#and danny needed time before he had to let go of more of his carefully hidden secrets

[dcxdpdabbles]

Freelance Inventor Part 2

Dedicated to @jimmysorsprinkles Thank you for enjoying my random dabbles. I saw that you wanted more Dads, Danny/Bruce, who are unknowingly co-parenting, so here it is! (set during the first prompt through the years of Danny just being a dad whenever he's home)

"I just don't know what to do," Bruce admits, watching Dick stomp about in tiny angry circles, muttering in his native tongue under his breath. He's been out there for about a half hour, doing laps in the yard. Danny knows he deliberately chose to do so under the window leading to Bruce's office.

The kid definitely wanted his guardian to know he was mad at him .

It was the fact Dick was unconsciously hunching his shoulders, curling his fist, and even raising his knee slightly higher than he needed for his stomps that were a nod to Bruce whenever the man was upset.

It seemed like Dick had picked up habits from Bruce during his short time here. If anything, Danny thought it rather cute if it weren't for the fact Dick was so upset.

"What happened?" He asked, standing beside Bruce, overlooking the pre-teen throwing a fit.

Bruce's frown is sharp and hinted with just the edge of uncertainty that anyone who didn't know him well would have dismissed. "He was being reckless in one of our extreme sports, and when I rightfully scolded him for it, he took it as me not trusting him."

Danny tilts his head, considering. It's been over three years since he became acquainted with the Waynes, and in that time- between his travels, his inventing, and his general desire to learn all he could in any way he could- he noticed that Dick was very quick to anger as a defensive mechanism.

This clashed horribly with Bruce's own mechanism- which was shutting down or at least emotionally wise. While Dick sneered and raged against the world, Bruce tried his best to forget he was human and detached himself from the situation.

Which wouldn't be so bad if it didn't feed into Dick's insecurities or Bruce's anxiety when they both reacted to adverse situations.

He has spoken to Jazz about it, and his sister has given him some advice that has helped him smooth things over with the young boy. Empathizing and paraphrasing the boy's issues was a big step in letting him feel heard and his feelings acknowledged.

For Bruce, he treated him like a ghost who had never seen a human. Plenty of ghosts were never human, were born in the ghost zone, or had been there for so long that they had forgotten what humans were like. Danny took time to explain why someone reacted the way they did- at least, why he thought so- and never made Bruce feel less for needing the help.

It was fun, in a way, to see Bruce's eyes lighten up with understanding and get him to talk about his rooted issues, but having to do so on carefully balanced tones and word choice. Phantom had so much practice de-escalating ghosts that it was a walk in the park with Bruce.

"I'll talk to him," Danny promised, leaning over to rest his hand on Bruce's shoulder and not batting an eye when the taller man landed down to rest his forehead on Danny's shoulder.

Where Bruce couldn't say in words, he yelled in his actions. It reminded him a bit of Wulf.

Bruce took a deep breath before nodding. "Thank you."

Danny hummed, reaching up to pet Bruce's hair like he would soothe Wulf, on days the werewolf would twitch too much at the door slamming, and suddenly his friend was mentally back in Walker's prison. "No problem. But, I will also be speaking to you later, and you are going to listen to Dick's side of the story without interrupting at dinner."

"Yes, Danny"

Alfred threw him an approving smile as he marched outside to meet Dick's rage-filled eyes and nervous hand twitching. He could catch the ending bits of whatever rant the boy was muttering.

"You're right. Bruce is an idiot sometimes." He starts grinning as the boy's eyes narrow further.

"You don't speak Romani."

"I may not understand what you're saying, but trust me, I feel it." Danny chirps, watching Dick's shoulder relax a little. " What did he do this time?"

"You won't even believe it!" Dick snaps, and then he's off, Danny keeping pace with him step by step as the boy works himself into another frenzy.

Later that night, Dick explained that he hated how Bruce made him feel so belittled and unimportant, his voice tight with a itch to fight, and Bruce carefully- with significant prompting from Danny- explained how he didn't mean it that way. He was only worried that he was about to watch Dick die in front of him, and he couldn't live through losing his family again.

Dick looked shocked to be considered family, and Danny swore he helped the boy sneak into Bruce's office, which so happened to have the adoption papers Bruce was hiding. Alfred gave him a large sample of pudding for dessert.

______________________________________________

"Hey, kid," Danny whispered, watching Jason tense up momentarily. It's not overly noticeable, but Danny has grown used to seeing little ghost blobs show emotions by how they twisted and twirled over the years, so he could tell what the slight tightening of the fingers around the book meant.

Anxious.

It would be understandable if Jason had been present for another one of Dick's and Bruce's explosive arguments. He came from a household that had an older male figure beat him whenever Willis got in a mood, so while he knew that Bruce or Dick would never hit him, Jason still tried to make himself scarce.

Jazz was the one to point out Jason's usage of escapism in the form of books to comfort himself, and so Danny took whatever time he could manage to read the same books as Jason while on his travels.

"What?" The boy grunted, voice soft but weary.

Danny sits across from him, making sure to stay in Jason's eyesight at all times. He had realized in only his second visit after meeting Jason that the boy did not like having someone too close in his space.

He grew up on the streets where being weary of older men kept him alive- Danny would never fault him for what he had to do to survive.

Unlike Dick, who was always down to talk about why he was upset if only to rant, Jason preferred to have a distraction. So he offers him a smile that he hopes projects You're safe with me and pulls out a book from his bag.

Jason's eyes light up at the cover. "I had some theories on Mr. Darcy being in love with Mr.Bingley before he met Elizabeth, and Bruce won't agree with me. Help me find citations as proof?"

"It's so obvious that he was, how can the old man not see that!" Jason snorts, tilting his head in a cute habit that he picked up from Dick. He really looks up to his big brother no matter how tense things can get.

Danny is glad he's gotten Dick to explain to Jason that he didn't hate him, but he was going through a lot, and Jason as a street kid, understood on some level.

"The old just hate listening to other people's suggestions even when we're right!." Jason leans over to read the book Danny places between them, considering Jane Austin's work while Danny files away the real reason he's upset with Bruce.

Later, after Jason and he present a bemused Bruce with a report on why Mr.Darcy is bi and had feelings for his best friend before meeting his wife, he tells Bruce to explain why he didn't consider Jason's suggestion in their extreme sport.

Jason goes to bed that night with a better answer than "because I said so," and Danny forces Bruce to go up to his room and re-read Pride and Prejudice to connect with his youngest.

Alfred offers them extra blankets and pillows since the two get so caught up reading to each other that Danny just decides sleeping in Bruce's bed is easier than walking down two wings to the guest rooms.

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

"I'm not going to bed," Tim snapped when Danny knocked on his door. His fingers are flying over the keyboard of his computer, his little face glowing from the computer screen, and Danny is almost reminded of himself whenever he gets caught up in his work.

It may worry Bruce and Alfred, but Danny is a Fenton. He knows what it's like to have his brain run over time and sacrifice sleep or meals to get his ideas into the world.

His mother is the same, his father is the same, his sister is the same, and even Danny's clone is the same. It's fitting that the little boy he caught following Batmam around with a camera is the same since he all but forced Bruce to adopt him.

He hadn't meant to.

He had been testing an air purifier when he returned to Gotham since Bruce and the kids were out of state, and his ghost hearing picked up the sound of a camera click.

Imagine his surprise that when he turned to the roof opposite him, he found the tiny little face of an eleven-year-old staring back, holding a camera, and Batman swinging away in the distance. Danny became attached to Tim that night, even after he chased the boy down to ask if he was safe.

He did not like the implications of his parents always "working" while Tim ran amok in Gotham.

It took almost two weeks of following Tim around Gotham to help him with his photos before the boy allowed him to take him to Wayne Manor. It took three more before Bruce realized that Danny wouldn't allow Tim's parents to win him back, and together, they took the Drakes to court.

Danny has never been more grateful that Bruce was loaded with money and that his inventions gained him contacts in high places that wouldn't mind taking the Drakes down.

Tim was a lot like Bruce- where he shut down- but he needed people to be around him more. Sometimes just sitting in the same room- where Tim could glance up and see him- was enough for the boy to be at ease.

This was great for Bruce, who thought he didn't need to do much to make Tim happy- until Danny reminded him that Tim was a poor boy who was gutted for any form of parental approval.

He had to almost punch Bruce after overhearing him tell Tim he was proud of him, but there was room for improvement. Bruce meant it as helpful, constructive criticism, but Tim- whose parents all but drilled how useless he was- only heard criticism.

Only heard, he was not enough.

So now Tim was going, who knew how many hours without sleep, trying to fix whatever issue he thought he had caused. How a fourteen-year-old could have caused issues at his adoptive dad's multimillion-dollar company was beyond Danny, but it meant a lot to Tim, so he didn't need to understand it.

He just needed to respect it.

"Don't want you to," Danny grunts, throwing himself on Tim's queen-sized bed. "I just wanted to know if I could crash here. Bruce pissed me off."

Tim's fingers pause. "What did he do?"

"He tried to tell me how to handle my inventions' payment. I'm a freelancer! I know how to do that." Danny complains while twisting under the covers. Tim slowly turns around to look at him, but he acts like he doesn't notice. "I know he'll try to talk to me in the guest rooms, but he won't find me here. I just don't want to listen to another "I can do it better" lecture."

After a moment's pause, Tim admits. "He did the same to me and my team."

He means Cassie, Bart, and Conner. The little team of photography buddies Bruce introduced Tim back when they started homeschooling him. Dani suggested pulling Tim out of school is one of the best advice his clone ever gave him.

Tim took the pictures, Cassie and Conner modeled, and Bart made the clothes. Their work was slowly gaining traction online, and Tim seemed to glow whenever the Team was mentioned.

"Course he did." Danny sigh. He leans back into the pillow. "Know why he did it, too. Bruce doesn't want me to be taken advantage of, but it's hard not to hear him think I can't keep up, especially when my family is doing the same thing."

"Yeah," Tim's voice is soft. "It's frustrating that all your hard work is overshadowed or that everything you've done so far doesn't prove that you know you can."

Bingo. Danny discovered Tim's issue; now he just needs to bring it home.

"I know I'm great at what I do. You said so yourself- my past proves I am crazy good at work. I leave other people breathless in awe all the time. I can adapt and overcome so much faster than others. Bruce can see that, but he forgets to praise it." Danny huffs like he's trying not to be forgiving, and it causes a smile to unwillingly appear on Tim's face.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow but today I'm being petty and hiding. Thanks for letting me sleep here"

"You're welcome, Danny." Tim goes back to his typing, but only after a minute or two of Danny asking if he can turn off the light does the boy save his work and shut his computer down.

The room is plunged into darkness but Danny doesn't need the light to see how Tim sinks into his mattress. Tim is smart- crazy smart that every part of him that's Fenton crows with pride- and he can easily see through Danny.

"Thank you Danny" He doesn't say what for but he doesn't need to.

Danny reaches over, grabs the blankets, and makes sure they cover the small shoulder, tucking Tim in properly. "Any time kid"

The next morning, Bruce wakes them up with a powerpoint of all the things he thought were impressive about Tim and his team's last photo session. A powerpoint for Pete's sake.

But it makes Tim smile so much that Danny lets it slide. At least he listened when Danny chewed him out for forgetting to praise Tim.

Alfred offers Danny some of his private tea jars, which according to Dick, means Danny is in for life as Tim, Jason, and Bruce go over the PowerPoint again. Jason has begone to heal for his bitch of a mother's betrayal a few months ago.

Thankfully, Danny was in the area when he called and reminded the lady why she should not mess with Bruce's kids. Dani paying her a visit in her jail cell was just the Fentons' sending their regards.

(His dad gave Dani the ani-creep stick, and his mom hacked the cameras to loop. Jazz just watched hours of her to realize what made the woman scream and cry before sending the clone on her way. It was a good family bonding moment)

No one believed the woman claiming to be haunted that her son was Robin. Honestly, where on earth she got that idea Danny would never know.

His Jason, the sweet school-loving boy who graduated as valedictorian, running around punching criminals? Honestly, what was she going to claim next?

Bruce being Batman?!

Please.

[nerdpoe]

3 Fanon ideas to make a prompt from :)

1). Ectoplasm is Lazarus Water but purified

2). Ghosts can retreat to their cores

3). Protocore Jason AU

Danny has to retreat into his core, Jason somehow finds him and absorbs it. It looks like Jason is pregnant as his own ecto is being purified and then given to Danny's Core.

Enjoy:)

This is a full prompt, though? Okay I'll write mpreg. Gonna bypass that "looks" and make it an "is" though, throwin in some reincarnation and trans Jay.

~~~~~~

Jason was doing one last round before he left for Gotham. Before he left to prove a point. To teach Bruce a lesson he'd never forget.

He wasn't sentimental, no, he was just checking to make sure he wasn't forgetting any sickass weapons that may have fallen behind a dresser or something.

"Todd," a small, imperious voice demanded from behind him. "Observe my new pet rock."

Jason sighed and stood up to humor the little demon.

The kid was holding a weird glowing, cracked orb. It was radiating frost, and Damian had to use cloth between his hands and the magic stone.

"Damian," Jason started, keeping his voice level. "Where did you get that?"

The kid sniffed with all the superiority of a spoiled brat, looking proud and holding the obviously enchanted stone higher.

"Since Grandfather and Mother say that animals as pets would be a weakness, I decided to search the lesser treasure room for a suitable inanimate pet."

Jason sucked in air through his teeth in a soft hiss. There was no "lesser" treasure room; there was the "safe" treasure and the "unknown" treasure. Where was Talia when he needed her?

"Look, kid, I don't think-" Jason started, reaching for the weird rock, just as Damian started pulling away.

"-You are jealous that I have this rock and you do not-"

"-Damian, please, just hand over the fucking-"

"-Cease your attempted theft this instant-"

"-Damian come here you little shit-"

Jason tripped. Damian tripped. The weird rock went into the air...and landed on Jason's chest. It melted into him with a sharp flash of pain.

And that was that.

Damian stared at Jason's stomach, aghast.

"You stole my rock!"

By the time Talia arrived to see what was keeping Jason so long, he and Damian were rolling on the ground biting each other.

