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clockwayswrites · 1 year

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Like Betta Fish Do - Part 10

Masterpost of ao3 link and all parts. wc: 3324

“Baby Pop!” Ember cried as she swooped Danny up into a crushing hug.

Right then, he was really glad that he didn’t have to breath in his ghost form. Not even five minutes in the zone and he was already being crushed to re-death. He managed to get a hand up to pat awkwardly at her arm. “Heya Ember… everything okay?”

“Is everything okay?! Is every— what are you asking me that for?” Ember wailed. She held Danny out suddenly at arm’s length and shook him around a little.

Danny gripped her arms to stop the shaking. “Seriously confused here, Ember.”

“Pandora talked to us—”

Oh no.

“—and told how you didn’t know we where just having fun! Danny, Baby Pop, little melody, we didn’t know, I swear!”

“Ember—”

“If we had, okay, like yeah I want my music to be heard and shit!”

“Ember!”

“But not if it hurt you. You have to believe that.”

Danny smacked his hand over Ember’s mouth to keep her from interrupting him again. She huffed at him with a glare but didn’t try to move away.

“Ember,” Danny said, trying his best to muster up a reassuring smile for her. “Pandora explained. I know it was just a big misunderstanding.”

Ember pulled Danny’s hand away from her mouth, gripping it tightly. “Just because it was a ‘big misunderstanding’ doesn’t mean it was okay, Baby Pop. We hurt you. It doesn’t make it right just cause we didn’t know.”

“I— okay, no, maybe not entirely? But also I could have talked to someone, like one of the Ancients, before this. Jazz is always reminding me communication takes both parties, so some of it’s on me too.” From the way her face scrunched up, Danny wasn’t sure Ember believed him. “Look, after I move I’m going to get some of you together and we’ll plan a brawling schedule or something, alright? I think it will be nice to have a way to blow off stress from college.”

“You’re moving? Away from Amity Park?”

“Yep. And I’m shutting down the portal there. Amity Park is going to be off limits. I can’t keep you all safe from the hunters anymore. Can you help spread the word to the usual suspects about that? That would help me out a lot.”

“Can do Baby Pop! You can count on me,” Ember said, flying up with a twirl. Danny waved to her as she sped off, glad that the encounter at least ended on a good note.

He really wasn’t looking forward to having that conversations with any of the other ghosts, but he had the unfortunate feeling it would happen again and again and again. Well, he might as well get it over with Technus first. Danny wanted the other ghost’s advice to make sure that the portal would be well and good destroyed. Between Technus, Tucker, and his own skills, he’d make sure that the Fentons could never get into the Infinite Realms again.

And then he could finally move on.

Not in that way. Just, like, to college.

The explosion of the portal shook half the city. Car alarms screamed, windows shattered, the ops center tilted perilously on top of the half collapsed wall.

Amity Park was the safest it had been in nearly eight years.

Danny had debated moving like a normal human. He really had. He’d sat down and planned everything out from the trip route to the van to cost. He could do it; he was pretty sure. A small moving truck wasn’t any bigger than the Fenton Tactical Response Vehicle. Also, he didn’t need as much sleep as a normal human so could make the trip pretty quickly.

He almost did it just for the chance of doing something normal for once— to have the real college experience.

And then he thought about having to sit still in one seat for that long and immediately abandoned the idea pretty quickly.

Instead, he opened a portal from his apartment in Amity Park to the Infinite Realms and chucked all of his (mostly) boxed stuff into the zone. He technically had a whole castle, what did it matter if he had his junk in it for a few hours? Then he flew to Gotham, wanting to make sure to get the portal precisely where he needed it, and ripped open a new portal.

Sure, he had to stop Boxy a few times from taking off with a box, but otherwise the plan went pretty well.

Just now he was standing in his new, cramped studio apartment surrounded by boxes and furniture and maybe not quite enough room to move and arrange it all. He possibly should have taken a little more time moving in. His new place was tiny. He didn’t think it was possible, but he was already missing his Amity apartment a little. At least that place had more than one room.

But as tiny as this shoe box was, it was all his. He couldn’t imagine having to live with other people any more— not normal people at least. He would have had to hide his ghostly side constantly and he knows he would just mess up and out himself. That wasn’t the sort of attention he needed.

He was really, really trying to have a normal college experience here.

Speaking of…

Danny climbed over a pile of boxes to find his backpack. He’d tried to stick all the most important things (and a change of underwear) in there so it was all in one place. Now he just had to find the damn thing…

Aha! There it was. He leaned over a box, legs flailing to keep his balance, as he grabbed the patched covered purple bag. One of these days the strap was going to give out so badly that there was no saving it. Maybe it was time to get a new backpack. Maybe even before classes started…

Danny twisted around to sit on the box that he had been crawling over and fished around in the front pocket of the backpack to pull out his ear buds. He flicked open the app on his phone and and started a voice call. He was so glad he listened to Tucker and had set up the internet before he moved in.

A few minutes into trying to figure out the Tetris like puzzle of rearranging his space, he heard the ding of someone joining the channel.

“Are you in Gotham? Did you get moved in?”

Danny grinned and rolled his eyes. “Yes, mom.”

“Don’t you dare call me that Daniel John Nightingale.”

“You’re the one who’s full naming me, Sam,” Danny pointed out.

“Would you rather me call you Invis-o-bill?”

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” Sam said, completely unbothered by his words. “So how’s the new place.”

“Like a closet. If I trip in the kitchen I’m going to land in the bed.”

Sam snorted. “I doubt it’s that bad.”

“Maybe not, but let’s just say I’m glad I didn’t have money when I left ho— the house to get a bigger bed. I seriously don’t think I could fit anything bigger than a twin in here and still have room for my couch.”

“It’s your couch just a love seat?”

“Exactly my point Sam, this place is tiny.” Fuck it, time to approach this place like an engineer. He snagged the notebook he kept in his backpack, flipped it open to a blank enough page, and sketched out the floor plan.

“Okay, I get it, Princess,” she teased. “But aside from tiny, how is it?”

“Pretty basic but it looks clean and, I don’t know, well kept? I think a lot of people in the building are students too since we’re sorta close to campus and stuff.”

“Are you close enough to walk?”

“I think so, at least when it’s not too cold. But I’m close to a subway and it’s only two stops so once I get used to riding the subways, that will be nice,” Danny said, unable to hide the nerves in his voice.

“Don’t worry about it, you’ll be used to the city in no time,” Sam assured him breezily. “Just get your pass and set it to auto refill. Make sure to check if you get a discount for being a student.”

Danny smiled, just a little somberly. Sam was so much further ahead of him in all these life experiences. He shook his head as if that could shake the thought free with it. He was here now. “Thanks for the advice, I’ll do that. I’ve got a few weeks before classes start to handle all that shit.”

“It will go quicker than you think.”

“Don’t make me ‘mom’ you again,” Danny threatened with a laugh.

A loud knock cut off whatever ever Sam was going to say (probably telling him to fuck off).

“What was that?” She asked instead.

“I think someone is at my door?” Danny scrambled over boxes to make it to the door, which he basically tripped into. That last box he stepped on might of not been as solid as he thought.

“Don’t break yourself, fish.” A muffled voice called from the other side.

“Jason?”

“Who’s Jason?” Sam asked. Suspiciously. Fuck.

Danny fumbled with the locks before yanking his door open. It banged into a tower of boxes with a crunching noise that makes made Danny wince. He rubbed at the back of his neck as he looked up at his smirking guest.

“Jason, hi. I— um, one moment?” Danny asked, pointing towards his ears and the (on brand) bright green and black ear buds that were in them. He turned his back slightly to Jason as if that provided any privacy. “I’ll talk to you later, okay Sam?”

“Who’s Jason?”

“Bye Sam!”

“Danny! You better call me ba—”

Danny hung up on her with no regret and a bashful smile towards Jason. He had to mute the app a moment later as messages pinged in. “Hi, hey, what are you doing here?”

“Moving day always sucks, so I thought I would bring you some food.” Jason held up the bag of deliciousness.

Danny had forgotten he’d even told Jason about what day he was moving in the sporadic back and forth texting, but his stomach rumbled gratefully. “Dude, you saved my half-life. I spent so much energy portaling today.”

“Is that how you trapped yourself in your own apartment? Did you forget about this thing called doors?”

Yeah, Jason was far too smug at this.

“Look, it’s fine! I just have to—” Danny pushed against the door. It smacked into the pile of boxes again. “—shift a few things—” He pushed harder, his socked feet slipping on the linoleum. “—and then—” the cardboard finally gave and the whole tower crumpled slightly. “—see!”

Jason snorted and squeezed through the open door. His bulk barely fit and once he was inside, it left him standing pressed against Danny in the narrow space.

Danny felt himself blushing red as he tried really, really hard to pull his eyes up from the broad chest to Jason’s smirking face. Nope, that wasn’t any better. Those wonderfully quirked lips were way too close. He really needed to stop thinking things like that.

“So what’s your grand plan now?” Jason asked, looking around their box prison.

“That’s, um—” Fuck, even the guy’s neck was hot. It was like a damn tree trunk. Was that weird to think? That was probably weird. “—I’ve just been playing mountain goat and climbing over it? I have a clear spot over there.”

“Alright then Capircorn, lead on.”

“What?”

“Capricorn? The horoscope sign and mythological animal? It’s a like a mermaid but with goat top half. Since you’re a fish goat.”

Danny snorted, once, before he just dissolved into a fit laughter. It was maybe more a sign of how long Danny had been stressing over everything than how funny the joke was, but it still left him leaning against Jason as his peels of laughter died out.

Damn did Danny want to just stay right there though. Jason’s chest was really way too comfortable to have his face pressed into. The large hand spread over his lower back to help him keep his balance was grounding. It made his core want to curl up happily like a content cat.

He really had been alone for too long, hadn’t he?

Danny made himself pull away and start scaling the box. “Follow the goat fish’s lead then.”

“Hey, I think I said fish goat,” Jason said, handing over the bag of takeout once Danny had crossed the proverbial mountain.

“Okay, but if the top half is goat, goat should totally come first.”

“No, the fish tail is the weird part. You’re just looking at it going ‘this is normal’ and then you get to the fish half and realize it’s fucked up,” Jason said as he eyed the pile of boxes and then vaulted over them like it was nothing. He straightened up from his landing to smirk down at Danny again (and man could Danny get used to that). “So the defining feature is fish and hence fish comes first.”

“Ancients, why am I arguing with an English nerd about words?” Danny said, making himself step back even as his core screamed at him to do the opposite. He set the food down and dug around in one of the nearby boxes (he had labeled this one, go him) for a blanket to spread out on the floor. “And I totally know what Capricorn is. It’s a constellation, after all.”

“Oh my god. You’re a space nerd,” Jason said, gleefully.

Danny flicked him off over his shoulder.

It only took a little bit of digging before Danny found a blanket and soon they were seated on the small bit of open floor with the take out containers spread out between them. One of Jason’s long legs was stretched out all the way across the space. Danny was trying to ignore how where his thigh pressed against Jason’s leg felt so warm.

Jason, unconcerned, munched on a spring roll thoughtfully. “How did I surprise you anyways?”

Danny swallowed his mouthful of honey chicken before answering so not to be disgusting. “What do you mean?”

“Just whenever you’re anywhere near my place I get the whole someone walked on my grave feel,” Jason said with a little wave of his chopsticks. “So how did I show up at your door without you noticing?”

“Oh, well, this isn’t my haunt? At least not yet? I don’t know if it will become mine. This sorta thing is all really unusual, changing haunts, but you know, halfa and all.”

Danny deflated a little at the utterly done expression that Jason was giving him.

“That explained nothing. What’s a haunt? I assume you mean like a haunting?”

“Oh! Oh, yeah, sorry. I guess that would be confusing.” Danny rubbed at the back of his neck. “Okay, so the area where you live, Park Row—”

“Crime Alley.”

“Pardon?”

“Crime Alley,” Jason repeated. “Only the rich assholes call it Park Row.”

“Right, gotcha, sorry, all of Crime Alley is basically your haunt. Think of a haunt as your territory. It’s an area you protect or control, depending on your vibes as a ghost. For you, I’d say it’s definitely protection.”

“So I can feel you when you’re around because you’re, what, basically trespassing?”

“Yep. So, like, ghosts that are ‘yours’ in some way can exist in your haunt without much of any notice. Take, like, Frostbite. He’s the chief of the Yetis—”

‘Yetis?’ Jason mouthed silently but didn’t interrupt.

“— so most of the other Yeti’s live in what’s his haunt, but their presence doesn’t bother him any because they’re his tribe. He gets a bit of a sense of them being there, but he explains it as basically just a really faint feeling unless anything goes wrong. Families work the same way. Friend’s or allies never go away completely but it mellows.”

“So not getting that scream of static and chills anymore when you show up…?”

“Totally means you don’t want to disembowel me,” Danny joked before he sombered. “But shit, that sounds overwhelming. I didn’t know it was so bad for you. We’re going to be more sensitive to each other because we’re both halfas. Like, once your core develops other ghosts will sense you too and you’ll sense them, but right now you just feel like a minor shade to them and I guess my presence covered up anything you might have felt of the other ghosts. You said it’s better now?”

Jason stuck his chopsticks in the takeout box and leaned back against the pile of boxes behind him. “Yeah. The first time it happened it almost knocked me out. There was just this overwhelming level of static. I crushed a glass in my hand and I didn’t even notice. All I knew is I needed to get home.”

“To protect your haunt,” Danny said with a grimace. “Shit, I’m sorry. If I had noticed in time I would have stayed out. I was chasing this pain in the ass ghost and then suddenly I was in your haunt which was, well, not great?”

“Because you were trespassing?”

“Yep. And because your haunt felt… there was a lot of rage there.”

“The haunt feels like things?” Jason asked with a scowl.

Danny gave a little nod. “It’s based on both the area and the ghost. So you know, Crime Alley plus Pit rage…”

Jason looked away, glaring at the ground. “Which explains the ‘please don’t disembowel me’ message.”

“It seemed better safe than sorry,” Danny said, quietly.

“Is it horrible for you? Being in my haunt?”

Danny glanced up to meet worried, ice blue eyes. “No. It’s fine, really Jason. We’re getting used to each other, right? I’m not as bad on you when I go into your haunt and your haunt isn’t as pressing on me. Besides, the center of your haunt was always just… well, a little sad? Aching?”

“Right, sure, aching,” Jason said, snatching back up the box of take out to stab at it with the chopsticks.

Danny fiddled awkwardly with his own, not knowing what to say.

“So, well,” Jason started eventually, clearing his throat. “Why won’t this become your haunt?”

“I don’t know if I’ll get attached enough. Or if it will end up being the college campus or something else or maybe even nothing. Ghosts don’t really change their haunts unless something traumatic happens, and a trauma of that level they might not survive. But because we’re halfa’s and still living life and changing, it’s not as big of a deal for us.

“At least that’s what Frostbite thinks. Honestly we’re not really sure how exactly this will all work out for me. But I was already… detaching from my old haunt after my friends and sister left so might as well try, you know?”

That didn’t exactly seem to have the reassuring effect he wanted. Jason was gripping the takeout box a little too tightly. “But it won’t hurt you?”

“Frostbite is keeping a close eye on me, I promise. I’m going back for so many doctor visits right now. Which, by the way, when you’re healthy enough to travel between realms you will be too. But for right now I’m being looked after and I’ll do what I can to make Gotham my home and settle in. The sooner I do the sooner we’ll know more.”

Jason took a deep breath, shoulders losing some of their tension, and nodded. “Well, you better finish eating so we can get this place livable then. I’m not sure if the fish goat life is sustainable.”

“Goat fish.”

“Fish goat.”

Jason ducked with a laugh as Danny chucked a spring roll at him.

Yeah, maybe this place could at least be a home.

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AN: AH! I found an easier way to get this from Scrivener to share with all of you. Sweet. Chapter 4 rewrite is ready to go up on ao3 on schedule too~

The first part of this chapter really fought me (I started a whole new fic to avoid it lol) but parsing it down to just having Ember there really helped. I’m not sure if we’ll see Danny talk with the other ghosts much, that’s not really the focus of this fic, but I’m sure one or two will find a way to show back up. In the second half my poor ace self struggled with Danny’s “oh no he’s still hot” POV but hopefully it came out well! This may be a rougher chapter though (wee endless migraine) but that’s what the rewrite is for! (Seriously, for a better version of this fic visit ao3 lol link in pinned post.)

My darlings, my dears, the tag list may be supremely broken. I’m going to try to reset it here, but I make no promises. I’m sorry if it doesn’t tag you! No matter what though, stay delightful!

#dp x dc #danny fenton #jason todd #dead on main #jason/danny #like betta fish do

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evilminji · 1 month

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*Distant sound of frantic running growing closer*

*I throw open the door with manic eyes, breathing heavily*

Hatsume Mei! The Fenton's! Oh DEAR LORD. The Couple, the Doctors Fenton... would think she's A Lovely Young Lady ™! Normal even! Charming! I bet the Hatsume Adults would find to be a Charming And Upstanding Young Lad!

JAPAN ISNT READY.

If the GIW got out of hand? And Amity, as a town? Said "fuck ya'll we taken our ball and going home"? All they'd NEED to do? Is shut down the portal, get the skilled portal makers stationed at side A of town to open it up, rip the whole thing up, have the mover ghosts push it IN, aaaaaand? Everyone in? Good! We close it from the inside!

Fuck those guys.

Okay, so, I'm Jerry. You're real estate officer, we got some GREAT options for you this season! How do feel about ninjas? No? Pirates? Not feeling it? Superheroes? Seeing some interest! We got a- *continues their pitch as Amity is moved*

Amity get phased into the Japanese countryside.

What do you MEAN "there wasn't a town here?" Of course there way! We have roads and everything! Why are we all Americans? What're you a cop? Mind your business, spandex man.

.....yeah, they're gonna call this one a "Quirk accident".

Pay your taxes, folks, and we promise not to care!

Fenton's? Back in business, baby! Well, never STOPPED being in business. But details! They're now a "support company"! And yes! The quotation marks ARE on all their documents AND signs! They think it's stupid!

But you want lazers?

Oh ho hoooo~ DO WE HAVE LAZERS!!!

Maddie n Jack start hitting the scene. Conventions. Conferences. Fancy parties. Weirdly? They "unnerve" people. Cowards.

Until? Gasp? They meet just the LOVELIEST couple! Who are so FUN! Who ALSO has a daughter? Danny's age no less! Oh she is just PRECIOUS? Is that her first bomb? Aaaaaw~♡.

Danny feels a disturbance in the force.

Like... like his folks are... are about to try and introduce him to a Nice Young Girl again. The last time this happened was at mom's fighting competitions. She ended up being some sort of assassin royalty. Thankfully, she accepted he could commit to a life of murder, since he wanted to be an astronaut, but it was like this whole THING and- you know what? Not important!

Where are his parents!?

(Planning his wedding! Gotta incorporate BOTH the family's completely batshit Family Traditions!)

#dp x bnha #dp x mha #danny/mei #I'm calling them Terror Technologies #he's Technologies #or should it be Terror Space?#none the less?#be afraid #very very afraid #minji's writing

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britcision · 11 months

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Hey guys

I have present for you

Not sure if there will be a WIP Wednesday this week since I’m con crunching and we leave on Thursday, soooo… this will tide you over I’m sure! The completed chapter 15!

Previous Chapter:

First chapter and AO3 link:

————-

I’ll Take The Highway

Time was almost slipping away too quickly in the milkshake bar, and Danny wished he didn’t have to keep an eye on it.

(Well. Seriously hoped. Even in the privacy of his head, he couldn’t make it a wish.)

He had to get Tucker back to MIT though, and back to Gotham in a reasonable time frame to get to bed before class tomorrow.

If he got to bed before midnight, there might be a chance for he and Jason to run to the Far Frozen in the morning. Or after, Danny’s classes didn’t run late. Or…

He was missing out on the fun today, trying to plan tomorrow. Much as Jazz would love him being more organised, he pushed it to the back of his mind.

They’d visit Frostbite soon. And find out how Jason’s core was, though Danny was beginning to think he knew. Here, when Jason was happy and relaxed? Not tensed, shut down, or angry?

Danny could definitely feel something he hadn’t before. Not exactly the same as another ghost, or any of the other halfas, not yet.

But it was almost like Box Lunch’s fresh core seen through a house of mirrors.

Maybe that was what had him so close to the edge today? It was taking some pretty serious effort not to react to even the mention of an old threat to Jason.

Jason, the sweet baby ghost.

And if his smile was a little sappy at that thought, well, that was no one’s business but his own. At least he had something to sit on for when his rogues started embarrassing baby stories.

Finally he couldn’t put it off anymore. Too much to do, friends to fly across country, and he still hadn’t found a good way to ask Waylon his question. He just… well.

He’d given Jason all the server info, the stuff about who his rogues were, how he beat them, the things they’d learned about the Infinite Realms. They’d even shared some stories around different bits.

That didn’t exactly explain what he wanted to ask Waylon about. And it really wasn’t something he was comfortable sharing just yet, even if he already knew it was dumb.

Jason was a good guy. Who hung out with Batman, who was apparently an asshole. He wouldn’t judge Danny for having some dark and fucked up stories in all the zany ones.

Fuck, maybe Waylon could tell him how Jason would react. It was gonna come up, it’d have to, and Danny really would feel better having someone else’s opinion.

He was reluctant to interrupt their good time, another story devolving into laughter, but it was getting into the afternoon and… well, he also had no idea how long this would take.

“Hey, uh, by the way. I’ve gotta head out in a bit, dropping Tuck back off in Massachusetts, I just wanted to talk to Waylon for a minute first? In private?” Because if Danny had learned one thing?

Direct worked best.

It worked now, Harley nodding along and hopping up, cartwheeling her way along the table and out of the booth.

“Say no more, Danno! C’mon, Jayjay, I wanted ta catch up with you on somethin’ too, so this works perfectly!” She declared cheerfully, giving Jason a fond tug to his fluffy white streak of hair.

Jason shot Danny a look that was half commiserating, half curious as he slid out of the both after her, but Danny was too busy staring into an imagined hellscape where Harley met Jack Fenton.

Fuck Dan, the world couldn’t handle that.

By the time he came back to himself, he and Waylon were alone in the booth, the big man watching him curiously.

“So, what’s on yer mind, kid?” He asked in a low voice, folding his arms on the edge of the table and leaning in.

Secret villain hideaway or not, this wasn’t something Danny wanted just anyone overhearing, so he beckoned Waylon closer to his end of the booth first, tucked into the wall.

The big guy slid his way surprisingly delicately down the seat, then leaned in again, watching Danny expectantly.

Which was when Danny realised he shoulda probably thought about a good way to put this.

Blunt it was gonna have to be.

“So… you… Harley said people called you Killer Croc before you ever hurt anyone?” He said in a rush, flinching at how bad it actually sounded said aloud.

Waylon… did not have eyebrows to raise, and it was really fucking weird that he was noticing that now, but it was definitely what he’d been doing, and Danny was distracting himself again.

“They did,” Waylon agreed a moment later, his voice low and even. Guard up, but not defensive. Not closing the topic off.

Danny huffed out a sigh, and found he couldn’t quite meet the man’s eyes. Found himself intently examining the diamond pattern on the formica tables. His own hands, twisting in front of him over that pattern.

“You… you became what they said you were. A monster.” The words caught in his throat, hard to spit out and shit he thought he was past this.

It had been years.

A scaled green hand covered his, and Danny found himself surprised by how smooth the scales were. Far from soft, but not rough. Almost smoother than the table.

“Who called you a monster, kid?” Waylon asked softly, his voice gruff with something too close to understanding.

