races towards the stairs taking two at a time and bursts into her bedroom.

“Ava?” He calls out. “Baby, where are you?”

“Bathroom.” She says and he pushes open the door to her and Daisy’s shared bathroom. He sees Ava on the toilet with her pants pulled up and her face in between her knees.

“Sweetie what’s wrong?” He asks going over to her.

“Where’s mom?” Ava mumbles.

“At the store. Why?” He asks. Ava sighs and looks up at him.

“W-why am I bleeding?” She asks softly. Tim is a little taken aback a little.

“Where are you bleeding Ava?” He asks and she gives him an incredulous look that reminds him of Lucy.

“I.. uh.. down there.” She says and he looks down and notices the red stain on her pants and he suddenly realizes what this is. She just got her first period.

“Oh.” He says. “Oh Ava—” He’s not sure what to say or how to explain this to her and how it’s completely natural and it means she’s..

Oh god. His baby girl is growing up right before his eyes, his first born the love of his life next to Lucy.

“Daddy.” Ava says and he looks up her, her blue eyes filling with tears. “I want mom.”

“Come here sweetie.” He says and he scoops her up pulling her to his side. “Honey, this is normal okay? It means.. you…”

“It hurts.” She whimpers. Tim soothes her running his hand down his back. He has been through this with Lucy many times. He knows what to do, he just doesn’t know how to explain it to his twelve year old daughter who seems terrified.

“I know sweetie.” He says as he pulls her along. He sits her back on the toilet and goes into her bedroom and gets her clean underwear and pants. And then he goes to the master bath and pulls out some pads. And grabs some Advil and water to hopefully relieve her pain. When he gets back to Ava, Daisy and the twins are in the crowding around her.

“Daddy. What’s wrong with Ava?” June asks in concern. Tim looks over at Ava who is now white as a ghost.

“Ava?” Says Daisy. “What’s wrong?”

“Daddy!”

“GO AWAY!” Ava yells and Tim clears the way to get to her. “Please just go— I can’t..”

Tim looks back at Daisy, Levi and June who look more concerned than anything. “Guys, she’s okay. Just go play okay?”

They all nod and leave the bathroom quietly. Ava’s head falls into Tim’s shoulders as she sits there sobbing.

“It hurts!” She sobs. “Why does it hurt?”

“Here take this sweetie.” He says pressing Advil into her hand. He gives her the water and she swallows them down.

“It hurts—because these hormones in your body are releasing and—”

“It sucks.” She says quietly.

“I know.” He whispers smoothing her hair back.

“How do you know you aren’t a girl.” She says and she clenches up her fists. He swallows a little choosing his words carefully.

“No, I know—”

“You have no idea how it feels!”

“Ava—”

“You are just a stupid boy! You don’t have periods! You don’t have pain!” She cries. Tim shakes his head knowing this is just emotional and a little scary. He doesn’t blame her.

Ava continues to sob, and it takes over her whole body.

Tim rubs her back soothingly. “Baby. Why don’t you get changed okay?”

“I’m messy.” Ava cries. “I want mom!”

Tim really wants Lucy to come home too. He’s not sure how to explain this to his emotionally distraught daughter.

Fucking hormones Lucy would say.

Tim sighs and reaches into his pocket to pull out his phone. He presses Lucy’s name and calls her. She answers on the first ring.

“Hey..” She says but he’s already asking his next question before she can say anymore.

“Where are you?” He asks.

“Driving home why—”

“We have sort of a um— it’s Ava.” He says and he hears Lucy take a deep breath.

“Is she okay?” Lucy asks. Ava continues to sob and Tim rubs her back.

“Yes. But um she uh started her period.” He says quietly and Tim swears he hears Lucy step on the gas.

“Oh god.” Lucy says. “Okay, I’m on my way. I’ll be there in five. Thank god I got chocolate.” Tim snorts and hangs up the phone.

“Mom’s on the way baby.” He tells Ava. “Why don’t you change?”

“No! I’m a bloody mess. Literally. It’s embarrassing!” She cries and Tim shushes her soothingly.

“Sweetie I know it’s scary but it’s nothing to— mom will explain it to you.”

“It’s stupid. I feel stupid and it hurts. And this sucks.” Ava says. Tim hums sympathetically and rubs her back. They sit like that for awhile and then the door is being pushed open and Lucy walks in.

“Hi baby.” She says to Ava and bending down in front of her.

“Mom I’m a mess and dad’s a stupid boy.” Ava says. Lucy bites her lip from laughing and gathers Ava in a hug.

“Here why don’t I help you change and then I have a few remedies that might help okay? Ava, this is completely normal. It means you are growing up and hitting puberty. It means your body is changing a little but it’s okay. Dad and I will help you navigate it okay?” She says softly. Ava nods and her breathing slows down.

“Why does it happen?” Ava asks softly.

“Well.” Starts Lucy looking up at Tim and he supposes he should take notes because Daisy and June will eventually get their periods. “The lining on your uterus builds up and well.. it’s ready for an fertilized egg to attach and start developing and if there is no fertilized eggs it will start to break down and bleed.”

Ava looks confused but she nods and squirms uncomfortably on the toilet. “Can I change?” She asks. Lucy nods and gives Tim a look and he backs out of the bathroom to give them privacy. He paces outside the bathroom because he hates seeing his kids in pain and this is all encompassing for Ava. It’s new and scary.

They come out a few minutes later and Ava is in her pajama shorts and she’s less pale.

“Hi sweetheart.” He says. She walks over slowly and hugs him.

“I’m sorry for calling you a stupid boy. Thanks for trying to help.” She says and Tim raises his eyebrows at Lucy and she laughs a little.

“It’s okay sweetie.” He says softly. “It’s okay.”

“Come on baby.” Lucy says putting her hands on Ava’s shoulders. “I have a few things to try. To lessen the pain.”

Tim watches them as they go down the stairs and smiles. He hates that Ava is growing up and she’s becoming such a beautiful, amazing girl. She always has been but she’s growing up and she still is sassy but she’s so sweet. She’s so protective of her younger siblings.

He checks on his younger kids who are watching a show on the playroom TV and then he goes downstairs stopping short of the living room.

Ava is curled up into Lucy’s side and she has a heating pad on her and she’s munching on a bar of chocolate. There’s a show playing quietly on the TV and Lucy is whispering to Ava soothingly.

He is so lucky to have Lucy in his life. He’s not sure how he would have handled this if he didn’t. He probably would have been called stupid boy a million more times.

He leaves Lucy and Ava to it, knowing this is exactly what his daughter needs.

***

Later that night, Lucy crawls into bed and kisses him. “Thank you for helping Ava.” She says.

He sighs loudly. “I wasn’t much help. She called me a stupid boy.” He says and Lucy kisses him again.

“Those were the hormones talking babe. But you did the best you could. You were there for her and that’s all that matters.” Lucy says.

“I hate that she’s growing up.” Tim says. “It seems like only yesterday we were bringing her home.”

Lucy smiles. “I know it stinks but look at her. She’s beautiful, smart, sassy. She’s everything we could have wanted and more. All our kids are.”

Tim swallows and nods. “Yeah. You are right.” He says. “We have great kids.”

Lucy presses a kiss to his jaw. “Just think in a few years she’s going to go on her first date.”

Tim groans. He’s definitely not ready for that.

#chenford #the rookie #tim bradford #tim x lucy #lucy chen #chenford fanfic #chenford fic #anon answered #Ava Bradford-OC

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ayamari-no-goshi · 2 years

Text

And Think of Him as Living - Dick’s chapter

AO3 — > Companion to this fic, To Join the Whispers

Fandoms: Danny Phantom (DP) / DC universe

Summary: THIS IS A CROSSOVER. What was supposed to have been a normal mission to stop members of the League of Assassins became something so much more when their family accidentally tangled with a ghost. And sometimes, the details leading to the resolution were obvious to some while completely missed by others. Companion chapters to ‘To Join the Whispers’ written from the POVs of some of the others

Warnings: rated T for violence, mentions of death, and questionable mental health

Parings: none

Notes: originally uploaded to AO3. Cross-posted to tumblr

Dick walked alongside Jason as they traveled to the Fenton home. It had been a while since he had a chance to spend time with his younger brother where they weren’t fighting some criminal. As much as he wanted to talk to him, he figured Jason needed some space.

Although Jay hadn’t said anything was bothering him, Dick could tell. There was that moment the previous day where he had a momentary slip with the Pit, and just before they left, part of his arm had passed through something solid! While weird things were part of their lives, when it came to things related to the Pit, it was more of a concern.

Was it possible the effects of the Pit were wearing off? Or maybe they were getting worse. Would he turn into a ghost? Or be in that weird in between state Danny Fenton seemed to be in? He already lost Jason once, and it nearly broke him. He… he couldn’t let that happen again.

During Jason’s time as Robin, Dick made mistakes that he couldn’t take back. He was young and angry, and his issues with Bruce kept him away from the Manor a great deal of the time. Even if he remembered his relationship with Jason in a good light, there was no telling how his brother felt about the physical distance between them. If… if he’d been around more or made more of an attempt to bond with his brother, maybe Jason would have come to him first or at least reached out to him when he made his fateful decision to meet with his biological mother.

What stung more was that Bruce never even told him Jason died! He found out because of one of the other Titans over a week after it happened. Yes, he’d been off world at the time, but why did he have to find out that way? But time passed, and the hurt lessened, even if it never completely went away.

Then, against all odds, Jason came back. Not as the troubled but talented teenager Dick remembered, but as a brutal and dangerous adult. Nightwing had a brief encounter with him as the Red Hood before his identity had been revealed, but never in a million years would he have connected him with his deceased brother. And that was one of the first things he was told after waking from a coma caused by the destruction of Bludhaven.

It was hard trying to understand what happened when he woke up and got the report from Bruce. Not only was Jason alive, but he’d done so much damage in Gotham. How could his brother have done those things? Hell, he’d even attacked Tim and badly injured him. All the tests showed it was him, but whomever this man was couldn’t have been his younger brother. As troubled as he could be, Jason had been a sweet and empathetic kid. Sure, that empathy sometimes manifested as a desire to do more damage than necessary, something he’d personally seen in Jason’s early days, but that had been something he’d been working on. His brother couldn’t have been that same person.

His first real interaction with this resurrected Jason was when he decided to impersonate him. That was a mess in and of itself, but it helped give him a glimpse into how such a drastic change could happen. Jason’s logic made sense to him, but it was difficult for anyone else to rationalize it. That was most likely due to the influence of the Lazarus Pit. However, there were a few moments when flashes where he could see glimpses of his brother, and he wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse.