~~~~~~

Months later, Jason was beyond ready to murder the newest Robin. He'd originally planned to just beat the shit out of the kid, but he'd been having a rough time.

He was losing his carefully crafted abs.

He was getting soft.

Normally that was whatever, but he was trying to be intimidating, and being soft in any way was definitely going to trigger the dysphoria he thought he'd outrun.

It made no sense; he worked out daily, had started eating on a caloric deficit, drank nothing but water, and made sure what he ate was home-cooked.

Then, one month before go-time with Timmy, he'd started getting nauseous.

He felt bloated, tired, hungry, and most of all; pissed.

As he stalked through the Tower that the newest Robin was hiding in, he may have, perhaps, let the millions of small annoyances pile into one big rage filled pity party with a kid as the target.

It really didn't help that he hadn't been able to don his replica of his own Robin costume, because he...he had pudge. He didn't fit in it.

It was infuriating.

He knew it wasn't little TimTams fault, but he was gonna take his rage out on someone, and the kid was the unfortunate closest person he had beef with.

Was he overreacting? Probably.

But it was lash out or cry, and he refused to cry.

On top of everything, the one thing that had helped with any of the symptoms, the extra purified Lazarus Water that Talia had given him to 'act as an emergency first aide', was gone. He'd drank it all.

With that supply out, he was.

Well.

He was going to kill little Timmy, fuck the consequences.

But little Timmy was...doing a very good job of staying completely out of sight. The kid had been acting far more neurotic than he normally did, only letting out a small gasp when he'd seen Red Hood and immediately darted into some sort of weird hidey hole.

Jason hadn't been able to find him since.

The kid had added his own gopher network to the Tower, fuck.

The speaker system crackled on, just as Jason was about to start laying down bombs.

"Red Hood, please consider your condition. Do not do anything that would raise your blood pressure, or uh..." the newest Robin's voice trailed off, keyboard audibly clacking as he looked something up. "...Or eat peas? No, that can't be right. Whatever, look, just stay calm, take a breather, and don't overstress yourself. It's not good for the uh. The second...yeah. Not good. Do not do. Why am I so dumb sounding when it comes to things like this? Shoulda gotten Steph..."

The kids voice trailed off as he berated himself, but Jason was too busy fighting off the horribly dawning realization of what the kid was saying.

Which couldn't be true, because there was no way for the kid to know, and Jason hadn't had sex in...well. Years.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Jason gasped, thanking his past self for putting the vocoder in his helmet. It sounded far more threatening.

"Oh. Uh. During one of your fights with Batman, you got glanced by something sharp, and there was a little blood. Don't worry though! I didn't tell Batman! I just wanted to see if I could figure it out on my own! So I ran your blood and now I...know. That was actually probably like, really invasive. Sorry Jason."

Jason knew the fight the little Bird was talking about. He'd had a random wave of vertigo, barely dodged a batarang. He'd had to do his own stitches afterwards.

"...You know? Know what?"

"Okay, I should clarify. I didn't tell Batman, but I kinda needed help scrubbing everything, so I had to ask Oracle to help, so she knows, and she couldn't keep it from Nightwing, because he's felt super guilty about how he treated you, but Batman definitely does not know."

Jason sat down on the nearest chair, feeling like the wind had been ripped from his sails. He took the helmet off and dropped in on the ground in favor of running a hand through his hair.

"How can you be sure B doesn't know it's me?" He rasped, staring at nothing.

"Because can you imagine he'd leave you alone for a second if he knew you were alive, much less up the duff?"

Jason had nothing to say to that. Either Ra's had been up to some fucked up experiments while he'd been asleep, or he was the victim of miraculous conception.

The newest Robin was rambling over the speakers, but Jason ignored him and held his head in his hands. The glowing orb flashed through his mind, and Jason didn't even have the energy to curse Damian for doing stupid kid shit.

He was just thankful that the kid hadn't been a viable host.

"Tim, shut up. Do you have an ultrasound machine here?" Jason interrupted, steeling himself. He was an adult sort of, one year before it was technically true, and he could freak out later.

It was time to do adult things.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Why? Has your gyno not done one yet?"

"Don't have one, didn't know. Where is it?"

"...I probably should have broken that news to you like, way softer."

~~~~~~

Jason was...pulling back. His criminal empire was still growing strong, and he was making a shit ton of money from it, but he was pulling back from actively provoking Batman.

As much as he wanted B to be the one to kill the Joker, he knew that the older man probably wouldn't do that, and Jason wasn't going to risk getting anywhere near that maniac while he was pregnant.

Batman had certainly noticed the change in behavior, but whenever he tried to intrude into Crime Alley, Nightwing or Robin would intercept him.

Jason.

Jason wasn't sure what he wanted to do about Bruce.

Dick was slowly earning forgiveness for his pas actions, piece by piece. Tim was surprisingly good at being supportive, and Jason's hatred for him was starting to wear away to the realization that this was just a kid.

Oracle, whoever she was, had apparently designed the best security system in the world and quietly renovated an apartment into a safehouse, just for him.

He hated the charity, but it was better than what he could make at the moment with how many enemies he'd gained.

As the months passed by, he found himself hiding away in the gifted apartment more and more.

The dysphoria was...bad.

There were no more mirrors in the apartment.

The kid, which the ultrasound confirmed they were, was a small one, thank fuck. His belly had popped out, true to most pregnancies, but it was relatively contained.

It was still enough to make a horrible sense of wrongness almost knock him off his feet every time he looked down.

He was, essentially, useless.

If it wasn't for the trio of well-meaning extended family (maybe? he had his suspicions about Oracle), he probably would have just laid down on the floor of his apartment and not gotten up.

Tim, surprisingly, had adopted some stupid Alvin Draper alias and was running his crime network in his stead. He was doing a concerningly good job, actually, and Jason and Dick had exchanged more than one worried glance over the kid's head.

Dick had moved in, citing that Bruce was getting suspicious and it was easier to pretend that he'd moved back to Gotham than it was to continually make up excuses. In reality, he was making sure Jason didn't lay down and rot, keeping him active and healthy.

Jason was...trying. He was trying. But between needing to stop HRT and the changes and his fucking voice and just. Everything. All of it.

He hated it.

But he still wasn't sure what he wanted to do with the kid.

Dick and Tim had set up a nursery, just in case. Dick had also surreptitiously reached out to the Kents, also just in case. There was no judgement. If he decided to keep the kid or give it away, it would be well taken care of.

That should have been a weight off his shoulders.

But instead, he felt like he was getting worse.

He was so, so fucking tired. He was starving but he couldn't stomach the food Dickwing put in front of him. He had worked so hard to build his criminal empire, but when Tim tried to tell him about it he couldn't focus long enough understand what was being said. He knew that they were getting more and more concerned, and when he woke up one morning and vomited straight Lazarus Water, Tim snapped.

"I'm calling B."

"Tim, no, we can-"

"-No, Dick, we need to figure out what's going on! This isn't something Leslie can handle, we need Bruce!"

Maybe it was just something buried deep inside Jason, but he agreed. He wanted his dad, not a doctor. He didn't care about Tim's reasoning, he just. He agreed. He wanted Bruce.

"Do it," Jason rasped from the floor, leaning into the cold tile. "Get B."

~~~~~~

Jason was still on the bathroom floor when a set of far, far heavier footsteps paused at the doorway.

The wood from the doorframe creaked as whoever it was tightened their grip on it.

Their breathing stuttered. They swallowed.

The footsteps continued, and they knelt next to Jason, wordlessly running their fingers through his hair.

"Hey Jaylad," Bruce whispered, voice tight and controlled even as his hand shook. "Looks like you've got a bit of a situation. Wanna tell me what happened?"

"Got knocked up by a magic rock," Jason muttered, thoroughly enjoying the hand in his hair. "But it ain't going right, and I'm tired and hungry all the time, and I'm throwing up the Lazarus Pits."

"The magic rock info is new," he heard Tim mutter from the hall, right before he was forcibly shushed by Dick.

"Did you have any weird cravings? Any symptoms that don't normally match a pregnancy?" Bruce asked, keeping his voice calm and controlled even as he lifted Jason from the floor and into his lap. "Should I get Constantine on the phone?"

Jason let it happen, turning to hide his face from the shitshow that had been his life for the past six months and shoving it into Bruce's stupid fancy shirt.

"Had Lazarus water. Drank it. I'm hungry but I can't eat anything. I can hear the kid chirp sometimes."

"Like a bird? That's adora-"

"-Shut up Dick not now!"

"You shut up!"

"You...drank. Lazarus Water." Bruce repeated, voice stilted as he clearly started working through something in his head. "I....hm. Okay. I'm...I'm going to call Constantine." Jason couldn't help the snort at the clear distaste in Bruce's voice as he said that.

He expected Bruce to put him down and go get changed into his Batman kit.

He did not expect Bruce to adjust his hold, lean back onto the cabinets, and make the call then and there.

~~~~~~

Constantine was officially unofficially his doctor for the duration of his pregnancy.

That was not something that anyone wanted, Bruce especially.

Jason wanted to throw up and aim it at the Hellblazer, but he had a feeling the man had been covered in worse and would, at best, be unfazed.

At worst, tempted to just smear it on Jason to prove a point.

The Mage of the hour himself was hovering over Jason, eyes unfocused as his glowing hands rested on the despised baby bump.

Jason was laying on the couch, trying not to let the sound of Bruce's pacing drive him up a wall.

"That," Constantine started, head tilting as if he was listening to something. "That is a core. And a baby. And another core. Two Ghost Cores, two bodies. If you're meetin' the needs of the physical, and you're still havin' issues, prolly need to see to the spritual, love."

"Don't call him love," Bruce warned, pausing his pacing long enough to glare at the Mage.

Constantine didn't bother to acknowledge him.

"Don't suppose you've got any spare Lazarus Water lying around, eh?" The man asked instead, eyes refocusing as he removed his hands from Jason's person.

Jason shook his head, but Tim nodded his.

Everyone stared at Tim.

Tim shrugged.

"What? It's under the city. Not like anyone will miss it if we take some."

"How. Tim, how do you know that?" Dick asked, sounding a little scared.

"Because I found it? I tried throwing dead rats in it but it doesn't work on rats, so I tried larger dead animals that had gotten down there-"

"-B you've raised Dr. Frankenstein," Jason groaned, covering his eyes from the realities of a mad scientist little brother.

"But I'm not an undead being stitched together?" Tim asked.

"You uncultured swine," Jason snarled, practically throwing himself into a sitting position and was quickly met with Constantine trying to wrangle him back down. "It's common fucking knowledge that Frankenstein was the doctor, not the monster, and if you paid any attention in English class-"

"-I'm gonna go get Lazarus Water okay bye!" Tim shouted, bolting for the door.

~~~~~~

Jason drank his fifth juice pack of Lazarus Water, finally starting to feel like himself again, and stared at Bruce.

Bruce, to his credit, was clearly trying very hard not to stare back.

Jason imagined this was rather hard, given that he couldn't stop fucking purring. Apparently, that was a Thing that his body could and would do, according to his unofficial doctor.

Dick and Tim were helping Constantine put the Lazarus Water into the juice packets, all of them desperately pretending that they weren't there at all and trying to be as quiet as possible.

"So, Hellblazer. Nothing to say about the Big Bad Batman?" Jason asked, eyes never leaving said man.

"Not particularly any of my business, mate. I don't really care one way or another."

Bruce actually looked a little put out at that, much to Jason's satisfaction.

"I imagine you have questions," Jason sighed, finishing off his juice pack.

Bruce finally turned to look at him head on, gaze steady.

"They can wait. Do you have any plans for...this?" Bruce didn't motion towards Jason's stomach, but he didn't have to.

"...Maybe. I don't even really know what this is." Jason muttered, sinking further into his chair.

"I told you, love, it's a baby. With a ghost core. It was probably an adult ghost, at one point, but if it was cracked near as bad as you say, it was either reincarnate or disappear." Constantine shrugged, taping another stupid tiny straw to another juice box and moving to repeat the action. "Either way, since it's reincarnation, the baby ain't gonna know tit from tat. 'S just a baby."

That. Damn. If he'd been faced with the same choice, he probably would have done the same thing.

"You keep saying that. What does a ghost core do when it's in a human?" Bruce asked, knuckles white on the couch's armrest.

"Dunno, haven't seen it before. Heard of it, though. Just makes the person powerful, but now sure how much. Flight is definitely gonna be there, though, so I'd ask supes for some pointers." Constantine answered without really answering, true to form for him.

Jason heaved himself up and waved everyone off as they started to get to their own feet to help him. "I'm gonna take a nap. Snipe at each other in here and don't fucking bother me."

~~~~~~

Jason was disgusting.

Alfred and Bruce and everyone else assured him he wasn't, but he absolutely was.

It was so bad he'd gone ahead and, without informing anybody, arranged for an induced labor at Gotham General as soon as he could.

He didn't want to deal with Dick getting scared and frantic, or Tim overplanning and having a mental breakdown, or Bruce's rigid shoulders as he both tried to apologize and do something stupid like take over from the actual doctor.

Alfred would probably be composed, but if Alfred acted a little off then they'd know.

Hell, Jason had started getting some Braxdon hicks contractions and he swore he watched Bruce's hair grey in real time.

So at the eight and a half month mark, Jason lied to everyone and told them he was going to another safehouse to get away from their coddling.

He ignored their objections and reached for the keys to his car-

-and pissed himself.

Or, it felt like he did.

The apartment went dead silent as everyone looked down.

Then the contractions really hit.

~~~~~~

Bruce actually did try to take over the maternity ward and do the doctors jobs.

Jason was delighted to have an excuse to kick him out.

He couldn't force the man to avenge his murder, but he could make him wait in the waiting room like the rest of the peasants.