Danny’s head snapped up and he shook it quickly, sucking in a deep breath.

“Oh, no one. Not for like, a really long time now. And they said sorry and everything, it’s not that. It’s… you gave into it. Let them make you something wrong and dangerous, and you stopped. How did you stop?” He asked quietly, finally finding it easier to look at Waylon’s face.

He looked surprised.

Finding Jason had been harder than usual. He’d never turned his phone back on after last night, and Bruce was still wrestling with one of his least favourite (and most common) side effect of a concussion; light sensitive headaches.

Even with the screen brightness all the way down, it was hard to even look at the batcomputer while he waited for Constantine to arrive.

None of his usual tricks were helping, spikes of pain jabbing behind his eyes every time he tried to scan the cameras for Jason’s presence.

It was Babs who found him in the end, taking her lunch at the library late to help him out. She had whole programs to scan the security cameras of Gotham for her, trained to recognise any bat or rogue from any angle.

False positives happened, but usually didn’t take more than a look to confirm or deny. They were extremely accurate.

Bruce would know.

He had copies of the same programs.

They just weren’t running properly.

He was probably still tired. He’d been pushing himself while injured, as usual, and as usual Alfred would be eager to tell him he’d been overtaxing himself too hard to work efficiently.

And then Constantine was late.

By the time the magician arrived, Bruce was regretting having taken a break to sleep at all. He should have sorted this out last night, before ever calling Jason.

They could have picked a time to meet, and while Bruce was fully aware Jason might have just told him to fuck off, he might not have. Especially if Bruce had promised to leave him alone.

He knew better than to ask Jason to introduce Danny to Constantine.

Barbara had generously kept an eye on Jason in the interim, and by the time Batman and Constantine were ready to go he seemed to have settled in Freeze’s place.

The Frozen Fields. Named for his wife, who Bruce’s top scientists still wouldn’t be able to save.

Along with Harley, Waylon Jones, and Danny.

Of course he was with Danny.

Half the city seemed to be intent on frustrating him today. They’d taken the Batmobile, and while he tended to only drive it in emergencies (and after dark), it still barely sped the journey through the city traffic.

It always felt wrong, sitting and waiting with the rest of the cars in the Batmobile. Didn’t match the “lurking justice in the shadows”. Which Constantine was quick to remind him.

Bruce just gripped the steering wheel tighter, sucked in a deep breath, and nearly bit his tongue when they finally edged up to an intersection only for the light to turn red.

Waylon sat back in his seat, back scraping against the wall of the booth as he surveyed the kid in front of him.

Little squirt was tougher ‘n he looked, that much was definitely true. Harley had given him the short run down on their way to the milkshake bar, all the powers she knew he had.

And that he’d been hunted by his folks for a while. Waylon knew how that kinda shit could mess ya up.

He appreciated the heads up too, cuz this kinda shit coming up outta nowhere? Also pretty damn rough. He’d wondered if the kid just wanted to come along for another fight.

If he just wanted another chance to say he’d looked Killer Croc in the eye.

But there was no real bravado there, not even when he challenged Waylon to a rematch. Shit, the kid treated him more normal than most of his henchmen had ever managed to.

Made sense, knowing he was part a ghost an’ fought ghost rogues, but it left Waylon wondering. Apparently he was getting his answer.

Same damn question he’d asked himself a thousand times, ‘specially around the kind of young vigilantes who’d taken a turn to the bad.

Didn’t mean he had a good answer.

He regarded the kid for a long minute, watching the fidgeting, the sudden shyness from a boy who’d literally tackled him from behind on a whim.

This wasn’t just an idle question. Something made him sure of that, and he’d never been involved in all that much of the really weird shit. You heard stories, especially in Arkham.

So he decided to give the kid the best answer he had.

“Cuz I was the worst version of myself. I let myself be the monster they thought I was, got pretty good at it. But it never made me happy.” He paused, mulling it over.

Chuckled softly and looked down into his half drunk milkshake. It was kinda funny how obvious it seemed, in hindsight.

“Shit, there was never even anythin’ I wanted. Not like Penguin, Freeze, or the others. People treated me like a monster so I tried to be one, cuz why the hell not? Couldn’t be worse, could it?”

His gaze shifted back to Danny’s face, watching the kid’s expression. No judgement, which was nice. But he did look confused.

“So you just… got sick of it?” Danny asked, his brows furrowed as he played with his fingers.

Waylon chuckled and shook his head.

“Kinda. Spent a while thinkin’ if people couldn’t treat me with respect, fear’d do. But it ain’t the same. An’ I never had the drive or creative cruelty to stand out in Gotham.”

Danny looked a little incredulous at that, eyebrows rising, but he caught himself before commenting. Snickered and shook his head.

“Yeah, I guess being in a city that’s used to people like Scarecrow and the Joker puts “big and green” into perspective,” he agreed dryly, and Waylon laughed.

It felt good to laugh.

“Oh yeah. City’s got more than its share of low level thugs anyway. I spent a while as extra muscle for the big boys, but I ain’t the takin’ orders sort,” he explained with a modest shrug.

Danny grinned, folding his arms on the table and leaning forward.

“What, a shy and retiring guy like you?” He asked, clearly teasing, and Waylon waved a hand dismissively.

“I’m lucky it was Gotham,” he added after a moment, reflection sobering his mood. “Got sent t’ Arkham. Met Harley. An’ the Bat’s not all that bad. He tried gettin’ me outta the life a couple times.”

Danny cocked his head, a slight frown returning to his face. Following Waylon’s lead.

“How did Batman try and get you out?” There was a little too much intensity for it to be a casual question, and Waylon noted it. Not that he’d figure it out on his own.

Just tryin’ to make sure he didn’t damage the kid.

“Oh, there were a couple ways. Got me moved down to Florida once. Out in the green, away from people. I figured bein’ a wild animal might be more my speed, but it wasn’t. An’ it got messy when I left. Like that whatever he tried, really. There’s lines you can’t uncross.”

Lines like being a cannibal.

Not that he was sobbin’ on a preacher’s shoulder about it. Most of the people he’d eaten were assholes who’d deserved it, and it’d been a preference, not a need.

For all people loved to go on about him eatin’ kids and babies, he’d never actually done it. A guy had to have standards.

Made it easy to stop, once he was in a better head space. He and Harley had talked a lotta old shit out.

Kid didn’t need to know those grisly details though, at least not from his own mouth. Watching Danny a moment longer, Waylon came to a decision.

“Look, kid. There’s a lotta reasons people go bad. Some of ‘em can’t be helped. But if they’re not gettin’ anything out of it, if there’s no goal? The appeal runs out. And sometimes all it takes is someone willin’ to reach down an’ haul yer back up to the light.”

He wouldn’t ask if that was the case with whoever the kid wanted to help. Everyone heard stories, ‘specially about heroes meeting their evil selves.

The fear looked personal, but the asking coulda been for anyone. Waylon was in no rush to judge.

Danny mulled over his words for a while, lips moving soundlessly as he frowned down at the table. This time when he looked up, there was a peace in his eyes.

He’d come to a decision. Good for him.

“Thanks, Waylon. You seem like a pretty great guy to me,” he said simply, and Waylon definitely did not feel a lump in his throat.

“This is after years o’ Harley workin’ on me,” he grumbled gruffly. Shaking his head, he slurped down the last of his milkshake quickly.

Nothing like brain freeze to explain being a little misty eyed.

Jason didn’t exactly object to being led out of the bar by Harley; Danny wanted to talk to Waylon in private.

Jason had figured Danny had something to ask the guy about. He hadn’t exactly expected not to be part of the conversation, but that was fine.

He’d know if Danny got into trouble. Fuck, Danny could handle any trouble Gotham could dish out, probably. And the rogues had some basic manners; not starting shit in Freeze’s place was one of them.

Penguin might put the squeeze on and make your life uncomfortable if you lit up the Iceberg Lounge. Dr Freeze’s cold shoulder was a lot more literal, and he didn’t do “proportional response”.

So yeah, he could be cool and give Danny some space.

It wasn’t exactly a surprise that Harley wanted to talk to him either, although he still didn’t see the point. But he let her guide him around the side of the building to a back alley anyway.

“Still fine, Harley,” he said before she could get started, both hands raised in front of him.

She gave him an all too knowing look and hopped up to sit on the dumpster. Put her about a head taller than him. Not that he cared.

“Sure, kid. You’ve been goin’ through a lot though, so I gotta ask; is there anythin’ ya wanna talk to Auntie Harley about?” She asked in her sweetest voice, interlacing her fingers under her chin and batting her lashes.

Jason snickered and leaned against the other side of the alley.

Shit, he wasn’t even annoyed with her play acting. The pit was a happy little puddle in his chest, all sunshine and roses.

A week ago he’d have walked away. Been pissed at wasting his time, getting in his way. How much of that had been because of the Lazarus pits, the problems with the ectoplasm he’d apparently been supposed to be solving?

Was that why nothing had ever been enough? Why he always had to keep pushing? Carve himself a patch of Gotham, keep going. Cut the crime out of Crime Alley, not enough.

Take up with the Outsiders, keep himself busy, rushed off his feet so that when he fell into bed for a couple hours a day he didn’t even dream?

When was the last time he’d taken a breath and just… relaxed? It all felt so long ago, but it had barely been a week.

It just. His whole life had unclenched, like it was a muscle he’d finally stopped using.

Fuck, maybe he should talk to Harley about it.

He got the feeling she knew though, those eagle eyes tracking his every move. They’d never really hung out, but he was uncomfortably aware of how well she’d known him.

How much of him was still the boy she’d known?

She was waiting for an answer, and all of a sudden Jason wasn’t sure what he’d say. Knew that if anyone in the world understood, it just might be Dr Harleen Quinzel.

He sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck, unable to meet her eyes. Fuck, he was getting as bad as Bruce.

And if that thought didn’t kick him up the ass…

“You ever wake up one day and realise your whole life’s been going wrong?” He finally asked, glancing up from the corner of his eye.

She’d dropped the cutesy act, leaning forward with her arms braced on the edge of the dumpster, her face professionally calm. Open. Sympathetic.

“Think I might know just a lil about what that’s like,” she agreed softly, and Jason snorted.

“Yeah. Well. Turns out ever since I came back from the dead I’ve been haunted. Literally. And no one ever noticed.”

He hadn’t even come all the way back, but he couldn’t say that. Not yet. But maybe he could share some of the rest.

Harley nodded slowly, giving him her full attention. Just waiting for him to go on.

It kinda felt like being under a microscope, but not in the cold, analytical way Bruce did that always pissed him off. Like she really cared, and was looking for all his broken parts so she could help him fit them back together.

Fuck, if his kid self had ever known he’d one day trust Harley Quinn over the whole Justice League…

Shit, he didn’t even know how much she already knew.

“The pit rage… it’s a psychosis people get, coming out of the Lazarus pit. Makes you angry, violent, stronger, like a blind rage. For most people it goes away. Mine didn’t.”

He almost wanted to laugh, bitter and sharp.

“Because it wasn’t just the psychosis. I’m not fucking weak, I’m not fucking broken, there’s something else living inside me and it made me so fucking angry all the time…”

The frustration was building again, but this time it was his. All his, not a bubble, not a stir, and part of Jason thrilled with it. He could feel however he wanted, just him.

He cut it off though, forcing himself to relax before Danny could notice. Could worry about whatever he was projecting in his aura.

He could kinda still feel Danny’s, which was new. Not brushing against his, not touching like they were close, but he was aware in a way he hadn’t been before.

Like if he shut his eyes he could point in exactly the direction Danny was standing.

“Danny’s the only one who noticed. Well, really, he’s the only one who could. It’s a ghost thing, and he… he got me help. I feel like myself for the first time since… since I came back.”

He hadn’t even noticed how much the background rage burnt through him until it stopped. Until he could look at his family and see their prodding for what it was; concern.

It was still surprising him, and maybe would for a while. Kinda hoped not though. It wasn’t the most cheerful train of thought.

Seeing that he’d run out of words, Harley gave him a moment to find more, then reached over and ruffled his hair. It was barely a strain in the cramped alley.

“Kid, anyone with two eyeballs t’ rub together can see Danny’s real good for ya. So why’s Bruce tryin’ so hard to keep ya apart?” She asked gently, and Jason snorted.

Rolled his eyes and folded his arms, caught himself doing it, and forced them back to his sides.

“Not rubbing his eyeballs together?” He asked dryly. Harley just snickered.

“Please, if we could get ‘im ta stop overanalysing everything that’d be the miracle. So what’s got ‘im on edge?”

Jason hesitated for a long moment, thinking about it. Finally he shrugged; as always, Bruce was a mystery to him. The man who’d taught him all the tricks to pick apart any mystery. Except himself.

“No idea. We played a prank on him and the Mansons at the gala like we told you last night?” He offered, already aware it wasn’t likely to be the answer.

Harley shook her head in agreement, which almost threw him off.

“Nah, you’re right. The whole making-out-in-a-closet shtick is classic, even if he didn’t see through it yet he’s never cared about you boys smoochin’ before,” she agreed, then sighed and tugged him in to press a kiss to his forehead.

“Whatever his problem is though, it is his problem Jason, an’ what he pulled at the gala has nothin’ t’ do with you or Danny. I already told ‘im off about not talkin’ to ya and I’m gonna do it again when I catch him. Right now I just wanna hear you say you know it ain’t your fault,” she told him firmly, cheeks held between both hands.

Jason fought the urge to roll his eyes. And the rising lump in his throat.

“I know Bruce’s bullshit isn’t my fault, Harley,” he grumbled through smushed lips. Harley squeezed his cheeks a little tighter.

“Then say it anyway. It ain’t your fault Brucie has a bug in his ass, and ya ain’t done anything wrong to deserve it.” She was firm as the wall behind him, utterly unrelenting.

And she could go on for hours, if memory served. Long enough for Danny to come out and see. That was why Jason told himself he gave in.

Nothing at all to do with the way her words ached and bled a gentle warmth into the icy void in his gut where the anger still roiled.

“It’s not my fault B’s got the emotional capacity of a wet newspaper. I don’t deserve his helicopter bullshit any more than anyone else,” he told her obediently, doing his best not to be too sarcastic.

Harley placed a kiss on his nose and released him.

“That’s my good boy. Now, more about this haunted thing. You boys got a plan?” She asked sharply, head cocked as she watched his face.

Cheeks red, Jason leaned back against his wall and pretended it made him out of reach.

“We do,” he said curtly, looking down at the trash strewn ground. Trying to explain it now would take too long, Danny would be out soon.

Of course Harley noticed, nodding thoughtfully and leaning back, kicking her legs.

“Well, if ya ever want to tell me more, you’ve got my number. An’ I’ll get Brucie off ya back for a while, even if I’ve gotta call in the Boy Scout. Whatever you aren’t tellin’ ‘im, don’t let ‘im rush ya,” she told him firmly. Jason had to smile.

“Aren’t you the one always telling us to communicate?” He asked half rhetorically. Harley grinned and hopped off her dumpster, making her way to the front of the alley.

“It only works if ya wait til you’re ready. Pushin’ an’ rushin’ only makes it worse,” she explained airily, stepping out into the street.

Turning, and freezing like a hound on a scent. Eyes narrowed, she patted Jason on the chest as he stepped out after her, not turning her head.

“Jason darlin’, be a dear an’ run get Auntie Harley her bat. The bike’s parked ‘round the back,” she said ever so sweetly, and that tone combined with the narrow eyed glare meant Jason knew exactly who she was looking at before he turned.

He did it anyway, eyes widening as he caught sight of Batman, in full gear, coming down the street towards them. Accompanied by John Fucking Constantine.

Had he seriously come to chase him away from Danny in person? In fucking costume?

The anger surged, his and the pit’s, held back only by the small woman in front of him. The dainty hand on her chest, that’d turn into an iron bar if he pushed it.

Sure, she couldn’t actually hold him back, but she didn’t need to. Whatever Jason wanted to say or do to Bruce, Harley could do a whole lot worse.

Anger melding into a vicious satisfaction, he turned straight back down the alley with a spring in his step.

Bruce was a little relieved to arrive outside the bar and see Jason already there. Batman walking in wouldn’t have been out of the question, but he’d rather avoid the theatrics.

Danny not being in sight didn’t come into the decision one bit.

But then Harley said something to Jason and he turned away, leaving immediately. Bruce sped up, planning to follow Jason down the alley-

“Hold ya horses, Batsy,” Harley snapped, stepping directly into his path. He could have gone around her, certainly, but he stopped.

If there was even a chance he could get her on side, that would help immensely.

“I just need to talk to Jason,” he said in Batman’s low growl. Constantine had stopped too, well back of whatever was going to happen.

At least he wasn’t a complete fool.

Harley folded her arms, giving him her very least impressed look.

“An’ if the words you’re sayin’ ain’t “I’m so sorry please forgive me I’ll never do it again”, ya don’t actually need to. Ya need ta speak to me.”

Bruce almost frowned at her words. Why now? They’d spoken before, but she’d seemed satisfied. What had changed between now and their last conversation?

Batman’s face remained impassive as ever.

“Harley. It’s important.”

“He wants me to give the kid a magic checkup,” Constantine put in from behind him, still well back. He waved at Harley when she glanced his way.

Harley’s eyes narrowed for a moment and then Jason was jogging back down the alley, holding her bat.

What the hell had changed since their last conversation?

Pinning Constantine with a piercing glare, she held it for a minute before turning her attention back to Bruce. Snapping her fingers in front of his mask before he could even open his mouth.

“Uh uh! Johnny needs ta talk to him fer that, not you. YOU need to come talk ta me. Now.” She held out her other hand without looking, and Jason slipped the bat into it.

Had he really upset Jason that much at the gala? He’d thought he understood about the public apology, but this felt… well, worse than he’d expected.

More urgent. More vehement. She was more angry than she had been.

He’d gone wrong again, some time between now and then, and he had a Justice League meeting in an hour. Less, counting in the travel time back to the nearest zeta terminal.

Did he have time for this?

Jason was glaring at him, flat and unfriendly, but with a decided undercurrent of anticipation. Bruce’s presence would only make Constantine’s job harder.

Ignoring the part of him that thought the magician deserved to have it a lot harder, he nodded and refocused his attention on Harley.

“Fine. Here?” Better to get this over with. He could put aside all of his personal thoughts and feelings for the meeting, but at least he’d have answers.

Harley gave the surrounding street another sharp look, then shook her head, crooked her fingers, and led him into the alleyway.

“We’ll go ‘round the back. You’re bad for business,” she told him archly, and Bruce followed without a word.

He didn’t tell Jason to stay and speak to Constantine; he was self aware enough to know that would have the opposite effect. The magician would just have to sort himself out.

Part of him almost hoped she would actually use the bat this time. It served its purpose as a visual symbol, but everything made much more sense when people just wanted to beat him up.

Navigating their emotions and separate interior lives and expectations was… messy.

Constantine and Jason stared at each other for a long moment after Harley and the Bat disappeared down the alley.

Then Constantine sighed and nodded after them.

“If they’re goin’ round back, we can take this off the main street. If you don’t mind?” Not that the boy had much choice.

They’d caught him unmasked, which raised again the fuckin’ question of why Batt-o was so intent on being masked up for this one.

Maybe he just didn’t want to change. It looked like a lot of kohl on under that mask. Probably took a while to switch in and out.

Jason narrowed his eyes back for a moment, then shrugged. His whole posture still screamed annoyance and aggression, but moved back into the side alley anyway.

“Whatever. Not too far though. I need to hear if my friends leave.” There was something about the agreement that didn’t quite sit right for John.

Too easy. He didn’t have much (any) experience with the kid, never having willingly gotten near a revenant, but… well, this? This was weirdly passive.

When he’d seen the kid coming back with a weapon, that had made sense. He’d half expected Jason to take a swing personally; the dead-or-dead-aligned tended to have a different understanding of acceptable violence.

Handing it off to Harley was basically trading a gun for a nuke, but he didn’t seem at all upset that it hadn’t been used. Hadn’t gone for Batman’s throat, no matter how much Harley seemed to think he’d be justified.

What the hell did the Bat do now?

Something was off with Jason, something that made Constantine almost rethink his earlier guess.

Kid dies, shows back up a couple years later in a storm of blood and violence, demanding revenge? Yeah, that was classic revenant. Physical body, jacked beyond anything the kid shoulda grown into? Ditto.

Even the rage the Leaguers reported checked the boxes, but a revenant shouldn’t be this calm. Not in the face of any kind of threat.

Good news, really; he probably wouldn’t go for Constantine’s throat. John was more than happy with that, though he did regret getting the Bat all worked up.

Not that there was another version of the story Batman might take better, mind. Whatever the hell Jason Todd was, the kid wasn’t human anymore, and for ol’ Batsy the rest of the details didn’t much matter.

They got out of sight of the main thoroughfare, Jason leaning back against a wall with his arms folded and a smirk on his face that was just all challenge.

Constantine didn’t rise to it, brows furrowing as he raised a hand and murmured the beginnings of a spell.

Felt it instantly crash around him, smacked down by a power so titanic he’d have fallen if the side of a dumpster hadn’t caught him. A power so old, so wrought with death, so fucking familiar that it blacked out every sense.

No way in fucking hell any kind of fucking revenant, wraith, zombie, ghost, anything could leave that taste in his mouth. No, that? That was a personal signature.

And not something that could be done lightly either. A power like that… no, this power, Constantine knew exactly whose it was.

This kind of power, reacting this strongly? This instantly, even here on Earth? That was the full force of the Infinite Realms, which had to mean…

Eyes wide and shaken, John scrabbled at the lid for support, staring at Jason. Who actually looked more than a little surprised himself.

It took him a moment to find the words, longer to steady the shake in his voice.

“You… you… holy fucking hells, Jason, do you have any idea what you’ve done? You’ve bound your fuckin’ soul to-”

“The same guy you sold yours to?” Jason drawled, raising an eyebrow.

And alright, fair, that was a pretty good fuckin’ point, but Constantine was well aware he was a dire warning, not a good example.

Damn hard to argue that to a smugly reclining something-or-other that had bound himself so tightly to that same king that John couldn’t even do a gentle magical probe.

He’d been planning on being polite and everything. Noninvasive, Jason wouldn’t even feel it.

Shit, had he felt the spell shut down too? Constantine was about to ask, but Jason wasn’t done talking. Or smirking, looking distinctly amused that he’d shut the mouthy magician up.

“Did you know he owns your soul eleven times by now? That seems a little low to me, surely you’re down to hocking scraps,” Jason noted with a dry chuckle.

Constantine shrugged defensively, well aware that his battered soul was nothing to write home about. Still mostly trying to work out what the fuck was going on.

What use would the Ghost King have for a bat? A use important enough to fold Jason, who’d only be risen six years, into the high court?

Sure, the kid was good, he’d proved that in Gotham’s underworld, but to the Realms? He was barely an infant, and cuttin’ off heads would not impress there.

“No one buys just a piece of a soul. Every deal’s for the whole thing, which is why they keep me alive rather’n letting me kick it and tearin’ up the bits,” he explained distractedly, giving Jason another slow once over.

The good news was, nothing about the guy smelled like a revenant. There was power there, sure, a hint of a magical signature just on the borders of recognizable, but he couldn’t quite pin it down.

Jason hummed in acknowledgement, or maybe interest, but Constantine needed him to keep talking. Needed more clues to work out what the fuck this guy was.

“Pretty sure I haven’t had anyone make the same deal eleven times though,” he commented cautiously, trying to appear as casual as Jason while watching him closely, wishing he’d accepted some bat-training, “most people only make that mistake once.”

“Yeah, I asked about that,” Jason agreed with a dry chuckle, and the bottom fell out of Constantine’s stomach.