But things slowly got better, for all of them. At least, that’s what he thought.

Dick sighed as he remembered Jay’s words from the previous day: “I didn’t ask to be thrown in that Pit. I didn’t ask to be brought back to life!” Those words stung. Most people would have been overjoyed to get a second chance, but it felt like Jason didn’t share those sentiments.

Had his brother been at peace with his death? Was that possible for someone who had died in the way he had? Or, was there more to it? There was a lot they didn’t know about what happened to him when he died and in the years after his resurrection to his reappearance. Jason rarely talked about it, and even if he did, he’d only give the bare minimum. One of these days, he should watch the video from when Jason first reappeared. Dick had been putting it off. Other things had taken priority, but maybe it would help him understand why Jay had gone down the path he had.

Those were things to worry about later. Jay was here now, and as much as he didn’t want to admit it, he needed help.

And right now, that help would come from a bit of a heart to heart. It also filled the silence that Dick didn’t particularly like. “You know he’s worried about you.” It was true. Bruce was worried even if he wasn’t great at showing it.

Jay rolled his eyes even though his shoulders stiffened. “He certainly likes to pick and choose when he cares. Dick, you know how he is. Right now, he’s only worried about whether or not I’ll compromise the mission.” It sounded like he was gritting his teeth. “Maybe if we were on our way home, I’d buy it, but not now.”

It was easy to think like that. Bruce did have a habit of sometimes prioritizing missions over health, but that wasn’t the case here. When Jay had escaped for a smoke, Bruce had asked them to help keep an eye on him. Sure, it wasn’t obvious to anyone outside the family, but he was worried.

And, Dick wanted to make sure his brother understood that. So, he moved in front of Jay and looked up at him. Seriously, how did little Jason get so big? “Little wing… Jay…” He tried to keep his voice soft. “What happened to you affected him, badly. You didn’t get to see it. On top of that, you’re the only one we know of who seems to be permanently affected by the Pit.”

“Yeah? Well, it sucks.” Jay huffed as he pushed past him. For a moment, it almost seemed like there was a flash of green in his eyes. Great. “I had heard Cass was resurrected in it too. But she’s clearly not crazy.” For a moment, it almost seemed as if he wanted to continue.

Dick could tell what was left unsaid. “The only thing I think makes you crazy is your dislike of grappling hooks.” One of the things that baffled Dick about the adult Jason was how rarely he seemed to use them. The chase he’d led him and Bruce on through Gotham was amazing in its own right. Jay had made jumps without assistance that he and the others would never risk.

“I don’t dislike them. I just don’t need them as much as you do.”

Pleased that managed to get a smile out of his brother, Dick playfully nudged him. “Now you’re smiling.” But his own smile slipped. “None of us are still really sure what happened to you once you came back, but we’ve started seeing glimpses of the old you.” Jay’s posture tightened again. “That’s probably thanks to Kori and Roy more than anything we’ve done to help.”

His brother didn’t respond. Crap. Had he phrased that badly? Probably. Deciding not to acknowledge it until he had a better grip on how to better put what he meant, he continued. “We’re in new territory when it comes to ghosts and the like, so we’re all a bit on edge.”

“Meaning you’re worried I’m going to go on a killing spree.”

“What? No!” Dick was almost offended by that statement. Almost, but he couldn’t deny it was something he and the others had discussed when Tim when to go get him from the roof.

“You don’t have to hide it.” Jay lit a cigarette. Seriously, how many did he have hidden on him? Dick had been trying to throw away all the ones he could find. “The need… desire… obsession? I don’t know how to explain it… for taking them out, permanently, hasn’t been as bad for a while now.”

That was a good thing. They’d noticed that too. While there were still criminals Jason would dispatch without a second thought, he was much more likely to disable than kill. “Except the Joker.”

“Can you blame me on that one?”

“No, not really.” All of them wanted the Joker dead. Heck, Dick had even killed him once even though Bruce had performed CPR and saved the bastard. While the action was traumatic at the time, he wasn’t sure how he felt about it now. And it was something he hoped Jason never found out about as it was unlikely he’d ever forgive Bruce for it.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Dick decided a little bit of teasing was in order. So, he grabbed Jay’s cigarette and put it out, causing his brother to curse at him. “You know these will kill you.”

“Been there. Done that.” The nonchalant way Jason brushed off his own death bothered him. “I think I’ll take my chances, especially if it helps me deal with nosey assholes like you.”

But, if his brother wanted to joke, he’d play along. “You wound me, brother.” Not bothering to hide his grin, he decided to change the topic. “So, what’s the Fenton Portal like?”

An almost diabolical grin flickered across Jason’s face before he adopted a more neutral one. “You know, if you ask them, I have a strong feeling they’ll show you.” He then gestured to a large building with a hulking metal contraption on it. It almost looked like an old broadcasting tower. Almost.

“How on earth is that even allowed?”

…

Like Jason said, Maddie and Jack Fenton were more than happy to show Dick their portal. Didn’t these people have any qualms about showing their inventions to strangers? If they had lived in Gotham, they would have been robbed twenty times over.

Well, maybe not. The security system Jack and Maddie demonstrated to them was something else. He shared a long look with his brother. They really needed to reevaluate how they viewed the Fentons. These two were brilliant and unintentionally dangerous.

Then the Fentons off-handily mentioned a weapons vault. Who just mentioned that?

The demonstration of the security system had the unintentional benefit of bringing the Fenton children to the kitchen. The daughter, Jazz, reprimanded her parents before introducing herself. Something about her reminded him a bit of Barbara.

Her dad then asked her to show Jason the metal monstrosity that they called the Ops Center while he and Maddie showed Dick the portal. That didn’t sit well with Jazz, but her parents just brushed it off. The shared look between her and Danny told him that Maddie and Jack weren’t nearly as competent as they projected.

Without much warning, Jack wrapped his arm around Dick’s shoulders as he led him towards the basement lab. Something about the situation didn’t sit right with him, and he glanced back at his brother. Jason smirked as he waved. That didn’t make him feel any better.

Trying to tune out Jack’s ramblings about ghosts, Dick busied himself by glancing around the lab. Some of the technology just lying around could put some of what he’d seen at Star Labs to shame. Maddie eventually drew his attention to a large set of doors in the wall.

Jack bounded over to his wife and pressed a button on a control panel next to it. The doors opened with a hiss, revealing a swirling green wall of something. No wonder why Jason seemed unsettled by it. The coloration looked way too much like the waters of the Lazarus Pit, but there was also something else.

There was a change in the air once it was opened that Dick didn’t like. If he wasn’t imagining it, it almost felt as if the stillness of death was spreading from it.

Maddie quickly closed the door as she launched into an explanation of it. Jack quickly joined, though he ended up steering the conversation to the weapons in the room. The glee the two had as they explained the damage each one could do to a ghost sickened him as he realized they were talking about dissecting their own son. Trying to keep the grimace off his face, he suggested they’d left his brother waiting for them.

It thankfully worked as the two lead him up to the Ops Center. Jason’s lips twitched as he tried to hide a smile when he caught sight of him. Oh, retaliation would be given when they got home.

But both of their attentions were drawn to Jazz as she announced, in one of the fakest voices he’d ever had the pleasure of hearing, that they’d gotten a reading about a ghost in one of the parks across town. How in the world could anyone believe that?

But, somehow her parents did? Both pulled weapons out of thin air, which was an impressive feat, before announcing they’d take care of the ghost and rushing off. Moments later the roar of an engine and screeching tires could be heard.

“How… how did that work?” Jason muttered as he moved towards one of the windows. “That shouldn’t have worked.”

Danny gave him a tired smile. “It works every single time with them.”

“Guns blazing and all?”

“Yep.”

Knowing he was missing something, Dick hesitantly asked, “What exactly did I just watch?”

Jay patted his shoulder. “That was a distraction, Dickie-bird. Anyways, are you up for a trip?” He quickly explained that Danny wanted to take him to one of his ghostly allies in the Ghost Zone. This ally, Frostbite, knew much more about how ghosts worked that Danny did, and would be the one who most likely could help explain why Jay was having the trouble he was.

It was a good idea, even if it meant going into unknown territory. And there was no way he was going to allow his brother to go in alone. And if he was honest, the idea was exciting.

As he and Jay excused themselves for a moment to suit up, he caught his brother mouthing the word ‘neglect’ to him as his eyes moved towards the Fenton siblings. Oh, that explained a few things like how their parents could just leave the house like that. It was sad really. The two did seem to care about their kids, but it seemed their priorities weren’t quite where they needed to be. Maybe that was another reason why Jason and Danny seemed to be bonding so easily.

A couple minutes later, he met his brother down in the basement where Danny and Jazz were prepping a device they called the Spector Speeder. But what caught Dick off-guard was the change in Jay’s costume. He didn’t have his traditional helmet. Instead, it was a pair of goggles and a half-mask that covered his mouth.

“Changing up the look?” he teased.

Although the goggles hid it, Dick could tell his brother was rolling his eyes. “Would you rather me carry the helmet, which I should remind you contains explosives, everywhere I go?”

“Point taken.” That was something Dick never exactly understood. Sure, Bruce had wired a taser into is cowl, but Jason had actually put something that could kill him in his helmet. It was something they’d all been concerned about when they found out about it. And it wasn’t like they’d be able to disarm it either. Jay knew what he was doing with explosives, and none of them had any ideas where he might have learned those skills. They had some suspicions he might have been involved in an incident in Britain a few months before he returned to Gotham, but that was about all they could get.

Danny stopped what he was doing at the control panel to stare at them. The idea that someone could wear explosives so close to them openly concerned the teen. Though Dick couldn’t blame him, he decided to tease him about his parents materializing weapons out of somewhere unseen. That was enough to stop Danny from judging their family, so he turned his attention back towards the controls.

After checking to make sure his sister could hear him, he turned towards them with a mischievous grin. “Ready to see the land of the dead?”

Both Dick and Jason moved forward to better see out of the windows when Danny moved the vehicle. As they entered the portal, he felt Jay stiffen. And for a brief moment, it didn’t seem like he was in the present.

Before Dick had a chance to check on his brother, Danny turned back to look at him. “Are you okay? I forgot that sometimes you can get an echo of what happened. I’m not sure if I just got used to it, or if it stopped happening after a while.”