Alfred he allowed to stay, though.

~~~~~~

Jason still hadn't decided what to do with the kid.

He didn't know if he was gonna send them off to a farm or if he was gonna keep them.

So he let himself hold them, to see if any of the disgust he'd felt during the pregnancy had been directed at the kid or if it was all just him hating how he looked.

The little bean of a child, eyes bluer than his own, proceeded to free one arm to pull on Jason's bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

Ah.

Nah, the hatred had been towards how he looked.

This one was his, the Kents could get visitation rights.

[clockwayswrites]

A Broken Sort or Normal, Epilogue

WC:1383, Masterpost

Danny glances up from his fight to fit the cufflink into the sleeve of his rich blue suit and smiles at what he sees in the mirror.

“You know, it’s supposed to be bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.”

Wally grins, easily, from where he leans against the door frame. “I’m the one in white so I think I’m the bride, in this case.”

“Oh, so putting the bad luck all on me?” Danny asks as he turns to appreciate how his fiancée looks. Wally really is stunning in his white on white tux. Danny hadn’t been able to stomach the idea of traditional black and white tuxes, not with Phantom still being such a raw wound. Wally hadn’t minded in the least going with a brighter color palette.

“Never,” Wally promises. “We’ll face whatever comes together.”

It’s a vow that Danny unquestionably trusts. Since the curse broke, Wally has been there for every step of it— and Danny has needed a lot of help with steps. Danny’s weakened core not only handicapped him as a ghost but as a living. Many days Danny is able to pass through it all relatively unaffected, other than the cold ache that has settled into his bones, but other days are harder. Other days Danny walks with canes braced against his arms. Other days Danny needs his wheelchair. Other days he can hardly get out of bed unless he goes ghost. And through it all Wally has done everything that he can to make things easy for Danny.

They have a house now, one story and carefully renovated so that on the days Danny needs the wheelchair he can still move around easily. There are electric blankets and soft pillows and this ridiculous massive bean bag that’s big enough for them to both sink into on the bad days.

And there are good days too. There are days where the aches are just a background note, days it all doesn't hurt so much, days where he can fly. Oh how Danny had missed flying. Of all the things that came with being a halfa, flying is what Danny had missed most– not because he could help or be a hero, he missed flying just for himself.

The first time he had felt stable enough to fly, Wally had whisked them out to that same field their first date was in and let Danny loose. Danny had flown for hours, darting around, doing tricks, and floating among the clouds. When he had come back down to earth, Wally had been there, picnic waiting and the biggest smile on his face.

So like everything in Danny’s life, it’s all a balance: the good, the bad, the effort… Danny loves it all.

He loves it not just because it reminds him of how much living means, but because of how deeply it shows that Wally cares. Wally’s love is one thing he can never question. It’s a certainty that Danny has needed through all of the aftermath.

Once Danny had been released from the Watchtower’s medical, he had started small dealing with it all. Coworkers were easy to reply to and he could trust that informing a few would spread the news to the rest. They didn’t push for more than he was willing to give, though he had known he would come back to questions and rumors.

Everyone else was harder.

He had set a video call with Sam and Tucker at the same time. It was maybe a little unfair to not give them each their own call, but he just didn’t have the energy for that. They weren’t kids anymore and hadn’t been for a long time.

“God, Danny,” Tucker started at the same time as Sam said his name.

He held up his hand and their mouths shut with a clack. His smile was tinged with sadness, but it was a smile. “Don’t. You two didn’t do anything horrible.”

“Dude,” Tucker said and for a moment Danny was back in high school. Tucker looked good, still in bright colors and with his hair expertly shaved on the sides with a little pattern. “We forgot about you.”

“We left you alone to deal with all that,” Sam said. Her hair was a more natural shade of black now and her smoky eye an expertly done wing. It was odd to see her lips red instead of purple.

“Because of a curse. You forgot because of a curse,” Danny said, “and then you just did what anyone does, you went on to have a future. It’s not like we had some big fight or anything, you both just moved on with your lives.”

“That still had to hurt,” Sam said.

“It did,” Danny said honestly. He didn’t see the point of pretending the past hadn’t happened. “But that doesn’t mean it was either of your faults. The last thing I want is anyone doing anything for me out of guilt, especially since in this case it’s misplaced. It’s okay that you both grew up. I did too.”

It hurt and it would always hurt, at least a little, but Danny didn’t want any false care now.

Sam chewed on her lip and Danny smiled a little at the sight of the old habit. “I’m still sorry.”

“Me too,” Tucker said.

“Thanks, that does mean a lot, but it’s okay, really.”

There was a level of peace from that talk. Sam and Tucker both asked if they could reach out sometimes, and Danny said yes but with zero expectations. They were different people than they were as children and Danny knew, because he had lived it, that without Phantom there wasn’t much for them to talk about. And Danny had no plans to talk about Phantom. That part of him had ended with a wish seven years ago. He didn’t want to rehash or relive it now, even with them.

Jazz… Jasmine was harder. Sam and Tucker losing touch was just part of growing up. His own sister ignoring him though, that wasn’t the same at all. If it wasn’t for his nieces, Danny didn’t know if he would even be trying with Jasmine, even as apologetic as she was. There were some things that were too hard to come back from.

“Are they here?” Danny asks and looks back down at his stubborn sleeve.

Wally steps forward and takes the cufflink from Danny. He’s gentle as he fits it into the slot and secures it. “They are. And all our friends are here too. Just remember that you don’t have to talk to them any more than you want to. It’s okay to be taking things slow. It’s okay to decide that you can’t do this with her. You know I’m with you whatever you decide.”

Danny raises Wally’s hands to brush a kiss across each set of knuckles. “I know. I’m so lucky to have you. Is it bad that part of me making an effort with them is so that my nieces have family other than their moms and our parents?”

“Nope. I think that makes you a really good uncle. I mean, where would I be without Aunt Iris? Family like that can mean a lot and if that’s the only reason you have for dealing with your sister, then that’s enough,” Wally assures him.

It helps Danny relax some.

“Okay, good. We’ll just… see how it goes. I’m not going to focus too much on them today, not when today is about me and you.”

“I think that’s all good. You’re just wrong about one thing though,” Wally says, his grin just a little mischievous. Danny loves that grin.

“And what’s that, Mister West?”

“Well, soon to be Mister West,” Wally says, “it’s that I’m the lucky one. I could have lost you so many times and so many ways and despite everything, today I get to marry you. I don’t think there’s anyone luckier than me today.”

“Well, not to have our first fight,” Danny teases, “but agree to disagree.”

“I think I can live with that.”

Danny laughs. There’s nothing funny about that, but the laughter bubbles up in him all the same, not from humor but from joy. “Living, that sounds like a very, very good plan.”

---

AN: Aaaaaah we are done!! Not everything is perfect, but Danny is alive and living and Wally is going to be with him for all of it <3. Thank you all for coming along for the ride on this! It's been unexpectedly delightful to write these two together and I'm glad to finally wrap it up with (hopefully) a nice bow.

And yes, this will be going up on ao3 but I need the brain functions to go back to the start and give it a good polish! I'll likely do it chapter by chapter weekly to give myself and my darling beta @mokulule time.

Until then or the next thing here, stay delightful, darlings!

[flamingpudding]

Fictober23 Prompt: 14 - "If you don't stop now-"

Fandom: DPxDC

Rating: T

Warnings: -

If there was one thing vigilante work did for you it was honing your senses and instincts as well as helping you become more aware of the things around you. Of course there were a lot more things it helped with but these were the things that helped Dick realize what just happened.

His back pocket was definitely a whole lot lighter than it had been before he had a little run in with a black haired child. Dick chuckled lightly to himself as he turned around and surveyed the streets. It didn't take him long. The child was apparently still a starter when it came to pickpocketing people, well at least not as skilled as the kids of Crime Alley.

Still for a kid to resort to stealing, especially in a city like Gotham, there had to be a situation behind it. So what was originally supposed to be a little errand run for the sibling gaming night later in the day became now the observation of the little pickpocketier.

He followed the child all evening, watching how the kid stole wallets and fruits from street stalls all unnoticed by anyone else. Close to sunset Dick then also watched with surprise how the kid approached a police station. The kid didn't stick around long, and a quick question to the officers inside as a good natured citizen looking for his wallet, let him find out that the kid delivered all the wallets he had stolen over the day. Emptied of their money but returned with everything else.

He pocketed his own wallet quickly so that he wouldn't lose sight of the child and continued to follow the boy. With time Dick became more and more worried, as the boy appeared to walk around Gotham in a completely random path with no clear destination until the boy looked up once at the clocktower and then appeared like he had a place to go to. It worried Dick, especially when he noticed the boy going into Crime Alley.

Now he wasn't in uniform but civvies and this was his little brother's territory. Dick had two choices, follow the kid and put his civil image at risk and apologize later to Little Wing about investigating a kid of his territory or contact Little Wing and ask him to see what he could find out about this child or if he maybe even knew the kid already.

He did neither, fully knowing he would probably get an ear full from B later. Checking his surroundings he quickly made sure that no one was around as he took to the roofs in his civies. Still following the child as the boy walked through Crime Alley. Finally they reached an old, small and run down warehouse. One Dick knew, neither his brother nor anyone else was using because of how run down it was.

Carefully he jumped on its roof, avoiding any and all loose boards while he made his way to a window and snuck in. Luckily there was an overhead pathway in this warehouse and despite the metal creaking under his feet it looked like it was holding his weight. Looking over the railing though caused him to frown and his eyebrows to furrow with displeasure.

Below him was a small camp. A red haired teenager was holding a toddler in her arms cooking something on one of these mobile electric camping stoves that was hooked up to what looked like a soup thermos. Little ways from her lay two barely okay looking mattresses with little to now ratty looking bedding.

"Danny, where were you all day?!" The teenager shouted once the kid he had followed came into her view and Dick recognised that tone. It was one he also used at times with his siblings and Dami liked to call his older brother voice.

"Earning some money and buying some food for you." The boy, Danny, muttered as he handed over the money he had stolen as well as the food he also had stolen.

"Danny." The sister knew that, Dick thought as he continued to listen in. He had his phone out and had taken a couple pictures already he had sent to his siblings in preparation. Babs was already organizing a temporary stay for the three.

"You need to eat something too! Ellie, Dan and I are fine temporarily living off ambient ectoplasm but you need some food!" Dick narrowed his eyes. Four siblings, three can be assumed as metas able to live off something that's not food. The oldest sister appears to be a normal human. He sent the update of information to the others.

"Besides neither Dan nor me did get caught so far and you said it yourself! Once we got enough money we can get an apartment! Or move further away!"

"Danny. You and Dan can't go and continue to steal things."

"How else should we make money then. No one would hire kids!" Dick could easily disagree with this, considering what he had seen in all his years of vigilante work. But a part of him was glad that these kids did not have the contacts to end up on the really really bad side of things.

"Still you shouldn't do that. What if you do get caught, or worse if you and Dan get the GIWs attention."

"We won't." The boy retorted stubbornly and Dick couldn't help but feel reminded of some of the arguments he had with his own siblings.

"Danny, I know that you and Dan are using what little you have recovered of your ghost powers. If you don't stop now-"

Dick never got to hear the rest of the scowling the teenager was going to give the boy as the door of the little warehouse burst open and he had to make sure that he wasn't going to fall off the overhead pathway at what he saw.

In the bust open door stood Little Wing in his full Red Hood get up and he was holding what appeared to be the feral twin of the boy he had followed. Well at least feral in the sense that the child was yelling profanities and trying to punch and kick his brother.

"So this is where you little shit hide all this time? This is no place to live for a kid like you."

Dick muffled a chuckle as he watched Little Wing take in the stunned other occupants of the warehouse before tossing the kid in his arm over to his siblings. Interestingly enough he saw the boy's eyes flash red and Danny's started to glow green as he took a protective stance before his brother.

"Listen up, you little squatters. You four are coming with me before this shit of a place collapses. No running, no escaping and no fighting back and no fucking biting. You are coming with me and that's that."

Dick made sure that he filmed his little brother's entire interaction with the four siblings, including his very dramatic and bad guy like spiel about forcing the four to follow him when Dick knew perfectly well that his brother was a bleeding heart when it came to the kids of his territory.

Grinning Dick escaped the situation through the same window he had gotten in and sent the video he had taken to the others as the update to the situation. He probably would have to dodge Little Wing later for that but for now he could return to the manor knowing that the little pickpocketier and his siblings were safe with his brother.

[luxaofhesperides]

For ghostlights: baby Ellie + tired Danny + Duke the baby whisperer?

He has no idea how his parents did it. 

Babies are exhausting. Toddlers more so. Any infants in the strange stage in-between? Doubly so. 

Ellie is wonderful and sweet and cute and such a terror that Danny genuinely has no idea how his parents managed to raise not one, but two kids. For all their eccentricities and absent-mindedness, he and Jazz turned out pretty well. Ignoring the whole halfa thing because that’s more his fault than theirs even if Jazz says they shouldn’t have created the dangerous environment in the first place.

That environment is exactly why Danny refuses to let Ellie go to his house in Amity Park. His parents say they’ve disabled all the weapons and ecto-sensors since he’s had to reveal himself as Phantom, but he knows that things slip their minds and if they can’t guarantee that the house is safe, then Ellie isn’t going in there. Simple as that. 

This means that they live somewhere else now. Danny had thought about it, during the hours Ellie was asleep and he was awake, exhausted and worn down to his bones, and took Jazz’s advice to accept Vlad’s offer of buying a house for him. Except he argued Vlad down to an apartment in a city of his choosing where he wouldn’t stand out too much and he would be safe, or as safe as he can be, from anyone trying to hunt down ghosts. 

So here they are. Standing in the empty living room of their new apartment in Gotham. 

Gotham may not be very safe as a city, but it’s good for two ghosts trying to pass as normal. 