A position that let him backtalk the king of the Infinite Realms? Triple not good, not least because that lot were volatile and fuckin’ possessive, but not more so than goddamn Batman.

“Apparently people handed you over for some kind of tax season. You’re a low value trading card over there at this point.”

And that knocked every other thought out of Constantine’s head as he straightened, unreasonably affronted.

It’d be fucking nice to be low value. People might ignore him.

And since when did the Infinite Realms collect taxes?

“Low value? Princes of Hell are fightin’ over my damn soul, it’s the only thing keeping me kickin’,” he protested, and Jason snickered.

Gave John a smug, superior smile.

“And ten entities gave your soul up for tax breaks. Let’s face it, it’s not like you have rarity on your side,” he pointed out smugly.

“It’s still only one soul,” Constantine pouted idly, his mind suddenly spinning mile a minute with the implications.

The kid couldn’t have had this much presence last night, whatever else was true. John would have noticed.

It might just have been now that he knew to look for it, but Jason practically glowed with the essence of the Realms. He’d also somehow not just gotten himself bound to the Ghost King, he had a position where he could question them.

And have his questions answered, if not hugely coherently. Maybe that was just the translation through Jason, though.

That could be a good thing. A good sign at least, for the temperament of the new king. Pariah Dark never listened to questions by all accounts; people never got the opportunity to ask. He just conquered.

Of course, John knew enough magical entities to know that “willing to talk” did not mean, friendly, helpful, safe, or even “not prone to constant and complex lies”.

Thing was, he could handle liars. Tricksters. Anything of the sort, usually, cuz if nothing else? Being willing to talk before shooting meant Constantine had a chance to confuse them.

He was bloody good at that, all else notwithstanding. Almost his most useful talent.

It might be worth trying to find a little more about the Ghost King. Doubly if Jason was willing to help, but that’d have to be careful. No way to know what the kid had accidentally sworn to on that soul bond.

Hell, how was he gonna work out what the kid even was with magic off the table? It’d be back to the fuckin’ books and Undead 101.

At least he was still in his own body. That put a limit on the possibilities, but there were still a lot of options. Bats was going to be unbearable.

Because worse yet… the one thing John did know, with absolute certainty, was that the kid was getting stronger. If he hadn’t manifested any powers yet, it was just a matter of time.

Whatever Jason was, whatever deal he’d managed to pull, the damn halfa wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg. Something was feeding the power in him, whatever had yanked him back to the land of the living to start with.

Plus side? Batty could get off his ass about the kids hanging out. Jason had already taken a fuckin’ jet across whatever influence hanging out with a ghost could do, and pushed right the way to the other side.

He might as well be fuckin’ drinking ectoplasm at this point. Kid could carry Danny around on his back and not make a lick of difference.

Course, if it was the halfa who got the kid to make his deal… well, Batman would have another reason to worry about them hangin’ out together, but the damage was already done.

It wasn’t a soul buy, not to John’s experienced eye. Not a leash around the kid’s neck, not a claim stamped into his being. If anything, this was worse.

Somehow Jason had gotten himself so tightly wrapped to the Ghost King that the other’s power all but flowed in his veins. Even from here, far from the Realms, Constantine didn’t even finish the spell before it was smacked down.

That… that was new. Nothing he’d ever seen before, and he was well used to possessive metaphysical assholes who didn’t like anyone else touchin’ their shit.

Fuck, did Jason even know?

Constantine sucked in a breath and gave damn near instantly on even trying to form a tactful question a bat would understand. Kid was playing in his kiddy pool now, like it or not, and John had to know how deep he’d gone.

“So what deal did you make?” He asked bluntly. Not that Jason apparently minded in the least, still smirking as he gave the magician a cool once over.

“Y’know, I’m pretty sure it’s rude to ask. Not discussing paychecks and all that,” he drawled casually, eyes still dark with that barely covered aggression.

Constantine rolled his eyes.

“I had three princes of Hell gettin’ a little too cozy and a cursed rock lookin’ to turn the world to pink tourmaline. The Ghost King was big enough to shut ‘em up and let me push the rock to a different dimension where it’s never gonna be our problem again. Now quit bein’ an ass, I know a lot more about this kinda shit and I can tell ya if they hid any clauses.”

That did shut Jason up, the kid’s eyes widening for a moment like he hadn’t expected Constantine to share.

Tough titties for him, John already knew Batman was gonna be a bitch about this so doing the due diligence early? Pretty much their only hope.

He considered it longer than John thought was justified, since it was inarguable. John Constantine, soul selling expert. He should have business cards made.

Finally the kid shrugged. He still looked prickly, defensive, but he was listening.

“Well I didn’t sell him my fucking soul.” Which.

John stared at him, mouth agape. Snapped shut and narrowed his eyes.

“Kid, you could not be more marked if you wore a neon sign. You signed something over, the Ghost King ain’t the sort to give prizes for free.”

A Ghost King Jason seemed to think was a he, so that was a useful little piece of intel. He’d definitely know better than John if they were already on ask-questions stage.

Jason scowled and shrugged, arms still crossed.

“Lucky me. Protection from big scary human wizards, for the low low price of my service. And some help with my Lazarus problem,” he added, as if the last was the only part he though worth mentioning.

Constantine sagged back against the wall, sinking down to sit on the alley floor. Bracing his elbows on his knees he ran both hands through his hair, holding his head up.

“Great… just fucking great,” he muttered, voice muffled by his new position. Part of him wanted to laugh, but he was pretty sure it’d come out a sob.

Hysteria beckoned.

Jason made another noise that might almost have been concern, and Constantine forced himself to suck in a breath. To keep it together.

Forced his head up so he could glare at the kid who now looked just way too confused.

“You get that that’s worse, right?” He snapped, eyes narrowing. “You get that selling yourself into service is fucking worse?”

Jason glared back down at him, drawing himself up like size and muscle was gonna impress a magician.

(It might have if Jason was a decade or two older, but not the way the kid intended.)

“What the fuck d’you think will happen when he takes your soul?” He snapped back, aggression rising fast enough that Constantine forced himself to stop again.

Deep breath in. Hold. Out.

One more in. Hold. Out.

He got to ten, the kid watching him with visible confusion, deflating the longer John went without pushing back. Yippee for him.

When he thought he had his voice under control again, John forced himself to his feet.

“I sell my soul, and if anyone ever actually claims the damn thing they can do whatever they want to it for eternity. It’ll fuckin’ suck, kid, but the one thing they can’t do, no matter who it is?”

He just sounded tired now, which only wrong footed Jason even more. Why had he even gotten out of bed at all?

Maybe if he left now he could just go back. Tuck himself up in the House of Mystery, feed his League communicator to something pandimensional, and just hide for a while.

The Bat would probably come after him.

Taking another bolstering breath, John did his best to sound calm. Not patronising. Because the kid damn near definitely had no idea.

Which was why people should leave magic to the fuckin’ professionals.

Catching Jason’s eye, he held it, hoping to impress the seriousness of what he was about to say into the kid’s soul.

“They cannot compel me to action. They can try all sorts of force, all sorts of fucked up shit, but I get the last say. They say jump, I say fuck off, no jump. But selling service?”

Jason’s eyes had widened now, and John could just see all those little wheels turning. Well, set the little fuckers spinnin’ faster.

“They say jump, you’re on the way up before you can ask “how high?”. I dunno what you think you signed up for, kid, I dunno what deals with the new king are like cuz I didn’t fuckin’ ask. But you get a copy of the damn contract and bring it back to me. I’ll see if there’s anything we can do about it.”

It was the only logical option, especially with an entity this powerful. Constantine was betting the kid’s hatred of being used, being controlled, would make him agree even if he hated it.

He probably could have been nicer, though.

Jason’s eyes flashed, actually flashed a bright, ecto green as he shot John a glare that promised bloody dismemberment.

There was something else too, something that definitely wasn’t there a second ago but filled the alley now. Something hot and angry and powerfully vicious, something that wanted his blood.

If there were space to back up, he would have. As it was, he let his hand slip behind his back, ready to teleport. He had no doubt that any kind of binding would meet exactly the same fate his inquiry had.

Even in civvies, Jason Todd cut a menacing figure as he stalked the two steps across the alley to put himself directly in Constantine’s face.

“For fuck’s sake, I am not a fucking child! I don’t need you to hold my hand, I don’t need your fucking help, and I don’t need your fucking permission to live my fucking life!”

Constantine actually leaned back, his head brushing the wall behind him as Jason shoved a finger into his face, his every muscle taut with barely restrained violence.

“Like you just fucking said, you don’t know shit! So maybe, just fucking once, the whole fucking lot of you sit the fuck down, shut the fuck up, and stay out of my fucking way!”

This close, Constantine could feel Jason’s hot breath on his face. This close… something clicked.

He could feel Jason’s anger, projecting out of him in a way that definitely wasn’t human. Choking and visceral and absolutely nothing like the pulsating bloody rage that forced itself down his throat.

There was something fucking else inside Jason. Something that tasted of the Infinite Realms and wanted his head on a stick.

Something that wasn’t the Ghost King. Didn’t carry the touch of his claim.

John was about to teleport away, fuck Batman and all of Gotham, when Jason turned around sharply and marched out of the alley. Almost like the kid was running.

Slumping back against the wall, John Constantine closed his eyes and breathed in the city smogs, only happy that none of it actively wanted his blood.

Harley let Batman precede her around the milkshake bar to the parking lot at the back, a quick glance confirming that they were alone.

For the best, really; anyone present might get entirely the wrong idea.

Taking a casual roll of the wrist for added momentum, Harley took a quick shot at the back of Batty’s knee, stepping up quickly beside him to use the return swing to catch him in the gut.

Caught off guard, he crumpled, landing on one knee and glaring up at her.

“Harley…” he growled, and her eyes narrowed.

She’d done this the nice way last night. He hadn’t listened, so now they were doing it his way.

“Batsy,” she shot back, cutting him off quick and direct. Tapped her bedazzled bat gently off her other hand. “We had us a talk already this week.”

No specific times; not in an unsecured location. He’d know anyway.

From his silence, he wasn’t quite ready to admit it. But he didn’t try to rise. Conflicted, then.

Like that was new.

Harley pressed the bat gently under his chin, tipping his head up to face her.

“And yet somehow, despite you assurin’ me you’d listened real close, a mister Jason Todd is out here tellin’ me you tried to ban him from hangin’ out with his new boyfriend?” She asked sugar-sweet, her expression all danger.

She could just about see the moment it sank into his head. Even with his actual eyes covered, that cowl was still plenty expressive.

Kinda freakishly expressive. Not ideal for the crime fighting to her mind, but what would she know? She much preferred committing the crimes.

He tried to argue, frown so deep he’d have wrinkles within the day.

“This has nothing to do with that, the Fenton boy is dangerous to his condition-”

Harley cut him off by poking the end of her bat almost into his mouth, her eyes narrowed. And sure, she was bein’ delicate with his head outta concern for that concussion, but there were limits.

“An’ what d’you think ya know about Jason’s condition that a half dead kid don’t?” She asked sceptically.

Batman hesitated. If he pushed the bat away, they’d have an actual fight on their hands. One he might let her win, if he just needed the tussle.

She’d never known a man so eager to have someone put him on his ass, and so incapable of ever lettin’ it actually happen. Well, other than Jason.

Musta run in the family.

Bruce sagged back, sat on the cracked asphalt of the parking lot.

“Constantine believes that Danny’s energy may strengthen something inside Jason. Something dangerous,” he explained, still in Batman’s rough growl.

She was gonna get him a vocoder. Just for shits and giggles.

Fuck, was that why Jason wore the whole helmet for Hoody? Now that she thought of it, there was a voice changer in there.

Two cranky little peas in matching muscly pods.

She dropped to sit cross legged on the ground across from him, bat laying in front of her. Talkin’ again, take two. Time to make it stick.

“Have you actually talked to Jason about this?” She asked sceptically.

The eye slits in the cowl narrowed. Harley was not impressed.

“Have you talked to him at all, since he an’ Danny have been hangin’ out?”

Bruce glared at her for a moment longer. Did not fold his arms or pout, but she could tell he wanted to.

“I spoke with him last night. He’s irrational, angry, unwilling to listen to reason…”

“He’s sick of ya tellin’ him you know what’s best and not listenin’ ta what’s wrong,” Harley corrected flatly.

Watched his shoulders sink just a little. As much as he could deflate in the suit. Even his growl lost most of its sandpaper.

“He said Danny was taking him to a doctor. More exposure to the realms could make things worse. Kill him, or give the pit another chance to take over. I can’t…” he cut himself off, voice tight and garbled around the forced gravel.

Harley watched him for a long moment.

He’d come out in the suit. It had to be for a reason.

She couldn’t ask the questions that would break him apart in the suit. Couldn’t guide him through the revelations and the grief. Not if there was somethin’ else he had ta be doing.

Another damn time then. She’d get ‘im here again.

“Batsy.” Her voice was gentler this time, and drew his face back to hers. She made sure to catch his eye. “He already died. Seems ta me somethin’ in there never really let him go.”

She didn’t know much about the Infinite Realms… or anything at all, really. All this magic and mayhem and ghosts was fun an’ all, and she always liked to play, but it wasn’t her wheelhouse.

Didn’t have ta be. She knew how to listen to the professionals.

Bruce had stiffened, the mask of Batman pulling back, and she cut him off with a raised hand.

“An’ you only have ta look at Danny ta know that whatever all that is? Jason ain’t the first. Won’t be the last. Someone’s gonna know what went wrong, and Jason believes they’re helping him. You need to believe Jason.”

“But he could be wrong.” It was barely more than a whisper. Low and grinding and completely devoid of Batman growl, like it’d been pulled right out of his soul.

Harley gave him a gentle bop on the head with her bat.

“Then we deal with that then. But all ya doin’ by bossin’ him around an’ not listenin’ is pissing him off and makin’ him more likely ta run right off to these Realms. He’s not the sweet kid followin’ ya shadow anymore, Batsy. He’s a man, and he gets to make choices. And mistakes.”

This sure as hell wasn’t one of ‘em, but Bruce had never been good at taking that on faith. He had to be shown, and he’d never stop waiting for the tables to turn.

Which was how he usually made things worse. But he did at least know that.

He still looked mutinous, scowling across at her, so she gave him a slightly harder bop on the shoulder.

“Batman, listen ta me. I know you mean well, but Danny makes him happy. All Jason’s seein’ right now is that he’s happy, an’ you wanna take it away.”

That hit harder than any of her blows, though she wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t known him so long. His whole body stiffened, sudden hesitation in even his breathing.

Harley stared him down through it, then nodded in satisfaction as his shoulders lowered, just a fraction.

“I can’t lose him again, Harley,” he whispered, barely audible even less than a foot away.

She gave him an even harder bop on the other shoulder.

“Then stop driving him away. You ain’t even said sorry for the other night yet an’ now you owe him another apology. There’s always that things might go wrong; he might get hit by a car crossing the street. The only sure thing is that if you keep treating him like this?”

She leaned forwards, grabbing his chin and forcing him to face her. To look at her, and see how serious she was.

He was reluctant to meet her eyes, but even under the white outs Harley knew when she had someone’s attention. Good. He probably knew what came next.

“You will lose him, Batsy. And it’ll be no one’s fault but your own.”

Danny couldn’t have missed Constantine making his way up the street blindfolded and with his ears plugged. It might have been the whole “owned his soul” thing.

It also might have been the vortex of swirling magical attention that followed him like a cloud. The guy clearly wasn’t trying to advertise his presence, but to something like Danny…

Well, trying to hide that hard always caught his attention. A magical “nothing to see here” tasted like liquorice in the back of his throat.

Maybe the trench coat was actually cursed, in more than just the unfortunate fashion sense.

Part of him wondered if this had anything to do with them. The rest, well aware what his luck was like, wondered if he’d come barging into the restaurant.

It wasn’t like he shouldn’t be getting ready to go anyway, but he just… well, he was having a surprising amount of fun just hanging out with Waylon.

The guy was old enough to be his dad, but he was a great listener. Really encouraging, and he’d told Danny another couple of stories too, some from his darker times but all with happy endings.

He was probably trying to make Danny feel better after their talk, and it was definitely working. It just… well, he didn’t even really like thinking about Dan.

He’d asked Nocturn to put him to sleep not long after becoming king, to give the guy something to do other than stew in a thermos and plot vengeance.

Part of him still kinda expected that to bite him in the ass, but even if Dan broke out of Nocturn’s dreams, he couldn’t break out of Soup Time. For whatever reason he’d never learned Danny’s portal trick.

All the people who kept souping Danny were dead in Dan’s timeline.

Danny had almost been ready to wrap things up with Waylon (as little as he wanted to; they’d already exchanged numbers) when he felt Jason’s rage bubble.

He didn’t realise he’d blanked out until Waylon tapped the table in front of him with a claw, concern on his scaly face.

“Somethin’ th’ matter, kid?” He asked in a low growl.

Danny shook his head, staring down at the mostly empty milkshake and chugging the rest.

“Probably nothing… just got a bad feeling about Jason,” he explained with a shrug.

Reached out just a little, extending his senses but not aura. If Jason was already mad, that might send him over the edge.

Just as he reached out a sudden flare of fury made his hand clench, the glass he was still grasping shattering. Great, he had a hand full of milkshake and shards.

Shaking both free, Danny shoved his way out of the booth at the same time as Waylon, the big man going from concerned to battle ready in an instant.

For the first time, he almost looked dangerous. Danny was glad to have him at his back for the visual component at least; anyone who didn’t think twice about pissing off a tank like Jason wouldn’t even blink at Danny.

Killer Croc though? He got that name on his looks alone, long before he earned it.

They didn’t even make it across the bar, wait staff scattering to what were clearly well established positions in case trouble came in.

Trouble didn’t; barely.

Jason Todd did, all but vibrating with rage and steaming green with Pitty’s contribution.

Wait; steaming? Jason had mentioned the Lazarus pits did that, but Danny had never seen ectoplasm steam before. Could everyone see it?

Whether Waylon could or not, it didn’t stop him from hurrying forward, attention fully focused behind Jason for anyone following.

It was maybe the teeniest bit cute that even so angry he had a personal heat haze, Jason didn’t even think Waylon was going for him. His attention was fixed somewhere else; somewhere internal and probably bloody.

Instinct pulled Danny forward, Jason slipping easily into his aura and for a moment Danny felt like he’d drown in Jason’s rage. Answered it himself a moment later, stroking across the anger with worry-protect-safe now.

Jason twitched just a little as the aura washed around him, looking around on automatic until he faced Danny.

The rage softened just a little as he caught Danny’s eye, shoulders sagging. His jaw unclenched enough to talk; visibly enough that it must have been painful.

“Just fucking B again, treating me like a fucking child,” he spat, fists still clenched tight at his sides.

The effort it was clearly taking not to go out and start swinging kept Danny on edge, even as Waylon relaxed.

“Yer a long way from that, kid,” the big guy agreed with a low chuckle, still between Jason and the door, and rested a large hand lightly on Jason’s shoulder. “Want me to go have a word?”

Jason shook his head sharply, the smallest of smiles flicking across his face before the anger replaced it. Yeah, definitely cute.

“No thanks. You’ve only just got out, you don’t need bat trouble again already,” he said through gritted teeth, then nodded to Danny. “I just wanna get out of here.”

Danny nodded immediately, going from maybe-fight to flight. Which was kinda literally an option. Ghosts knew how to make an exit.

“Do you wanna take your bike or just disappear?” He asked simply.

Jason gave him a tight smile, barely layered over anger he was still struggling to control. Fuck, if this was what he’d been dealing with every day before Danny came along…

“Harley’s out back with Batman. I just want to fucking go,” he growled, shaking his head.

Danny nodded again, turning and crouching a little for Jason to hop onto his back.

“Phantom Express it is then.”

And yeah, he knew it looked stupid without Waylon’s confirming snort of laughter.

So did Jason, and the tinge of mirth that coloured his rage-burning-break in his head was more than worth looking silly.

Seemed like Jason was finally starting to trust his strength too as he hopped up without question, Danny not reacting in the slightest to his added weight.

And definitely not the way Jason now towered over him, or having those thighs wrapped around his waist. Nope. No horny in the aura today.

Giving a last nod to Waylon, he turned them both invisible and flew up through the roof, intangibility phasing them through at the last second.

Once they were high enough to be beyond any eavesdropping, he slowed to a stop, not quite looking back at his passenger.

“So, where do you wanna go?”

As Danny had kinda hoped, the sudden exhilaration of flight had tamped Jason’s anger back down until it was less a physical presence. It still seethed and boiled inside him, but it was losing steam.

About half of what he could feel from Jason now was just tired, and honestly? Couldn’t blame him.

Danny had been told how bad his pit rages had been, a visceral wrath that almost possessed Jason and made him lash out in all directions. And by all accounts? He still hadn’t seen the half of it.

It made his core ache just thinking about living with that much rage stuck inside. Feeling like that all the time… Danny had always respected Jason, but this? This demanded a whole new level.

And a little bit made him want to put Jason in a nice ectoplasm hamster ball so he could roll around the streets and nothing would ever hurt him again.

Gonna have to keep that under wraps too, since apparently Danny was losing his fucking mind all up in Gotham.

(Not that he’d never hamster balled anyone before. It was just usually a punishment for Tucker, or Wes if they were being assholes. Derogatory hamster balls were totally fine and not evidence of losing anything at all.)

The man himself was quiet for a long moment, struggling with just everything that was going on inside him.

Danny waited, turning them both intangible again just in case Jason could still be affected by the cold. At this height, it wasn’t exactly pleasant.

Made him side eye all those pictures of witches in dresses and long socks on broomsticks. Good way for the living to get pneumonia, in Danny’s opinion.

Jason didn’t even seem to notice, letting out a frustrated huff of air.

“We’ve gotta get Tucker home. If B is off being an asshole we can at least go to the manor,” he grumbled.

Danny paused for a long moment himself, considering another solution. After all, for ghosts it was simply unthinkable that they hadn’t even had an introductory brawl yet.

Whenever he got that pissed, getting the shit kicked out of him had always helped burn off the energy. But maybe Jason’s was different.

Danny was pretty sure he’d never been that pissed, not even at Pariah. Not even at Agent K.

Danny wouldn’t judge. For now, he nodded, turning to head towards the manor.

“We can go to Frostbite after we’ve dropped Tuck off. It’s been long enough, and you definitely feel stronger?” He offered, kinda hoping it might help Jason feel better.

The grunt he got in return didn’t sound convinced, but Jason also didn’t argue.

Neither of them were expecting to run into traffic in the Gotham airways though, at least not below airline level. Or to be interrupted.

With a sudden loud gust of wind, another black haired young man in a black leather jacket pulled up in front of them, looking around with a frown.

“Hey, I heard someone up here? Jason? Where are you?” He asked loudly, brows furrowing like he was still listening.

Danny’s confusion was better than words as Jason gave his shoulder a quick squeeze.

“Superboy the first. Tim’s boyfriend,” he explained quietly, and Kon’s head whipped around to follow the sound.

“Okay Jason, I know you’re up here, what the fuck?” He asked impatiently, which was when Danny remembered.

Still invisible. Hiding from the Bat and also concerned citizens. He popped them back into visibility with a sheepish grin, waving at… Connor? Or Con? No, kinda sharper. Kon.

It might have been a secret third level of alias, but Danny was pretty sure the bats had called him by a couple names over the various stories.

“Hey… sorry, forgot we were invisible,” he explained, trying not to laugh. Mostly at himself, but best not give the wrong impression.

Superboy’s eyes locked on them for a moment, narrowed briefly, and then his face broke into a grin.

“So, I’m gonna guess you’re Danny, Tucker’s friend that Tim has been gushing about?” He asked eagerly, reclining comfortably in the air. Then paused. “Well, gushing about Tucker. You were mentioned, though.”