“Hood?” he asked when Jason didn’t immediately respond. Was it his death he was remembering? Or was it coming back to life?

A shake of the head told him Jay had snapped out of it. “Bad memories. It’ll pass.”

Uneasy silence fell between them for a while as they moved through the Ghost Zone. The eerie green swirls and floating islands were almost surreal. Floating doors could sometimes be seen along with some of the movement of things he wasn’t entirely certain were sentient or not made it worse. According to Danny, each one of those doors led to either pocket dimensions that could be thought of as homes for various ghosts or just doors to entirely different dimensions. The thought people could just wander into different dimensions that easily might have been the most unsettling thing about the entire trip.

Soon, the temperature started to drop, and Danny momentarily asked him to take the controls while he fetched heavy jackets for them. Jason barely fit into his. And even though Dick was able to keep himself from laughing outright, he couldn’t stop the grin which caused Jay to flip him off.

Once they were ready, Danny gave a quick explanation of where they were going. Apparently, the Realm of the Far Frozen, a permanently icy island, was where this Frostbite lived. His people had one of the only known medical centers in the Ghost Zone, and, from the hesitant hint Danny gave them, seemed to hero worship him.

Frostbite ended up being a yeti-like entity who was surprisingly friendly. After Danny gave a quick explanation as to why they were there, he ushered them inside what originally appeared to be just a mountain of ice. Instead, it was a rather modern looking medical facility.

Things were going well as Frostbite explained what he and his people were going to do until Jason was asked to remove his shirt. Dick hadn’t expected him to get so defensive about it. All of them had scars, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to show them off and compare stories. Was there something else about it?

After come coaxing, Dick could have sworn Jay grumbled, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” before he removed his shirt.

For a moment, it felt like the air was sucked out of the room. Sure, there were the normal scars Dick was expecting, but on Jay’s chest was one that had no business being there. That… that was from his autopsy. Why hadn’t the Pit fixed that? And then with a jolt, he realized that wasn’t something he’d received while he was still alive.

“What… what happened?” Danny’s horrified whisper broke the silence.

“Told ya, kid, I was dead before I came back.” Jason gestured to the scar. “This is my permanent souvenir.”

“Little Wing…” He had to say something. “None of us knew…”

“And I wanted it that way.” Jason’s eyes narrowed as he watched him.

“I should have been there.” He moved forward to try to give his brother a hug, to let him know that it was something he would always regret.

“Don’t pull this fucking shit!” Jason snapped as he pushed him away. His goggles had been removed for the examination, and hints of green were starting to become noticeable in his eyes. “What happened was my fault. I got duped and went in alone. Don’t you dare blame yourself for my stupidity.” He must have been able to tell the Pit was started to affect him as he began using a breathing technique to ground himself. When he spoke again, the anger from before had been replaced with what Dick could only describe as wariness. “Don’t go telling anyone else. I don’t need anyone else blaming themselves.”

Dick wanted to say something to reassure his brother, which was hard because this was being recorded on his gear. Apparently, Jay forgot about that in the moment. He wasn’t going to be the one to remind him about it.

Frostbite politely coughed, reminding them of his presence. That started the line of questioning of what led to Jason being thrown in the Pit. And true to fashion, Jason only provided the bare minimum.

But, when it came time to discuss the Pit, Jason faltered and glanced at him. Interesting. That seemed to be the one thing he couldn’t seem to bring himself to talk about. Was it possible that was more traumatic for him than dying? Dick wasn’t sure he’d considered that possibility before. Deciding it was something to shelf for later, he gave Frostbite a quick explanation of the Pit.

Horror openly flashed across Frostbite’s face when he learned that was what brought Jason back to life. “I’ve heard of such places,” he eventually stated before explaining they were areas where the Ghost Zone leaked into their world. According to him, they could be easily corrupted, which matched up with some of their own reports.

After he checked the scans his people ran on Jason, Frostbite provided them information they’d been wondering for years. Apparently, Jason’s body had bonded with the ectoplasm in the Pit, but because of the corruption it had affected his mind, causing what the ghost called an ‘obsessive madness.’ And, that made a lot of sense.

Jason’s ideas of justice were never really the issue. His belief that some criminals were irredeemable could be found in other folks around the country. If you asked Dick, it was Jason’s obsessive need to prove Bruce’s teachings wrong in the wake of his reemergence is what tipped his actions into madness. How many elaborate plans had he created as a result? Combine that with how the Pit seemed to magnify negative emotions, and it just became a recipe for disaster.

Jason seemed to agree with Frostbite’s statement. And if Dick wasn’t imaging it, some of the tension in his brother’s shoulders had lessened.

Then came the explanations as to what was currently happening. Frostbite believed that due to the high levels of ambient ectoplasm in Amity Park, it was causing the temporarily bouts of ghostly abilities while having the added effect of removing some of the corrupted ectoplasm from his system. That, Dick decided, was ultimately a good thing as it meant the negative effects of the Pit would lessen.

The biggest question though was whether or not those abilities would be permanent. The answer ended up being that it was possible if Jay developed something Frosbite called a core which could give him the same status Danny had, and unfortunately, Frostbite didn’t have a good answer on how that could possibly happen. Apparently, halfas like Danny were so rare that they just didn’t have the needed knowledge.

If ghost’s answer unsettled Dick, it had to have bothered Jason judging by how he responded. For a moment, he could tell Jay was considering what having powers would be like and just what he’d be able to do with him. There was a way his hands sometimes twitched when he was thinking about what he could do to the Joker, but whatever thoughts he had, he seemed to pull out of as he sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

He gently touched his brother’s shoulder. “Hood?”

“I’m good.” Surprisingly, Jason didn’t brush away his hand as he stood and pulled on his borrowed coat. Glancing at Frostbite, he gave a slight nod. “Thanks for all your help, but I don’t think you want someone like me joining those ranks. Let’s head back.”

Although he wasn’t going to openly admit it, namely because Jason didn’t tend to respond well to compliments, Dick was proud of his brother’s response. It further proved he was trying to better himself.

But as they boarded the Specter Speeder, Danny seemed unusually reserved. Knowing that he and Jason seemed to be bonding, he gestured for his brother to say something. Jay titled his head in puzzlement as he trying to step into a brother-like role which brought a grin to his face. Danny’s presence was proving to be a positive factor in Jay’s life.

“Are you mad that I don’t want to share your situation?” Jay eventually questioned. When Danny didn’t answer him, he sighed and leaned against the wall. “Danny, I’m not a good person. Giving me that type of power would only end badly, for everyone. You don’t need someone like me ruining your reputation by proxy.”

Oh, that made sense. Danny was a weird combination of being a ghost and human. That had to be hard on him. Maybe they should introduce him to Superboy? While it wasn’t exactly the same, he was also half human and could understand Danny to some extent.

Though, it seemed to be Jason’s connection to death that seemed to be the cornerstone to their growing friendship. While it was true many heroes had died and come back, their experiences seemed to be similar enough that they understood each other in a way that made Dick a little jealous. Jason was also around Danny’s age when he died.

Deciding not to dwell on it too much longer, he turned his attention back to Jason’s statement. “You should give yourself more credit.” The fact that he was openly trying to avoid getting permanent superpowers spoke a lot to Jason’s current self-control.

But that apparently wasn’t the right thing to say as he could sense Jason raise an eyebrow at him. “Did you hit your head or something?” His voice was incredulous. “You and Arsenal are the ones who like to remind me about the eight heads I had in a duffle bag when I began strong arming Black Mask. I also tried, repeatedly, to main you and the others. You kicked me off a train because of that.”

“I tried to help you,” that was true. For a moment, he thought he was going to lose Jason again as he fell into the river below the tracks, “and I said I was sorry!”

Jason snorted as his form seemed to flicker for a moment. Was that a momentary slip into invisibility? “Why? I was trying to kill you.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Danny finally spoke as his bright green eyes darted between them before pointing at Dick. “You kicked your brother off a train, and you,” he turned towards Jason, “had heads in a duffel bag? What the hell?”

Jay shrugged. “I needed to get the attention of some crime lords, and it made sense at the time.”

“How does putting heads in a duffel bag ever make sense?”

“Go on, Hood. I’m sure Danny would love to hear some of your adventures. I know I would.” He had to stifle a laugh as Jason flipped him off before begrudgingly launching into the beginnings of his original plans for Black Mask. In the past, he would never have been able to get that information out of him, but it seemed like Danny’s presence made him open up more. Yeah, it was a good thing that he and Danny met.

#Danny Phantom #DP x dp #Danny phantom crossover #DP crossover #Danny Fenton #To Join the Whispers #THIS CHAPTER IS FINALLY DONE

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abelllia · 1 year

Text

I posted 1,774 times in 2022

That's 1,724 more posts than 2021!

291 posts created (16%)

1,483 posts reblogged (84%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@hisclockworkservants

@ashes-in-a-jar

@samwise1548

@jewishjon

@beesabuzzin

I tagged 1,552 of my posts in 2022

Only 13% of my posts had no tags

#tma - 971 posts

#jon sims - 529 posts

#martin blackwood - 377 posts

#jmart - 266 posts

#abellrambles - 214 posts

#tma buns - 115 posts

#tim stoker - 80 posts

#the magnus archives - 69 posts

#sasha james - 66 posts

#jonathan sims - 62 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#tim's resentment towards him is understandable but at the same time i want to defend jon but at the sane time i it's understandable and at-

My Top Posts in 2022:

AU idea I had stewing for a while

[ID: A digital drawing of teenage Gerard Keay, Jonathan Sims, and Agnes Montague running away from an out-of-frame giant spider that is on fire. They all wear uniforms which consist of a white dress shirt, a green tie, a grey sweater vest, a dull green jacket, in Jon and Gerry's case black slacks and in Agnes' case a black above-the-knee skirt with black leggings, white socks, and brown leather shoes. On the top right is grey text that reads "The Kids Are Alright AU" with a smaller piece of text underneath it that reads "aka Highschool AU+Jon, Gerry, Agnes Friendship+They're Leitner Hunters." Gerard Keay is a white boy with mid-length pale blonde hair badly-dyed black, Jonathan Sims is a British-Indian boy with brown skin and dark brown hair, Agnes Montague is a white girl with long red hair./.End ID]

The vibes are Scooby Doo in Highschool except the ghosts they hunt are Leitners and also they're British (so I guess they're in Secondary School.) I just wanted to see them as troublemaking teens who have a penchant for solving mystery and arson. Luckily the mysteries of Jurgen Leitner provide avenues for both. Who is Jurgen Leitner? Why does he have so many fucked up (if true) books? Why are a shit ton of them popping up in and around school campus? That's what this trio want to find out! Feel free to ask questions since this AU is not like, 100% complete or set in stone. Might be fun.