Danny sighs yet again, and looks at the space he’ll need to fill. At least Vlad is footing the bill. It’s the least he can do for creating Ellie. Frostbite was the one who was able to stabilize her, though it was almost too late and resulted in her reforming as a baby, just one and a half years old. Jazz is the one who’s choosing most of the furniture, thankfully, so it’s something that Danny doesn’t need to worry about it.

It’s a new start to their lives and it feels so empty. So overwhelming. How did his parents do it? How do any parents do it?

Ellie smacks a small palm against his cheek and babbles lightly.

“I know, Ellie,” Danny says, giving her a tired smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll have this place looking good in no time.”

He adjusts her in his arms, then heads towards the bedroom. It’s the only room that has any furniture, and all that’s there is a bed, a crib, and a bookcase. There are a few boxes on the floor, labeled ‘bedroom’ and ‘clothing’ and ‘books’. Most of it came from his bedroom in Amity Park, but he’s pretty sure he caught Jazz sneaking a few things in before they closed the boxes and loaded them up into the car. 

“Can you be good for five minutes?” he asks Ellie. 

She babbles again and smacks his shoulder.

“I’m taking that as an agreement. Just let me open these boxes and start unpacking before you start causing trouble, okay?”

Ellie makes another sound, but it seems agreeable so Danny carefully lays her down in the crib and gets to peeling off the tape on the boxes. The opens the one labeled ‘bedroom’ first, finding blankets and sheets folded and stacked in vacuum sealed bags. One of them is his old childhood blanket, the one he carried around everywhere that was faded with age, barely blue, with white bunnies decorating it. 

He was so small when he had this. It makes him oddly emotional to unpack it and pass it on to Ellie, draping it over her so her pudgy little hands can grab at it. 

This is no time to cry, though! He forces himself to focus and makes his own bed, shaking out the sheets and fluffing up the pillows. He’ll worry about washing everything later; Vlad made sure to get an apartment with an in-unit washer and dryer, which means he was actually sensible while apartment hunting for Danny. 

He doesn’t mean to flop onto the bed once it’s made, but he ends up there anyways. He’s barely gotten a full six hours of uninterrupted sleep since Frostbite deemed Ellie healthy enough to leave his care. The drive up to Gotham was long and wore him down to his bones.

He doesn’t mean to fall asleep, but he does, drifting off as he wonders, distantly, when Jazz will be back from getting them dinner.

Ellie wakes him up at dawn with a loud cry. Danny jolts awake, heart pounding in his chest as he panics because Ellie isn’t here, she’s supposed to be in his arms, where is she? And then he sees the crib, where Ellie is staring at him through the bars, and he nearly collapses with relief. 

“Morning, El,” he says, voice rough from sleep, as he picks her up. She just stares up at him, then leans forward and rests her head against his shoulder.

It’s quiet moments like these that make his heart melt. Ellie’s had a hard life already; he wants to give her a better one, this time around. 

A quick check of the time on his nearly dead phone shows that it’s barely past six in the morning, and Jazz texted him a few times. All about furniture, saying that she didn’t want to wake them and that food is in the fridge. 

It’s only the mention of food that makes him realize how ravenous he’s feeling. Danny makes a beeline for the kitchen, ignoring everything else, and pulls out the boxes of take-out Jazz left stacked in the fridge. He devours it like he’s been starving for weeks, then gives Ellie her Ecto-Jello, the only food she’s allowed to eat until Frostbite gives the okay for solid, human food. 

Once he’s got her burped and cleaned up, Danny looks out of the kitchen and realizes that Jazz was very productive while he was asleep. The living room isn’t empty anymore; a dark green couch is against the wall, a low, rectangular coffee table made of dark wood in front of it. Two armchairs are on both sides of the couch, and a television has been installed, fixed into the wall. 

Jazz is asleep on the couch. Her legs hang off an armrest and she’s drooling slightly. 

Her phone is charging on the floor, so Danny takes it and snaps a picture of her for later teasing, then sends it to himself and writes a note to her that he’s going out with Ellie to explore the neighborhood.

He’s finally feeling more settled, energized from sleep and food.

In the warm dawn light spilling in through the windows, Danny looks down at Ellie and thinks that they’ll be just fine after all. 

. . .

Four months ago, Danny had hope. He was optimistic. 

Gotham was a fresh start, a new lease of life for Ellie. It is Danny’s attempt to be a single parent, sacrificing college for Ellie, and he’s planning to go out and beat the gangs black and blue if they start anymore shootouts in the next year.

He had just gotten Ellie to sleep. She was actually peacefully taking a nap.

And then a drive by shooter raced down the street, gunshots echoing down the road, and Ellie work up crying. She still hasn’t stopped, despite how Danny rocked her, soothing her as best he could.

They had been outside when Ellie fell asleep, her head on his shoulder. He had been catching up with Sam and Tucker when the car drove by, people ducking and crying out to avoid the bullets. Danny instinctively covered Ellie and made them both intangible, saving them from any stray bullets, but they ruined her nap and he needs to make them pay for that. 

“Shh,” he soothes, “You’re okay. We’re both fine. It’s okay, El, it’s okay.” 

Her little hands clutch at his back, twisting the fabric of his shirt, and she lets out a heartbreaking wail. He pats her back, hurrying down the street to get back to his apartment building, ignoring the looks people were giving them as they passed by. 

“I know it was scary, but you’re alright. You’re always safe with me, El.”

Ellie’s cries down down a little, but they don’t stop. She whimpers, burying her face against his shoulder as he finally reaches their apartment building.

The door’s locked, which wouldn’t be a problem except Danny can’t get his keys from his pocket. He knows he has them! But his pocket refuses to relinquish them and he has to stop every few seconds to pat Ellie’s back, trying in vain to calm her down. 

“We’ll be inside in a second,” he tells her, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice, “as soon as I can get these freaking keys!”

“Hey, you alright?”

Danny startles, whirling around so fast it makes Ellie go quiet, clinging to him so she doesn’t get flung into the air. There’s a guy standing before him in a gray hoodie, looking at him with clear concern. It speaks to Danny’s level of constant exhaustion that he hadn’t clocked someone sneaking up behind him. 

The guy offers an awkward smile. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you or anything. Um, do you need me to open to door? I live here too.”

Danny wonders for a moment if this someone dangerous, someone hoping to hurt Ellie, but she starts to cry again and he steps to the side. “Please. I can’t get my keys.”

“I’m Duke, by the way. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”

“Danny,” he replies, watching as Duke pulls out a large key ring, jangling with the amount of keychains on it, and easily opens the door. “I’ve been here a few months, but I’m usually inside. Or walking around in the mornings with this little monster.”

“That would explain it,” Duke says as he holds the door open, letting Danny in first. “I’m usually in classes at GCU, but I decided to take a mental health day after my lab, so here I am.”

Danny walks in and waits for Duke to follow, making sure the door closes properly behind them. “Thanks. How is GCU? What do you study? I was thinking of going there myself once she gets a little older and can go to school.”

“Oh, I’m majoring in English and Human Services.” He goes to say more, but Ellie wails again and Danny winces.

“I’m so sorry. That drive by woke her up and it’s really rattled her.”

“Hey, no need to apologize. I get it, Gotham is rough to kids.”

Danny tries rocking her back and forth, but it doesn’t help. He resigns himself to another hour of her crying before she exhausts herself, and makes for the stairs, going up to the fourth floor. Duke holds open the door again, then follows after them. It makes Danny wonder if Duke is planning to do something to them, then decides he can beat Duke in a fight, so it’s fine.

Duke doesn’t try to hurt them or steal Ellie away. He opens the door to their floor and stops before they do. “I’m in here,” he says, “If you ever need me to open more doors.”

“Thanks. Um, actually, I might need help opening mine?”

Duke just smiles and makes his way back to them, following them farther into the hall until Danny stops in front of his apartment. 

“If I could just get my keys,” he starts.

“Here, let me hold her for a second so you can get them,” Duke offers. Danny wants to insist that it’s fine, but Ellie cries directly into his ear and Danny, at the end of his rope, passes her over. 

Like magic, Ellie settles as soon as she’s in Duke’s arms. She sniffles and hides her face away, clutching to Duke’s hoodie, but she stops crying. They both go still, surprised, and stare down at her. 

“Seriously?” Danny says as he finally pulls out his keys, “Are you trying to say that I’m the problem?”

Ellie babbles lightly, and Duke turns his head to futilely hide his grin.

He grumbles as he unlocks the door and pushes it open. Ellie is acting as if she’s never been upset before a day in her life, making herself at home in Duke’s arms. 

“I can’t believe this. Betrayed by my own blood.”

Duke laughs as he follows Danny into his apartment, lightly patting Ellie’s back. “It’s always the smallest, cutest ones that do this.”

“Yeah? Do you work with a lot of kids or something? Used to being betrayed by the little ones?”

“I don’t work with kids per se,” Duke says, “But my foster family is a hot mess and the youngest of them likes to keep us all on our toes.”

“Family,” Danny says in a tired, fond tone.

“Family,” Duke agrees.

With his door open and Ellie calm, Danny’s ready to just lay face down on the floor for the rest of the day and not deal with anything else. He moves to take Ellie back, holding his arms out, and Duke tries to pass her over.

The key word being tries. 

Ellie tightens her grip and kicks at Danny. She refuses to be taken away from Duke, making him awkwardly try to pry her off his hoodie. Danny really hopes Duke doesn’t notice how she goes slightly intangible to make his hands fall through her arms and legs. It shouldn’t be noticeable, but it’s hard to focus on anything but a kid that clings to you, so Danny holds out for Duke’s goodwill and silence.

“As nice as it is to meet you, you need to go back to your… parent?” Danny nods when Duke looks at him in askance. “You need to go back to your parent. Okay? Come on, kid, he’s waiting for you.”

Ellie shakes her head, makes a frustrated noise, and then turns and reaches out a grabby hand towards Danny. 

She still refuses to be taken from Duke when Danny tries to pick her up again, so he settles with just letting her hold two of his fingers. 

“I’m so sorry about this,” he says to Duke, face burning. This is why he hasn’t been going out and being social since he moved in; Ellie is a handful even on the best days, and Danny doesn’t want someone to judge him as unfit to parent her and have her taken away.

Duke shakes his head, stepping closer. “It’s all good, man. I don’t mind. It’s not like I had any plans today. I’m already skipping my classes, might as well spend it with you two than sleep all day.”

“Are you sure? I’d be happy to invite you in, but I know Ellie can be a lot and not everyone wants to spend their day off with a baby.”

“I’m sure. Besides, I’d just be down the hall anyways. It’s no skin off my back, man.”

“Well,” Danny says, stepping to the side to give Duke full access to his open doorway, “Come on in, then.”

Ellie keeps them connected, one hand in Duke’s hoodie and the other holding Danny’s fingers, and though her cheeks are still red from how hard she had been crying, she’s calm now with her eyes shining with mischief. 

As the door closes behind them, Danny realizes that this is the first time someone he’s not related to has been inside his apartment. Not even Vlad has come in, always choosing to invite Danny and Ellie out for lunch instead. 

It should make him nervous, but Duke is calm and easy going and kind. 

He’s making silly faces at Ellie to make her laugh, completely at ease with her in his arms, as if he’s done this a thousand times before. 

Gotham is a second chance at life for Ellie. It’s a sacrifice for Danny, to be alone and without friends or family around. He’d been ready to give up everything for Ellie, to focus solely on raising her, but with Duke filling his apartment with laughter, he thinks that he can make a life here too.

All he needs to do is take that first step, reach his hand out, ask Duke to stick around.

He can do this.

[hypewinter]

Bruce sighed. He was in over his head. Wayyyy over his head. Honestly he only had himself to blame. Really what was he thinking? He'd taken in one child and suddenly thought he was an expert in traumatized youths? He'd been overconfident and rash and now Danny was suffering for it and would probably hate him forever now and-

"I can hear you fidgeting through the door!" Came a voice that broke Bruce out of his spiral. There was a shuffle before the heavy wooden door swung open. A boy with floppy black hair and ice blue eyes stared up at him.

"You could've just knocked ya know?" Danny said.

Bruce fidgeted a little more, embarrassed that he'd been caught. "Bu- I thought you were-"

"Still mad at you?" Danny interrupted. "Yeah, I can tell by your face. You didn't even bother to wipe off your eyeshadow."

It was true. Bruce had rushed through patrol and gotten back home as quickly as possible. He'd barely shed his armor as he practically tripped over himself trying to get up to Danny's room. He had come up with and memorized the perfect apology to smooth things over between the two of them and had been dying to get it out before he messed anything else up. But now all the words he'd rehearsed left him.

"Wait. You're not angry?"

Danny leveled him with a blank stare as he leaned on the door frame. "Oh I'm always angry. Just not at you. At least not right now."

Upon seeing Bruce struggle to form words, Danny continued. "You were right," he said. "I shouldn't have beat up Dylan and his little minions. I knew they were intentionally trying to goad me into hitting them and I did it anyway. I-I'm sorry."

For the first time since their conversation began, Danny looked away. His look of mild annoyance was now replaced with one of shame.

"I just- they were making fun of my family. Saying stuff like 'they were small town trash and no one would miss them'. And that comment just set me off." Tears were now springing to Danny's eyes as anger took over his features.

Danny's hands balled into fists as he continued. "I couldn't just let that go. Especially not when they're the ones that are trash. They're so bothered by a 'commoner' wearing the same uniform as them that they feel the need to persistently bully me even when I have nothing to do with them. We don't share any classes, I eat lunch alone, I'm not in any clubs or extracurriculars and if I had a choice I wouldn't even be going to that damn school to begin with!"

Tears were freely streaming down Danny's cheeks as he stopped to catch his breath. His whole body was shuddering with fury. Bruce carefully put a hand on the boy's shoulder, ready to back off if Danny pulled away but he leaned in instead. Given the go ahead, Bruce carefully pulled Danny into a hug, slowly patting his back.

It took a while before either of them spoke. "I know what they said was out of line," Bruce started. "And trust me, they'll definitely receive punishment. But-"

"I know, I know," Danny murmured, turning his face to the side while still clutching onto Bruce's shirt. "Sending 5 boys to the hospital with my training is still bad."

After staying like that for a while, Danny finally looked up at Bruce. "Am I gonna be expelled?" he asked.

Bruce gave a soft smile. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. I promise."

Danny finally pulled away, rubbing at his face with his sleeve and returned Bruce's smile with a toothy one of his own. "You're gonna bribe them or something aren't you? There's gonna be a conveniently placed donation or something. You're just like those rich pricks," he teased.

"Heyyyy! How come Danny gets to cuss?" came a small voice from beyond the shadows of Danny's room. Soon enough, Dick made himself seen, Zitka cradled in his arms as he sleepily stolled forth.

"He's not," Bruce answered quickly. They had just convinced Dick to use more "colorful" insults as opposed to outright cursing and Bruce for one was not willing to face Alfred's wrath if he reverted back. A side glance at Danny told him the exact same thought was running through the boy's mind too. Leave it to Alfred to put the fear of God into two vigilantes who beat up criminals every night.