That sounded about right.

Danny snickered and nodded, giving Jason a careful reshuffle. If they weren’t gonna be travelling for the moment, they could get a little more comfortable.

Thick thighs tightened around his hips and Danny very specifically did not melt into a puddle of goo. Not even a little bit.

“Yeah, we were just gonna go get Tucker and head out. Are you coming to see Tim?” He asked, kinda half wanting to wait around long enough and see what Tucker and Connor made of each other.

Kon if he was here in official capacity? But he wasn’t exactly wearing a super uniform, or logo. But Jason hadn’t mentioned a name, because Jason wasn’t a helper.

There was one easy way around that though. Bouncing Jason just a little more roughly than strictly necessary, Danny stuck out his hand.

“Danny Fenton, by the way. Since we haven’t been fully introduced.” He gave his best cheerful-but-totally-human grin. No point unnerving the first official alien he met, even if he was only half alien.

The boy reached out easily, giving him a firm handshake back.

“Kon El. Connor when we’re on street level. And yeah, I was just heading the same way when I heard you guys. Tim asked if I’d bring Tucker home though, he wasn’t sure what you guys’ plans were so if you had anything else to do?” He glanced from one to the other, so clearly not asking that he might as well have.

Could Kryptonians see the heat haze of Jason’s anger too? Or did he just know the family well enough, know Jason well enough, to know the signs?

Danny hesitated, glancing over his shoulder at the other halfa. He could almost taste Jason’s indecision, holding each other this close. Bitter and tight in the back of his throat.

How much did he want to deal with his family, with that rage still burning inside him? Hell, they hadn’t even worked out what Jason would do while Danny took Tucker home.

Danny kept quiet though, leaving the choice up to Jason.

It didn’t take long.

Sucking in a deep breath, Jason let out a heavy sigh, a wave of pure relief washing over him.

The anger was still there, a hot little coal right between the dual cores, but it couldn’t drown out the gratitude-sorry-safe. Barely tempered it anymore.

His voice was still gruff when he spoke, still stiff with emotion, but Kon seemed to understand.

“Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks Kon.”

The younger man tipped them both a sarcastic salute, straightening in the air and turning towards Wayne manor.

“You’ve probably got like, a text from Tim about the change of plan, if he even bothered to mention it, but I’ll let him know I saw you. Seems like you’re sticking around, so I’ll probably run into you again, Danny.” He gave them both a cheery nod and flew away.

A tiny part of Danny was sorry that they wouldn’t be around to watch Tucker spiral when confronted with Tim’s boyfriend.

Tim Drake Wayne was a hottie, no point denying it, and he was easily Tucker’s second biggest tech crush beside the mysterious Oracle. With all that hero worship though?

Tucker probably hadn’t actually noticed he was also hot yet. He’d have been in love with him if he’d looked like a snail.

Kon El though? Kon El had exactly the kind of leather jacket, too cool for school, sculpted good looks that Tucker fell head over heels for on any gender.

(Danny absolutely was not a hypocrite, he’d be the very first to admit that he and Tucker had very similar taste in partners, at least as far as appearances. Tucker just preferred a little more “step on me” energy.)

In all the reminders that Tim had a boyfriend, no one had said his boyfriend was hot.

Danny didn’t mention it. It wasn’t like he’d have been able to fully enjoy things anyway; the night before had proved that, and Jason’s mood had been rosy by comparison.

He did offer just one comment though, watching Kon fly away thoughtfully.

“Should we have warned him that Tucker is going to spontaneously combust if Kon tells him to ride him?” He asked mostly hypothetically, fading them out of visibility and tangibility again.

It startled Jason into letting out a snort of laughter which became a cough with his last rasp of thinner air.

“You just did, with Kon’s hearing,” he managed once he could talk normally again, and Danny considered feeling bad about it.

That sizzling coal of rage was almost buried under amused-anticipation-relief.

Nah. No matter what form Tucker’s next wave of vengeance took, this was worth it.

“So, where to next?” He asked, again… kinda hypothetically. From Jason’s sigh the older man was just as aware of what the answer had to be.

“Let’s just fucking go see Frostbite. If I keep looking at the city something’s gonna piss me off again.” He sounded reluctant, resigned, but a slow creeping glow of amazement spread through his aura.

About to pop open another portal, Danny tipped his head up as far as he could and made them visible again, looking for his face.

“What’s up?” He asked, willing to put dimensional travel on hold if there was anything they might be able to do to actually help.

Jason shook his head to focus himself, glancing down at Danny and quickly looking away. Was Danny imagining that sweet pink blush in his cheeks?

“It’s nothing.”

Danny waited, secure in the actual empathic sensation of Jason warring with himself on his back. Finally he won (and also lost, as all civil wars end) and sighed.

“Just. I’ve never come out of the pit rage this fast before,” he admitted gruffly, glaring down at the sparkling lights of the city below. Like this wasn’t something to celebrate.

Danny let them fade back to invisibility, since Jason pretty clearly didn’t want to be looked at.

“Hey, that’s great news! We’ll just have to short circuit Tucker’s gay ass every time you need a boost,” he chirped brightly, and popped the portal open to Jason’s laughter.

In his heart of hearts, Bruce knew why Harley was taking him to the parking lot.

If there was any chance of witnesses, any possibility of being overheard, he couldn’t listen to her. Not in the suit. Couldn’t show what any of his rogues (who hadn’t met Harley) might misconstrue as weakness.

If there was a single place in the city which could be trusted to be unsurveiled, it was the parking lots to his rogues’ side businesses. They had their own professional courtesies.

He appreciated it, in his own way. The closest thing to privacy they could have outside the Batmobile at the moment (and even then his children could listen in).

The baseball bat had been… well, not a total surprise, she’d had Jason fetch it in front of him and it wasn’t likely to be an empty prop twice in a row.

Still, he wasn’t as prepared as he could have been, and the first two blows hurt. His fold to the ground was mostly genuine, though part of him was definitely leaning in.

Concussion be damned, he’d been taking an emotional beating this week. At least exterior bruises would show him when they were healing.

But he hadn’t had time after her warning to do anything but head to the meeting.

Had he?

All he remembered was the seriousness of her face, the weight of absolute certainty in her words.

He would lose Jason, because he himself had pushed him away. Because Jason didn’t think Bruce trusted him. Thought Bruce would take away his chance at happiness.

Maybe Danny had been right. Maybe Jason didn’t even know Bruce loved him.

Things were so much worse than he’d made himself believe.

He knew he’d risen when his alarm went off, giving him ten minutes to head to the zeta tubes. Found Constantine again in the alley, since the man was with him now.

Couldn’t remember talking to him. But that wasn’t unlike himself anyway.

There was a hidden zeta tube downtown, only just far enough to justify the Batmobile, but Bruce would rather not leave it to drive home from Freeze’s place anyway.

He set it to return to the cave as he climbed out, at the end of another dark alley. The sun was already beginning to sink, painting the city in yellow and gold.

Constantine tapped carefully on the hood of the Batmobile between them, then jumped back as the car drove itself away, swearing. By the time he finished dusting himself off, Bruce was watching him again.

“Are yer back in there?” The magician asked cautiously, his own voice rough.

Bruce took a moment to assess his colleague. Never exactly tidy, Constantine looked more dishevelled than he had before Bruce and Harley left him.

Jason’s checkup likely hadn’t gone well.

Of course it hadn’t. Not if Jason felt the way Harley said… no. The way he’d told Harley he felt. Because Harley asked.

Something deep and weary in him tried to pull his shoulders down to sag, but he ignored it with the aid of long practice. Just gave Constantine a stiff jerk of the head.

“Hn.”

The man rolled his eyes, turning and heading for the defunct phone booth disguising the zeta tube.

“Great, monosyllables. Well, since yer back, listen up.”

The results of his examination, if Jason even let him perform it. Still, maybe the man would have something? It wasn’t like he couldn’t have cast a few spells without Jason knowing.

“First of all, yer boy ain’t a revenant.”

That jerked Bruce to a stop, his brows furrowing as he turned to face Constantine head on again. The magician had pulled a cigarette from somewhere, likely because they were heading for the Watchtower.

Bruce didn’t bother trying to stop him. He was too busy trying to process.

Constantine didn’t look happy either, so this probably wasn’t actually good news?

“What do you mean?” He growled, stepping closer and lowering his voice to avoid eavesdroppers.

Constantine rolled his eyes, waved his free hand, and the smoke from his cigarette crackled briefly in the air.

“None o’ that cloak and dagger shit, Bats. No one’s gonna hear us. But the kid, Jason? He’s not a revenant. Not sure what he is, actually, an’ not too keen on lookin’ deeper.”

It might have been the longest Bruce had heard him speak without saying “fuck” since the Amity Park question came up. The fact that he looked distinctly uneasy made that less reassuring.

“Why not?” Bruce growled, a little grateful to be able to step back and away from the smoke. Harley had left his head be for the most part, but it was already pounding again.

Constantine fixed him with a slow, speculative look.

“See, here’s my issue,” he began, raising a hand to cut off a growled protest and pointing directly at Bruce. “You? You’re Mr Worst Case Scenario. Can’t stop pokin’ at shit til it gives you an answer, or bites yer head off.”

That was certainly true. It was something that Alfred… Selina… Clark… Dick… Diana… almost everyone close to him had complained of.

Bruce wasn’t convinced it was a shortcoming, but he knew it about himself. It had been an underlying theme this whole investigation; Constantine telling him things because otherwise he’d go poking.

So what changed?

“You’re not gonna like whatever I tell you. An’ I could try an’ temper that by lyin’, or I could treat you like a fuckin’ adult on yer promise the you don’t go punchin’ inter shit yer don’t understand.”

Constantine stared expectantly at him, taking another long drag on his cigarette.

Ah. Waiting for Bruce to choose an option. As if there was any doubt?

“I swore your oath,” Bruce reminded him gruffly, and Constantine rolled his eyes again.

“An’ I’m fully aware you’re a tricky piece of shit that’ll try and work around it the second it comes up. That’s why it’s generic. You hear about the Ghost King, you back the fuck off, shut the fuck up, and run. That’ll include any of yer precious reports.”

He took another slow drag of his cigarette, watching Bruce the whole while. Bruce stared back, unsure what he was looking for but determined that he’d find nothing.

Shit. So much for having Red Robin and Oracle prod around for him. Though he had been planning to warn them to be delicate.

It barely occurred to him that showing nothing might tell Constantine more than anything else before the magician sighed and shook his head.

“Listen, B. The shit you need to know? Actually, really need to know? Jason’s… safe. There’s not a damn thing in the Infinite Realms that can hurt him now, whatever he is. I’d even put money on him bein’ demon proof, with the wards on him now.”

And wouldn’t it be so, so nice to believe that Constantine had put those wards on him? Bruce could feel the wish for it, a flight of fancy he rarely allowed himself.

Bruce let himself indulge in the want to believe for about the same length of time as that ominous pause.

“What wards?” He asked flatly, the low rumble not exactly hiding how he felt about the situation, but since he’d almost rather yell, he considered it fair.

Constantine, again, was not impressed. He folded his arms and prodded at Bruce with his still smoking cigarette.

“See, there’s that prodding. I’m trying to do this the nice way, B. Give you answers instead of just shutting you down, but you aren’t gonna know everything without a couple decades of practice, and you need to get over that.”

The magician took another drag, closing his eyes tightly for a second. When he opened them again, he looked entirely uncompromising.

The stern professional Bruce had only seen previously in life and death situations, and ones getting worse at that. Was this situation that dire?

“I could speak a word and make you forget this whole damn thing. Four more, and you’d have no choice about droppin’ it,” Constantine growled, clearly bitterly regretting not choosing that option. Bruce’s eyes narrowed in response.

He’d clearly ruled it out, but he hadn’t wanted to. Whatever he didn’t want to tell Bruce, Constantine expected him to have a powerful response.

Which meant that is was very bad, but also that Bruce’s natural response would make things worse. He could work around that.

He chose not to address the remark at all, just waiting for Constantine to continue. The man stayed silent just long enough that Bruce wondered if he was changing his mind on trying to make him forget.

This was why he hated magic. But he’d broken through it before. No spell could stand up to intense, detailed scrutiny, and he would surely have plenty of clues to remind himself when the problem was with his own son.

Finally Constantine sighed, flicked the butt of his cigarette to the ground, and crushed it under one heel. He seemed to have come to a decision, new purpose under the fear he’d been hiding since he first arrived.

“Let’s just get this over with,” he sighed, heading for the zeta tube. There was just a little more spring in his step.

Bruce frowned and moved to block him.

“The wards,” he pressed, a hint of irritation creeping into his voice. This conversation was important.

Constantine looked surprisingly chipper actually, raising his chin to give Bruce a sudden and almost startling smirk.

“Oh no, big guy. You had your chance to promise to behave like an adult, so we’re going with option three.”

He’d noticed Bruce’s lack of comment. Obviously, but Bruce hadn’t really thought he’d need to say anything.

Investigating was what Batman did. He knew how to do it tactfully, and without stepping on toes. He just wouldn’t promise not to do it.

None of which explained Constantine’s suddenly improved mood. It was almost the same satisfaction he’d show when he’d worked out how to pawn an unpleasant job off on someone else.

“And that is?” Bruce asked warily, suspecting he wouldn’t like whatever made this not Constantine’s problem. Constantine waggled a finger at him, like he was nothing more than a naughty child.

“I let you ask questions, after Wonder Woman promises to keep yer in line.” He said it with the finality of a lead weight, and it dropped through Bruce’s chest like one.

Shit.

Diana… Diana knew him far too well. If Constantine convinced her of whatever gave him this level of caution, she would camp in the bat cave to stop him if necessary.

Diana didn’t tolerate what she considered risk. If Bruce could convince her he was right instead… she could be a very useful ally. And she had always liked Jason.

Jason adored her. Wonder Woman had always been his favourite hero, even as a child. If Diana asked him, he might even agree to a consultation.

Bruce still didn’t know what had happened with today’s consultation, and apparently he wouldn’t even find out until they spoke to Wonder Woman.

He could extrapolate from that alone, frankly, even if Constantine wasn’t visibly rattled.

Bruce stepped aside somewhat reluctantly, letting Constantine step into the zeta tube first. They could technically fit in together, but he wasn’t exactly in the mood to play sardines.

The magician’s vehemence was troubling him, as was his conviction that Wonder Woman would be the answer. It was possible that Bruce had miscalculated the scale of the threat they were facing.

Whatever had warded Jason must be touchy enough to dislike any form of questions, and powerful enough to have its displeasure matter. And if it would be able to detect the questions being asked…

Contrary to popular opinions, Bruce did know how to temper his investigative instincts when called for. People only had to ask.

And.

Impress on him. A few times. That they meant it.

Honestly if they just told him why and what to expect, set some limitations and boundaries, it wasn’t like he was unreasonable. He just liked to verify data through his own sources.

Justice League Dark were a perfectly reputable source when he had to involve himself with magic. He could cross reference things between other members if he needed to check Constantine’s intel.

The unfortunate fact of the matter seemed to be that however little Bruce liked it, he did now need to learn more about magic. He’d been content to leave it to the experts for as long as he could, but…

But it now concerned one of his children. His second son, the one he’d lost.

At the very least, he needed to understand enough about the Infinite Realms to know how to keep Jason safe. What he would need, if there was anything they should be doing for him.

Not that the JL Dark had bothered to let him know when they thought Jason was a revenant. That might have been nice, even if apparently he wasn’t.

He’d already planned to start with Constantine’s attached reading on the Infinite Realms, and the Ghost King in particular for his new researches.

(Just the thought sent a shiver down his spine, and Bruce stepped into the zeta tube a little faster than necessary. Was that his oath? On just the thought?)

He could get information on these specific wards too. Cross reference with Zatanna when she was available. Perhaps contact Dr Fate.

The Justice League Dark had their own sections of both reference materials and secured artefacts in various bases around the world.

Studying those should be a sufficient compromise; he wouldn’t reach out to the Infinite Realms directly, not until the Anti-Ecto Acts had been dealt with.

Then they could get in touch with Jason’s mysterious doctor, provided he was willing. Have the dismantling of the acts as a show of good faith.

He’d have to ask Constantine about a sufficient apology too. And mention the acts themselves; somehow there just hadn’t been time today.

Stepping out into the Watchtower, Bruce was maybe just possibly anticipating the magician’s reaction, in a dark way. Let someone else have a bad day for a change.

The poor man had been so upset with the idea that Bruce might ask questions about the realms. The fact that the United States had declared a kill order on all its occupants was not going to go over well.

And all that sass and defensive aggression could be pointed at someone other than Bruce for a while.

Actually? He should wait until Constantine was sitting down. He could add it to his meeting notes, bring it up to the whole League at once.

There would be someone on site if the magician actually fainted.

Or if Bruce’s head actually exploded.

Bruce made a mental note to check their medical supplies and defences, in case there were any unpredictable reactions. He could swing by the infirmary before they got started.

Giving Constantine a quick parting nod, he turned away from the hall and walked quickly towards the infirmary. Just to check in.

Today’s meeting was just the Justice League, with Constantine as the sole representative of JL Dark; Dark’s members all seemed to know about the Infinite Realms and Amity Park already. They didn’t need the briefing.

They’d have to read Bruce’s meeting notes now though. The same ones he was fully aware most members of the League just ignored, considered wasteful paperwork.

They expected to be told directly if something was important. As if he had all the time in the world, and they had no personal responsibility.

The lights thrummed softly as he walked, all the little noises of the satellite’s systems ticking over in perfect order helping Bruce settle into his purpose.

Jason’s report had been thorough, and though Bruce could easily see the bias around his son’s words… in this case it was more than justified.

The wording used to describe Jason and others like him in the acts contained less expletives, but were no better. The veneer of detachment only made the disdain shine through more clearly.

As if his son were beneath contempt. If Jason were to be believed (and Bruce would confirm with Constantine and Shazam) then most of his family were ecto-contaminated.

It was almost nice to have a tangible problem to solve. An enemy he could face and defeat in simple, easy manoeuvres. It was unlikely to be a physical fight, but that hardly mattered.

The delicate machinations of politics were better left to Wonder Woman, Aquaman, damn near anyone but Batman. No, Bruce Wayne was far more influential in that arena.

A little money in the right places, press coverage, a big “himbo with a heart of gold” performance. They weren’t his preferred weapons, but he knew they were effective.

And for Jason, there was nothing at all he wouldn’t do.

Purpose and the time limit combined hastened his step, his cloak billowing around him as he stalked the halls of the Watchtower. The infirmary was empty; always good.

Their stocks were full, and there were three nurses on duty that Bruce had personally selected. He trusted all of them, and none looked worried at his visit.

Batman was well known for overpreparing. It always came in useful.

He was just making his way back towards the meeting hall, feeling markedly better himself with a firm goal in mind, when Superman rounded the corner ahead of him.

The man of steel was heading his way, worry writ large on his face. If he’d heard Bruce’s talk with Harley… actually, if he’d been able to overhear Constantine’s talk with Jason, that would be very useful.

Bruce prepared a few brief words to reassure his friend as succinctly as possible, and get them both moving back towards the meeting. They could actually talk afterwards.

He never got to say them. Superman ignored his little nod of greeting and hurried up to him, standing close enough that they couldn’t be overheard. Blocking Bruce’s path.

A thrum of dread wormed its way back into Bruce’s heart as he looked up into his friend’s earnest, deep blue eyes.

Clark kept his voice low, urgent and concerned as he whispered five words that shattered the world.

“Bruce? I can’t hear Jason’s heart.”

—————————

😈

Now quick, for extra bonus points, who can name what was supposed to happen at some point in the last two chapters and didn’t? This is your chance for a treat from the beginning of the next chapter

Tag List: @welcometosasakiworld @kyrianclawraith @someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones @starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost @akikkobara @rainbowbunny0159 @littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife @serasvictoria02 2 @wolfjackle @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf @anime-hipster-the-amazing @undead-essence @skitscratched @blackroserelina @snoodly-boop @trickerdi @mayoota-blog @xysidhe @idkmrpianoman @little-apricot-the-writer er @chaoticmistake @the-legal-shipper @bun-fish @aroranorth-west @demon-cat-goes-woof @perfectwastelandcreation n @onyxlightdragon @larks-and-katydids @peachesandcreamfemboy @jesus-camp-the-sequel @may-rbi @mothman-the-mothman87 @viyatrix @stargirl1331 @idfk-man10 @thedepressedrobin @skulld3mort-1fan @rootsmudge @ravenshadow17 @cankoking @phantom-dc @mentalcarebear @magic-pincushion @redamancyardor @lyra689 @itsparadoxlacuna a @alcorbearson @asphyxia778 @why-must-i-be-like-this @tkiesai @greenpyrowolf @frivolous-pastel @honeysuckletook

Next chapter!

#danny fenton dead and loving it #dp x dc #dead on main ship #danny x jason #chapter 15 #i’ll take the highway #the highway to heeeeeeeeeell/The Ghost Zone #anyway rip to bruce wayne but i would simply not tell my son he can’t have nice things #i’m just built different #so is harley #and she has a bat #and a bat-shaped problem #fuck i’m so looking forward to the start of the next chapter it’s a joke i’ve been waiting on for months #hint: sam #dpxdc #dc x dp #dcxdp

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captainkirkk · 1 year

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✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes.

Danny Phantom

Space Case by TorScrawls

Danny runs into some astronauts from NASA’s lunar mission while trying to do his homework on the moon. This leads to new friends, a new job, and eventually to Danny finding a place for himself out among the stars.

Also, Danny gets to be a gremlin in space.

“Well,” Watkins drew the word out on a sigh as she slumped against the doorframe. “We didn’t cover this in training.”

Cecilia found her eyes trained on the spot where Danny had just walked through the wall. Like a— “Is the moon haunted?!”

Watkins was silent for a long while, and when Cecilia finally managed to tear her eyes away from the wall and look at her colleague, she found her frowning at the com. "…Who's going to tell the commander?"

Emergency Contact by lexosaurus

When William Lancer answered the phone that day, little did he know that he would go from an average literature teacher and cat-dad to now the emergency foster parent for a very injured teenage ghost.

Life had a funny way of being unpredictable like that.

Tutoring Phantom by lexosaurus

It was funny. A year ago Dash was all but praying for Fenton to shut up, but now he would do anything to hear him speak.

Stranger Things

Dustin Henderson and the Lovebirds by pukner (+ podfic)

"You look like you've been mauled, dude," says Lucas. Then, after a beat, "Oh, ew."

"What the fuck," says Dustin, cottoning on, "What the fuck. This is hell, you didn't."

"Oh, I did," says Eddie, with the air of someone who's won something. He looks like the proverbial cat who's got the canary, if the canary wore polos and listened to Blondie.

"Shut up," Steve mutters, flushing as he seems to register what's happening, "Guys, it's not what you--uh, this isn't what it looks like-"

Or, five times Dustin Henderson was subjected to Eddie Munson being gross and sappy and in love with Steve Harrington, and one time Steve didn't even have to be there.

Clone Wars

I will look for you every time by unintentionalgenius

The soldier - barely more than a boy - swallows hard.

“And you’re here reporting to me because someone else is manning the rescue mission.” They’re both silent for a long moment. “Correct?”

Boil begins gingerly. She has the sense she is being handled. “The whole system went. There’s no way to get back down there. I think it was a bomb, planned. And - “ he hesitates, eyeing her face. “And no one could have survived that, sir. Not even one of us.”

“That’s impossible,” she says, instinctively.

this guy fucking sucks by Sunfl0wer78

Anakin didn't get it. The 501st was cool. Rex was great. So why was Commander Cody so... boring? And why was Obi-wan was obsessed with him? Everyone loved him. For what fucking reason.