943 notes - Posted August 21, 2022

S1 v S4 JMart ft. Cat Jon

[Image ID: Two comics featuring Jonathan Sims and Martin Blackwood from The Magnus Archives.

The first comic is set in season one. The first panel has Martin cautiously approach Jon who is at his desk, reading a statement while holding a mug. Martin says "H-hey Jon! Here's the files you asked for-" Jon then hisses at Martin and jumps away in his seat for the second panel. He throws his hands over himself, spilling the contents of his mug in the process. Alarmed cat ears appear on him as well as a tail. Martin looks surprised and jumps away from Jon, holding his hand in the air and the files close to his chest.

The second comic is set during the Scottish Safehouse Period. Jon and Martin are in bed during early morning with their arms over each other, Jon's on top of Martin's. In the first panel, Martin is trying to reach for his glasses while saying "Jon...we need to start the day..." Jon then weakly hisses in the second panel. His arm clutches Martin's shoulder and the alarmed cat ears and tail appear again. In the third panel, Martin gives up on reaching for his glasses and instead hugs Jon back. He smiles and says "Fine. Five more minutes." Jon smiles back and two hearts float above him./.End ID]

Jonathan "Mah-tin" Sims is a cat confirmed. Did this instead of working on another piece lmao.

957 notes - Posted June 30, 2022

Concept: Jon's grey hair is actually spider silk from his encounter with the Web

988 notes - Posted September 6, 2022

Thank you to @intr0vrt3dextr0vert who gave me the suggestion "The S1 TMA crew (Sasha, Tim, Elias etc) going on a (regular lol) work bonding trip like going to the movies or something >:]"!

[Image ID: A digital drawing of the Season 1 Magnus Archives crew watching a movie in an empty theatre. On the left sits Elias, calmly steepling his fingers together and looking at the screen. An arrow points towards him with the text "secretly Watching the better movie next door." Next is Jon, who is sleeping and leaning his head against Martin who is seemingly watching the movie with a happy expression. The arrow pointing towards Jon has the text "bad sleeping habits finally caught up to him" while the arrow pointing to Martin says "*having an internal crisis rn*." Then comes Sasha who is mischievously looking at Jon and Martin while she hides her phone behind her bag of popcorn, implied to be taking a photo of the two. Her arrow and text reads "never a bad time for blackmail." Finally there's Tim who is staring intently at the screen while he leans over to take a bit of Sasha's popcorn as his container is empty. His arrow and text reads "actually paying attention to the damn movie." There is text at the bottom right corner of the image which says "POV: They're watching a bad movie" there is smaller text underneath it which says "(they bought out the whole house w/ institute money i guess?)" and another that goes "((or the movie really is just THAT bad)) ./.End ID]

The Ceaseless(?) Watchers

I have no idea what movie they're watching but Tim's invested anyway. I thought this was only going to take me a couple of minutes but it actually took a long while because

A. I forgot how hard it is to draw multiple characters in one scene

B. Low angle go brrr

But it was fun! The crew just hanging out and doing normal stuff for a change! Sure hope nothing happens to them ahahaha :)

1,177 notes - Posted July 17, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

One thing about Martin Blackwood that I think doesn't get brought up nearly as much as it should be is his love for "Retro" things.

Just Martin geeking out over things like rotary phones, 1950's dresses, polaroids, and all that stuff. Maybe he wears Cat Eye glasses to work? Who knows.

If you want JMart thoughts too imagine Martin going down to the Archives for his first day and seeing Jon in full grampa attire, wearing a bowtie like he's Carl Fredricksen from Up, and going "That's him. That's the man I'll fall for."

1,635 notes - Posted June 9, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #Oh Martin Retro post I remember you

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flamingpudding · 11 months

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Part 5 of Ghost Kid in Gotham

For those that ask, yes an AO3 link is in the works. I will post it once its ready. Also fair warning, I will be focusing on DPxDC Family Week now so I have no idea when the next part will be up.

<<1 Previous Next

Thrill and chirp brother

Tim sipped on his n-th cup of specially made Tim-brand-not-Alfred-approved coffee as he shuffled into the dinning room and sat down on the breakfast table. The moment he sat down he opened the laptop again and stared at its screen for a couple of seconds. The scan of the post-it note got nothing. None of the squiggles was recognised in any of the so far known languages. Hell he even ran it through the leagues recordings of interdimensional and interplanetary known languages. No hits so far. Right now he was running a picture recognition program to see if any of these had appeared before it was on 90% with nothing found so far.

Good he hoped this really was just a prank from Cass and Steph. Because if it wasn't, Bruce would go nuts and overly paranoid as well as up the entire Manors security system a third time this month. Sadly, despite his hope, Tim knew that it wasn't a prank.

A cough resounded behind him and Tim blinked two times before sighting, closing the laptop and pushing it only a couple of inches away from him as Alfred put a plate with his breakfast before him. Knowing Alfreds rules about work at the table he would better not touch it again for now.

"Replacement, you look like the dead walking. Did you even sleep last night?" He glared at his brother before he blinked taking in his surroundings before his eyes rested on little Danny.

Tim could see that all of them, despite barely knowing the kid for a couple of hours, had already become attached to Danny. It didn't help that they had discovered Lichtenberg scarring running up Danny's left arm all the way to where his heart was after the child had finally let Damien take care of him. Hell Tim wanted to know who would give a child, a once dead then revived one, scares like that. If Talia had let the kid go through some sort of experimentation…. Well Tim knew where the explosives were stored and by the looks of it he probably could count on Jason's as well as Dick's help to blow up a league facility.

Either way Damien had become very protective of the child. The scarring didn't help calming that protectiveness either. In fact he was pretty sure it steered it more in the rest of them too. Also the fact that Danny spat out glowing Lazarus Water once they managed to wrangle the kid off Jason last night wasn't calming down a different kind of worry anytime soon either. No, it was another factor next to the scarring that spoke for the League having experimented on the poor child. He probably should start investing more time into what sort of facilities the League had built or was using lately.

On a good note, thankfully Danny had let up on Jason after he spat out the green goop and thanks to the fact that he apparently recognised Damien, let said teenager manhandle -cough- take care of the little biter for the rest of the night. It also seemed like the little guys biting obsession with Jason had calmed down, for now. He didn't trust the calm, especially not with the way Danny was still focused on his second oldest brother. Though everyone except for the demon brat was still getting the hissing treatment. Considering his theory that the League probably used the revived child to experiment with Lazarus Water, it wasn't that much of a surprise. Anyone would be feral after being subjected to experiments.

Thankfully it looked that whatever Pit Madness had overcome the child last night was not reacting towards them. But as he watched Dick trying really hard not to pout at Damien who had Danny in his lap in a protective hold, he wondered how long that would hold. Jason sat as far away from Danny and Damien as he could, probably because of the way the child was watching him with glowing blue eyes while munching on whatever food Damien gave to the little biter.

He could also see the reason for Dick's pouting as the elder reached out to attempt to ruffle Danny's hair but the child instantly snapped his head in their eldest brother's direction, hissing, bearing his teeth and even snapping at the air until Dick withdrew said hand again. A pout very evidently on his face. Like a switch flipped the child's focus would then redirect to watching Jason like a hawk again and munching on the food the Demon brat gave him.

At least he was the bitey type that would hiss as warning and not the stabby kind without warning like Damien.

"Yo, anyone at home up there?"

Turning his focus back to his second oldest brother Tim glared at him once more. "If you have to know. Yes I did sleep last night."

"More than one hour?" Dick asked next and Tim refused to look at the eldest. He was not going to answer that. He had coffee, who needed sleep when you have coffee. Besides, he was a perfectly functioning human being even with minimal amounts of sleep. He had not face planted his breakfast for three days now.

"What got you so obsessed that you didn't sleep, Drake? Another case? Or did you try to find out more from the League in regards to Danyal's scars?"

"That too but mostly the post-it note." He finally answered after stewing a little longer under the stares of his siblings. "Neither our nor the JL's language recognition programs got a hit and right now I am running a picture recognition to see if there ever was any kind of writing like that found before but it ran up to 90% before I came down and hadn't found anything like that before. And-"

"Slow down there Timber. I thought that's just a prank from Cass and Steph?" Dick interrupted him and Tim suppressed a groan.

"It couldn't be. I wish it was but both of them weren't in the Manor last night and I don't think Duke would do something like this so-"

"Hold up." Jason cut in and Tim glowered at them for getting interrupted again.

"What do you mean no language recognition program got a hit?"

"It means that there is no languages to translate-"

"Why would you need that? Yea its cryptic as fuck but its clearly written out!"

"Jason what are you talking about?" He opened his laptop again, turning the screen so it was facing Jason. "These are squiggles! How is it readable?!"

"The fuck you talking about?! Don't tell me your sleep deprived mind doesn't know how to read anymore?"

"Jason what does it say in your eyes?" Dick carefully cut in before Tim could question the other any more.

"'The daylight knight will tell the truth with eyes that see the light'. See cryptic as fuck." The older gesticulated towards Tim's laptop screen while Damien raised an eyebrow at him.

"The what now, will tell what?" Dick asked confusedly while Tim turned the laptop back towards him noting down what Jason just said. He was confused as to why Jason was able to read the squiggles but at least that gave him some kind of hint about the post-it. Aside from adding more questions to the already growing pile.

Suddenly a thrilling noise echoed in the room and the four looked at Danny. The child's now green eyes were focused on Jason. Tim could see Damiens hold tightening and Dick tensing when they noticed the green. Danny repeated the same nose he made earlier, still intensely staring at Jason.

"Who the fuck is clockwork?"

The green fated and Danny made a similar noise to chirping, his head tilting in confusion.

"The fuck you mean you don't know? You just said that Clockwork wrote the note?!"

"Todd. Did you just understand the noise Danyal was making?"

Once again the three of them stared at Jason who looked at them confused. "You didn't?"

They shake their heads and Jason let out a frustrated groan as he sat back down his head in his hands. "What did you assholes hear just now?"

"Danyal made some kind of thrilling, then chirping noise."

"Well I heard him say that someone named Clockwork wrote the note and then he said all confused that he doesn't know who Clockwork is." He looked at them frustrated. "Why do I hear the kid speak and you guys don't. You're his fucking twin, right? Shouldn't you know what the brat is saying?"