Dick yawned as he reached out for Bruce. "Then why'd he just say-"

"Don't tell Alfred and you'll have my dessert for a week," Danny interrupted in a panic.

Dick grinned. "Deal," he said as Bruce picked him up. The little boy blinked his eyes a few times before falling back asleep in Bruce's embrace.

Danny halfheartedly glared at the sleeping child. "I swear that kid is gonna grow up to be a politician the way he manipulates like that."

All Bruce could do was sigh. After all Danny was probably onto something. Dick knew very well the influence he had on others and never shied away from using it. It was very likely that he would be holding this particular little incident over their heads for at least the next two weeks.

Bruce looked at Danny, a thought suddenly dawning on him. "Why was Dick sleeping in your room? Did he have a nightmare again?" he asked, shifting the conversation.

Danny shook his head. "Nah. He just insisted that we both make up. He wouldn't leave until I agreed. That kid really doesn't know the meaning of 'no'."

Bruce felt his heart melt as he looked down at the boy in his arms. Why was Dick such a sweet child?

Danny grinned as he started heading downstairs. "Don't get all sappy yet. He was also walking me through his plan of how he got back at Dylan and his gang for my suspension."

The smile dropped from Bruce's face. "Wh... what do you mean revenge? Danny? Danny!?"

I told y'all I'd do it myself if I had to.

[roosterforme]

Batting Practice Part 28 | Rooster x Reader

Summary: You finally have a wedding dress and a hopeful plan for the future. But when Molly caves and tells you what's been bothering her, you desperately wish she would take your advice.

Warnings: Angst, fluff, swearing, pregnancy, mentions of abortion

Length: 4600 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female single!mom Reader

Check my masterlist for more Top Gun fun! Batting Practice masterlist.

Work was insanely busy, and the month of August really started to get away from you. It was getting precariously close to September, and you really needed to buy a wedding dress. There wouldn't even be time to get anything altered at this point, and you winced as you thought about what that might mean.

Your weekends and evenings had been consumed with activities. Bradley's baseball games, visits to the park, rainy days scouring the flea market for baseball cards. Honestly, you couldn't remember ever being happier, and you made sure you told Bradley that all the time. 

"We don't need to have an actual wedding," you whispered when you couldn't stop yawning, curled up in bed with Bradley. "We can just visit the justice of the peace."

He pushed you onto your back and smothered your entire face in kisses. "No way, Kitten. I'm not doing what Danny did. Besides, I want to have a wedding."

You wrapped your arms and legs around him as he kissed your paw print charm. "I guess I better buy a dress then."

"I don't care if you get married in this," he rasped, tugging on the old shirt you were wearing. "But we're having the wedding."

You rolled your eyes hard. "Since I'm absolutely not wearing this, I guess I'll keep my plans to go dress shopping with Molly in the morning."

"You do that, Kitten. And I'll take Ev and Bob out for breakfast at that place you hate that everyone else likes."

"The place with the sticky floor?" you asked, grimacing.

"I'm pretty sure it's just sticky from maple syrup."

"Keep telling yourself that, Coach. That place is gross."

He snorted and rolled back onto his side with you. "Let's get some sleep. I'm fucking beat. I love you."

You were asleep within minutes. And then as things usually went on the weekends, Everett was in your room, waking both of you up, complaining he was hungry first thing in the morning.

Bradley groaned and pulled him up into bed. "If you go back to sleep for another hour, I'll take you out for chocolate chip waffles, okay?"

"Yay! I love that place!" Everett cheered before quieting down and snuggling into the pillows next to Bradley. You kissed his forehead and then Bradley's and then slipped out of bed to take a shower. They could do their own thing for breakfast, but you and Molly would be having a mimosa lunch after you bought some dresses. And nobody was going to tell you no.

You ended up leaving for the dress boutique the same time Bradley and Ev left for breakfast, but when you got to the shop, Molly wasn't there yet. "Typical," you muttered, texting her to let her know you'd meet her inside. 

After fifteen minutes, you felt completely overwhelmed. There were so many options, and you just wanted something simple. All of the fabric was starting to feel the same under your fingertips, and nothing looked quite right. Honestly, Molly was so much better at this stuff than you were. Maybe she forgot about the plan? You started to panic without her here. Perhaps you could see if Nat was free. 

Just as you turned, ready to dash back out to your car, Molly walked in. "There you are," you sighed in relief, but then you gasped. "What's wrong? You look terrible."

"Nothing," she muttered. But her skin looked dull, and she was wearing an outfit you would have never imagined she'd leave the house in. Was she wearing one of Bob's undershirts? She was barely meeting your eyes now. "Did you pick one out yet?" Even her voice sounded lifeless. She was usually so expressive.

"No," you said carefully. "I was waiting for you. I can't do this kind of thing without your help."

"Okay," she replied as she started to grab a few dresses off the racks and handed them to you. 

You took them all in your arms and said, "Molly, just tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong," she snapped. "Try those on. I'll be in one of the chairs."

Unsure about what to do, you just did as you were told. But something was wrong, and you thought about texting Bradley or Bob from inside the dressing room. But you didn't want to upset her further. So you pulled on the first dress she had given you, and you were shocked. It was beautiful, it fit you well, and it wasn't too fancy for the wedding location.  

"Molly, you're a genius," you said as you opened the door. 

She just nodded at you from her seat with a small smile. "You look very pretty. Try on another one."

"Okay," you told her, watching as she rubbed her hands over her face. She looked like she was about to cry. You quickly changed into a second dress which was also pretty great, and you walked out a second time to find that she actually was crying now. 

"Molly, please," you begged, bending down to try to wipe her tears away, but she just shook her head and quickly stood up, avoiding your reach. "Talk to me." You followed her across the store, down a row of dresses, and you could hear her sobbing as she rushed away from you.

Once she reached the back corner, she had nowhere else to go. When she turned to face you, she looked like she was in agony. Tears were dripping down her face and she shook her head. "I fucked up," she sobbed miserably. "I fucked up so bad."

"Molly," you gasped, reaching for her. This time she tripped forward into your arms, and you held her against the fabric of the wedding dress you were wearing. "It's okay to talk to me about it." You rubbed her back as thought after horrible thought popped up in your mind. Was it something to do with Bob? With work? You'd never, ever seen her this upset before. 

But now she couldn't even talk. She was just crying and shaking in your arms. You kissed the top of her head and held her, glaring at anyone who tried to come back this far in the aisle until they turned back. And eventually, she pulled away from you a few inches, and she let you wipe some of her tears away.

You didn't push her to say anything. You knew better than that. You just held her face in your hands and waited.

She took a deep, ragged breath and let it out slowly. Her voice was a soft, trembling whisper as she said, "I'm pregnant."

Your lips parted wordlessly before you closed them again. She was obviously very upset about this fact, so you weren't sure what to say. But you eventually settled on, "What did Bob say when you told him? He's upset?" You couldn't actually imagine Bob being upset with Molly about anything, but you supposed it was possible.

She shook her head in a jerky motion. She sounded so small as she said, "I haven't told him."

"Molly," you sighed, pulling her in for another tight hug. "How long have you known?"

"About a week," she gasped, pressing her tear streaked face to your neck. She'd kept this inside for a week. You were honestly shocked. "I suspected it for a little while at least. I didn't think it was actually possible at first." She was hiccupping between words. "I just thought my cycle was off. But then I took a test the other day. And then I took a lot more tests."

There were so many questions you wanted to ask. How far along was she? When was she going to tell Bob? "Molly, were you using birth control?"

"Of course!" she keened. "I'm not stupid! I work in healthcare!"

"I know, I know," you soothed, rubbing her back. "I was just checking." After you got pregnant with Everett, you'd made her promise to be safe.

"But I switched from one pill to a different one," she whispered. "I did everything I was supposed to fucking do! How could I have let this happen?"

"Shh," you whispered. She was sobbing again. "Does Bob not want to have kids with you?"

She pulled away from you and threw her hands up in the air. "How the hell am I supposed to even know that?!" she asked, loud and sarcastic. "I've only known him for like four months! We have never, not even once, never talked about having kids together! I know he likes them. He loves Ev and Piper, but that's different."

You nodded, reaching for her hands and stroking her knuckles with your thumbs. "Molly, you have to tell him."

"No," she said vehemently. "No way. I'm so mad at myself. I don't want him to look at me differently now. I told him I was on birth control. I promised him there was nothing to worry about." Silent tears were streaming down her cheeks, almost like they were never going to stop. "I can't tell him. But he knows something's wrong. He thinks I'm going to leave him, and honestly, maybe I should."

"Don't say that," you whispered. "Don't say that about Bob."

"Exactly!" she said, pointing at you in anger. "That's exactly it! You don't even worry about me anymore, because I'm with Bob! I finally got my shit together. I'm finally dating a good guy. A stable one who actually loves me! He loves me! Or he did. I can't believe I fucked this up. It was perfect!"

She sank to the floor at your feet and cried, burying her face in what you were now certain was Bob's undershirt. You tried to sit down next to her, but you had to fold the dress a little awkwardly. And then a sales clerk came over. 

"Excuse me, but you can't just crawl around the floor in one of our dresses. And you shouldn't be crying near them either."

You took a deep breath to reply, but Molly was already saying, "Fuck off, lady. Your goddamn dress will be just fine, okay?" 

As the woman bustled away, looking completely scandalized, you turned back to your sister. Her gaze looked steely now as she licked her lips. Her voice was calmer as she said, "I'm not going to tell him. I'm going to pretend to go away for a couple days, get an abortion, and then never mention any of this again."

"Molly." You were shaking your head. "You can't. That's not fair to Bob. You need to tell him about this."

"So I can end up like you?" she said, and her words struck you mute. "No, I know, and I'm sorry, but there's not always going to be a Bradley waiting at the end of the tunnel, okay? You got lucky. Everett is the perfect kid. And somehow you upgraded from Danny to something much better. But I'll never get this lucky again. I'll never, ever find something better than Bob. And I don't even know if I can be a mom. Because I've seen you do it, and it's actually fucking impossible, okay?" She was crying and laying on the floor, inhaling the scent of the undershirt. "It's either leave Bob or get an abortion and never tell him. And I know I can't bring myself to leave him."

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

Bradley was sopping up a plate full of syrup with a pancake when Bob finally caved. "Molly's seems unhappy."

"What makes you say that?" Bradley asked cautiously, glancing at Everett playing a game on his phone. He thought back to that night at the Hard Deck a few weeks ago when everyone had been in a great mood. Molly and Bob had sex in the bathroom. He'd heard Molly tell Bob she loved him. 

"She's been acting strange for the past few weeks. I can't get her to talk to me." Bob's face looked helpless as he said, "I just want to make her happy, but I don't think I actually know how. She's gotta be planning to move out."

"No," Bradley said. Truly, this didn't make sense to him. "It has to be something else? Work?"

Bob just shrugged. "I wish I knew." He looked like he was in pain as he reached for his wallet, but Bradley handed his credit card to the waiter.

"It's my turn," he insisted. "I think you should head home and talk to Molly now. I bet they're done shopping and getting margaritas or whatever they're doing."

"Mimosas," Bob whispered. "Molly likes mimosas."

"Right," Bradley agreed. "Let's just skip the batting cages, and you can get home and talk to her since I'm sure they must be done with mimosas."

Bob just nodded and barely managed to say goodbye as he walked back to his truck.

"What's wrong with Uncle Bob?" Everett asked on the way home. Bradley winced.

"Not sure, kiddo. But I bet he'll sort it out soon."

Bradley was actually a little surprised that you were home when he and Everett got there. "Did you pick a dress?" he asked, wrapping you up in a hug. 

"Yeah," you mumbled, frowning up at him, and Bradley wondered if this had to do with Molly.

He kissed your forehead and said, "Hey, Ev. Remember our plans for the Phillies room upstairs?"

"Yeah!" 

"Why don't you get the measuring tape out of the closet and start measuring the room. I'll be up in a minute."

Bradley watched him dash up the stairs with a smile on his face, and then he turned back to you. "What's wrong with Molly?"

You pressed your lips together and whispered, "She's pregnant."

"Oh," he grunted. "Bob seems to be under the impression that she's going to leave him."

"I mean..." you said with a shrug. 

"She wouldn't leave him. He's perfect for her. Oh fuck... she didn't tell him yet!"

You shook your head and looked like you were going to cry. "She's so upset, Bradley. It was unplanned. She thinks she destroyed her relationship, and she doesn't intend to tell him at all."

"She has to," he said, shaking his head. "They'll be fine. Bob loves kids." He paused before asking, "Were they using birth control? Yours seems pretty sturdy, maybe she should have been on that one."

"Bradley," you said, rolling your eyes as he rubbed your tummy. "I told her to tell Bob, but I don't know that she will."

"Fuck," he whispered. "What do we do?"

"Just wait," you responded softly. "She said she'd never get as lucky as me. She said she'd never find someone else as good as Bob later. She said she doesn't think she can be a mom. And I think I fucked that up for her, because she saw me do it all by myself for so long." Now you were crying, and Everett was shouting for him. "Just go up with Ev. I'll be on the deck."

You pushed him away and went to sit outside while you cried, and Bradley didn't know what else to do, so he just went upstairs. 

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

You ended up buying the wedding dress that you were wearing when you sat on the floor of the bridal shop. The sales team was so obnoxious, and you were honestly afraid Molly was going to scream at them, so you just bought it and left. Good thing you liked it, because it was yours now. You were looking in the mirror in your bedroom, trying to zip it up when Molly called.

"You okay?" you asked when you answered the phone. 

"Yeah," she replied. It had been a few days since the dress shopping fiasco, and you'd been checking on her constantly. She hadn't told you much. You weren't even sure if she'd had a conversation with Bob. Frankly, you weren't sure about the status of her pregnancy.

"You wanna come over?" you asked her. "I have ice cream hidden in the freezer."

She laughed. "You always have ice cream hidden in the freezer. But I can't. Bob and I are going out for dinner, and I have to work at six tomorrow morning."

A dinner date with her boyfriend? That sounded promising. You kept your voice upbeat. "Where are you going for dinner?"

"I wanted sushi, of course, but we're going out for Italian instead."

"And Bob's okay?" you asked. You kind of missed the days of tee ball practices and games when you'd see him more often. Of course you could just call him, but you wanted to hear it from Molly.

Her response was soft, and she still didn't quite sound like her usual self, but it was a far cry better than seeing her on the floor in the bridal shop. "Yeah. I actually just wanted to ask you if it's okay if I wear a plain navy blue dress for your wedding. I can text you a picture of it."