Anakin doesn't understand Cody. Cody hates him. Maybe.

A Minor Detail by wanderingjedihistorian (RangerJedi67)

"I do apologize for the oversight,” Obi-Wan said. “I’m from a planet called Stewjon. While we look near human, we are all shapeshifters. While this is truly a minor detail in the grand scheme of things…” Cody stared incredulously. “Permission to speak freely, sir?” “Always, Cody, you know that,” he replied. “Sir, your ability to change into an otter does not qualify as a minor detail."

or, 3 times Obi-Wan's otter form came in handy on a mission and 1 time it was used for fun.

#happy wednesday everybody!#weekly fic round up #my posts #fic recs #dp recs #sw recs #stranger things recs

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npcemi · 11 months

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I swear the Dp x DC brain rot is contagious

I had a semi nice idea... i read in a few fics I forget the names of (believe me I've been binging so many of them,) Any how, I read a few times how Danny as in the past legit dated Johnny and/or Kitty. So my brain is like fuck it. I’ma put these fuckers in triad. My brain starts to outline a nice little story that would end up not too long, just enough for some nice developments and them bam it happens.

Danny is 17 and is now friends with Johnny and kitty

They get jealous how much the other is spending time with Danny

Kitty and Johnny realize they both fell for Danny,

Danny talks to jazz about developing a crush on both Johnny and kitty

Jazz watches the three idiots angst and dance around the issue for three months until jazz can’t take it anymore and just shouts at the three of them to “Shut up and just kiss already.”

The three start dating and a while in, Danny's parents kick him out because bigotry.

some stuff happens and Jazz forces her family to go to family therapy. So who’s the therapist for the Fentons. Well Jazz chose the most qualified person. Dinah fucking Lance (lets face it young justice made me fall in love with black canary all over again. ) Who ends up horrified when she hears about their home life. I mean pick the trope, semi neglect, contamination, portal to the realm of the dead in the basement.

So what does Dinah do after words, well she contacts the only person she knows that is good with traumatized children with tragic backstories. So y’all know how this is gunna go Bruce is gunna Bruce when he smells the adoption bait. Shit goes down thankfully Danny and jazz have a massive support network both human and ghostly. Our trio lives happily ever after, also Jazz and Jason end up together because I love that ship.

Seriously this is like just one of the fics i figure i’ll play around with in the DP universe that some how naturally walks itself into a DC cross over. That’s not even counting the DC X DP fic I planned (The long road of how starting a fight with superman over clone parenting eventually lead to Danny Phantom become God) because the idea made my multi fic, multiverse idea so much easier.

I just wanted a fun little side idea for a DP fic, and the DCU worms its way in....I can’t be mad tho for some reason it all works way to well together.

#dc #dpxdc #dpxdc au

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icos-3 · 10 months

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Chapter 6 - The Kidnapping of Danny Fenton - Tumblr Edition

Since AO3 was down, I might as well post the chapters of my fic here. This is not a rewrite of the story. It will contain fixes/edits for problems that initially went unnoticed by me. These edits are being added to AO3.

5 - 6 - 7 Index

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

After Danny went missing 6 months ago, Dash's perspective began to change.

Since his disappearance, Amity Park just got... strange. Stranger than it had always been. But, also much worse than any other time in Dash's recollective memory.

The Fentons began focusing less of their time and attention on ghost hunting, and more time on trying to find their son. That meant that they spent less time protecting Amity Park, and more time shutting themselves in that large, chaotic tower of theirs, or driving recklessly along the outskirts of the town.

This would have been fine, if the town's protector, the Phantom of Amity Park (shortened to Phantom), hadn't gone missing around the same time.

Without anyone keeping the aggressive ghosts in check, Amity Park devolved into chaos.

Until the Guys In White decided to show up with new fancy weapons and tech, at which point, the chaos grew exponentially.

To say they were aggressive would be an understatement.

They implemented strict curfews that, if you accidentally or purposely broke, either because you were busy and forgot, or had to go do something for an emergency, would lead to you spend the night in sealed decontamination rooms to be questioned and observed.

They began confiscating and removing pro-ecto materials from around Amity, whether it was in support of Phantom, or just the peaceful ghost population in general, and replacing it with their own flashy imagery, which showed that their egos and thirst for power and control was near limitless.

And to top it all off, they began removing friendly, non hostile ghosts from the streets and abandoned buildings of Amity Park.

Unbeknownst to Amity, these ghosts had been making sure that obscure and difficult to maintain infrastructure was kept operational. Infrastructure that, were the city to begin upkeep, would have bankrupted the local municipality.

Without the local spectral plumbers, electricians, architects and sanitation workers, life in Amity soon began to quickly devolve into a much worse state than it had been in decades. Or, that's what Dash had heard when listening in on some of the adults occasionally.

This was no longer a safe place where people his age could go to the mall alone with friends, or go out at night. Everyone could be a victim.

Everyone was a suspect.

Everyday, normal people began to turn on each other, throwing accusations around, playing hot potato with each other's claims. Some of the rich began hiring body guards to walk their kids to school and look after them, while the others opted to walk or drive their kids instead, being unable or unwilling to trust a stranger to look after their children.

It seemed fun at first, having a personal guardian, but soon, he had discovered how cumbersome and limiting it really was.

He could no longer play football with his friends till sundown in the school field unsupervised.

He could no longer watch his beloved romcoms without feeling judged in his own home.

He could no longer sneak out at 9 to expand his teddy bear collection.

He couldn't slack on his school work anymore.

It was all getting too much to handle.

After all the time they spent around each other in school, Dash didn't really know Danny that well.

Most of their high-school dynamic was centered around Dash being the top jock, and Danny being the weirdo that's weirdly good at getting stuffed into lockers.

Out of the all the nerds and unpopular kids, Fenton was the only one that made Dash truly feel in control.

Sure, the other nerds were just as fun to stuff into lockers, but Danny was the only one that gave him a challenge. The way he squirmed as Dash pushed him into lockers, the way he yelped when he gave him wedgies, the way he scurried off when his pants got pulled down, it all gave him a deep satisfaction. Knowing he had power over him.

But it wasn't because he disliked Danny, or actively had a grudge against him or anything. At least, that was mostly the case. He couldn’t recall that he’d been wronged by him in some way, but whether it was because he let him do those things because he was scared of him, or because he simply didn't care enough to stand up to him, it always made Dash feel more secure with himself. That HE was in control.

That he wasn't powerless.

It had only recently become apparent to him how much he relied on those quick bursts of adrenaline, those quick bursts of admiration and adoration of his classmates, to keep himself together. To distract him from his own problematic life. The one he hid behind facades of power and money.

The one he couldn’t escape from when he was at home.

Pretty much everyone in school had noticed his gradual descent.

At first, he’d try and pick on the band geeks, but after the 4th time of stuffing them as tightly together into a locker with no gratification or praise from his peers, he simply started lashing out at anyone who opposed him. And eventually, even that died out. He could only yell at math nerds so many times before it also got too tedious to continue, rather than fulfilling.

It wasn't immediately obvious that he had been on a downward spiral, but Dale had definitely noticed, and began picking the slack for him. Unlike Dash, he reveled in making others lives horrible. He didn’t want to feel powerful or strong, he wanted to make others miserable for the sake of it. For the most part, Dash remained in Dale’s group of torment. But after the 7th spat between the two, he didn't even bother to do that anymore, simply choosing to diffuse any conflict he was a part of, simply to spite Dale.

He was so lucky to have such a good friend like Kwan who would stand by him and defend him, but even he had begun to change in ways Dash didn't think possible at first. They weren't drifting apart, but he had noticed that Kwan had picked up a few new strange interests over the weeks that passed. The painting wasn’t that weird of a hobby all things considered, but even Dash had to admit that the gothic poetry was a bit much, even for him.

Over time, he regularly amazed himself with how much he himself had changed in such a short time.

But he could never truly shake the memory of what had brought up these sudden changes.

During lunch, he'd regularly glance towards where the three of them would usually sit, only to see two of them making missing posters and drawing on maps for spots they hadn't looked yet.

He saw how worried the corner bench freaks were that the third wheel of their tricycle vanished. He saw how they rushed out of class to go search around Amity after school, risking getting captured to look for their friend, only to come back to school more dejected the next day.

One time while going to his locker to look for a change of clothing after PE, he saw Tucker crying over Sam’s shoulders just outside the bathrooms when they thought nobody was around.

He never got close to the two of them, but everytime he saw them, he couldn’t help but think of how they used to be when compared to now. When Danny was with them, they always seemed to be happy, no matter what situation they were in.

No matter what situation HE put them in.

gosh... I am such a jerk…

Over time, it lead to him to really think about his situation. About what he had done to them. And to Danny.

was everything I did to him really... worth it..?

Thoughts like these usually kept him up at night. Right after he just got comfy under his sheets, ready to drift off to sleep.

No matter how hard he tried, they always seemed to pop up again. When it happened, he tried distracting himself by rewatching his favorite romance drama, he tried rearranging his teddy collection, he even began trying to do his own homework, all to try and distract himself from thinking about it. But no matter what he did, his mind always tended to wonder whether or not it was worth doing to others what he had done to Danny.

did I really depend on Fenton so much to keep myself together?

Sure, it made him feel in control, but how much was that worth ruining someone's life over?

was it really worth it?

ruining his social life… making his life miserable...

only for him to go missing...

and possibly lose said life...

One day, while in conversation with Kwan about his new hobby, photography, he noticed that Sam and Tucker were a lot more high energy than they usually were on days like these.

"Hey, Kwan"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what they ate to give them that sort of energy?"

Kwan turned to share Dash’s gaze at Sam and Tucker, both of which were staring at one of those high tech geeky gadgets. He thought he'd heard them call it a PDA but in actuality, he didn’t know whether it was a glorified cell phone or something else.

"I dunno dude. You think we should go look?"

Dash hesitated, but something at the back of his mind told him it could be important.

"Maybe they found something. About... Fenton..."

Both of them stood up and walked towards where the two across from them sat in silence. Kwan, being seen as the friendlier of the two jocks, was the first to speak when they reached the table.

"Hey guys, what're you looking at?"

The two on the bench jumped, and hurriedly fumbled to try and hide the device.

Both of them had a look of horror hidden behind the looks they usually wore when talking to Dash and his friends. Sam’s was a mixture of disdain, and Tucker’s was the brave face he usually put on when not trying to be intimidated.

"It's none of your business, Baxter!"

Manson had always had a kind of fire in her words, but today, she seemed shook. But Dash wasn't going to back off so easily today.

"If... if it's about Fen..."

Her stare went straight through Dash. Was it always so hard to speak to them?

" uh... Danny... I'd... like to help…" he said after correcting himself.

He didn't usually stumble like this, but he had to admit, he wasn't usually the one to offer help.

The two on the bench shared quick glances at each other, which then turned into full on stares. He had to wonder if these two were psychic or just very good at charades because it felt like they were having entire conversations with only their faces.

Eventually, Tucker sent Sam a wide eyed head bob, to which, she tilted her head backwards and let out a deep sigh. Tucker was the first one to speak this time.

"So... we think we may know what happened to D- Phantom..."

Somehow, Tucker, found a way to get into the Guys in White's security camera archives. "It was almost as if it had been left open just so that someone could find this," Dash heard him say at one point.

As the video played, he saw a small figure being brought towards a long cylindrical machine.

After realising who it was in the video, he let out an audible gasp.

That is Phantom... What were they...

Almost as if to answer him, Tucker fast forwarded to something that happened later. To something horrible.

From the low volume on the PDA, he could hear multiple layered screams, before something began oozing out of the machine.

A sickly yellow and black slime. mixed with... body parts... human... body parts... growing... twisting in unnatural ways...

Dash had no choice but to empty his stomach onto the grass next to the bench.

When he looked up, he saw he was not the only one. Not only did he and Kwan have the same reaction, but so did one of the people in the video.

Then, he saw him...

Phantom...

The hero of Amity Park...

His hero, covered in a bubbling, boiling mess, with a dismembered limb clinging by a thread of goo to where it had been severed, slowly reassembling itself till the wound got closed.

He saw the people in hazmat suits removing him, before being ordered to take him away.

"We need to do something!"

The words bubbled over. He didn't even have a chance to think about what he was saying.

Everyone was surprised when something not even Tucker expected, happened. The PDA beeped.

Tucker wondered whether or not he'd been hacked, but then, a box with a message appeared over the video. It read: "If you want to help him, meet me at behind the Nasty Burger at 9 AM on Saturday"

Dash looked at Kwan, then to the other two. They didn’t need to say it, but he was sure everyone at that table knew what they had to do.

He knew what HE had to do.

#danny phantom #danny fenton #ao3 fanfic #fanfiction #dp au #The Kidnapping of Danny Fenton #ao3 was down #dash baxter #kwan ishiyama #sam manson #tucker foley #I need better chapter names #so if you have any ideas #please let me know if you'd like to help!

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redrobin-detective · 3 years

Text

Like You

Trequel to Half Of and The only ghost in Amity Park

“We need to talk, Fenton,” Valerie hissed, slamming Danny’s locker shut in his face. He pursed his lips and lowered his gaze but said nothing. Manson scoffed and stepped right up, putting her finger in Valerie’s face.

“He doesn’t owe you anything, Val so lay off. If he wants to talk to you, he will, not because you demanded it.” Val grabbed Sam’s wrist, strong but still such delicate bones. The goth flinched a bit as Valerie applied pressure.

“Only my friends,” Valerie hissed with a hard look over at Danny, “get to call me Val. But I guess we’re not friends if you kept something like this from me.”

“Val...erie, let her go,” Danny mumbled quietly. “We’ll talk after school, meet me by the equipment shed behind the football field.”

“Alone,” Val said, flicking away Sam’s wrist. “None of your adoring, enabling entourage, new or old.”

“No way in hell,” Sam said, clearly resisting the urge to hold onto her injured wrist. “Like we’d trust Danny with someone like you.”

“What? Human?” Valerie asked back. Danny stuck his hands between them and forced them apart. Now that Val was looking, the entire hall was watching them. Whatever, they didn’t matter.

“Cut it out,” Danny frowned, looking over both of them. “Sam, I’ll be fine talking to her alone.” He turned back to her with his blue eyes. As long as she’d known him, Danny’s had a presence about him. She took it as growing up in such a strange house and later her growing crush. But there was no way to explain away the icy, electric feel of his gaze holding her own. “3:30, equipment shed, just talking. Okay?”

“Fine,” Valerie said, turning and stomping down the hall so she had the last word. The rest of the day passed slowly as she gripped the sides of her desk and bounced her leg, thinking about Danny Fenton. How long had Danny been a ghost or half of one, how was that even possible? Had he always been that way and she simply hadn’t noticed? Her? The best ghost hunter in Amity? How much of Danny was real and what was just a cruel ghostly joke? That’s the question that burned the most. Danny seemed to be the only one who liked this new, more grounded Valerie. What would she do if her closest friend was just messing with her?

Finally, school ended and she stalked purposefully towards the equipment shed. Interesting choice of location, it was almost never used since most every day sports gear was stored in the locker rooms. Did he chose it because it was isolated? Danny didn’t seemed worried about confronting her alone, what abilities could he have that he wasn’t scared of her? That made her pause once the shed came into sight. She’d only heard about Danny’s powers, never having ever seen them firsthand. Valerie took an ectogun from her bag and slipped it in back waistband of her skirt. Just in case.

Danny was sitting on the roof of the shed, weirdly enough. It would be next to impossible to climb so he had to have flown. She’d already heard of him floating but the idea of Danny Fenton and superpowers still didn’t add up in her head. He was rubbing at a tear in his jeans when she approached. Danny gave a little awkward half smile that, a few days ago, would have sent her stomach into somersaults. Now seeing it just made her sick.

“Are you gonna hide up there all day?” She asked curtly, hands on her hips.

“You could always join me up here,” Danny shrugged, getting more comfortable on the roof. Val raised a disbelieving eyebrow, eyeing the lack of handles and the broken splinters on the old shed. “We’re far enough away, no one will see you use your hoverboard.” Just when Valerie thought he was done being surprised. She gaped open mouthed at Danny who got nervous and rubbed his hands anxiously. “You uh you wanted to talk so I thought we ought to lay all our cards on the table.” He took a deep breath, “I know you’re the Red Huntress Val...erie.”

“How!” She demanded, activating her board without thought to get to the roof. She grabbed Danny by the shirt and hauled him forward until their faces were inches apart. His body radiated a soft chill that brushed against her skin. He held up his hands in surrender.

“Since the start, Sam and I, we saw you in the park, remember? You caught us uhhhh,” Danny trailed off, looking away with a blush. It took Val a minute but she remembered one of her first outings with the suit, she was chasing Phantom and his stupid dog only to find Danny and Sam kissing in the bushes. She hadn’t cared about the love lives of losers at the time. It had only become relevant when she started catching feeling for Danny but he’d assured her multiple times that he and Manson weren’t a couple. “It wasn’t real, the kiss I mean. It was Sam’s idea, you surprised us and we didn’t have time to hide so you didn’t...” he trailed off.

"Didn’t, what?” She demanded. Valerie gasped when Danny simply phased out of her grip and assuming his previous position on the roof. She stared for a moment at her hands before looking up again at Danny who was back to fiddling with his clothes. There it was, irrefutable proof that Danny wasn’t human. It felt like her heart was being chipped away with a hammer.

“Look, this has been kind of a hard week for me,” Danny groaned, raking his hands forcefully through his hair. “I get my powers outed, I need to convince my parents not to kill me the rest of the way, keep the ghosts off my back for a period, get the government to acknowledge my existence all the while dealing with everyone’s stares and questions at school.” He tucked his knees closer and flopped his face into them. “I said I would be honest with you and I’m trying but I’ve already had to give so much of myself this week and... I don’t know, what do you even want from me?”

“I want answers!” Valerie tried to demand but it came across as more whiney. She pushed back any tears that were threatening to come. “I want to know what was real! Was our friendship real? Our feelings? Are you even real? And if you knew I Huntress all this time then why... why would you even talk to me? Were you just playing with me? Spying on me? What did you want with me?”

“I’m real, Val, I promise,” He held out his hand and she reluctantly took it. His hand was chilly but there always where, it was also solid with knobbing bones and ropy muscles. Beneath it all, there was a sluggish but persistent pulse. She squeezed his hand, it was a human hand and yet it had also passed right through her. How could he be real and not real at once?

“As for what I wanted, just a friend really,” Danny said, keeping his head on his folded knees but turning towards her. She read nothing but sincerity in his eerily blue eyes. “Sam, Tuck and I, we have serious history. We know each other inside and out. But you, you were someone new. I loved hearing about your interests, your dreams, finding out who you were as a person beyond that jerk who made fun of me the second week of Freshman year for wearing my dad’s jumpsuit to school. I liked being able to be a normal person with you, I think I had started to forget with the whole ghost thing going on.”

“What happened?” Valerie couldn’t help but ask.

“Lab accident,” Danny said quietly, “Sam and Tuck were there, wasn’t pretty. Thought I was goner for sure. I survived somehow but I got some freaky powers out of the deal. There’s downsides but some sweet benefits,” he tilted his head back and looked longingly up at the sky. “Flying is the best.”

“Yeah,” Val couldn’t help but sigh in agreement. She could almost the feel the sensation of the wind whipping against her suit. Hear the roar as she soared through the clouds. It was hard to imagine Danny flying but his eyes shined with understanding she usually only saw in the mirror. “So why did you hang out with me knowing I hunted ghosts?”

“It just sorta happened, You obviously sensed that Sam and Tucker weren’t too happy about the risk.” No kidding, Val had gotten warmer welcomes from freezers. “But you were cool, Val. Plus you,” he paused and seemed to consider his words. “I felt like once we got over the hump you would get it in a way the other don’t. You know what it like to balance two lives, to have insane power at your fingertips, to feel like if you take even a second break that the ghosts will overwhelm the town. It’s just... a lot to deal with alone, Sam, Tucker and Jazz, they try to understand but they just don’t.”

He looked over at her, “I guess it was nice to know that there was someone like me out there,” he blushed, “and that someone uh liked me. For being me, y’know?”

“Clearly I didn’t know everything,” she grumbled watching as Danny winced. Val frowned, she probably wasn’t being entirely fair, she hadn’t exactly been honest with Danny either.

“So you fight ghosts, huh?” Valerie couldn’t help was ask with a little smile. Trying to picture it. The Danny she thought she knew wouldn’t but this Danny... “Is that why you’re always running out of class?”

“Isn’t that why you leave?” He teased back hesitantly. “I’m honestly a little surprised no one figured me out before. I was really bad at hiding at first. Of course it’s only when I get the whole ‘secret identity’ thing down that I get exposed.” He huffed, the ends of his hair lifting out of his eyes.

“Secret identity, so you can turn into a ghost?” Danny was silent. “Have I seen you out there?” More silence. “Have I... have I shot at you?” Everything seemed quiet save for their asynchronous breathing. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“It stung but not enough to keep me down for long,” Danny said, flexing his arms but his smile was strained. There was something about it that was haunting, familiar. She turned to look at the woods because if she stared any longer she’d realize which ghost Danny turned into and neither of them was ready for that right now.

“So now what?” She asked.

“I don’t know,” Danny sighed. “I’m kind of taking it one day at a time. Mom and Dad are nervous, jumpy, I’m not sure if they’re more scared of me or of themselves and what they did. My sister and friends are being annoyingly overprotective. People who hated me last week are suddenly in my face asking questions and demanding demonstrations. The government wants to kill me but,” he snorted a little, and tilted his head towards her floppily. “I'm also talking to you about this part of my life for the first time. Lying was a necessity I never grew comfortable with, I think I could do with a bit of honesty.”

“Yeah me too,” Valerie said, straightening up and looking Danny in the eye. “I’m still not sure how I feel about this. I don’t like ghosts and I likely never will. I’m going to continuing being Huntress and keeping the town safe. But I’m willing to give you chance, give you time to open up completely. It’ll give us both times to come to terms with everything, and maybe then we can figure out where we stand.”

“I’ll take it!” Danny beamed, “I was worried you were coming here to off me with that ectogun you have stashed in your skirt so this is much better!”

“How did you-” She gasped.

He winked and tapped his forehead, “I’m pretty sensitive to ectoplasm, especially out here in the real world. Gotta admit sometimes when my energy was low, I sought you out. Did you know your suit radiates a low level ectoplasmic field, even when you’re not wearing it?” He twisted his face in thought. “Now that we’re talking-talking, I should warn you what side effects excess exposure to ectoenergy can cause.” He twisted his hand and a small green ectoblast formed in his palm briefly before dissipating. “If that worries you, my parents can hook you up with some sweet ghost hunting equipment that won’t contaminate you.”

“So I could have powers like you one day?” She asked carefully, looking over her hands thoughtfully.

“Maybe, I don’t know. Mine was a kind of one in a million accident, well, two,” he made a face. “That’s whole other story, don’t ask. But we could maybe find out together, Val,” he winced. “Valerie.”

“Val is fine,” she said quietly, still thinking too many things. “We have a lot of things to figure out but in the meantime, you can keep calling me Val.”

“I’d like that,” he smiled. “So uh, do you want to come to movie night tomorrow? It’s at my house this week. I uh always wanted to invite you before but Sam, Tuck and I usually end up talking ghost stuff during the movie so we couldn’t before but if you’re interested... could be fun to have you there. We’re watching The Shining.”

“That movie is like a billion years old,” Val laughed with an eyeroll.

“It’s a classic, I was named after the kid in that movie!” Danny defended. “I’ll text you the details but its up to you. Either way, we’ll uh, we’ll keep talking. See you around, Val.” And just like that, he vanished. She swiveled her head around but Danny Fenton was truly gone.