Damien glowered at their brother offended but didn't retort anything. Tim did see a hint of frustration with their formerly youngest and he could guess. Damien was most likely frustrated about the fact that Jason understood his twin's noises and he didn't. The only thing stopping him from possibly hurling the breakfast knife at Jasons, was most likely his hold on Danny.

Tim also thought about the fact for a while until it suddenly hit him. He looked up and made eye contact with Dick who most likely came to the same conclusion. The two turned towards their siblings.

"The Lazarus Water." Tim carefully offered, watching Jason and Damien tensed slightly.

"What about it?" The second oldest scoffed, turning his attention towards them.

"That's what you two have in common. Both of you got revived and came back through a Lazarus Pit. You still have the Pit in your mind right? And Danny most likely also has a lot of it in his system. It even mixed with his DNA."

After a beat of silence Jason let out a hearty groan. "Fuck. So because of the Pit I understand thrill and chirps now? Just fucking great!"

"Probably can speak it too if you try. That would be pretty cute. Come on, say something in a chirp!" Leave it to Dick to try to lighten the mood, though the glare Jason sent the eldest did make Tim hide a chuckle. He had to admit imaging Jason talking in chirps was a funny image. Should his brother ever do that he would need to make sure to take a video for his black mail folder.

"I will fucking not!"

"Come on, don't you want to communicate properly with our little teethling here?"

"Fuck off Dick!"

"You have to try it Jaybird! For little teethling!"

"Richard." Damien warned but Tim could only snicker as he watched Dick reach out to pat the kids head carelessly, apparently not hearing the warning nor hissing as the elder was too engrossed in convincing Jason to talk in chirp.

Dick let out a shriek of pain.

"Ha! Not so fun getting bitten is it now?" Jason laughed gloating with the fact that for once he was not the biting target.

Tim winched the moment he saw Danny clamp down with his sharp teeth on Dick's hand. Damien was instantly scowling both of them but the little biter refused to let go. He saw Alfred approaching the three and instantly stood up from his chair with a warning on the tip of his tongue as the butler reached out towards Danny.

"Master Danyal." Stunned and frozen the four brothers watched how the butler fearlessly patted the child's head who only let out a small hiss in acknowledgement, teeth still digging into the eldest brother's hand. "I request you let go of Master Dick's hand. I fear it will not taste as well as this snack I have prepared for you."

In an instant Danny let go and chirped, turning his attention towards Alfred who was still patting the child's head without getting hissed at or being in risk of getting bitten. Damien even let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you Pennyworth."

Dick was now cradling his hand, pouting and mumbling something about unfairness at the three as Jason laughed. Tim too couldn't help but chuckle, of course Alfred somehow became an exception towards Danny's biteyness.

It was at that moment that Duke entered the room, took one look at them, blinked, rubbed his eyes and then turned around and left again muttering something about it being too bright and early for any of this.

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meritatem · 9 months

Text

Being back at Wayne Manor was like revisiting a secluded place he spent some time in his youth. Safe, practical.

Being back at the penthouse was like arriving at his childhood home, the only true one he ever knew. Nostalgic, happy.

The short time Damian lived in the penthouse was - pathetically - the best era of his life. Things were so easy in those days, as absurd as it sounded given the kind of life he was leading. He was so carefree back then, so busy trying to live to the expectations of an imaginary Bruce Wayne that could be pleased - unlike the real one -, learning what it meant to be a someone and not a something, guided by Dick's understanding hand and experiencing the joys of a purpose he chose and not something imposed on him.

Such good memories. Damian only wished he relished in those moments more, because unknown to him at the time, that would be the first and the last time he knew real peace.

The bright side was that, given how busy Damian was with, well, everything, he didn't have enough time to chase the ghosts of happier days.

And that's how Tim found him: testing the stability of the Batmobile midair in the bunker. Not like he felt it needed assessment, but he had to look like he was following standard procedure and not just magically knowing what to do without fail. As soon as the Batmobile was on the ground, Damian jumped out of it, feeling immediately suspicious about Tim's proximity, because these past days they had been seeing each other more out of necessity but both of them made efforts to maintain their distance, however even at a distance he could perfectly hear every jab Drake threw at him while he was talking to others.

“So,” said Tim with arms crossed. “It really flies.”

“Your observational skills are so keen.” He was done with being “the bigger person”, if Timothy was going to be a petty teenager, then Damian was going to be a petty child, balance in the universe and all that.

“I don't need them to know this is ridiculous. Very overkill, but then again that's your style, isn't it?”

“Should I remind you this is my father's idea?”

The way Tim frowned was the only sign he gave of annoyance. “We don't know what his plans were for this but you're wasting time, we don't need it.”

“You're so optimistic, I almost envy you. Grayson is going to need all the help he can get and if you have any religious inclination, this is the time to start praying.”

“You really think we are stupid,” and he let out a fake laugh, just for effect. “Do you believe for a second we're going to use this? A machine under your control?”

“You're free to examine it to the last bolt, I'm not being nefarious.”

“And we're going to trust you because, what? Scout's honor?”

“No, because I have nothing to gain if you or Grayson get hurt.”

“Like the League could let pass the opportunity of getting rid of us. I bet Ra's would be happy to have one less obstacle in his way.”

“This will not help my case but if I wanted you dead, you'd already be. Why would I put so much effort in this if my end goal was to destroy it when there's easier methods?”

“Who knows what a little psycho like you thinks? I wouldn't be surprised if this is your twisted way of having fun.”

Damian was less bothered and more intrigued at this whole exchange because it was Drake the one who sought him out and whatever he was trying to get from this interaction, Damian had more important things to do than pay attention to his games. It was also a great teaching moment, if one could call it that.

“All right, let's have a conversation.” He said, straightening his posture and putting his hands behind his back. “When I was five my mother made me climb in The Himalayas and I broke my wrist. Drake, are you following?” And he gave special emphasis to each of his next points. “I was five years old, I broke my wrist while trying to reach the summit of a frozen mountain and I was punished for being too slow. Do you honestly believe I enjoyed it?” He remained silent for a few moments so that his words were properly assimilated. “I'm sure you've seen dog fighting rings before, do you think those dogs like it there?”

Damian couldn't really be sure what effect his words had but from the way Tim opened his mouth as if to say something and then immediately closed it, he could at least tell Drake was actually pondering about them.

“I'm not ashamed to say I'm doing this for my own benefit, the institution my father established with Batman is the only thing standing between my mother and me. This is my keep and if it falls, there would be only frozen mountains for me,” and it was true in a way: saving Alfred, protecting Grayson, even working with Drake, it was all for Damian's selfish reasons because he considered these disastrous people his family. “I don't care what you think of me but at least judge me for the choices I'm making here.”

In the past Damian used to complain about how useless he found Tim to be in general, how ill-fitted he was to form part of his father's allies and some part of him even believed those things, but the truth had always been that Drake was as good as any of his father's mentees and seeing the way he slipped into his vigilante persona now that Damian knew the tells was close to charming: detached, calm, in control. Damian almost felt proud.

“You know,” he said in a conversationally tone. “When you rescue dogs from the ring, sometimes you have to sacrifice them because they're beyond help.”

That statement was so brazen that Damian could only laugh. “You're not even going to attempt rehabilitation with me first. Ruthless, Drake. I can respect that.”

One of Damian's unverified theories was that Alfred had some kind of sixth sense: he always seemed to appear at the least expected but more appropriate moments, like he did just now: clearing his throat to announce his presence, tray in hand with a bottle of the cold tea that Damian favored these days and offended so much the butler's sensibilities.

“Master Tim, how good to see you,” he said not giving any sign he heard their conversation. “Can I offer you something? I'll bring it in a minute.”

“It's alright, Alfred, I was leaving anyway, I have things to discuss with Dick.”

“Very well, I'll see you both at dinnertime.”

Tim nodded in agreement and took two steps before it seemed like he thought about it twice and turned around. “I still don't trust any of this, you don't fool me.”

And so they watched in silence as Tim walked away while Damian took the bottled tea, breaking the cap seal and taking a good sip.

“Are you really sure my father doesn't have any more children?” He asked apropos nothing.

“Not that I know of.”

“Good. We already have enough with these ones, they're such a handful.”

“They sure are, sir.”

Of course it wasn't lost on Damian the meaningful look that Alfred directed towards him.

Colin's reaction at having a proper hideout - at least the beginnings of one - made Damian felt even more guilty for just giving him a garage and calling it a day.

What made it somehow worst is that he originally wasn't even looking for a base to share with Colin, he just stumbled on the building's potential while he was looking for something else in his father's database. Being a bad friend was low in the long list of Damian's offenses but it didn't mean he was not going to prioritize it in this second time around.

“No One, I'm done!”

Colin's loud proclamation somewhere in the entrance of the room made Damian snap of his contemplations. And wasn't that amusing? Colin was left under the impression that “No One” was actually Damian's moniker; not that surprising coming from someone that chose “Abuse” for a name.

No One and Nobody. Maya would've had so much fun with that, she would've had called him her sidekick and probably suggested he color coordinated with her... ah, every so often thoughts like that made Damian wish he could cry for his losses.

“Good job,” he said instead, stretching his arms just for show before turning the chair he was in, in front of a modest computer system. “I'll finish setting this tomorrow.”

Damian wasn't sure if his father wanted for this little deserted clock factory to be a stash house but it had enough foundations to change it to whatever he wanted it to be. It didn't hurt he also had someone more than happy to do the heavy lifting, literally speaking.

“We're coming back tomorrow?”

“If you're able. There's still a lot to do to make this place fully functional.”

“Really? It looks fine to me.”

“If you think this shoddy hole is fine, Batman's headquarters would make you faint.”

“You've been at Batman's place?” Even if Colin was in his Abuse persona, the childish enthusiasm in his voice was clear. “No way! Did he take you in the Batmobile?”

“He did and he even put a blindfold on me.” And just because he knew Colin would find it funny, he added. “So lame.”

And Colin indeed laughed a little, proceeding to sit in the floor, cross-ledged. “It's not lame!” he defended, always loyal to his hero. “His base is one of the more important places in the world, he needs to be careful.” The wishful expression in his face was unmistakable. “It must be great working with him and Robin.” And he sighed, looking a little pensive. “That reminds me that I told you my story but you never told me yours.”