Your heart started beating faster. Your wedding was close, and your sister seemed at least marginally interested in it. "Molly, you can wear anything you want. You don't need to send me a picture."

But the message already came through. It was a cute, form fitting dress with little cap sleeves. "It's perfect! Get it! You'll look adorable."

"It's just that it's stretchy, and I'm already feeling bloated, so I want to get something that I know will be okay."

Your eyes went wide as you looked in the mirror. "That's great, Molly. You'll look perfect no matter what. And Bob can wear anything."

She chuckled. "I think he's planning on matching Bradley and Ev, but I'm not supposed to tell you that."

You felt a little better as you ended the call. 

"Kitten?" Bradley shouted as he walked up the stairs. 

"Shit," you muttered, trying to unzip your dress. "Don't come in here!" you yelled.

"What's wrong?" he asked as you practically slammed the bedroom door in his face. 

"I'm wearing my wedding dress!" You tried to jiggle the zipper, but it wasn't budging. You took a deep breath and held it, holding it in, but that didn't help either. "The zipper is stuck!"

"Open the door. I'll keep my eyes closed."

You let him in, and he stumbled toward you until you took his hand and placed it on the zipper at the side of your dress. He eased it down slowly and without issue, never even cracking an eye open. "This is not how I imagined you taking this dress off of me," you whispered before kissing his cheek.

He smiled softly, but he said, "Once I'm able to look at you, we need to talk."

"About what?" you asked slowly, realizing he looked a little frustrated in spite of his closed eyes. "The Phillies room? I said you two can do whatever you want in there."

You could actually hear Everett sorting through Bradley's tubs of baseball cards right now. "No, not about the Phillies room. Meet me downstairs."

Then he was gone, and your dress was hanging awkwardly off your body. You changed and headed downstairs to find Bradley sitting on the couch with his legs splayed wide and his hands on his thighs. 

"What's up?" you asked him, slowly making your way through the living room. His face was nearly expressionless, but you could still tell he was upset. 

Bradley cocked his head to the side. "Is Danny giving you a hard time?"

You just shrugged. "What makes you ask that?"

"I saw that huge packet of information from your lawyer on the kitchen counter. You need to talk to me about this." His voice was harsh, like you'd never heard it before. "Be honest with me, Kitten. If we're getting married, if Ev is going to be my stepson," he said, gesturing upstairs with his hand, "then you need to let me know what's going on here!"

"I'm sorry," you whispered. "He's not... giving me a hard time. Well, I guess he kind of is." You sighed and sank down onto the couch. "He's been served with papers. He has a few months to comply, so I just know he's going to take as much time as he can before paying me a cent of child support. And the worst part is, I'll have to wait until Ev is a legal adult before I can have his birth certificate amended." 

Bradley looked pensive, scratching the corner of his mustache with narrowed eyes. "I'm sorry, Kitten. I wish there was something more I can do. You already asked your lawyer if there's anything I can do after we get married?"

You didn't want to keep the truth from him any longer, but you just simply said, "I'll let you know, Coach. We'll figure it out." Really, you weren't sure if you would better benefit from having Danny out of your lives completely or getting child support from him. 

When Bradley tugged on your arm and stretched out on the couch, you started to smile. "Come here," he whispered, gently pulling you on top of him. "You know you don't deserve all the runaround, right?" He kissed you and wrapped his hands around around your waist, letting his palms rest on your lower back. "And Ev doesn't deserve anything Danny does."

"I know," you replied, pushing your hands up through his hair. "But we're making out pretty well these days. Got ourselves an upgrade." Your lips met his neck in a soft kiss that had him tightening his grip on you. 

He glanced toward the stairs. "Kitten," he whispered, his tone a warning that made you feel warm all over. When he met your eyes he was shaking his head. "I wanna take you to bed, but I need to get to practice."

"Mmm," you hummed, letting your eyes drift closed as he kissed you. "Later then. When you're all sweaty and hot."

"You're killing me," he grunted, standing with you in his arms, pressed against his body. He kissed your forehead and said, "I'll go see what Ev is up to before I head to practice. Bob told me he's skipping it tonight. Not sure what that's all about."

"He's taking Molly out to dinner."

"That's.... good?" he said, but it sounded more like a question.

"I hope so," you whispered. It felt strange to know that your sister wasn't going to be coming to you immediately with all of her problems now. Because it sounded like a decision had been made. You just hoped that Bob could handle her and all of her glorious personality. 

"I'll check on Ev and then get going. I told him he can organize my baseball cards however he wants. But between you and me, I hid most of the really valuable ones under our bed."

"Good call," you told him with a laugh. 

Once he had gone to practice, you went upstairs to work on the boys' Phillies room with your son. While you had nixed painting the entire room red for fear of it looking like a bloody crime scene, you did let them hang up some baseball decals. Everett had apparently hung up some more Phillies posters without help, because they were very crooked, but the room was actually coming together. 

"Mom! Look!" he said, holding up a red and white pennant that said BRADLEY and looked like it was from the '80s. "Can you help me hang this up? I don't think Dad even knew it was in here with his baseball cards!"

Your breath caught like it always did when he called Bradley his dad, and it took you a minute to pull yourself together. "Yeah," you replied with a nod. "I'll help you. Let's put it up next to the door."

"And maybe I can make one with both our names out of poster board. I'm getting pretty good at making signs and stuff."

"You really are, Ev," you told him as he taped the pennant into place. 

"Do you think we can all dress as baseball players for Halloween this year? Are you getting married before or after Halloween? I keep forgetting. Do you think Aunt Molly would dress as the Phanatic? I think she'd probably be better at it than you. No offense. But we could go trick or treating with them, because then there would be more people to help hold all the candy I get. Dad will dress as a baseball player and hold my candy if I ask him to. I'm pretty sure."

"Oh, Ev," you said, hugging him as tears filled your eyes. "We can do whatever you want, okay?"

He let you hug him for a few seconds before he wiggled his way free and asked, "Why are you crying? You haven't been crying as much."

It was because you didn't want to have to think about Danny. You didn't want him to try to pull some stunt in a few years or withhold child support and make you chase him down. He was the type who would make you waste a bunch of time and money just because he could. He would make your life miserable now because he always blamed you for ruining his life with Everett. 

"I'm sorry," you gasped. "I'm sorry I'm crying." You pulled him in closer again. You knew. You were sure. You would better benefit from having Danny out of your lives completely. And Bradley was the easiest way to get this weight off your chest, because whenever you thought about Danny, it made your body ache. You wanted to be able to stop thinking about him. About the way he had hurt Everett. About the way the law had been designed in such a way that guaranteed he'd be able to continue to hurt Everett in the future.

"Did I make you sad?" Everett asked softly. "We can be magicians or pirates for Halloween instead if you want."

"Oh my god, Ev," you gasped. "No, you didn't make me sad. I love you." You knelt down on the floor in front of him and kissed his cheeks. "I was just thinking about your biological dad, Danny."

Everett's expression turned to one of fear as he said, "I don't want to see him."

"You won't," you promised, pushing his hair back and kissing his forehead. All the child support in the world wouldn't matter. You didn't need it. Your son was absolutely terrified of Danny, and some money wasn't going to make up for that.

Everett seemed to accept your answer as he nodded, but he still looked concerned. "We don't even need him now."

"We never did," you agreed with a small smile. You had overheard Bradley tell Bob back in June that he would like to adopt Everett. Maybe you should just go ahead and ask him to. Maybe you should just tell him the truth: he could help remove Danny from your lives one hundred percent. "Ev, do you know what it would mean if Bradley adopted you?"

He nodded, his brow creased in slight confusion. "I think so."

"Let's talk about it, so we know it makes sense. And you can tell me if it sounds like something you might want. And then we can talk to Bradley about it. But it'll be our little secret for now."

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

I hope Molly and Bob have come to a decision they are both comfortable with. More of that will be posted in The Curveball. Next up for Coach and Kitten....the wedding! Thanks to @beyondthesefourwalls and @mak-32

PART 29

Don't forget to check out Bob and Molly in The Curveball!

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[minty364]

DPXDC Prompt #136 part 1

Danny felt disgruntled as he slowly came back into consciousness. He was in the middle of the Observants going over some of the new factions that have been growing since he became King. A sudden surge of power flung Danny through a portal and he tried to escape or make sense of what happened but he lost consciousness soon after. 

Coming too Danny was a lot smaller than what he thought he should be. His body had a different feel to it and he could tell he was turned into something that walked on all fours. He lifted his head and took in his surroundings. He was in a field, a field of wheat. He couldn’t even see anything besides the wheat and the sky. The portal that dumped him here was no where to be found either. He was going to have a hard time getting back home, especially in his new form. He could still feel his core but the transformation had done a number on him and he felt exhausted.

Suddenly he heard the wheat snap to his left and he whipped his head around to find a person carefully leaning down a few yards away from him. They seemed to analyze his body movements a little bit before he held out his hand that had a small piece of sausage in it. Danny knew not to take food from strangers but it honestly smelled heavenly and he doubted Sam would ever find out, so he hesitantly walked over and gave it a sniff. After he had taken it from them, they started petting Danny on the head. 

“You're an adorable little puppy aren’t you!” Ah so Danny was apparently a puppy, he probably should try to find a way back home but maybe being a dog for a while wouldn’t be too bad. He hasn’t had a break in a while and the Observants are so damn pushy sometimes. The stranger continued, “I’m going to take you to Damian, he knows a lot about pets. I feel like him and I got off on the wrong foot the other day and I think you’d be the perfect gift.” 

Danny wasn’t sure about being given away as a present but he supposed he had no where else to be and if Damian knew his pets as well as this guy said then Danny would be well cared for.

He was picked up and after a bit of walking they arrived at a farm house. Danny was better able to assess the size of the person holding him and they seemed around 10-12 years old. The kid ran excitedly into the kitchen of the house holding Danny out to an adult that, much like the kid, had black hair and blue eyes. 

“Dad! Look I found a puppy!! Can we bring him tonight to the Watchtower meeting so I can give him to Damian? I think he needs a friend and I want to apologize for how I acted the other day.” The kids dad seemed to give Danny a once over before responding.

“It’s probably fine but let me talk with Bruce first and make sure everything’s OK. We don’t want to force a pet on them even if Damian is good with animals.” He finally responded, he gave the kid a hair tussle and then continued, “Jon, why don’t you give him a bath upstairs while I give him a call, I think I still have some dog shampoo from last time I gave Krypto one.” 

The kid apparently named Jon ran up the stairs with Danny clutched against his chest. Soon he found himself wet in a bathtub, and then he was dried. He was finally able to get a good look at himself in the mirror, he looked like a miniature husky with white fur and dark black patches along his tail, back, and head. His icy blue eyes were piercing and he could see why someone would think he were cute, in fact he was down right adorable. 

After that Jon brought him to a bedroom he assumed belonged to Jon. It was a very basic kid’s bedroom and Danny found himself sprawled on the bed along with Jon. Jon spoke very fondly about Damian and the more he spoke the more Danny got the feeling Jon had a little crush.

Soon Jon’s dad came into the room to tell him that Danny could be given to Damian at the meeting tonight. Danny didn’t know what sort of work Jon's dad did but it sounded like Jon’s and Damian’s dads worked together. He wondered what kind of place the watchtower would be but he didn’t have to wonder for long. 

He also realized how different this world was from his own. Jon and his dad could fly and they wore these skin tight suits, honestly they looked like superheroes which was probably exactly what they were. They flew through the air and eventually they were in front of these tubes Danny honestly didn’t know what they were. Jon and his dad did though, and apparently it was teleportation. Danny was awestruck at the site in front of him, the Watchtower was in space and he could hardly keep in his excitement. 

Master Post:

Next:

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Danny, while out exploring the Infinite Realms, gets caught up in a wierd evil scheme to clone...a robin? Okay, strange but hes dealt with weirder stuff. Nothing really prepared him for finding a little newborn baby amongst all the empty pods and computers he was destroying.

He picked it up carefully and soon discovered it was a girl. Phantom, knowing this was very much not a bird, started looking for answers while the baby rested in his arm. Robin turned out to be a kid who looked around eight or nine...or he was just small. Either way he was waaaay too young to take in a baby and anyone who dressed up like a bat and let thier kid run around with them at two in the morning to fight serial killers and terrorists in the city that is the embodiment of late stage capitalism probably isn't a good fit for a child.

So he turned to the child and muttered, "Guess I'm a dad now." before taking her back to the Infinite Realms. He named her Asteria after the greek titan goddess of the stars.

She was so inquisitive and wanted to grab and investigate everything she saw. She was smart and ridiculously bold, almost reckless, which made it easy to pass her off as his and telling his sister that he had a fling with a tourist and she told him the baby was his. He even presented a fake paternity test to her and then silently waited for her judgment.

She just sighed.

Danny didn't hate being a father but man it was tiring. They had moved away from Amity Park after thier parents and Vlaad "passed away" which was code for Jazz murdering them in cold blood after...the incident

He and Sam stopped being friends after they had a bad break up, but Tucker was his best friend, even all these years later. Valerie still seemed to come and go too. Danny was happy just being a single father.

Until it happened.

Asteria started coughing. He didn't think anything of it at first. Kids got sick all the time but...it never stopped. Danny had taken her to doctor after doctor but no one seemed to know what they were looking at. They all said something similar, that it was some sort of genetic disease involving her lungs but they had never seen anything like it.. they even asked to record this for future medical studies. He agreed so long as it was within reason and wasn't invasive.

The cough just kept getting worse until one day she had a fit so bad it sent her to her knees. She had to stay on the ground coughing as Danny frantically patted her back and tried to comfort her. By the time it was over she was sobbing uncontrollably and hugging her teddybear to her chest as Danny held her.