“Jerk,” she grumbled but there was no heat to it. She heard a giggle above her and knew Danny, in his secret ghost form, was probably flying. And it was too nice a day to walk home. She activated her suit and took to the skies herself. Valerie didn’t know if Danny was with her or not, she just turned off her brain and fell into the motion of aggressive loops and high speed dives around her town.

Everything had turned upside down with the knowledge that Danny wasn’t who she thought he was. But again, things had been crazy since the ghosts first came to town. So she and Danny were at a stand still, not friends and not enemies, not open but not secretive either. It was a weird state to be in but Danny was probably used to being in a state of half life himself. But she’d worry about all that later, for now it just her and sky.

#surprise bitch bet you thought you saw the last of me #why am I adding to this series when I have so much else to be doing #anyway tada #if you liked Danny seeming okay and feral the last two parts #get ready for Danny whos actually really stressed and emotionally vulnerable #I actually was gonna have Danny confess everything to Val #but that line that 'he's given so much of himself away already' hit me deep #and I realized neither of them weren't ready yet #Val needed to adjust to this newer danny before learning hes phantom #and danny needed time before he had to let go of more of his carefully hidden secrets #they're at a standstill #who knows how long they'll remain as such #and if Val sat down and thought for .2 seconds she would know #but she *doesn't want to* not right now #at some point she'll make the logical leap but for now she's digesting as much as she can #if you thought Val was taking it too well #I just put faith in that past her anger Val is ultimately a good person and never really wanted to hurt the only friend who never abandoned

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datawyrms · 3 years

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Happy DannyMay everyone! i say while dropping this. For day one, Memories. sorta kinda sequel to this Half a Decade Late

He said he’d never hate them. Back when he thought it would only be a matter of time until he found a weakness, a flaw and squirmed free. He always had before. He didn’t like being captured, and he certainly didn’t like getting shoved into cages, but it was always temporary. A terrifying inconvenience. Something he’d shrug off eventually and forget. Lately he was starting to realize he’d forget that he ever considered thinking charitably. Just like all the other things he couldn’t quite remember.

They took everything. His freedom, his limbs, his skin, his voice. So many things he had the misfortune of learning he could recover from with enough time. Really broke the idea that anything about you was special. Did it matter that they ripped him open when the green slime he was made of would eventually cover the hole without even a sign of the pain it caused him? He just stopped caring. Ghosts didn’t feel pain. Maybe if he believed that enough, he wouldn’t need to feel it. Hurt was just a matter of perspective.

He was changing, apparently. The spectral copies of his human organs they stole over and over again stopped being perfect copies. Sloppy. Apparently his body was forgetting what the real ones were like. He didn’t remember the last time he’d been human anyway. That was fine. It was the only real way he could bother them now, being ‘less useful’. Obviously he didn’t need them that badly. He envied some of his fellow prisoners. They were just green inside. Nothing the vultures wanted, nothing for them to mutter and prod at while he struggled uselessly.

He didn’t really know why he still bothered to do that. It never worked. Some impulse. Just better than keeping still. He never really was a human, was he? Humans didn’t treat other humans like this. So he wasn’t one. So why did he ever think he was?

Tie was weird. Maybe having a soul made you act all funny. He’d been tempted to change her name, to no-mask or just face, but the words didn’t feel right, sort of caught on his tongue. Even when he didn’t have one sometimes! Tie just slid off easily. Like he’d said it a lot, or something like it.

So the newbie remained Tie. And Tie was weird. A good kind of weird? She didn’t just tell him to shut up, anyway. Most of them were boring like that. Though not getting shocked into unconsciousness did make the days tend to drag a bit more. She did make his head hurt sometimes, with all the weird reactions Tie made. It always passed though.

He kept playing with the lights up there so they would flicker and crackle, just to check if it was a Tie day. Sure, that got a good amount of shocks when it wasn’t Tie, but they were always grumpy after he’d lost a limb or two. It was almost amusing again. That was the word. Maybe?

“You don’t remember Amity at all?”

Frustration and anger that was directed at him, but also not. Tie was super strange like that. “Why would I?” His response just made her eyes narrow more, but she didn’t do anything to take it out on him. It was hilarious.

“That’s where you’re from.”

“News to me.” Might be a lie, might not. Gun grunts said lots of weird stuff. He shifted position, watching her while upside down didn’t make it easier to tell if humans were lying or not, but did make her scowling funnier. “That’s where you’re from then? Or that other name you keep using.”

“You can’t actually be him. Fuck.” She was rubbing at her forehead, looking away at nothing. “You remember ghost hunters but not Amity Park?”

“Hey! Names are hard, Tie. Isn’t like you know the name of every town you’ve ever been in.”

“No, but I remember the one I lived in most of my life!”

“Good for you! I’d clap but I’m kinda under armed for the task.” Under armed. He snickered as she only rolled her eyes at his joke, but it only made him think of another one. “Isn’t like a ghost lives anywhere.”

“You’re in here for hell knows how long and you can’t get better jokes?!”

Tie’s irritation just made it funnier. “These are gold! Way better than the stuff you guys laugh at.”

“Like what?”

“Oh you know.” The humour of the moment passed as he got back up, wondering if he should give the old ice trick another go. The noises were fun. “Like how the ghost won’t eat, but ghosts don’t breathe either. So the ghost can’t do much to stop ya.” As if Tie didn’t know. She still made the weird pinched expressions though. Why bother? It didn’t really matter if she actually had a soul still. Those ones just quit and then there’d be a new newbie. “Lots of you think that’s reaaaaal funny.” He stuck out his tongue, gagging. “Gross gun grunts.”

“That’s not funny either.”

“Try breaking your funny bone a few times. That’ll fix it. Or was that computers?” He frowned, rubbing his fingers against his chin. Computers. What was it about computers again? Re-re-something? Like with bones when you...did something…

“Phantom!”

That jerked him out of his considerations. “Still not him!” Now that he checked, Tie looked like she’d been trying to get his attention for awhile again. That, or she’d figured out how to teleport closer to his cage. Both were very possible. Probably.

“You didn’t hear a word I said, did you.”

“You were talking?”

“For someone who says he isn’t Phantom, it sure gets your attention fast.”

He shrugged. What did Tie expect? So what if he noticed it? It didn’t mean anything to him, personally. It was like comp-whatevers. “You could say the coats were coming and I’d do the same thing.”

“Doubt it. You remember Jack and Maddie maybe?” Tie hesitated, as if saying something to him actually mattered. “Your parents?”

“I’m a ghost. And possibly a starfish. Since I do the whole regenerating thing.” He’s pretty sure it’s starfish that do that. “I don’t think they’re big on families.” He thought that was pretty amusing, having like. Little voiceless things that cling to rocks as parents. Actually had a bit in common if you thought of his cage as a rock? Tie didn’t agree, based on how he was biting at her lip and clenching her fists. Still no shooting. Still super weird.

“Be a mercy killing at this point…” Tie wasn’t actually speaking to him, but it was interesting. Killing what? One of the other ghosts maybe. “Sam, Tucker? Any of them ring a bell?”

He certainly didn’t have a bell in here. “Sam...and Tucker are names?” He guessed, shuddering a little. Weird names. Made the gooey mess of ectoplasm he was made of wriggle when he said it. Like when he was struggling to digest something, uncomfortable and heavy and just making him want to move when he couldn’t. Though he could this time. Zipping up to the top of his cage helped shake the feeling off, at least. He wasn’t saying those again, no thank you. “You have weird tricks, Tie”

“They’re just names. I didn’t do anything to make you fly up there. I half thought you couldn’t do that anymore.”

Tie did have a bit of a point. When was the last time he’d flown up here? “Think I forgot I could?” He didn’t really move much in general. Not like he had anywhere to go, his cage didn’t really change.

She just looked tired. “This isn’t fixable.”

He wasn’t really paying attention, poking at the edges of his cage with his feet was pretty entertaining. It tingled a bit when he got pushed back, but flipping over in the air was easy. Why didn’t he float more? “Gun grunts don’t fix things, so Idonno why you care.”

Tie wasn’t paying much attention to him either, muttering to herself. “Manson would kill me for doing it. No way she’d believe you’re like this. Let alone the Fentons...”

Well, that was boring. He busied himself with counting how many seconds it took for the shock to stop coursing through him when he touched the walls. Though it was a bit tricky to keep track between tries.

“Skulker? Ember? You at least remember the ghosts, don’t you?”

“Are you just making names up now Tie?” They just sounded silly. The thought of someone named ‘Skulker’...who was also very tiny. Now that’d be funny. Kinda liked that idea actually.

“Probably don’t even remember the guy who put a million on your head…”

“A million whats? Questions? That’s more a you thing, Tie.”

“No, Vlad. The mayor?”

“The what?” Things weren’t funny anymore. He wasn’t cool and passive. That word, there’d been others but he didn’t even care what they’d been. The V had been enough to set his core to a furious pulsating heat of fury. His ice claws clung to the wall even as the buzzing in his skull grew stronger as the field tried to shove him back. “WHERE” He snared, not caring how his throat burned from the partial wail trying to scrabble out of his throat. Tie didn’t matter, nothing mattered and he actually missed his arm since not having it made it harder to keep his grip and snarl at the one backing away from his prison. “WHERE IS HE?” Oh he’d order anyone, and they’d listen or he’d shred them as soon as he got through- but his claws were cracking- green and red staining and corrupting the fine edge he’d honed so often. Why did he care? He didn’t know, didn’t want to know, he just had to act and now, just in case. The chance might slip away and he wouldn’t, they’d pay they’d pay, they’d PAY.

“Danny! Stop hurting yourself, he’s not here!” Tie was blathering, but at least backed away when he shrieked at her. Stupid Tie. Didn’t know anything. “Hell. You don’t even know why you’re mad, do you.”

He kept slamming the ice back in place, even as his arm weakened and started oozing. He didn’t need his legs, he didn’t need arms, he didn’t need anything. Just OUT. NOW. He snarled and snapped at the metal that grabbed his back and slammed him hard to the ground of his cage. It ignored him and the awful warmth that had consumed everything. He never won against it but now he had to keep trying because-because the anger? Because of something. The metal easily ignored the green surging pulses of electricity, just kept pressing down on him until he wasn’t solid enough to struggle, not strong enough to scream at it. The awful stabbing feeling in his core wanted him to act, but he couldn’t even defiantly flick his tail as he grew colder and slipped out of consciousness.

Everything hurt and it wasn’t even Friday. At least. He didn’t think it was? He’d have to ask Tie about it...if Tie showed up again. Something about her gave him a stab of unease. Might have something to do with all the green stains in here. Didn’t remember getting shot though. Strange. Must have done something. Maybe. Didn’t really matter.

#Danny Phantom #Dannymay2021 #dannymay #valerie gray #many terrible implications #i couldn't help it i had more pondering #vals no good day mark 2 #now to endlessly not decide if i should make a compilation on ao3 #or just stick things to the ends of the phic phight stuff i'm doing

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camels-pen · 3 years

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What Could Have Been

DannyMay Day 1 - Memories

Summary: Vlad’s greatest crime wasn’t trying to kill Danny’s dad, beating him up repeatedly, nor all the unwanted advances on his mom. No, it was showing the boy what a good parent looks like and filling him with yearning for something he can never have.

After a knock to the head, Danny remembers he’s not Vlad Masters’ son.

(1st part of the Not Your Son series)

Ao3 link

He remembered his dad, beaten and weary, lying prone on the ground.

He remembered the old man who’s been trying to destroy them since they first met towering over him as he stood his ground in front of his dad, fists up and building with ecto-energy.

He remembered blasting the weapon away and the light from the nozzle intensifying as it fired, hitting the ceiling and causing large chunks of stone and the chandelier to start falling towards them.

The old man yelled at him to get away, but he ignored it, choosing instead to shove his dad clear. A large piece of rubble slammed into the back of his head and-

He remembered everything.

---

“Danny?”

“Danny, son, can you hear me?” He groaned in response.

“Ugh, what hit me?” he said, rubbing his head.

“The ceiling, and what was left of the chandelier,” a relieved voice answered him. It was softer than usual and for some reason he couldn’t place it.

“Well that explains the headache at least. You okay, dad?” Danny asked, looking first to Masters, then to Fenton. He blinked a few times then rubbed his eyes and sat up, turning his full attention to Jack. “Uh, why are you crying?”

Jack sniffled. “I’m just glad you’re back.” He gave him a once over before leaned forward to wrap him in a hug.

“I only left like, a few hours ago- and wasn’t Jazz supposed to pick me up?” It was then Danny noticed the burns and bruises covering Vlad’s body and his hands tied behind his back. He was also kneeling a ways away from them. “Uh, I see you and Vlad talked.”

Jack glared at Vlad, causing Danny’s heart to speed up. “Don’t worry Danno, I used the line from the Fenton Fisher; he won’t be getting away that easy. Not after what he did.” And it was like a switch was flipped, all his memories of the past three weeks flew through his head in an instant as his hands tangled in his white hair. Jack pulled away to stare at him worriedly.

“Danno?”

“The dance,” he whispered, gloved fingers dragging against his scalp as the headache throbbed hard, making him twist his eyes shut.

Images flashed through his mind. Sam, Tucker, and him, they were going to the dance for the free food and to secretly prank the jocks. They were having fun. Lots of fun.

But he… left?

Right, he wasn’t feeling well. Sam told him to text when he got home that night and then… nothing?

Furrowed brows gave way to wide eyes and Danny picked up Vlad by his collar, slamming him against the bookshelf.

“You used that freaky ring to control me!” Jack’s eyes widened as well and he put a heavy hand on the boy’s shoulder, injecting forced calmness into his tone.

“Danny, let me handle this. I can’t imagine what he might’ve done to you, but-”

“You don't get it.” Danny tightened his grip. “He didn't do anything besides screwing with my head, which is still crazy messed up, but….” Anger and disgust filled his expression, but also… disappointment. “He really did treat me like a son and he proved that if he wanted to, he could be a good person.”

Memories of Vlad patching him up after ghost fights, talking him through an anxiety attack, and helping out during attacks after work or otherwise sending duplicates when things looked hairy, and many more flitted through Danny’s mind. He tried his best to shove them down and ignore them, but to no avail; they just started bubbling up one after another, with no sign of stopping.

---

“Hey dad, don’t you think it’s weird there are less ghosts attacking than usual?” Vlad paused, hands hovering over the keyboard for only a moment before returning to his work.

“It’s just your imagination, Daniel.” Danny rolled his eyes from his spot upside down on the leather armchair, fiddling with a rubix cube.

“For the millionth time, it’s Danny. I’m a hard-working teenager and you should recognize the name I’ve built up for myself.” Vlad smiled, the half-rimmed reading glasses on his nose sliding a bit further down as he tilted his head to the boy.

“Well then, Danny, I’ve just about wrapped up here and I was hoping to break in the new training room.” The teen met his gaze. “Although I’m guessing you’re much too busy for that seeing as you’re always so hard at work. Shame." The cube fumbled to the ground as Danny scrambled to get up, shouting denials and chattering excitedly. The older man chuckled as he allowed himself to be yanked from his chair and pushed out of his office doors.

---

Danny grit his teeth. “The only thing you changed was that I was your kid; you could’ve done so much more, could’ve basically rewritten me however you wanted, but you essentially just changed my last name.” Danny brought his face closer to Vlad’s, letting his eyes glow a bright toxic green. “Why?” he whispered.

“I only ever wanted you to be my son. You, Danny, not whatever person you think I should’ve changed you into.” There was no fight in his voice and, had Danny not been filled with strong and conflicting emotions, he would’ve noticed that Vlad was completely limp in his grasp and hadn’t attempted to teleport away. Had he not been furious, he would’ve realized the implications in the older halfa’s words. His eyes drew to the floor. “There was nothing else I wanted more,” he said softly.

---

“What’s with this creepy red ring?”

“Something I took from a ghost hunter- be careful, Daniel!” Vlad slammed the display case back down, narrowly missing Danny’s fingers.

“What the heck?!” he exclaimed, drawing his hands away and glaring at the older halfa. For a moment, the man paused, but the lack of glowing green eyes sent a breath of relief rushing through him. At the boy’s questioning look, he cleared his throat.

“That ‘creepy red ring’ as you call it, is a powerful magical artifact and if it’s let out of that case, energy will billow out in a red mist and enslave every ghost and half-ghost who touches it.” Danny’s brows furrowed. The ring seemed familiar, like it might’ve belonged to Freakshow or his family, but that wasn’t right; the clown only used a staff and the young halfa had a feeling that it was familiar for another reason. “Promise me you won’t open this case again.”

Danny waved a hand, brushing away the odd feeling and dismissing Vlad all in one motion as he moved to the next display case. “It’s not that big a deal. I’m probably faster than that energy mist anyway so you don’t have to-” Vlad grabbed his arm and turned him around, gripping his shoulders tightly.

“Promise me, Daniel,” he said, a hint of desperation creeping into his voice. Danny nodded, a worried look settling on his face as Vlad searched his eyes. “Say it aloud... please.”

“I promise, dad.” Vlad sighed, relieved, and continued the tour of his underground museum. The younger halfa spared a lingering glance at the glass, before jogging to catch up.

---

“Nothing else?” Danny repeated incredulously, “You were still trying to kidnap mom and kill dad, weren’t you?!”

“No, I... no,” Vlad sighed and turned away. “After these past couple weeks, I realized that my obsession wasn’t about Maddie; she was just the first person it clung to because of my crush on her in college. It might’ve clung to Jack too, but I was still hospitalized and angry and wanted to blame my newfound pain and suffering on something, and since he caused the accident, Jack was my only outlet.” Vlad tilted his head a bit to look his old friend in the eye. “It warped my feelings into something much more dangerous and harmful to you and your family and for that, I’m sorry.” Jack clenched his jaw and stayed silent. Danny shoved him higher up on the wall as another memory flashed before his eyes.

---

“Say, Daniel,” At Danny's glare he corrected himself. “Danny, do you have any inkling as to your obsession yet?” The boy gave a thumbs up and Vlad, bewildered, motioned him to go on.

The boy swallowed his last bite of steak. “It’s protection. Though I can’t really protect everyone in Amity 24/7 and there aren’t always ghosts attacking, so I mostly channel it into helping people through, like, community service and junk.”

“Ah… I- I see.” Danny raised an eyebrow.

“It took me a month to figure out, remember? With the Lunch Lady?” Vlad mouthed the name to himself in confusion before absentmindedly humming an affirmative. “It’s been almost two years and Tucker still hangs it over Sam’s head; just last week she tried getting the school to replace the snacks in the vending machines with healthy stuff and he brought up how much of a mi-steak she was making,” he said with a grin. Puns came naturally to Danny, and though he tended to laugh at his own creative genius a lot in the beginning, it had toned down to a chuckle or two every once in a while. Sam and Tucker would always groan at him and his shit-eating grins while others only ever laughed at him rather than with him so he wasn’t prepared at all for the hearty chuckle that followed.

“Uh, dad?” he said, grin faltering a moment. Vlad wiped the corners of his eye and took a few breaths to calm himself.

“Apologies. It’s been a while since I’ve heard any non-threatening jokes.” Danny frowned.

“Right, the Fruitloop Fentons. Too bad they don’t come with a prize inside; I’d really prefer a mood ring to secret compartments with extra blasters.” Vlad chuckled.

“You and I both.” He waited for Danny to finish his drink and gestured to the cup. “Here, let me put these away and maybe you could tell me a few more of your famous puns?” The boy grinned wide and he immediately pulled out his phone to scroll through his notes app. Vlad smiled and stood from his chair, gathering their dishes and heading for the kitchen door.

“Y’know, you never told me what your obsession is,” Danny said, a hopeful tinge to his voice. Vlad paused in the doorway, a hand resting on the doorknob.

“Family,” he said grimly.

---

“Do you expect me to believe you?! After all of this?! And even if I did, what did you think would happen; that we’d give you an award and say ‘thanks for your honesty’?”

“I can't help what my obsession forces me to-”

“Oh, can it. We both know obsessions don’t force you to do anything. You chose this, Plasmius.” The pleading look in the man’s eyes did nothing to dissuade his anger.

“You know what happened to me.” Vlad locked eyes with Jack. “Both of you do.”

---

Silence filled the library, the crackling of the fireplace and the rhythmic sound of turning pages breaking it every so often. A bundle of blankets and pillows on the couch shifted and Danny’s face popped out, blinking away sleep as he craned his neck back to stare up at Vlad.

“Hey, dad?” The man glanced at the boy.

“Yes, son?”

“How come you didn’t tell the Fruitloops you were a halfa before they became ghost hunters?” He let his eyes rest back on the page, continuing his reading.

“I did.”

“Then-”

“Danny, the process of becoming a half-ghost isn’t slow by any means, as you well know.” He sighed. “Did you really think I needed several years to recover from something like that?”

“Then, what happened?” Danny asked in a soft voice. Vlad pursed his lips and set the book down on his lap, fingers curling into fists atop it.

“They told the nurses about my ‘delusions’ and I was sent to a psychiatric hospital.” His fists began to shake. “I confided all my deepest fears and existential crises to them, but because I was still figuring out my powers, they didn’t believe me. They thought I was crazy and as soon as I turned my back Jack-” he cut himself off, scrunching up his eyes as his mouth twisted into a frown. His voice shook as he continued. “Jack and Maddie told them everything.”

Danny shuffled up the mountain of pillows to lean over and give him a hug as his shoulders began to tremble. “I'm sorry Daniel- Danny; you shouldn’t have to hear this about… the Fentons. You shouldn’t be comforting me.”

“Hey, I dump stuff on you all the time, the least I could do is return the favor.” Vlad shook his head.

“No, no that’s not how parent-child relationships work; I’ll find a better way to go about dealing with my trauma. Maybe visit that psychiatrist ghost I’ve been hearing about.” Danny pulled back, leaning on an elbow to look at him in disbelief.

“Spectra? You’d be better off with Skulker. At least he’s not an emotional vampire." Vlad smiled.

“Do you have something against vampires?”

“Yes.” Vlad held his breath despite himself. “For starters, they don’t let me eat whole boxes of Oreos for dinner.”

The man leaned over to ruffle his hair. “And that won’t be changing anytime soon.” Danny reached up to swat the hand away, but he hissed when he moved too fast. Vlad pursed his lips and gently nudged the boy to lay down again. “I do appreciate your concern, little badger, but right now you should rest and try not to pull your stitches. Again.”

---

“Even after putting me in the hospital he- they continued to make me suffer.” Danny blinked his eyes hard, trying to stay in the present, while Jack averted his gaze as furious red eyes bore into him. Clear green eyes refocused on angry red.

“So?! Do you think that means you can get away with anything?! That the world owes you something?! Newsflash, Vlad, just because you went through hell doesn’t give you the right to make others suffer!”

“I’m not like others! My circumstances-!”

“We’ve all been through shit, you’re not special! And if you really wanted to stick it to them, why didn’t you use what you know about parenting to show them up or something?! Me and Jazz would’ve ate that shit up and you could’ve been a real member of our family. Like a fun uncle or something….” The anger in his voice tapered off and the boy sighed, the bags under his eyes seeming more pronounced and far too deep for someone his age.

“You had so many opportunities to change, Vlad, to make amends and be a part of our family, and you spit on each and every one of them and for what? To get your revenge and then disappear? For someone who’s always trying to lecture me about business logistics and hard decisions, you never bothered thinking long-term, did you?” And that, that left Vlad speechless. Because for all his planning and contingencies and well-timed ghostly interference at the Fenton house the past three weeks, he really hadn’t thought long-term. Didn’t care about what might come after as long as he could have just a few precious moments of quality time with the boy he so desperately wanted to call ‘son’. And now he was paying the price.