The first time they met, circumstances made useless things like secret identities; Colin figured out pretty easily that Damian was Robin and Damian saw with his own eyes the kind of powers Colin had. This time around things were less straightforward. It took days and days of work - as in beating thugs together - and Damian sharing the location of an authentic hideout for Colin to finally confide a little about himself. He told Damian about the Scarecrow, about how Batman saved him and why he decided to use his newfound powers to help others, but he didn't tell Damian his name or his living situation. Maybe he was testing him, because if Damian really was a close ally of Batman, he could ask him about that incident with Scarecrow.

Or maybe he was waiting for Damian to take off his mask and tell him his name first. Whatever was the case, Damian didn't see the need to do that if it wasn't the result of natural progression. He viewed the knowledge he had about the people surrounding him like optional guidelines, not a manipulative tool to be perceived more favorably.

“Is not that interesting. Batman and Robin saved me too. I was...” And he pondered a little how much truth was too much. “...raised in a cult of assassins.”

Back in the day Damian used to be very nonchalant about his past as an assassin, because he was proud. He completed every and each one of his mother's demands, surpassed the highest expectations, survived the lowest odds and conquered the most brutal quests. It cost Damian so much pain, of course he was proud.

But the pride of being an assassin died long ago, only everything else remained.

“I was trained to be one of the best because one day they'll need a substitute for their leader. I escaped and came to Gotham, Batman saw I needed help and let me stay.” And for a moment he almost didn't continue, reluctant to confess more even if it was to someone he knew wouldn't judge him too harshly. “I've done horrible things but Robin's existence taught me about redemption. I can save people, catch them when they need it, because someone caught me when I didn't know I was falling.”

The first time Damian told Colin about his past as an assassin, it was in a very dismissing way, just like he did with Jon. And maybe just like Jon didn't grasp the extent of his transgressions at the beginning, Colin surely didn't think too much about the ugly truth Damian's past encompassed.

It seemed that Damian was still underestimating others, even the ones he considered friends and family, because what Colin said next after a short silence was something he wasn't expecting of him.

“Someone told me that there's no bad kids, just kids in bad places, with bad adults and when you're a kid, you shouldn't blame yourself for the things that happen to you. That's why we need to grow up to be good adults, you know? Be like the ones we want to take care of kids like us.”

At ten Colin had so much more wisdom that Damian with all his knowledge of arts, philosophy and war could even begin to appreciate at that age. His mother wholly failed where some nuns didn't even try that hard, but his mother wanted a conqueror and a tyrant, not a normal, healthy child.

Even now, with all the additional knowledge Damian had, he couldn't help but feel like there was so much he still had to learn from Colin and truly, a part of him wanted to refute those words, to tell him that Damian has always been rotten to the core even as a child, but it would be a disservice to kids like Colin and even the one Damian once was; hating on himself was so much comfortable when he wasn't dragging others with him.

“Now everything makes so much sense.” He continued, happily unaware of Damian's internal struggles.

“What does?”

“The way you fight, those cool moves and the sword! You never use it but it's totally a ninja sword.”

“Tt! I'm not something as pedestrian as a ninja.”

“You're not a samurai, you use smoke bombs.”

“Batman uses them too, is he a ninja then?”

“You can't define Batman, he's too amazing for that.”

It became clear for Damian, given the mirth in the redhead's voice, relaxed posture and affable smile, that Colin was trying to make fun of him. He didn't need knowledge from another life to understand this was Colin offering the first tentative step to a friendship despite Damian's revelations, or maybe because of them; either way he was aware of what a gift this was, offered by pure chance twice to him now.

From all the things Damian had lost, he was so grateful to have this one back.

Just like he said he would do the first time they talked in the Batcave, Drake kept an eye on Damian, but he was years away to catch him out of line, and all the commotion from moving to the penthouse and the preparations for the new Dynamic Duo weren't helping him to discover his machinations. There was also the fact that Damian had on his side the most powerful resource in his father's arsenal: Pennyworth. Without his help Damian's latest endeavor would've taken much more time and effort.

So here he was, waiting on his third attempt to synthetize what he took the habit of satirically calling a “hangover cure”, because when he perfected it, he was alone in a bleak future where things like proper names were useless when he had no one to tell.

It was such a ridiculous scene too, with Damian sitting with his feet up in a chair too big for him, the manga he bought weeks ago in hands, waiting for the machine to finish with the formula he was trying to concoct, while Alfred was walking somewhere behind him with a feather duster and actually using it; all of that at two in the morning in the bat-bunker. To add to the absurdity, he was actually engrossed in the story of the manga. It was hard not to, when the protagonist was a teenager doing the things she was expected to do: having good grades, hanging out with her friends, going out with her boyfriend, all while feeling dispassionate about everything... until she found the world of painting. In a way, it made Damian think of himself a little.

But his discovery of relatable fictional characters was put to a halt when the computer announced that the process was done. He carefully scrutinized the results in the computer screen in front of him, only to read it twice after he finished the first time. As soon as he was sure of the result, he jumped from the seat and rushed to the processor meant for vaccines and all sorts of antidotes. He took the crystal tube from the only slot being used and examined the liquid inside: it was that clear shade of red, the one that made him think what rubies would look like if they were liquid the first time he saw it. There was no doubt about it, this was it.

“People usually say that the smile of a child is a beautiful and innocent sight,” said Alfred, who approached Damian after seeing the abrupt way he abandoned his spot. “If I'm honest, I'm feeling rather unnerved about it.”

He was smiling from ear to ear, all white sharp teeth and probably looking a bit maniacally. “It's the canines' fault. I'm sure they're one of the genetic alterations my mother made.” The explanation wasn't necessary, but Damian couldn't help it, he was feeling elated enough to answer the most asinine things.

It wasn't like Damian was trying to make some experimental formula work, no, he already knew it was functional, but the materials in his previous attempts proved to be faulty. And now, after so much defeats, after taking one step forward and immediately two back, Damian had in his hands his first real triumph.

Finally, after so long, this was undeniable progress.

“Going by this display I must assume this time the result is right.”

“Correct. We did it, Pennyworth, half of the battle is won.”

“Claiming victory too soon has been the fall of many generals.”

“I was once called Alexander, even if I lost this battle, the war will be mine.”

Hearing such serious words from such a small child was a whimsical experience, even if he knew full well that Damian wasn't joking one bit. “At times like this you remind me of Master Bruce.”

“I would prefer if I remind you of myself, my father's shoes are too big to fill them. That's why it's a good thing I have my own.”

Alfred closed his eyes momentarily, letting his thoughts drift towards memories he held dear; reminiscences of Thomas, Martha and a little Bruce. When he opened his eyes, nothing in his expression betrayed anything unusual.

“Indeed it is and I eagerly await to see what kind of shadow you'll cast, Master Damian.”

⪻Chapter 6

Chapter 8⪼

#f.r.w.#chap7

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monstermaster13 · 1 year

Text

TftW: The Girl In Black

Lydia Deetz TG

Brandon was a teenager who loved all kinds of horror related things as long as it wasn't Twilight - he hated the Twilight books and movies. But he loved Tim Burton and wanted to be a film-maker just like him, he even wrote stories about his own monster creations exploring the Tim Burton universe. One night he was exploring the attic when he came across an old mirror and a model of a small town. The town model looked like the model from the 1988 movie Beetlejuice and there were even little figurines of the characters. Carefully he trodded over to the mirror and grabbed a copy of the Handbook of the Recently Deceased, he had won this copy in a contest. 'I wonder if this really works like it does in the movie and in the cartoon.'

He picked up the book and turned to the page with the Beetlejuice incantation on it, and he read the incantation aloud to see if anything would happen. 'Though I know I should be wary…still I venture some place scary. Ghostly hauntings I turn loose, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!' The room started to spin for a while as the mirror glowed a ghostly dark green colour, he suddenly felt quite dizzy. That was due to a series of strange sensations he was experiencing…as he was about to go through a set of changes. The first was that his hands were shrinking and become feminine as black nail polish was applied on his nails - his nails grew longer as well. His shirt tore apart and reformed into a black top, which was followed by his dark blue jeans tearing away and reforming into a pair of black leggings. He felt a tugging sensation as his sandals hardened and became a pair of black shoes, his legs grew longer and thinner, becoming feminine.

"Ooh….this is odd."

He sighed a little bit as his 'little friend' shrank away until it reformed into a vagina, his waistline grew slimmer as well. His body hair fell out as two small lumps grew on his chest, this lumps rounded slightly and formed into a pair of feminine breasts, they weren't large - just the size that regular teenage girl breasts usually look. He felt his hair as it turned black and contorted into a familiar looking style, as his skin turned pale and purple makeup was applied around his eyes and a little on his cheekbones. His lips became more feminine as his nose shrank and his neckline grew longer and thinner, this was his followed by his eyebrows turning black and thinning out, his voice was the last to change as it grew higher and feminized…when his transformation compled - he was now a she - and not just any female either, but Lydia Deetz. She looked around before examining a few more items of interest, most of which were supernatural.

"Now I wonder where BJ is…"

"Right here, babe!"

Swirving around, she noticed that the ghost with the most had manifested himself right next to her.

"BJ!"

"Lyds!"

"It's so good to see you again."

"Same here. So what's new?"

"Nothing much."

"Wanna have some fun?"

"Alright.. what will we be doing this time?"

"I was thinking we could pull a few tricks on people, really scare up a storm."

As BJ made that quip, a storm cloud appeared over his head and he was briefly zapped with a lightning bolt.

"Are you alright?"

"Sure…babes, you'll be surprised what I can live through."

"Alright. I'm ready to play. But I think that Otho might be watching from somewhere else in this house."

"Ah, no sweat. You stay here, and i'll go and handle Round-Boy."

BJ teleported himself over to the hallway, where Otho and Delia were redecorating as usual. Otho was examining the portrait gallery and admiring quite a few of them, he turned to see a black and white painting that looked a bit like Dorian Grey. 'Hmmm…I don't remember this being here.' He examined the painting for a while before continuing on with the redecorating, but the minute he turned around - the painting changed to a ghoulish looking creature and then to a picture of BJ. It was then that BJ leaped out of the painting and grabbed him.

"Hey, big guy! How is it going?"

"Oh no…not YOU again."

"I noticed..you're doing a bit of redecorating. Can I help?"

"No, you cannot."

"Please? With extra pickled eyeballs and a spider on top?"

"I said no. Now, please leave!"