Danny decided he needed to go back to Gotham. If this was a genetic disease then it must have come from that Robin guys family, right? He didn't want to have to go to him directly, it had been four years since he took her and its possible the guy might sue him for custody. Or the Batman will. Or they might kidnap her and he would never see her agia-

Danny took a deep breath. He was not going to talk to the furry patrol. But he was sure that someone in Gotham had to know what this was.

---

Leslie got a knock on her window as an ungodly hour of the night. She opened it intending to yell at someone, but when she saw that unique look of desperation on a young man's face while holding a little girl in a light blue princess nightgown the words died on her tongue.

The man said he couldn't go to a normal hospital or doctor as they would have questions he couldn't answer and her sickness isn't something he had ever seen before. She was adopted and her disease was appearently genetic. He even offered to give Leslie samples of his blood for study since he heard she liked to study metas.

She made sure he knew this wasn't necessary and that she didn't want him to feel forced before taking the offered sample.

Asteria began a slow recovery after that. One where neither of them could leave Gotham until she was completely cured. Whats more is that Asteria would need medication for years to come. Money wasn't an issue. Danny would just need to find a reliable form of transport between dimensions.

Unfortunately for him, Leslie discovered the "Altered Lazarus water" in his blood samples and notified Batman.

[ghostboybrainrot]

Out of Touch Part 2

Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, AO3

Edit: I'm starting the process of transferring these to AO3. Click the link above to subscribe and get updates more reliably! (But don't worry I'll keep posting on Tumblr, too)

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It’s odd being invisible to the living world. Danny doesn’t have to put on a performance. He doesn’t have to awkwardly smile at strangers. He doesn’t have to monitor his facial expressions to make other people feel more comfortable. In a way it's nice. Freeing, even.

He didn't have to worry about people misconstruing his actions or his words. Assuming he had ulterior motives. Looking at him like he was weird for asking clarifying questions.

He wasn't judged for asking someone to explain a joke. He wasn't called rude and self-centered for sharing a similar experience when a friend was venting about their problems. He wanted to understand. He wanted to connect. But it felt like the way he did it was always wrong.

He'd been lucky to find friends who understood him. Who shared in his idiosyncrasies. 

He didn't have that anymore, but at least he didn't have to pretend either. It was a small victory, but he still counted it

Of course, his invisibility didn't affect the dead. They could see him just fine. And many do not like what they see. His ghost form had been shifting. He hadn’t made change consciously.

When he looked at himself he saw something sharper, something darker than he used to be. He wasn't happy about it but he didn't feel the need to dwell. This was who he was now. He didn't have any control over it.

If the other spirits he came across flinched away from him, he tried not to let it bother him. Spirits were just people. And he could deal with people.

Fortunately, most ghosts were too distracted by their own problems to pay him much mind. The shades floated around usually tethered to a specific location, sometimes a specific person. They interacted with things that were not there. They carried on conversations with themselves. If Danny attempted to talk to them, they would respond. He’d even held a decent conversation with a couple. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t seeing the same things he was. That their reality was much different than his. Once he’d finished talking, they’d continue about their business as though he wasn’t ever there. 

)-(

Danny had settled in an abandoned apartment near Park Row, or Crime Alley, as the locals called it. The building was only 3 stories. It had been condemned but had never gotten around to being torn down. It's not property investors were going to want to build something in it's place. Not in Crime Alley.

The bottom floor had been boarded up at one point but the boards on the back entrance had long since been pried off. Several squatters had made the bottom floor their temporary home. If they heard odd noises coming from the upper floor they ignored it.

Once, a man had come to the top floor to look around. He stepped carefully, testing his weight on the unstable floor. He checked the empty apartments. They’d long since been picked clean. When he neared the door at the end of the hall a chill shot up his spine. This door was closed, unlike the other three which had been swinging ajar before he’d arrived. Was someone already squatting in there? No one had mentioned it to him. He’d stayed here a few times now. Surely, if someone had already claimed the room, he’d have heard about it. He continued to approach the door. The cold sensation was worse the closer he got. He started shivering slightly and he could see his breath misting in front of him.

Weird. He swore it hadn’t been this cold outside earlier. How could it be so cold INSIDE. Maybe a window had been left open? That would explain why this door was closed. The wind had probably blown it shut. It had to be empty. No one would be able to stay in these freezing temperatures. 

If nothing else he should go and close the window. Wouldn’t want a draft to follow him downstairs. They needed to conserve the heat the best they could. 

He grasped the door knob. For a moment he worried his hand would stick to it. It was like holding a ball of ice. He attempted to turn it. Locked. 

He wasn’t sure why but he let go of the handle and raised his hand to knock on the door. Three short raps echoed in the empty hall. For a moment there was silence.

Then. Three short raps answered from the other side of the door.

He jumped back. Okay, someone was in there after all. Weirdo. Who the hell locked themselves in an abandoned freezing apartment. Before he could decide whether to tell this person off or just mind his business, he heard it again.

Three more knocks. These were much louder.

Suddenly there was a steady pounding on the door. It rattled from the impacts. The man’s heart leapt in his throat. He’d had enough. He started making his way back to the stairs. The pounding hadn’t stopped. If anything, it had gotten even louder. And closer! It was following him! It was coming from the walls in the hallway now. He could hear it coming from the other empty apartments. Everything was pounding. The whole building seemed to be shaking. He didn’t remember bolting but next thing he knew he was running down the stairs. Not paying attention to the cracks in the floor, as he had on the way up. He took 2 steps at a time. By the time he reached the bottom, the onslaught of sound had stopped. 

At first he didn't notice. He could still feel the pounding. It felt like the banging was coming from inside his head. It took him a moment to notice it was his own heartbeat hammering in his ears.

He spent several minutes at the bottom of the stairs, hands on his knees gasping for breath. After his heart finally slowed and his breath came easier, he went back to the room where he'd placed his sleeping bag.

He thought about packing it up. This place no longer felt safe. What if whatever it was followed him? 

He glanced at the door that led to the stairwell. If it were going to follow him it already would have. It was already late and this wasn't the first time he'd crashed here. And something told him, whatever it was, hadn't just arrived. He swallowed nervously. It had probably been above him this whole time.

He looked back down at his sleeping bag. He'd paused partway through rolling it up. Lost in thought. Finally, he decided to stay. At least for the night. He rolled it back out and got ready to get some rest. He was exhausted. The adrenaline from only 10 minutes prior had fled his system. Leaving his muscles weak and his brain foggy.

He wasn't going to be able to find a safer place this late. There were worse things than ghosts haunting the streets of Gotham at night.

If his upstairs neighbor didn’t want to be bothered. He just wouldn’t bother them.

—-

Danny felt a little guilty for scaring the guy. In the moment it had been exhilarating. Like playing a prank. After all, he had no intention of ACTUALLY harming him. He wasn't in danger. He just didn't want the guy poking his nose around his stuff.

But of course the man had no way of knowing Danny wasn't a threat. It wasn’t like Danny was going to jump out and yell 'Gotcha!' In fact, that probably would just scare the guy even more. 

Danny looked down at his hands. They were clouds of black smoke. The edges were fuzzy and undefined. His fingers were long and came to sharp points. 

Scary, he thought.

Before he could linger too long on that uncomfortable thought, Danny decided to make it up to the guy.

It took a while for the man to fall asleep, unsurprisingly. But Danny waited patiently.

)-(

When the man woke up the next day he found a few cans of soup, some clean socks, and a small pack of baby wipes. It had been stacked neatly next to his backpack. Clearly, it had been left for him. He looked around but no one else had come to join him in the night and the door to the room was still locked.

He didn’t mention the interaction to anyone. And none of the other squatters mentioned it either. He knew they had to have heard it. The pounding that shook the building. He knew he hadn’t imagined it. Even if he had, it didn’t explain the food left in a locked room in the middle of the night. 

He decided whatever this entity was. It wasn’t kicking him out. Just expressing a boundary. He could handle that. As long as he left the apartment upstairs alone, he should be fine.

Hopefully.

)-(

Danny hoped the guy would see the gifts as an olive branch. He thought about leaving a note, but decided against it. It was one thing to insinuate that the building was haunted. It was another thing, entirely, to come right out and say it. 

Hey I'm the ghost that haunts the upper floors! Sorry to give you a fright. Here's some food as an apology just stay out of my area, okay? 

Thanks!

He smiled at the thought. It'd be funny but l would just bring more attention to him. The last thing he needed was other people finding his haunt. A note was tangible. The guy could show others. More people would want to investigate. Without any concrete proof, people were less likely to believe him.

Danny did not want to have to move, especially when he had just gotten settled.

He’d just gotten running water. It had taken a lot of time and effort but he'd finally figured out how to turn the water back on.. He'd had to phase through a lot of walls holding a flashlight in his teeth. It had taken a week of following pipes around and messing with valves, but he’d done it! Granted, when he first got it, it still went out randomly and it wasn't hot or even warm. But it was a start.

Now getting electricity, that had been much harder. He wasn't an electrical engineer. He felt uncomfortable with the idea of trying to mess with high voltage wires. Getting electrocuted again, scared him more than he'd ever admit, even to himself.

Eventually, he settled for a small generator. He'd pilfered it from a big chain farming supply shop several miles outside of Gotham. It was a pain lugging it all the way back. It wasn’t that he was too weak to carry it, but it had been very awkward to hold.

He set it up on the roof above his apartment. Feeding the wire down into the apartments poking holes through walls. It didn’t look professional but it worked. 

The best part was that he’d gotten a model powerful enough to run the old hot water heater.

Danny hadn't taken a hot bath in months. The closest he got was taking quick showers in the 24 hour gym down the street. He'd go in the middle of the night after patrol when no one was around. But he tried not to linger in case someone decided to do an early morning workout. Those showers were more functional than relaxing. 

He didn't need to bathe that often, anyway. He spent more time in his ghost form than his living form and he didn't sweat when he was dead. He'd been getting by on baby wipes and paper towel baths at the sink in public restrooms.

So, when he finally had an opportunity to have a real bath. He decided to treat himself.

He lit a couple tealight candles and set them on the counter. He turned out the lights. The bath/shower combo wasn't very deep but fortunately Danny wasn't a very tall teenager. For the first time he counted himself lucky that dying had stunted his growth.

He had swiped a bath bomb from a dollar store a few blocks away. He'd never used one before but he figured he should at least try one to get the full relaxing bath experience. He drew himself a warm bath and dropped the lavender-scented bomb into it.

As soon as he sunk into  the water he immediately felt himself start to drift. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this relaxed. He closed his eyes and was asleep within minutes. 

)-(

Danny was having a bad night. 

Nights? He wasn’t sure. 

He’d gotten carried away again. He felt that familiar tug at his stomach. He wasn’t sure for how long. He knew he needed to stop. To take a break. At least grab a drink or something to eat. But he knew if he stopped, if he switched forms, he'd be too exhausted to switch back. 

He just kept telling himself one more. Just one more person to save. Just one more person to stop. And then he would rest.

As he neared his apartment he felt his form stutter. 

Oh no.

Just a little bit farther. He could still make it! The form continued to stutter. He felt gravity pulling on him. He couldn't keep flying like this.

He looked for a place he could land. There was an empty alley below him. Only 50 feet or so ahead. He angled his descent. But he was falling too fast. His ghost form continued to flicker, petering out 20 feet above the ground. He plummeted, reaching out trying to find purchase on the side of the building. Only managing to scrape his palm. He hit the ground on his side, with a soft thud.

He groaned. He had definitely broken something. His earlier exhaustion had been replaced with sheer terror as he'd fallen. This was the only thing allowing him the energy to push up off the pavement. He sat in the alley wincing with every movement. He took inventory. His shoulder was bruised as hell. He'd, also, bruised his ribs, breaking at least one. He was lucky he was so resilient. Falling from that height would have been much worse if he wasn't already half-dead.

He tried to pull himself to his feet. His leg buckled under the weight and he fell back on his backside. He'd definitely messed up his knee. He reached down to palpate around the joint. It was tender and he could already tell it was starting to swell.

Great.

He pulled himself up again favoring the side that hadn't impacted the ground. He braced himself against the wall of the building. His vision swam. He realized it probably had more to do with the fact that his blood sugar was dangerously low than his injuries. 

After a couple minutes, his vision began to clear and he could take in his surroundings. 

Good news, he knew where he was. He was close to his apartment. Bad news, his apartment was in crime alley. And he had a couple blocks and two flights of stairs before he could get to it.

Danny did not like his chances of getting there unscathed. Normally, it wouldn't be a problem. He could just switch to ghost form and fly straight there. But seeing as how he'd already been doing that, and he'd fallen from the sky. He didn't think this was going to be an option.

He tried anyway. Focusing hard on fading into his phantasmal form. He felt the barest hint of a flicker but no transformation came. 

Figures. 

The adrenaline from the fall had worn off, at this point. He was feeling woozy again. His exhaustion and hunger hitting him full force. 

The ground next to a nearby dumpster started to look very enticing. His eyes were drooping. He had enough awareness left to know if he was going to pass out he needed to hide.

It wasn't the first time he'd had to take an impromptu nap in an alley. Usually, he found a cozy dumpster to crawl in to sleep it off. Bit his leg was too injured and he was too weak to pull himself up. 

Behind the dumpster would have to do.

He kept his hand against the wall as he stumbled forward, ignoring the pain in his palm from the scrape, he'd suffered during the fall. He wondered, dully, if it was a bad idea to be rubbing an open wound on a grimey building. Probably not, but he'd have to worry about that later.

He felt like he was moving through molasses. As he rounded the side of the dumpster he looked back, making sure no one was watching. Satisfied he was alone, he tucked himself into the corner behind it. He was already pretty small. It didn't take much to pull his hood over his head and pull his knees to his chest. He pulled a few loose pieces of plastic and cardboard over him. With that and his grimey clothes he was pretty sure it would be hard to spot him. At least, in the dark.