“But that doesn’t matter right now. Because right now you’re going to promise to leave me and my family alone for good.” A familiar look of anger crossed the older halfa’s face and he glared at the younger.

“Now see here, I may have been a little dramatic, but my obsession-”

“Let's get one thing straight dad-” Danny paused for a moment, ecto-energy unconsciously building up in his hands as he clenched them into fists. “Masters,” he spat the name with as much venom as he could muster, “if you don’t agree or break this promise in any way, I will personally hunt you down, shove you in a Thermos, and phase it so far into the ground you won’t be found for centuries.” Each threat was emphasized by a hard finger jab to the man’s chest, pushing him back against the bookshelf once more.

He got up close to Vlad’s face and reiterated, “So unless we approach you, stay out of our business, got it?”

Something in his face must’ve convinced him because suddenly the fight had left the red eyes and they turned back to a resigned blue. The man nodded silently, holding Danny’s gaze a moment longer and then Jack’s before turning to slowly phase through the wall. Once he had left the room, the older Fenton dropped his calm facade and grabbed his son in a crushing bear hug, blubbering on about how worried he was, his pride in his son for sending the other halfa packing with his tail between his legs, and how happy everyone will be to hear he’s alright.

“Thanks, dad. And yeah, let’s-” he choked back a sob.

---

“Dad?” he asked, blinking at the sharply dressed man sitting by his bedside. “What are you doing here?”

“The school called and said you collapsed. Oh Daniel,” he hugged the teen tightly, “I’m so glad you’re alright.” Something about the way he said it seemed off, but Danny returned the gesture. A long moment passed and Vlad pulled back. “So, who was it this time? Walker? Ember? Some new miscreant bent on world domination?” The way his eyes searched Danny’s was starting to unnerve him. He shook his head, averting his gaze and noting the dimly lit nurse’s office.

“I don’t remember. I think I might’ve just passed out in the hall,” he answered absentmindedly, scanning the room. A thick binder on the top shelf caught his attention.

“You have been looking quite worn out lately. Perhaps you should leave early tonight.” Danny glanced at the closed door then to the drawn blinds before going ghost and floating up to grab the nurse’s incident reports. He felt a pat on his leg and he looked down. “There’s no need for that, I’ve already taken care of it.” Danny hesitated before floating to the ground.

“And the nurse?” he asked, quietly.

“Strongly discouraged from performing any health checks because of your unique illness. Of which two of the symptoms are dizzy spells and a frequent nervous bladder,” Vlad said with a knowing look.

“Thanks, dad.” The boy smiled warmly. “And yeah, let’s-”

---

Danny hugged his dad tighter. “Let’s go home.”

#dannymay #dannymay2021 #nemo the writing ho #Not Your Son #badger cereal #danny phantom #danny fenton #vlad masters #jack fenton #hit enter coward #figuring out how to post this on ao3 took a while #i had to flip from edit to preview so many times bc i kept missing words to italicize or de-italicize #it was a time #also i might continue this in another prompt/series in the future bc i really liked this #maybe i'll call it the 'Not Your Son' au #or maybe 'A Plasmius by any other name is just as cruel'#idk i'll work on it

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raging-fire-wolf · 3 years

Text

His Ghosty Boy

I realized today there really isn’t much Danny X Wes content. And yes, I understand this will not be good, but hey, at least its something and I wanna write something gay.

Hope you like it!

-------

Danny was looking off into the distance, paying zero attention to anything going on around him. It was lunch, on an oddly normal day. No ghosts to chase yet, everything was okay. Nothing to ruin his day.

Until water was poured over his head that is.. “Hey! Dash! Come on, leave him alone” Growled Sam from beside the dark haired boy with now dripping wet hair. “What? He looked like he needed a shower” Danny winced as he heard Dash and his group laugh. It wasnt even a good joke.. Or insult. “Yeah, well I smell better than you..” He muttered to himself, a little louder than he meant. Silence. An evil sounding chuckle and a tight grip on his shoulder “What did you say to me, Fenton?”

Tucker stepped up. “He said he smells better then poo, which... odd thing to say dude, but I guess its true.. Leave him alone, Dash, you’ve done enough this week” Before the blonde bully had time to argue, Danny’s ghost sense went off. “Oh no... I have to go” He announced, shoving Dash’s hand off his shoulder and running out of the cafeteria with a redhead following him. He knew Wes had been following him and trying to prove to everyone that he was Phantom, but he also knew there was zero proof to back him. He always thought it was funny to tease him or give away his secret when he knew only Wes could see him. Now was one of those times. “Going ghost” He whispered to himself, transforming. Floating into the air he turned around, freezing at what he saw. His blood went cold, his cocky expression deminished. Wes. Smirking. Holding his phone. Video proof.. “Shit..” He turned around quickly, realizing he had a fight to win an a ghost to catch, but afterwards.. He needed to catch Weston before that proof was leaked. The fight lasted half an hour at most, Danny winded with a few bruises and a cut on his cheek. None of that mattered, he needed to find Wes. Or Wes needed to find him. His initial idea of running down the hallway to find him wasn’t working well, especially with how tired he was. Leaning against the wall to take a breath for a second, he found his target. Or maybe his target found him... Soon, Danny was walking purposefully towards Wes, who had stopped in front of a closet. Waiting for the confrontation, that same smirk on his face. As much as he hated to admit it, annoying Wes by showing off his ghostly side wasn’t just for fun anymore. It was still fun of course, just... He felt he got more from it. Wes’s quiet sighs and screeches of annoyance at every little obvious to Wes only clues he gave out.. The only word he could use to describe it was just.. Cute. For weeks and weeks the teenager had wondered exactly what it meant for him, what exactly was with him. This situation was far past just an annoyed reaction from the redhead, no, Wes stood with that smirk, pride, confidence, all of which weren’t making any part of his previous continuous questioning any easier. ‘Pull yourself together, Danny, just get him to get rid of the proof...’ “Fenton. What a surprise...” Came Wes’s cocky tone.

“Weston”

The taller boy rolled his eyes before looking back at Danny with a grin, waving his phone a bit. “I’ve finally got my proof! I’ve got it! I’m assuming you’re here to convince me to keep this a secret?” Danny assumed a defeated expression, sighing but nodding. “What do you want?”

Wes paused, watching Danny, the smallest hint of a smile on his face. “For starters, I want you to tell my that you are the Phantom” The halfa sighed, looking to the side. “Alright... Alright, fine, you were right Wes, I’m the Phantom” Just to add a little bit of a cool factor to impress his newfound realization crush just cause, he let his eyes glow green in a phantom-ish way. He regretted it only for a moment, until he heard the unmistakable excited sound that came from in front of him. The wonder that was Wes Weston had just squealed. And if he didnt know better... He’d say there was a slight tint of pink to his cheeks... What was that for...? “You good there, Weston?” He asked, obviously implying something.

The reaction he received confirmed his thoughts, watching the pink get more noticeable. “Shut up Fenton, I could still send the text to everyone”

“Right.. Okay, what else do you want from me?” This time, Wes hesitated, staring into Danny’s eyes. Though he could have sworn there was something in his eyes, something else he wanted to say. “Just... Meet me at the park tomorrow after school..” He sounded a lot different than he did five minutes ago, almost nervous...

“Uh.. Okay” Danny nodded. “Thats it?”

“Yeah, thats it.. See you tomorrow, after school at the park, if you arent there after half an hour, Im posting the evidence” With that, Wes turned around and walked off leaving Danny alone in the hallway. The conversation ended oddly and wasnt exactly sure how to take that.. But he was late for his next class, plus Sam and Tucker would be wondering what was up with him. The rest of the day, Danny went over scenario after scenario trying to figure out what he was meeting Wes for. Was it good, bad, or possibly creepy reason...? That night as he lay in bed, wishing for sleep to claim him, his thoughts were plauged by the cute redhead that seemed to be infatuated with him. The end of the next school day couldn’t come fast enough, his mind was on what the visit to the park would mean for him and nothing else, just Wes. He wasnt denying it anymore, he had a crush on Wes Weston. He didnt say anything to his friends, instead the two of them pestering him about why he seemed so absent since the day before’s ghost fight. After what felt like years, the final bell rang. Off to the park he walked, the closer he got, the slower he walked. His stomach flipping around, butterflies fluttering, fear and anticipation taking over every little idea in his head. Minutes later, he stood in front of the designated meeting place, standing, worrying, waiting. Soon, someone tapped his shoulder, causing him to turn around. He was met with a single rose and a tall familiar redhead. “Wes...” He muttered, taking in the sight of the blushing Wes holding the rose out to him. “Reject me softly.. Please?” Danny breathed a small laugh, taking the rose and Wes’s hand. “What if I didn’t reject you at all?”

#Danny Fenton #Wes Weston #Danny Phantom #dannyxwes #Danny&Wes #Needed more content #So I made it myself #ITSCUTETOOOO

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constellaj · 3 years

Note

just ran into your art today and. would you like to elaborate on your gay lucky in love rewrite 👀

boy would i

as always shoutouts to @crystalfloe for pitching + workshopping w me on this, ESPECIALLY on this one since it was mostly her idea!

we open up with a shot of shadow circling through amity park, looking in the windows of various citizens. danny is face-down, fast asleep; valerie is repairing some gear; tucker is being a gamer; sam is watching a horror movie; paulina is also watching a horror movie. shadow passes by all these houses and gets more and more annoyed, until he peeks the window of a large, elaborate house:

dash has drawn the curtains, turned the lights off, turned a fan up. this is his deep dark secret. he’s sitting on his bed, face lit by the dim rose glow of his laptop. the volume is turned down so low but the viewer still sees and hears him whisper along to the movie: “but we could never be together, jessica...” “but... I love you...” he’s watching a HORRIBLY cheesy hallmark romcom.

but of course nobody can KNOW he’s into chickflicks and romcoms! he’s a tough football man and it would trash his rep if anyone knew he secretly craved those deep but silly romantic stories... the tenderness, the love...

shadow has specifically been looking for a romantic.

shadow slips in and ‘possesses’ dash. possesses in quotes, because, well, even though dash is dumb and therefore easy to possess, shadow is ultimately a glorified dog, and not a fully sentient ghost; he doesn’t have any total agency in dash, and the most he can do is mess around with his emotional and hormonal balance. shadow is DISMAYED, upon entering, that dash’s deep romanticism is so repressed, and so immediately gets to work digging it out of the recesses of his brain, putting it in the forefront.

(see, what danny and the audience will learn later is, shadow is a ghost that subsists off of love. romantic love especially. he first found a ‘host’ in johnny (before he died!) because johnny and kitty were madly, ridiculously in love, and johnny especially admired kitty beyond words. they still do love each other, of course! but like all healthy relationships, they’ve learned to take breaks, and they have a ‘break week’ once every few months.)

(this, naturally, drives shadow up a WALL; after a certain level, displays of romance become like dog treats, and shadow has been downright spoiled by the overabundance of love between the two. when they take a BREAK WEEK and aren’t constantly showering each other (and therefore him!) with affection, he needs to go find another host, because clearly they do not love him and have forsaken him. they kick miette.)

since shadow’s prime host for so long has been johnny, his understanding of a few... norms... are bleeding over. dash shows up to school with a leather jacket and a motorcycle (his family’s rich, of course he’s had one). his hair is slicked back and the cologne is overpowering. while danny and others think it’s just another asshole stage of dash, kwan (as well as the popular kids, but kwan especially) notices something’s wrong. it’s not quite... dash.

yeah, he’s happy-- well, he’s also strangely flirty with everyone (shadow is testing the waters, trying to find out who is the best match). and kwan LOVES that he’s happy. but he’s a little too daydreamy, he laughs a little too long. he is having horrible luck all day, but he just keeps taking it in stride. dash is concerned with appearances, but this is the first time he’s put in effort like it was for other people to see. he’s a little too suave. his eyes reflect just a little too much light.

and then-- luck of luck-- shadow finds the big name repressed crush.

fenton! of course!

danny did NOT want to deal with dash towering over him and slamming him into the wall, but he didn’t KNOW how to deal with dash leaning over him and telling him he looked cute. danny’s flustered! of course he is! well, yeah, dash is an asshole, he knows that, yeah he’s a stuck up rich kid, YES SAM, he knows this (sam is not fooled by a little hair gel and some high heeled leather boots), but you can’t deny he’s, well, built. and he’s weirdly suave? and nice. he’s actually being really nice. what no of course DANNY hasn’t had a crush on DASH this whole time or anything. shut up.

the fact that dash asks him to meet him in the woods at lunch (because sam, jazz, and even tucker are increasingly concerned with dash just making moves on danny, afraid it’s some new form of abuse; and lancer keeps perceiving it as bullying since that’s their dynamic and breaking it up) and he GOES is just. well. that’s unrelated isn’t it.

they kiss and danny is starting to maybe think dash just had a homophobic middle school experience like everyone else when- his GHOST SENSE GOES OFF. RIGHT HERE? RIGHT NOW??? (gee what could be causing it?) dash cracks a joke about him using too many breath mints and danny panics, bullshits an excuse, and runs off to transform and find the ghost.

dash thinks he’s been rejected and almost shakes out shadow’s possession from the sheer dismay, but shadow doubles down. no, no, we can find another crush. somewhere.

...oh hey! the ghost boy!

time to double down on the ghost aesthetics.

danny’s just finished fighting kitty (”where’s your boyfriend” “that’s none of your BUSINESS!”) when there’s a motorcycle rev underneath him. there’s... dash, again, but.... something feels very, very wrong.

danny lands, cautious. “hey phantom... you into biker dudes?” “don’t you have... a boyfriend...” “heee sorta dumped me in the woods”. and then danny gets close enough for his ghost sense to go off. and it clicks.

“dash, you’re possessed”

this is the ONE THING that shadow can’t have. this could be the perfect romance, and THIS GHOSTCHILD thinks he knows more about ROMANCE than SHADOW??? PSH. cue fight scene! dash of course is grappling with both not wanting to hurt phantom, but wanting this ghost out of his system, because of COURSE he’s possessed geez why else would he want to kiss FENTON of all people-- but shadow REFUSES to leave, slowly building more and more monstrous elements onto dash, darker eyes and claws, erasing his legs until it’s not dash as much as it is a large shadow monstrosity with dash at the center.

danny eventually realizes he needs a new strategy and runs for it. after a decent amount of bickering with sam/tuck, they realize that the only ones who would know how to tame shadow are.... kitty and johnny.

turns out, when shadow went missing, kitty NOTICED. (johnny didn’t! he was having a fun alone time working on his bike with loud music.) this is bad. why? well, johnny is NOT a very powerful ghost. in fact, he’s sort of the opposite. he and shadow have a symbiotic relationship of sorts; it’s shadow’s residence in him that gives him any powers at all, like the basic healing factor a ghost has, or phasing, or flying. without shadow he’s essentially a zombie, who can still be hurt in the ghost zone. NATURALLY, kitty decided to run off and retrieve shadow (because this isn’t the first time he’s run away on break week, always throwing a tantrum) before anything horrible could happen to Johnny; this is what she was doing in Amity in the first place

this is the part of the story where i reveal that the ending isnt fully fleshed out yet. in the rough conversation right it ended up with kitty and johnny trying to FORCE shadow back into johnny, and they’re getting annoyed by it, and kitty goes “well this wouldn’t be a problem if YOU weren’t so LOVING AND SENSITIVE” and johnny goes “well i wouldn’t LOVE YOU so much if you weren’t BRILLIANT and BEAUTIFUL” and they have a whole argument like that. its very funny. and shadow ends up still running away and possessing dash again.

ah, in typing this out, i have figured out an ending!

the above fight and run away happens, and there’s two endings: one where shadow possesses dash, and one where shadow possesses danny. in both, of course, the other party realizes the only way to get shadow out is through making shadow feel safe enough to leave, aka... flooding the room with romance. if dash is possessed, danny and co. realize that danny’s the prime candidate to... be the suave lil boy. if DANNY is possessed, sam and tucker begrudgingly explain that, uh, yeah, phantom might have a crush on you, he’s just really controlling of his emotions. (also kwan! kwan definitely plays a part if dash is possessed, maybe even in saying “uh... he has a bigger crush on Fenton. can you guys get him instead?” and danny. explodes)

blahlbahblah luring shadow out by being gay happens and shadow gets scooped back up by the 13s. as much as the previous argument is funny it might also be very funny if johnny literally noticed none of this, and kitty shows up like ‘you lost this’ and johnny is like. ‘...shadow? when did you leave’. anywho.

that’s the concept! the MAIN difference is that johnny and kitty actually have a very healthy and sweet relationship, and the conflict, ironically, comes from the fact that they love each other TOO much. i do love ‘dash finds out’ reveals but as far as an episodic romp goes, this might not be the best ep for him to discover the secret in. however in a oneshot or something of course you could slot that in there excellently i believe.

#danny phantom #dash baxter #fic #ish... sort of. not really i guess LMAO #ask #dashposting #lucky in love #johnny 13 #kitty 13 #Anonymous #adpRewrite

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pitch-pearl-void · 3 years

Text

Quick summary: Phantom gives Fenton romantic advice and gets caught in a trap of his own making

Fenton’s plans to bury his face in his pillow until Jazz or Maddie dragged him downstairs for supper died, decayed, withered away when he stepped into his room and found his pillow already occupied beneath the head of one Danny Phantom. Fenton groaned and slammed the door shut behind him. Phantom, his one-time other half, full time nuisance, looked up from the space magazine he had stolen from Fenton’s desk.

“What are you doing here?” Fenton demanded. “I thought we agreed this is my room?”

“Your room,” Phantom agreed easily. He looked back down at the magazine. “Tucker said you were turned down by one of the girls at your school. I thought I would visit you, make sure you’re okay, but now I can see you just need to be kept from moping.”

Fenton glared at him, but Phantom pretended to be engrossed in the magazine and thus blind to Fenton’s irritation. Fenton scowled and tried a different tact. “Did Tucker also say why she turned me down?”

“No. He wouldn’t even tell me who she was. Who was it?”

Fenton crossed his arms and scowled at his computer desk. That was at least one embarrassment Tucker had saved him from, not that it would do much good. Phantom would find out eventually. “Because she didn’t want me, she wants you.”

Phantom snorted. “Well, that narrows it down to just about everybody.”

Fenton forced a harsh laugh. “Wow, hey! Just rub it in! I needed a little humility today, thank you.”

Phantom sighed and finally lowered the magazine, laying it down on his chest. “This is not my fault, stop trying to pick a fight with me.”

“Yes, it is.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Yes! It is! Just!” Fenton uncrossed his arms and gestured both hands at Phantom. “Look at you!”

It just wasn't fair. From the casual curl of his spectral tail to the broad shoulders beneath a skin-tight jumpsuit to the effortless way his white hair had, at some point, artfully framed his eyes, his face, Phantom looked…hot, even to Fenton. If Fenton took a picture of him right now, the other kids would kill him for it.

“And you’re not even trying,” Fenton finished, groaning the words. “It’s so unfair.” Phantom cocked his head to the side. His white hair slid across his forehead, causing Fenton’s fingers to twitch. He snapped, “Stop that!”

Phantom lifted an eyebrow and his smile quirked at one corner. “I’m not doing anything.”

He even made laughing at Fenton look attractive.

Fenton crossed his arms again. “That just makes it worse. We’re supposed to be reflections of each other, why are you so much more…” He trailed off, searching for the word he wanted.

“Attractive?” Phantom suggested smugly. He sighed then and shrugged his shoulders. “I doubt it’s me. Humans just seem to have some sort of draw to ghosts, I think.”

“It’s you,” Fenton mumbled, refusing to look at him. “Trust me, it’s you.”

Phantom considered that, the words hanging in the silence between them for several long seconds. He morphed his tail into legs and sat up on the bed. He tossed the magazine onto Fenton’s nightstand. “Perhaps I can give you some advice?”

Fenton snorted. “What good is advice going to do?”

“It might help. Come on, sit down.” Phantom crisscrossed his legs under himself and patted the mattress invitingly.

Fenton warily eyed the sheets in front of Phantom. “She already turned me down,” he said. “It’s a little late for advice.”

“Fenton,” Phantom groaned, “stop being shy and get over here.”

Fenton blushed. “I’m not being shy!” He stomped toward the bed to prove it. “I just think this is pointless!” He flopped onto the mattress and crisscrossed his legs under himself, mirroring Phantom as they faced each other. “What do you know about romance anyway? You haven’t dated anyone, have you?”

Phantom only smiled knowingly. An “I won’t answer because it’s more fun to keep you guessing” smile.

Fenton grumbled under his breath and hunched his shoulders.

“That,” Phantom said as he grabbed one of Fenton’s shoulders, “is the first thing to go.” He pushed back on Fenton’s shoulder. “Sit up straight.”

“What does it matter?” Fenton whined even as he forced himself to straighten his back. “You’re the only one here.”

“Thanks for that,” Phantom said dryly. He shook his head. “It’s a matter of habit, Fenton. The more you do it, the more natural it will feel. It’s an easy fix that is healthier and more attractive. You will look more confident. Confidence is key.”

Fenton blew out a breath and nodded. “Yeah. Okay, okay. I guess yours is always straight.” He looked at the broad line of Phantom’s shoulders and then away again. “What else?”

Phantom moved his hand from Fenton’s shoulder to his hair. “This.” Phantom ran his fingers through Fenton’s hair, and Fenton fought back a reflexive shiver.

“It’s not that different from yours,” Fenton complained. “Except that it’s black.”

“Exactly! It’s black.” Phantom pointedly shook his white hair around. “My hair is white, and it glows. It looks soft. It will always only look soft. Yours could look soft if you fluff it up more, run your fingers through it, make it look inviting, or you can smooth it out and make it shine.” Phantom paused. His fingers tugged a little on Fenton’s hair, and Fenton bowed his head a little to accommodate him. “It’s already trying to shine a little. It could look really pretty…”

“Thanks,” Fenton said, somewhat absently. He wasn’t really interested in fixing up his hair. “There’s no way I can compete with your perfect hair, though.”

“We are not competing.”

Fenton snorted. “That’s a relief.” He looked down at his ankles, tugging on the rim of his sock. “I would hate to keep losing to you all the time.”

Phantom sighed. “Have you considered, perhaps, that she isn’t worth it?”

Fenton pressed his lips together and didn’t reply.

“What was your approach?”

Fenton glanced up. “What?”

“How did you ask her out?”

Fenton shrugged. “I just…did?” Phantom’s fingers moved through his hair again, brushing across his scalp. It felt good. A little too good. Fenton moved his head back and Phantom’s hand fell away. “Does it matter?”

“It can.” Phantom untucked one leg and braced his elbow on his raised knee. Fenton cursed him in his head because of course Phantom would find a way to look attractive just by sitting. “Everyone has barriers to their heart. There are a couple ways for them to lower those barriers. The first and easiest is through attraction. If they’re attracted to you, that’s one barrier down, and they’re more likely to give you a chance.”

Fenton snorted and turned his head away.

Phantom’s fingers touched Fenton’s chin and turned his head back to face him. “You are hotter than you realize, Fenton. You just need confidence.”

Phantom’s fingers were lingering on his chin, so Fenton lowered his eyes instead, looking down and to the side.

“This is how many at your school have tried to catch my attention,” Phantom continued. “Especially Paulina. They think if I find them attractive, I will seek them out, but there are so many trying to catch me, my barriers have to be stronger than that. If it was Paulina you asked out…she would be the same. Was it…?”

Fenton kept staring off to the side and didn’t answer.