"As you wish…"

BJ turned around, almost like he was leaving but of course he wasn't, he turned himself into a giant octopus monster and squirted him with ink. Otho grunted for a few seconds before shaking his head and attempting to go back to work, but BJ used his ghostly magic to turn him into a cartoon animal that looked like a bear in a tutu.

"Gah! What am I wearing?"

"Nice tutu."

Humiliated by BJ once more, Otho ran off to one of the other rooms with Delia following him. BJ teleported back to the attic where Lydia was waiting. He took on the form of a messenger.

"Lyds…the cost is clear…let's have some fun!"

"Awesome!"

With that Lydia and BJ went around pulling all kinds of supernatural pranks, even Barbara and Adam joined in as well. As for what happened later, Lydia decided to check out the library containing all the horror books and she decided to sit down and read them. Remember, if you ever need a ghastly good time- call the ghost with the most, just say his name 3 times and he'll be there.

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arty-shadow-morningstar · 3 years

Text

Graveyard Siblings (3)

Some for revenge and some sibling bonding.

[Masterlist]

(Part 1)(Part 2)

-------

Adrien was next to be visited. Plagg woke him up from his sleep.

-------

“Kit, wake up. I want camembert.”

“Plagg, silence. You are not getting any cheese if you do that.”

“Sorry, Adrien but you are not my ‘master’ anymore.”

“Plagg? Why are you here? Where’s the ring?”

“The ring is as far away as possible and kept safely away. I am here because someone wants to talk to you.”

“Who?”

A cloaked, hooded figure stepped out of the shadows to his room.

“Kitty. My Chaton. Did you miss me?” A sweet, familiar but yet so terrifying voice came from the figure.

She pulled down the hood to reveal Ladybug with a wicked-looking black mask with white lenses.

“What am I talking about? You do miss me. Your Bugaboo. Too bad I don’t feel the same, Adrien.”

Lightning flashed and it started to rain. The mask was gone, revealing his dead classmate, Marinette with chilling red eyes. The pigtails grew longer and curved upwards, giving the illusion of her having horns. Twin blades flashed and she leaped towards him. (Damian gave them to her with some lessons in exchange for spending time with, babysitting, the kwamis.)

Adrien scrambled away from the bed in the nick of time. A sword impaling the spot where he just was.

“Plagg, help. Where is the ring? I need to transform.”

“Sorry, kitten. I am not telling you. Even if you did have the ring, it’s not going to be much help.”

“Kitty, stay still. Then, we can be together. Just like you wanted.”

Adrien continued to dodge.

“What do you mean?” He all but screamed at Plagg.

“Pigtails, here, is a vengeful spirit. She’s not going to stop until she is satisfied. How about asking her what she wants?”

“Ladybug, what do you want?”

“What I wanted was a partner I could rely on, someone I can trust with my life, someone who wouldn’t stab me in the back for his own selfish gain. I wanted a friend who would have my back and not tell me to keep quiet at the price of my mental health and my relationships with people I care about. WAS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!”

She managed to get a cut on his left cheek.

Soon, he was on the ground, bleeding out on the round.

“Tell Hawkmoth that he better watch out. Because-” lightning struck and Plagg and Ladybug had disappeared, “his downfall is coming.” Her voice echoed through his room.

Adrien laid bleeding until Natalie opened the door after hearing a crash from the room and came to check on him. As she called an ambulance for Adrien, she wondered if it wasn’t too late to ask for redemption and be spared from Ladybug’s wrath for her part in her murder.

Adrien had the word ‘TRAITOR’ carved into his back. Forever reminding him of his crimes.

--------

He wasn’t in school for a week after the incident. They all were told that Adrien had an accident while fencing.

Gabriel was a little panicking now.

He hired an exorcist, (John Constantine got a hefty amount and did a few flashy magic tricks to appease Gabriel but he didn’t lift the curse Maria put on the place. She is not someone to be on the bad side of and he thinks that he can’t lift it even if he wanted to.)

Emilie gets a little sus at Gabriel when he brought this strange man with a British accent into their home after their son got attacked in his own room with security tighter than Fort Knox.

She doesn’t buy that ‘accident’ bullshit that her husband, son and even Natalie tries to sell her. She thinks it is connected to what happened while she was in a coma.

-----

Adrien has a curse too.

(Credit to @raeuberprinzessin for giving me an idea)

He couldn’t act like the ‘Perfect Adrien’ in public anymore. Acting more like Chat Noir at first then, later a spoiled brat. His friends thought that he was finally rebelling against his father and encouraged it a lot.

Adrien started criticizing other people, strangers at first then to the people working on the photoshoots to his fans to his other school mates, people in his class and his friends. (The curse planted ideas into his head about what he should say and he said them all without thinking about the effect it has on other people)

People started avoiding him not liking his attitude and his comments about how they should behave and change something about them because he doesn’t like it that way and guilt-tripping them when he doesn’t get his way. Even Nino started to distance himself after he saw how Adrien talked to a fan.

The public thought it was a phase but as he got progressively worse, people started despising him. Adrien doesn’t realize this of course so far, happy that his father let him get away with ‘ruining the Agreste image.’ (Gabriel was worried about a potential vengeful ghost and making sure his wife didn't know about his stint as a supervillain. There was also the fact that the Afterlife made more sales than him again and managed to get on the cover of Vogue when he should have, dammit.) He was finally able to say what he wanted to without repercussions. Until he realized when Nino and everyone else cancelled for a hangout for the third time that week that he was slowly losing his friends.

He panics and tries to fix the situation. He didn’t want to be alone again.

He talks to Nino about it and to his horror, he couldn’t stop himself from saying many things that were a little hurtful. (Second part. The moment he realizes he is going to be alone. He is going to find out that yes, lies can hurt people. He is going to see it happen firsthand.)

Nino moved seats and told Adrien that their friendship was on hold until he apologized.

Soon, nearly every time his mouth opened, lies and insults about his friends or their embarrassing secrets came spilling out. Everyone hated him now and Mme. Bustier tried to give him a reprimand about his behaviour, which when he tried to defend himself, he found himself unable to speak.

He managed to explain to his father what caused his unpopularity by writing what happened to him. Unfortunately due to his poor behaviour before the second part of the curse was activated, his fan base was dwindling and people didn’t like him anymore so there was a hit on the Gabriel brand.

He no longer has to do modeling, clearing his schedule. But no one would spend time with him.

The best solution he could do with his predicament was to keep quiet and endure the loneliness and the glares of his classmates at school. Adrien was relegated to the back and nearly everyone avoided him. He was now a social pariah.

Even Lila avoided him because of her own curse which made Adrien turn into one of her previous victims. (She also didn’t ponder why Marinette rarely appears compared to the others.)

If Adrien felt a tiny bit remorseful or guilty for making Marinette keep quiet or betraying Ladybug, he can gain a little control over what he says.

The curse can be broken if he apologizes to Maria herself or to her grave.

------

The first few months, while Marinette adapted to living with the Waynes, Jason stayed over at Wayne Manor because having Maria living with him at his apartment wasn’t a good idea and he had no clue how to take care of a teenage girl.

On paper she is adopted by Bruce because Jason can’t. (Some CPS reasons.)

Making Jason a little more salty towards Bruce. “I found her first. I called dibs.”

Brought Maria to meet the other Outlaws and they adopted her too. “Hey, guys. She’s my sister first.”

Jason was the one to teach her how to shoot a gun because he was ‘the most capable’ of teaching her.

The first few months were a little tense with Marinette not fully trusting them and the same with the rest of the Batfam.

Jason warmed her up a bit to him by telling a little of why he took her here.

He was also the one to book them flight to Paris with Bruce’s credit card so she can tell her friends that she wasn’t dead in person.

They bonded more after stopping some nefarious plot in Paris while they were there. Let’s say Gentleman Ghost and something involving the catacombs in Paris. (I watched some Batman: Brave and the Bold for childhood nostalgia.)

Kwamis were animal-shaped and they were interesting creatures to be around. And very very curious.

There was a stressful day for Maria when all the Kwamis decided to play hide and seek. Damian somehow got roped into helping her as the only available person in the Manor and he will deny that he enjoyed it.

Damian is the little brother she always wanted and she is more tolerable compared to his brothers. There is also the fact that she trusts him with the kwamis and deep down, he feels super-honoured. (I just love older sister!Mari)

Tim and her being insomniac/coffee buddies. There has been many many interventions to stop this.

I get that Marinette is this selfless person and loves making people happy but she has siblings now and them eating the stuff she made for herself to enjoy, should get on her nerves after a while.

She makes a box with booby-traps in which she puts in her cookies and food.

There are many different layers of traps because this is the Batfam and each of them is non-lethal and more ridiculous.

Okay, I once read a fic about Marinette making a bear-trap style box to hide the Miracle Box so this box is also like that but kept for food. (Traps and Sneaks by quicksilversquared)

Someone (I vote a hungry Dick or Jason, maybe a suspicious Bruce) made a mistake of putting their hand into the box and the first trap activated.

Screams filled the house.

Everyone came down including Marinette.

Bruce asked, “Who did this?”

“It was me.”

“Why?”

“They kept eating the cookies.”

“There are other ways to stop them from doing that you know like a ‘Do Not Touch’ sign not a death trap box.”

“They are non-lethal.”

Bruce locked it away but Tim later stole it to tweak it and store his coffee. ------ (Part 4)

#graveyard siblings #maribat #ml x dc #mlb x dc #adrien salt #adrien bashing #platonic jasonette #platonic daminette

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impyssadobsessions · 2 years

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Batman was getting a better look at the thermos while Danny went to go 'water a tree' as he phrased it. He really needed to meet their parents... he felt like that was one thread that he had to see with his own eyes. With Vlad though, he knew he was a shady business person. He tried to pull one over on him once. Bruce had assumed he was drugged, but there was no evidence. All he remembered was shaking Vlad Masters' hand and then waking up in his office. Alfred and Jason (Before he died) looking at him with concern, asking if he was back. Since then, he refused to have any sort of business with Vlad. He kept an eye on him, anytime he had to go to a gala, he was attending at.

If Danny's parents were close to him, he wonder if they would abuse Danny's trust too. Perhaps they had. Jazz and Danny seemed adamant that they were caring. Maybe they weren't anything like Vlad... still it didn't settle well. “If you want to keep Danny's trust, you probably should apologize or do something Dick would say.” Tim leaning against the chair Batman sat on. “Cheese is their language, if his puns and smack talk are anything to go off of.” Batman made a grunt, as he picked up the battery to look over again. It only used up a little of the ectoplasm inside it, despite having kept a giant ghost blob together and heal up Danny. Tim sighed, “His parents aren't looking to good, are they?” “No.” “What are you going to do, if they don't pass the Bat test?” “...Depends. Danny and Jazz are aware, and seem to genuinely care for them. If they wish to stay with them, then..” “The whole, can't help if they don't want it, might apply?” “...” “Well, suppose nothing to do about it until we meet them first.” Tim shrugged, taking a glance at the door. Danny should be heading back, so he kept his voice low. “Though I got a theory on how Vlad and Danny became half-ghosts. Obviously not much to go on but bare with me.” Batman perked up, leaning towards Tim to show he was listening. “Ok, you know how Danny was hospitalized for electrical burns and hypothermia? He also mentioned electricity and ectoplasm turned him into a half-ghost.” Tim gave a pause, as he hopped topics. “-Okay, so his parents are scientist, that build ectoplasmic weapons from stuff like thermoses. I bet their lab is in their home, not only that... For them to have enough ectoplasm to build and power up their devices they would need to have access to a source.” “-The Ghost Zone is MADE of ectoplasm, filled with it. It has to be limitless to constantly feed and maintain life in it!” Batman pinched his chin as he took in each line Tim said. Trying to follow the web Tim piecing together. His eyes slowly widening, in realization. “I think they tried to do same thing in college. I think Danny and Vlad were caught in an accident related to a portal or some kind of access point to the ghost zone. Or if not some portal, maybe just from tinkering with heavy machinery that involved ectoplasm.. like a generator or-” “Wow, you got all that from snippets? One, teach me. Two, its impolite to talk behind someone's back.” Danny leaned in the doorway. Tim a nonverbal, 'oh'... at being caught. Batman was shocked at being sneaked up on. They didn't hear him at all. He quickly regain composure, “Sorry.-” “Don't.. I get it.” Danny sighed, “My parents made a portal. Didn't work at first. Me and my friends were being stupid teenagers and messed around with it. I took a look inside, ended up tripping and hitting a switch that was in it. Bright light. Molecules got all rearrange than Boo! Ghost.... Its my fault I'm like this, but unlike Vlad, my friends stuck around.” There they were, the missing pieces. They simmered over what they heard. Danny was obviously holding back on what exactly happened, and his posture made it clear, he was trying to mask how bad it was. But it cleared the air some. “Is now a bad time or?” Dick chimed in from the device, a sound of muffled curses in the background. “Report.” “Ok, good news! We found a way in-ow you bit me!” “Good! Because we ain't doing that shit- Tell Danny, he got to nip that sympathy shit in the butt! Can't feel bad for a bastard that constantly attacking you and your family! That's how you get-” “Bad news?” “Uh.. Its a vent that's too small-Jaybird!” “Robin went in it.” Cass took over the call, as they collectively muted Dick and Jason. Their voices could still be heard in the background. Batman grunted, not liking that his youngest was exploring alone- “And Jazz followed.” “...........what?!” Danny let out, clearly having over heard their conversation from across the room. Add super hearing to the list of powers. ----- Ow< '

It felt as if the vent went on for miles. It amusingly made her think of Alice in Wonderland, except she was following a Robin and not a rabbit. Though Vlad would make a good queen of hearts. Ancients knows he's dramatic enough.

They had to temporarily short out fans to get through parts of the vent. Jazz had never squeezed her body into tight spaces so much in her life. Well, those skinny leather pants she wore to an Ember's concert was a good second. On another tangent, following Robin, probably should have went on the list of things that she should have thought through more. But, She didn't feel right leaving Robin alone. Even if the boy obviously disliked her presence. A light appeared in front of them, signaling the end of their crawling. Damian was crawling faster, wanting to get out of the cramp space. He would have already been through the vent, if Jazz didn't get stuck every time they passed through a fan. He had to yank her free at least twice. Once at the vent opening, he peaked to see where it lead. It looked like a hallway, that was well lit. “See anything?” Jazz whispered. Damian huffed, as he started to remove the vent covering. He flinched as the cover fell, and a sound echo in the hall. They made no effort to move, waiting to hear if anyone was coming. Damian peaked his head out of the open vent, he didn't see any cameras and the hall was deathly silent. He cautiously crawled out of the vent, and crept in silence to the other side of the hall. He flinched as he heard the girl stumbling out of the vent. The sound echoing. He glared at her, as Jazz just rubbed the back of her head with an apologetic smile. If they get caught, he's blaming it on her. “If you insist on being loud, could you do so in the other direction!” Damian hissed. Jazz didn't seem to respond to his hiss, as she stood up to dust herself off. Instead she deflected with a question. “Which way do we go? It makes sense if this way would connect towards the tunnels.” “Tt.” Damian rolled his eyes, and then assessed the area. It was a long hallway. He didn't see windows or doors. He didn't like the vulnerability the long stretch gave, so he opted for the corner that was closer to them, but was in a different direction to where the girl had pointed. Even if the other way led to the tunnels, this option might provide more hiding spots. Robin didn't even motioned for Jazz to follow, but she did anyways. Staying irritatingly close, but at least she was quiet. The corner revealed another hallway with branching paths and doors, but a camera was visible. And.. busted? There were burnt marks around the ceiling. “Must have been Mom or Dad.... probably Mom.” Jazz whispered while she peered around the corner above of Damian. Damian didn't comment and just moved forward, taking each corner with caution. Jazz annoying following on his tail. Surprisingly, each hallway they took, the camera was shot out for them. Jazz felt nervous, the shots showed her parents were here, ALIVE. But the silence of the halls ate at her. She played with the end of her braid, trying to keep calm. Some of the doors they passed had labels, but they weren't written in English. Damian couldn't decipher what language they were. So he ignored them for now. He was hoping the rooms that he was more interested in would have large doors or entrances. Normally they did. “No body respects their elders. 2000 years old, and still flocking back and fourth. Back and fourth!-” A green vulture, with gray hair and a fez hat came into view as it appeared through the wall, floating slightly above them. Jazz and Damian froze, holding their breaths. Damian gripping his Anti-ghost roasting stick, but Jazz held her hand out telling him to wait. Damian glaring her way, as she kept her gaze up on the vulture. “Ah, I should have moved to the other side of the realm-” The vulture turned, making eye contact with Jazz and Damian. Damian lunged up to attack the ghost before it could react, making it squawk out in pain. Jazz scrambled onto her feet, grabbing Damian's wrist and running blindly in a direction away from the vulture. “Run!” “AACCCKK!! INTRUDER! INTRUDER ALERT!!!” They turned swiftly around the nearest corner, and kept running through double doors leading to a large garage.

Damian squeezed himself between large boxes that were staked next to a small room that sat near the entrance of the garage. Jazz ran and slid herself under a truck, that had one side concealed by partially unloaded sacks of dehydrated chemicals. They sat with baited breath. Jazz peaking around the sacks and tires to get a good visual of the door, then shifting to include the direction Damian went. Damian kept to the shadows and listened for any noise. Alarms didn't blare nor could he hear that squawking vulture. It was quiet, unsettling so. He spared a moment to gain better aware of their surroundings, entry and exit points. There were many large crates that could be used to- could they be used to block ghost's line of sight. They would be able to go right through them. It would only give him a second, but any moment could be used as an advantage.

There were cars spaced out in the room, jeeps, trucks, and.... a strange armored vehicle. Was that the GAV Jazz mentioned? That meant... his view was blocked by the boxes and vehicles, but he could still see part of the sealed entrance to the tunnel. Appears that they ran into the right place. Controls must be in that room nearby. Jazz noticed the GAV right away, that be a good place to hide. She wonder if it be safe to move. Slowly she scooted herself out from under the truck, keeping low and crouched. She peered around boxes before shuffling to the GAV. It was unlocked. She turned towards the direction that she knew Damian hid in, and urged him to come, while climbing into the RV herself. Damian frowned, glaring daggers as he watched Jazz ushering him over. He debated on it, finding it foolish. However, her climbing back out of the RV to head his way, made him crawl out. Jazz felt relieved seeing Robin in view again, he didn't look happy at her, but she had her reasons. She knew the GAV be the obvious hiding spot, but it had equipment and was upgraded to keep ghosts out.. as long as they were in ghost form that is. Vlad would have to come in person. “You better have a good reason for this.” “I do. Hurry get inside.” They kept their voices low, Jazz getting in and locking the doors after Damian. “Welcome to the ghost assault vehicle. A normal ghost won't be able to make it in.” Jazz showed off the GAV. It didn't look to be in the of best shape, as everything was flung around inside of it. Still, technology wise it looked quite impressive. “Almost everything in this vehicle was made to hunt or capture ghosts.” Damian nodded as he picked up another ecto-blaster that laid on the floor of the GAV. He wondered if there was a sword in here. Jazz opened the cabinets and shuffled through strewn items. “Well, normally. Looks like Plasmius or my parents wiped some of it out.” She pulled out guns and scanners. The Fenton Finder, she held out and showed to Damian. “Locates ghosts near by. Though I would turn down the volume on it.” Damian held the device in his hands, looking it over. He had to admit, this would be worth having, since the ghosts could appear out of no where. Jazz kept pulling out equipment. Mumbling out there names as she pulled them out. “Bazooka... oo the grappler! That would have been handy earlier! Wrist rays... Thermos- never mind that ones got soup in it. Bleh, the Ghost gabber.. hmm” Damian furrowed his brows watching her pull out weapon after weapon. There was more guns than anything. A few were busted or low on fuel, but most were in tact. Was that a giant magnet? What was that used for? “I really need to keep the ghost peeler on me.” Jazz sighed as she couldn't find the Fenton Ghost Peeler. It was one of her favorites to use. “Ghost peeler?” Damian could only imagine a large potato peeler, one Alfred had him use. “Yea. It a hand held device that covers the user in anti-ghost armor. Also has a built in ray.” Damian didn't feel like that answered his question, as the name suggested peeling. “Let's get the usable weapons out of the GAV, so if Plasmius finds out the Gotham heroes are here, he can't hide them away..” She piled some into her arms. “Any suggestions?” “As high as possible.” Jazz looked out the windshield, with a hum. “The rafters?” Damian nodded with a smirk. “I think we can do that.”

#danny phantom #danny fenton #batman #batman crossover #danny phantom crossover #bruce wayne #tim drake #jazz fenton #damian wayne #dick grayson #jason todd #cassandra cain #dc crossover #fan fic

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