Phantom blew out a breath. His fingers finally left Fenton’s chin. “Well. If it were me, I would require more than attraction. Friendship is a suitable way to test waters because few people are willing to lower their defenses to strangers. Just understand a friendship is very different from a relationship and you can’t simply trade one for the other. You might even find you don’t like her as a girlfriend once you know her as a friend.”

“And after all that?” Fenton looked at his other half again. “What about that approach thing?”

Phantom made a face but shrugged. “It’s sort of the same concept. You want her to feel comfortable when you ask. You want her to want you when you ask. Whoever she is, if you just ask her in front of others, she’s going to be embarrassed and on guard. Your best bet is to wait until you’re alone, create an intimate atmosphere, and then propose a date.”

“What?” Fenton smiled crookedly. “Like invite her to my room, sit on the bed with her, and talk about romantic things?”

Phantom caught his reference and widened his eyes. He glanced around, seeming to notice for the first time that the sun was setting, that they were arm’s length apart, that the room was almost perfectly silent. He laughed easily, though, and reflected Fenton’s crooked smile. “I guess so. Give it a shot, then.”

Fenton’s smile faded. “What?”

“Pretend I’m the girl you wanted to ask out.”

Fenton frowned and leaned back. “No.”

Phantom’s crooked smile gained a sharper, mocking edge. “Shy, Fenton?”

“No!”

“Do you need me to show you how?”

Fenton’s cheeks burned and he glared at Phantom. “My ‘barriers’ just shot up and gained steel reinforcements.”

Phantom snickered a moment before shaking his head. “I can lower them again.”

“No, you can’t.”

“I can.”

“Nope.”

Phantom’s smile spread into a wide grin. “Alright. Watch me then.”

He slid his leg out, untucking it from underneath him, and pushed himself onto his knees. Fenton set his hands on the bed behind him and started to push himself backward, but Phantom was a ghost and much faster. He levitated off the bed and flew toward Fenton. His arms wrapped around Fenton’s shoulders, his legs around his waist, holding him in place. It wasn’t necessary. Fenton had frozen in place the moment he felt Phantom’s weight land on his thighs.

Phantom leaned into him and pressed their cheeks together, lips sliding toward Fenton’s ear. “Do you wanna go out tonight, Fenton?” he whispered.

Fenton remained frozen in place, his heart leaping into his throat.

Phantom’s shoulders shook where they pressed against Fenton’s, and Fenton stiffened. Right. Phantom was playing with him, like always. Teasing was Phantom’s favorite pastime, he wasn’t actually serious, no matter how intimate it felt to have Phantom in his lap. Fenton pushed his hands between their chests and shoved the ghost backward as hard as he could. Phantom fell onto the bed, laughing and moaning a dramatic lament. His legs were still locked around Fenton’s waist, his butt was still cradled between Fenton’s crossed legs, and Fenton, his face flaming and no doubt redder than it had ever been, began tugging at Phantom’s legs, trying to make him let go. Phantom seemed intent on holding onto him for as long as possible just to make Fenton more flustered.

“Rejected!” Phantom moaned dramatically, one hand pressed against his forehead. “By my own other half! Who will love me if I cannot even love myself?”

“Dude, I hate you so much right now!” Fenton groaned. He gave up on Phantom’s legs and rose onto his own knees above him, inadvertently raising Phantom’s lower half because the stupid ghost wouldn’t let go. “You made your point, let go!”

Phantom grinned up at him, white hair wild, green eyes bright. “What point was that again?”

That you can make my heart stop without even trying, Fenton thought but didn’t say. Would never say.

He groaned and fell onto the bed beside him, forcing Phantom to turn onto his side. They faced each other on the bed, Phantom still snickering. Fenton found something inside him responding to the longing buried deep within. His heart still beat fast, there was a nervous, anxious fluttering sensation in his stomach, but Fenton still reached for Phantom’s face. He had had dreams about cupping Phantom’s cheek before, but under this pretense, he was finally able to do it, sliding fingers toward Phantom’s ear, brushing a few errant strands of perfect white hair aside.

Phantom’s laughter trailed off.

Confidence, Fenton told himself, staring into the green eyes only a few inches away from his own. He said I’m hotter than I realize. I can do this. I want this.

“Fenton?” Phantom asked softly.

Fenton took a deep breath and whispered, “Go out with me?”

Phantom stared at him. His mouth opened, but he couldn’t seem to force a word out. He just stared into Fenton’s eyes, seemingly unable to look away.

Fenton’s confidence…broke. He forced a laugh and lifted his hand from Phantom’s cheek. “What? Did I do it wrong?”

“I…” Bright green light flushed Phantom’s face. “No!” His legs released Fenton’s waist and he began to scoot backward, pulling his left leg out from beneath Fenton’s waist. “No! That was…that was great! I—I don’t know why she turned you down? You seem to have a knack for this.”

Fenton pushed himself onto his elbow to help Phantom pull his leg out. He frowned, though, watching Phantom. He had never seen his other half behave so erratic. He wasn’t even looking at Fenton anymore. “Are you okay?”

“Fine!” Phantom finally met Fenton’s eyes and flashed a bright, false grin. “Everything is fine! Why? Are you okay?”

“Ye-yes?” Fenton replied, even more unsure now. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, you just got rejected by whoever it was you asked out, and I only came here to find out who it was and make sure you were okay, and if you are then…” Phantom trailed off. He stared at Fenton.

There was a thick, somewhat frantic tension in the air, and Fenton forced a laugh, trying to dispel it. “Dude, you look like you’re having an epiphany or something. Do you need me to call Jazz?”

“No!” Phantom stared at Fenton a moment longer and then looked away, shoving a hand into his hair. “Maybe...?” He shook his head. “I should go. Patrol. And. Stuff.”

“Okay,” Fenton said, still hesitant. “Will you come back? Later, I mean. Maybe if I told you who it was you can tell me where I went wrong.”

Phantom’s jaw clenched. “Yes. Maybe. Or maybe you shouldn’t tell me. I don’t think I want to know.”

“Why not?”

Phantom looked at him helplessly for a moment before shaking his head. “I might want to beat her up.”

Fenton snorted. “What, defend my honor after it was crushed?”

“Something like that.” Phantom laughed and ducked his head. “Or maybe just so I can feel sorry for myself.”

“Why? You’re the one she wants.”

“Well.” Phantom shrugged. He floated off the bed, his legs forming into a spectral tail. “That isn’t going to happen. Ever.”

Fenton sighed and fell off his elbow, landing on his back. “Thanks for that, I guess, but you don’t even know who she is yet. You might already like her.”

“I don’t like…” Phantom coughed. “I-I don’t like anyone.”

“Oh.” Fenton stared up at the ceiling. “That’s good to know.”

“Yeah…” A few seconds of silence passed between them before Phantom abruptly said, “Bye, Fenton,” and flew from the room.

Fenton waited a minute to make sure he was gone before he rolled over onto his stomach and screamed into the mattress.

#Danny Phantom #Danny Fenton #pitch pearl #mutual pining #I realized I hadn't posted anything in a while so here's a quick thing I wrote for a friend on the discord server #fanfiction #writing trance

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dannyphantomisameme · 3 years

Text

Happy New Year!

I’m your secret Santa @faebiie! I decided to write a fic that incorporated both themes you requested: angst and Danny and Clockwork bonding. I hope you like it!

Danny’s fingers fidgeted nervously as he stared blankly at the floor. He sat at the edge of his bed, having woke up from his blaring alarm thirty minutes ago. His hair was a knotted mess from all his anxious tugging, tufts of hair twisting and turning in awkward directions. Dark bags encircled his eyes, hinting that he hadn’t slept in the past week or so.

Today marked the fourth anniversary of Danny’s accident, but also the day he swore to tell his parents his secret. He’d been dreading this moment for so long. Danny knew his parents wouldn’t mind the fact that their child was half ghost, as they hadn’t in alternate timelines where he accidentally revealed himself, but he was still terrified at the mere notion of them knowing. There always existed that slight possibility that they might reject him. He hoped the chance was slim.

Jazz was fine with his secret. Within a few months after the accident, she stumbled upon Danny transforming and secretly aided him until it became imperative to tell him that she knew. Yet throughout, Jazz had always been supportive of him, so there was no reason for his parents not to, right? Wrong.

The Fentons parents were notorious for being the ultimate ghost hunting duo. Maddie, of course, was the brains of the operation, however, Jack did not fall short behind. Together, they made several breakthroughs in the realm of paranormal science, a field that had been regarded as pseudoscience till the Fentons came along. The duo firmly believed that ghosts were inherently sinful formations of post human consciousness. In essence, to Jack and Maddie, ghosts were abominations; objects that needed to be eradicated. Moreover, there was one ghost in particular that they absolutely despised, and that, by pure coincidence, had to be Danny.

Over the past four years, Phantom, Danny’s ghost persona, had become quite famous in the quaint town of Amity Park. By now, the majority of the town viewed Phantom as a hero since he stopped ghosts from attacking harmless humans on a daily basis. The Fenton’s, on the other hand, had convinced themselves that Phantom’s true intentions were to destroy the town once he’d gained their trust. And while initially, the Fenton’s had been working towards terminating all ghosts, over time the duo has gradually lessened their hatred and become more open to the notion of ghosts as they now constitute daily life.

It might seem like inappropriate timing for Danny to tell his parents, but he knew he’d feel guilty if he didn’t sooner or later. He spent his entire high school shielding his true self from his parents and now that he would be off to college soon, he felt it fitting for them to know the real him. Plus, he’d definitely get made fun off by Sam and Tucker if he didn’t go through with his plan. For the past week, his friends had been hyping him up, ensuring him that his parents would be supportive and that he needn’t worry. Tucker even calculated that the likelihood of his parent’s supporting him was 90%. All Danny could do was worry about that 10%.

Letting out a groan, he swiftly laid back into his bed, closing his eyes. He tried to steady his breathing. In two, three, four. Out, two three four. He might’ve sat there for eternity, hoping to be engulfed by his bed and taken anywhere but here, but he was so rudely interrupted by Jazz’s knocking.

“Good morning Danny!” she said from behind the door to his room. “Come downstairs for some breakfast. Mom made your favorite!”

Bacon and eggs sounds so good right now. The thought of a nice breakfast pulled him into a sitting position, yet he was still hesitant to walk. Getting breakfast meant seeing his parents. Seeing his parent’s meant talking. Was he ready to talk? Absolutely not, but he needed to for his own sake.

Finally mustering up a bit of courage, Danny stood up, and headed towards the bathroom. He began brushing his teeth and caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. To put it briefly, he looked like shit. All this worrying had put him in a terrible physical state. He needed to get this done with and finally feel free.

As he finished up, Danny went back to his room, put on a shirt, and headed for the stairs. He reached the end of the hall and paused before going down, feeling a tight ball of anxiety forming in his chest. He stared at the carpet as if it were the source of all his worries. There was so much doubt in his decision, but he could also smell the sizzly aroma of bacon. And god, was he hungry.

He grabbed the railing beside him and slowly made his way down the stairs, one step at a time.

“Hey Danny!” called his mom’s voice from the kitchen after hearing his soft steps. “Come sit down, I’ve got your plate waiting for you.”

“Danno!” a bellowing voice belonging to his dad interrupted Maddie. “I knew you wouldn’t resist!”

Hesitantly, Danny walked towards the kitchen, not making eye contact with anyone. He sat in his usual seat at the dinner table, a plate stacked with his favorite food. He so badly wanted to snatch the plate and run to the safety of his room before anyone could speak. Around him, Maddie was in the kitchen making another batch of scrambled eggs. Jack and Jazz were seated at the table with Danny, eating away at their food. Although, Jack was simultaneously building some sort of ghost contraption.

“How’d you sleep sweetie?” Maddie asked.

Danny, having begun eating with a spoonful of eggs in his mouth, choked with wide eyes at the sudden question. He wasn’t ready to speak yet. Let me eat first!

“Good” he muffled in reply.

“Looks like you haven’t slept in days,” Jack remarked as he glanced away from his machine towards his son.

Jazz gave him a playful slap. “Dad, manners!”

“Whaaat? I’m just tellin’ the truth.” Jack gleefully smiled and returned to his food.

Danny brushed off the comment and continued to eat his food. Dad isn’t wrong, Danny thought. His heart was racing in his chest, anticipating an unfavorable conversation. He might’ve been eating too quickly as it garnered attention from his family.

“Woah slow down there Danny.” Maddie said as she brought the latest pan of cooked eggs from the kitchen to the dining table. Jack eagerly took a plateful. “You don’t want to choke.”

“‘’m good,” he repeated with food stuffed in his mouth.

“Anyway your dad and I are planning on spending the day in the lab if it’s alright with you kids. We’re so close to perfecting the Fenton Bazooka.” Maddie began washing the dishes.

Jazz stood up and left her finished plate next to the sink. “Sure mom. Danny and I will be fine.” Maddie smiled in reply as Jazz left for her room upstairs.

Once Jazz was gone, silence ensued as everyone carried on with their own tasks. Maddie washing the dishes, Jack tinkering and eating, and Danny finishing his breakfast. The mood was peaceful for everyone except Danny. His heart was pounding in his chest because sooner or later he had to say something. Shoving in the last bits of egg in his mouth, he could feel his heart quicken. It’s pace grew faster and faster, to a point where he felt his heart may as well explode out of his chest.

You have to do it. You’ll regret it if you don’t.

Just... SAY IT!

“Mom! Dad!” Danny said a bit too loudly, causing his parents to turn to his voice with odd looks “...I have something to tell you.” He kept his gaze focused on the empty plate before him. Was this really happening?

Maddie then suddenly lit up. “Oh Danny, I totally forgot! Would you like some more breakfast? We’ve still got some left.”

Danny shifted in his seat, not expecting that answer. He gripped the edge of his chair, feeling like he might fall over. Why are my palms so sweaty? “N-no it’s not that. It’s-”

“You sure? You never pass down your favorite breakfast!” Jack said with a side glance.

“Yea I’m s-sure.” Danny was tripping over his words. It was as if time was passing far quicker than how long it took him to formulate his thoughts. What was he supposed to say again?

“What I wanted to say was-” he paused. Danny felt weaker than ever. His grip on his chair tightened as he shut his eyes and attempted to center himself. He couldn’t. He did but didn’t want them to know. What if- what if-

JUST SAY IT ALREADY.

“I’m Danny Phantom.” the phrase came out like an exhale. Danny didn’t want to open his eyes.

No, that was a lie. He did want to open his eyes and see their reaction. He just wished he hadn’t.

Looking up from his plate, he first locked eyes with his dad. Jack’s face was as if he’d been hit with a blow. The normally boisterous man had been reduced to a mere shell of shock. Danny couldn’t discern what his dad was thinking.

Danny next glanced at Maddie. Whose brows were furrowed and eyes glued to the plate in her hand. The sink was still running. After a moment, she resumed her cleaning and turned to Danny with a smile.

“Heh, funny joke. It’s just an unfortunate coincidence that you share first names with a scum like him, Danny.”

Jack quickly looked at Maddie, confusion etched into his features. “Mads…”

Danny, at the same time, also confused, looked at his mom. “I- I’m not-”

“Mads think about it.” Jack interrupted in an unusually soft voice. His unfocused gaze hadn’t moved from Danny. He stopped tinkering and slowly sank back in his seat. “It… it would make perfect sense.” Maddie now turned off the sink and turned towards her husband, crossing her arms.

“Jack, there is no way in hell our son is also a ghost. It is scientifically impossible.”

“...mom.” Danny shrank in his seat when his mom looked at him. He couldn’t tell her now. There’s no way she’d react the way he hoped. But… he would never forgive himself if he didn’t tell them. It took every fiber in his being to not turn invisible and flee. His heart picked up pace again as he averted his gaze to his hands which were now fidgeting in his lap. “I’m not lying. Please don’t get mad but b-back when u guys were building the portal, I was snooping around the lab like an idiot and I-I accidentally turned it on while I was inside.” Danny explained with a barely audible voice.

“It would make so much sense.” Jack mumbled. “The portal activation… why our gadgets go off around Danny… why Phantom’s always got Fenton tech.” Danny hadn’t expected his dad to accept it so readily.

“Jack, you can’t be serious…” Maddie’s voice trailed off as if lost in deep thought.

“I- I can show you. I’m half ghost...” Danny couldn’t believe what was happening. This wasn’t what he expected. They were supposed to accept it and move on. No questions, no jokes. Then why were they so confused? There was no way this would end nicely. Danny could feel his anxiety crawling back and settling at the pit of his stomach. He wanted to curl up into a ball so badly.

It seemed Danny had been lost in thought for too long. He missed the moment his parents both locked eyes and came to an understanding.

In one swift move, Maddie pulled two ecto blasters from her jumpsuit while Jack followed suit. In a single second, the both were standing side by side with their weapons aimed at their only son.

Danny jumped back in his chair at the sudden change of attitude. It caused him to tip over and fall to the ground with his back now against the floor. His eyes were wider than ever shifting between his parents and their guns.

“I can’t believe you’ve tricked us thus far, spook.” Maddie spoke as if her words were laced with venom. “Where’s Danny?!” Maddie nudged her head to Jack who took off running down to the basement.

His heart raced even faster. Hands shaking. “M-mom. What do you mean? I’m Danny!”

Maddie spoke in an unnaturally calm tone. “As if we’d fall for that. How long have you been hiding our son?!”

“N-no no. Please. I’m telling the truth. I AM DANNY!” he shouted from the floor. “S-see look!” he gestured his hand along his frame. “It’s Danny! Please, I can show you Phantom.” He pulled his feet towards him, ready to stand up, but rather got interrupted.

Maddie took a step forward, cocking the guns in her hand. “NO! Stay where you are and don’t come any closer. Don’t you DARE claim you’re my son. You’re nothing but a bunch of of... ectoplasm!” Her emotions began to show through her calm facade.

At that moment, Jack came rushing up the stairs, large weapon in hand. “That’s right, spook. The bazooka may not be finished but that doesn’t mean it's not gonna hurt.” He aimed the gadget at Danny.

“Answer me. H-how long?!” Maddie’s voice quivered slightly.

Danny was horrified to speak. They really wouldn’t shoot him, would they? “I-I’ve been half ghost for four y-years now…” he barely managed to say. “I’ll show you…”

He found that cold feeling deep within his chest and let it surround him. Two blue rings encircled his waist and one traveled to his head while the other to his toes. As the ring passed, his raven locks were replaced with a silvery white sheen. His pajamas became the iconic black and white jumpsuit. His eyes, when opened, went from their baby blue to electrifying neon green. He’d become Phantom.

Maddie and Jack hadn’t said a word. Their goggles, which were now over their eyes, masked what they were truly thinking. Their weapons were still trained on their son, but their posture seemed to stiffen as if they were in shock. All this time, Phantom had hidden among them.

Danny dared to look up at his parents who still stood silent. He couldn’t take the silence. “S-see?... say something...”’

Instead of words, Jack chose to reply with the whine of an ectoblast.

Jazz chose the moment to make her appearance as she walked down the stairs. “Why are you guys so loud…” Her eyes swept the room and landed on her little brother's ghost form. He turned to look at her voice, raw fear seeping through every inch of his features and eyes brimming with tears. It took Jazz a moment to understand the situation, but she was too late.

“Danny!” Jazz sped towards her brother as a crackling green ray fired from Jack’s weapon, making its way towards Danny and hitting him squarely on the chest. Danny flung back into the wall, clutching his chest with one arm which burned so very badly. He could feel every nerve in his chest searing with pain. It was worse than any blast he’d received before.

His breath hitched in his throat. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t fight back. They were… they were his parents! Why would they hurt him? Why… why couldn’t they understand?

Jazz was now sitting next to her brother, shocked at the sight of the nasty, bubbling burn. “What did you do?!” she shrieked at her parents.

“Jazz get away from that- that thing! He’s brainwashed you!” Maddie cried as she rounded the table and grabbed Jazz by the arm.

“N-no STOP IT! You’re hurting Danny!” Jazz wrenched her arm under her mom's grip, but her attempt was poorly made as she was pulled towards Maddie right as Jack fired a second blast from the gun. Tears freely flowed from Jazz’s turquoise eyes. Danny had zero time to react before-

Before the blast had frozen in thin air a foot before him. No, that wasn’t true, everything froze. His parents and Jazz. They were all still. What?

Danny felt the coolness of a time medallion on his neck. Suddenly, a swirl of blue appeared before Danny and out came a familiar specter.

“I normally don’t interfere with the events of time, but you seemed like you needed it.”

Danny’s breath came out raspy “...Clockwork?”

The master of time nodded with a smile and outstretched his hand. “Come my boy. Before the Observants find out.”

With one hand still clutching his chest, Danny took Clockwork's hand and stood up shakily. The blue swirls encompassed the two as they were transported to the ghost zone. Specifically, to the living room within Clockwork’s lair.

Danny took a deep breath as he gradually took a seat on the couch behind him. His head was pulsing and the pain from the ecto ray hadn’t subsided. Around him, several clocks and gears lined the wall, all ticking or moving synchronously. Before him sat numerous screens displaying several different events surrounding him. What he was witnessing went beyond any imagination.

“I had to interfere for your own good.” the master of time said as he floated into the room with a first aid kit in hand. He pulled out a burn ointment and began catering to Danny’s wounds. Danny hadn’t noticed, but at some point, he had transformed back to his human self. Danny hissed at the feeling of the cream on his wound.

Clockwork looked up and followed the halfa’s gaze to the screens. “What you’re seeing is the various alternate timelines in which you reveal your secret to your parents at this point in time. In all scenarios, they don’t take it, uh, lightly.”

Danny couldn’t believe it. On one screen, his parents were chasing after him around the city. In another, they had him strapped to a table. Before he could watch some more, Clockwork shut them off.

“I’m going to be blunt, but unfortunately, no matter the circumstance, your parents never accepted you in this moment of time.”

Danny hadn’t averted his gaze from the screens yet. He was still in awe of it all. The alternate timelines, his parents, the blast. He managed to squeak out one word. “Why?”

“Their puny human minds can’t comprehend the duality of your being.” Clockwork said as he now took out a set of bandages from the kit and began wrapping it along the boy’s torso. “Thus they reject you.”

“Y-you can’t be serious.” My parents? Hating me? “...impossible.”

“You witnessed it for yourself. They hurt you. Was that not enough?”

“N-no. They're my parents! They’re supposed to love me no matter what!”

Clockwork got up, slightly angered, unlike his collected self. “You call that love?!”

“I-” Danny was at a loss of words. No matter what Clockwork told him, he couldn’t wrap his head around his parents not believing him. It all felt like one sick joke. He wanted to throw up. Despite the horror of the situation, there was still one question gnawing at him. “W-why are you helping me?”

Clockwork turned so his back was facing Danny and paused. “I cannot let you suffer. Especially after everything you’ve done for our realm... You didn’t deserve the destiny given to you. After all, you were only fourteen when you received your powers. My interference was merely nothing compared to what you’ve dealt with. Your kind is so rare as well. I cannot let you perish.”

It was odd of clockwork to act so carelessly. Risking his position as the master of time just to save a teenage boy with paranormal powers was, well, weird. But from what Danny had heard just now, it seemed that Clockwork was firm in his decision.

At this point, Danny didn’t want to think anymore. His brain felt like mush from all the events that had transpired. Mom. Dad. Jazz… what were they doing right now? What were they thinking of him? Did they really believe he was-

“Get some rest. I’ll bring you some food when you awaken.” Clockwork said.

Danny decided it was best to follow Clockwork's orders so he managed a mumble as he lowered himself into a sleeping position on the couch. “Mmm?”

Clockwork floated next to the boy and patted his raven matted hair. “Sleep well Daniel.”

Danny quickly dozed off on the blue sofa, unaware he had found his new family. <3

#Danny phantom #secret santa #my fic

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