Certain this was as good as it was going to get, he closed his eyes and fell immediately into a dreamless sleep.

He hadn't noticed the figure in the dark when he'd fallen. He hadn't noticed its eyes watching him as he pulled himself up and limped toward the dumpster. And, he didn't notice as the figure approached the sleeping boy.

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Sorry to anyone who was waiting for me to update my Ghost Zone Amity fic! This one was making my brain itch so this is the one you get.

I love getting comments! Keep them coming. Who do you think found Danny? Is it one of the bats? Is it a rogue? Let me know what you think so far!

Tags:

@alinmenttreasure @quirky-gardener @mnemovoid @amercurio @may-rbi

@allmune @i-havenothingelsetopost @kittenline @alienzil

[disillusioneddanny]

Phantom's Moving Castle

Dick was pissed. No, he was more than pissed he was abso-fucking-lutely pissed. Angry enough to curse even! He couldn’t believe that this had happened to him, that he had been hit with a curse. Not only had he been hit with a curse, but the curse itself had turned him into the worst thing it possibly could have. 

It turned him old!

He had woken up feeling his body ache and pop in places he didn’t know they could. And when he had managed to hobble to the bathroom he had nearly shat his pants seeing his reflection in the mirror. This wasn’t good. No, this was a disaster, the worst thing that could have ever happened. He had blindly called Zatanna freaking out more than he had ever freaked out before. 

She had come to his apartment in Bludhaven as soon as she could and found Dick crying in bed over the new wrinkles that covered his face. “You’re being ridiculous,” she had said before she recited some spell over him, only for it to not work, causing Dick to cry even harder than before. She frowned and said it again, this time louder and more forceful only for it to start to turn Dick’s wonderful, lustrous black hair to a soft grey color.

A sob wracked through his body as he hugged the pillow tighter to his chest. 

“Do you know who put the curse on you?” Zatanna asked with a sigh as she tried yet another spell only for it to not work. Thankfully this one didn’t age Dick any more than he already had but it had definitely made him cry even more.

“I busted some kind of occultist group last night, it was just some breaking and entering, I doubt they were going to actually successfully summon something,” Dick said with a sniff, wincing at how his voice even sounded different than it had before. “But one of them said something really weird in a language I didn’t recognize but nothing happened so I thought I was fine. And then I woke up this morning and I look like the crypt keeper!” He sobbed, his body shaking with each sob that wracked through his body. 

Zatanna rolled her eyes. She loved this idiot but she had never met someone so stupid in her life. “Look, I know someone who will help you but he’s a little stubborn,” she said carefully. Dick sat up at that, rubbing the tears out of his eyes and trying to not pay attention to the liver spots that now covered the back of his hands. 

“Really? You know someone who can fix me?” He asked, hiccups coming through every other word or so. 

The magician nodded her head and let out a breath. “They call him Phantom. There’s a bit of an issue with him and he’s a bit eccentric, but if anyone could help you figure out what’s wrong it’s him.”

“What’s his issue?” Dick asked, hurrowing his brow in confusion. 

....

Danny cursed as he saw the stupid eyeballs gaining on him and slammed his hand on the button of his control board, the entire castle shaking slightly as the building disappeared from sight and reappeared in a completely different part of the Infinite Realms. 

This was starting to get ridiculous at this point. He was twenty-four years old, he had been running from the stupid Observants and Clockwork for six years now, how could they not get the hint? He didn’t want that ancient’s damned crown. And obviously, the Infinite Realms were surviving just fine without a king so why did he need to take the title?

They had already ruined his life by forcing him to go on the run, couldn’t they just let him rest? To have some time where he could just exist without them finding him? He let out a huff and stalked to the window to see where he was and groaned when he found himself in Old Gotham. 

Now he was going to be stuck with the Lady for a while. He sucked on his teeth for a moment before falling onto one of his giant, fluffy couches and let out a breath.

“I’ll take Lady Gotham over the Observants any day,” he muttered, staring up at the ceiling. “As long as she doesn’t try to get me to go to the living version and try to save her stupid vigilantes I’ll be fine.”

Besides, the Observants hated Old Gotham, they avoided this entire part of the Infinite Realms like the plague and that meant that Danny would at least get a few weeks of time to just breathe. They would get over themselves eventually and come in and bother him and when they did he’d just leave again. 

The realms were infinite for a reason and if he started running out of places here, he’d start dimension-hopping if he had to. He would rather be on the run for the rest of his life than become the King of the Infinite Realms. 

Sure, it was lonely at times, not many people visited him considering he was constantly on the run. But every so often Sam, Tucker, and Jazz would summon him to check in. Or Dani would track him down. There was something about the fact that she was his clone that made it so that she just knew where he was at all times. It was like she had a honing beacon that would always direct her to Danny.

And yeah, Danny missed his life desperately but he couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t give all of himself to the Infinite Realms and become the king. The very idea made his core burn inside of him. He wasn’t meant for that life. All Danny wanted was to protect the people he loved and live as normal a life as possible. 

Hell, he’d prefer being a hero before being the King. Part of him wondered if this was worth it if running away from the Observants and Clockwork and the crown was really worth it. If he stopped running he’d have a life again, he’d be able to just live in peace and even see his family again. But he wouldn’t be happy. He would be beyond miserable having to be the king, he wouldn’t get to just exist and at least while he was on the run he could just exist. 

He could travel wherever he wanted and just enjoy the world around him. He had been in so many different spots of the Infinite Realms that he had never even known existed and he had learned more than he could have ever expected to learn. It wasn’t the life he wanted, but it was better than the life the Observants wanted for him. 

Although, he did have to admit that even with being on the run and by himself, he was enjoying himself. He hadn’t known peace like this whatsoever growing up. And there was something beautiful about just being here, just existing and being alone and enjoying his peace. It was nice to have this one thing for himself, even if he did have to hop from one place to another and hide away from the observants. 

“Phantom,” a familiar voice said, knocking Danny from his reverie and startling him so badly that he fell off of the couch. He let out a huff and sat up on the ground, scowling at the floating face in front of him. 

“Zatanna, to what do I owe the pleasure?” He asked, scowling at the magician who was invading his space. 

He didn’t mind the magician, hell he had helped her out a few times. But that partnership was tricky, especially since Danny was not particularly fond of her boyfriend, John Constantine. Not only that but she was a member of the Justice League and Danny really didn’t need them involved in his shit. They were pushy and annoying and not at all something Danny was interested in. 

He thanked the Ancients every day that his dimension did not have a superhero team, he would have lost his mind if he got roped in with working with them. But Zatanna’s dimension had too many heroes to count and only a few of them were actually interesting and helpful. 

“ It’s good to see you too. Do you have any idea how long it took me to find you?” She asked with a huff and Danny raised an eyebrow as he stood up from the ground and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yes, I know, I know, that’s the entire point of Phantom’s Moving Castle. I need your help.”

“With?” He asked, making a continue motion with his hand. 

“A friend of mine was hit with a curse, you’re the only one I know that could potentially break it,” she said before stepping through her little portal with someone wrapped in a blanket and a hood pulled over their head, covering their face. “Dick, show him.”

“No,” a whiny voice said sadly. 

“He can’t help you if you don’t tell him what’s wrong,” Zatanna said with a sigh. 

“What makes you think I’ll help him anyway?” Danny asked with a scoff. Zatanna just leveled him with a glare. 

“Because you took an oath Danny Phantom of the Infinite Realms. I know you completed your apprenticeship with Frostbite and the yetis that you would heal anyone in need. He’s in need and you’re going to fix him,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared Danny down. 

He let out a huff and stomped toward the person hiding their face and ripped the hood off of his face. “Someone got you with an aging curse,” he said, looking him up and down as the man let out a whine.  He looked the man over once more and huffed out a laugh. This was tricky magic, and this poor guy was screwed. “Sorry, but there’s nothing I can do. He’s the only one who can break the curse.”

“Well, are you going to tell us how?” Zatanna asked as the man sniffled beside her. His face was covered in age spots and wrinkles. 

Danny shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t, that would be cheating,” he said with a secretive smile before he waltzed over to his kitchen, leaving the two in his sitting room as he started up the kettle. 

“Danny!” Zatanna shouted, following him into the room and dragging the aged man along with him. 

Danny sighed and looked her over. “Look, this is tricky magic. I can’t tell you what’s wrong with him or how to fix it, all I can do is tell you that you need to look within yourself.”

“Then let him stay here with you while he figures it out. You could use the company and his family will freak out if they see him like this,” Zatanna said with a sigh. 

“I have to stay here?” The man croaked, looking at Zatanna in horror. 

She narrowed her eyes. “Yes, and you’re not going to complain about it. Neither of you will,” she said evenly. “Danny help him however you can to fix it. Dick, don’t be a dick while you’re here. Danny’s a very powerful being and he’s got enough going on without you causing more issues. I’ll be back in a month to check on you.”

Before Danny or Dick could argue, Zatanna disappeared from the castle, leaving the two alone with one another. 

Dick looked around the kitchen and jumped as the kettle wanted off. Danny moved it from the heat and prepared two mugs for tea. “So, how do you know Zatanna?”

Danny glanced over at the old man as he stared at his reflection in a pot and chuckled, he was going to have a hard time getting past this curse. “She summoned me once trying to get help with a ghost problem about seven years ago. We’ve been in ever since then and I help her when she needs it and she gets me things sometimes,” Danny said with a shrug. “Black tea or green tea?”

“Black,” Dick said, groaning as he sat at the small, round, wooden table in the corner of the kitchen. It was like everything was popping as he did. This was going to be miserable. 

“Milk and sugar?” Danny asked. 

“Yeah,” Dick grumbled. “I’m Dick, by the way.”

“I know, I’m Danny,” he said simply as he let the tea float over to Dick. 

“What are you?”

Danny gave him a small, secretive smile. “I’m a phantom.”

Dick let out a huff and glared down at his tea. “Fine, keep your secrets.” He took a sip of his tea and looked at the being. “So, how am I going to break this curse?”

Danny turned to  Dick and sipped at his tea. “Your curse,” he said blandly. “I can’t tell you how to break it but I can tell you to embrace it,” he said and Dick was ready to bang his head against the table. Why the hell was this guy being so utterly cryptic? “Once you finish your tea I’ll show you to your rooms. Come find me when you’re done,” Danny told him before he took off out of the kitchen and disappeared into the castle, leaving Dick alone with his thoughts. 

Embrace his curse? How the hell could he embrace a curse that made him so utterly ugly?

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[sacredjake]

Fast Times

pairing: Danny Wagner x Reader

word count: 4.6k

warnings: fluff, biker danny (bc yes that deserves a warning)

disclaimer: please, please, please be exremely cautious about riding motorcycles and always make sure you wear the correct gear. and please do not ride on the back of a strangers bike for the first time… or maybe in general? stranger danger y’all!

a/n: hi y’all! hope you enjoy biker!danny

should out to @malany-gvf for proofreading and allowing me to bounce ideas off her <3 and thank you to @gold-mines-melting for giving me feedback on the moodboard, i definitely think this is the perfect one :) thank you both so much!!! <3333 love y’all!

—————————————

The grocery store was fairly busy, it was a Saturday after all. People milled about getting their groceries, necessities and whatnot, filling most of the aisles you traveled down. You hated going to the store on the weekends, but you needed a few things and today was one of your few off days, so here you were. Thankfully you didn’t need more than a couple of items.

You muttered a few apologies as you pushed the cart past other customers down the aisle before stopping in front of the pasta. Your eyes raked over the shelves trying to find the specific pasta that you wanted. Finally you were able to spot it on the top shelf.

“Great…” You huffed with a sigh, realizing the box was just out of your reach. Taking a look around you noticed most of the aisle had cleared out, so you walked closer to the shelves, and stepped lightly on the bottom one. Even with the extra step up, your fingers barely grazed the box.

The more you tried to grab the box, the further you pushed it back with each sweep of your fingers. Just as you were about to give up, a hand plucked the box from behind your fingers. A very large hand. Your eyes trailed up from the hand next to yours to land on the man next to you. He was tall, with beautiful, dark brown curly hair, soft brown eyes, and he was wearing a crooked smile. He was very attractive. And he was holding the box of pasta out to you.

You cleared your throat as you stepped down, feeling the heat of embarrassment creep up your throat and into your cheeks. “Ah, thanks…” You carefully took the box from the handsome stranger and tried your best to avoid looking at him again. Your face was red enough already.

“No worries.” He gave you a soft smile before he walked away. You watched as he got further down the aisle and caught his eyes one last time as he glanced back at you from over his shoulder. He disappeared around the corner, shaking you from your deer-in-headlights state.

You pushed the attractive stranger out of your mind and continued your shopping by grabbing the last two things on your list. While you waited in the self-checkout line you spotted the man again at a register in front of you. You watched him scan the few items he had and pay for his belongings until it was your turn. He was wearing black skinny jeans, white vans, and a “The Church of Rock and Roll” shirt that had been made into a tank top, the slits on the sides easily reaching down to his ribs, with a pair of black ray bans hanging from the neck of his shirt.

Just as you were walking up to an empty register, he was packing away his things into a small bag. A few minutes later you did the same, and walked out to your car once everything was paid for and placed back into the cart. You unlocked your trunk and began carefully placing everything inside making sure nothing would fall over.

As you shut the trunk and walk the cart towards the corral, you could hear the sound of a motorcycle pulling in beside you. The driver had parked right next to your driver side and had set the kick stand out, letting the bike rest while still being on.

It was a small black Harley cruiser, nothing super fancy, but still very nice. You took special notice to the rider, recognizing the mystery man from the pasta aisle, but this time he had a helmet on. Suddenly the sound from the bike was cut off as you approached your car and unlocked it. You had opened the door and sat in the driver’s seat when the guy finally spoke up.

“Uh, hey, I’m sorry about this, but I just thought you were really cute and uh… Sorry… I uh… Was just wondering if maybe I could get your number?”

The bulky helmet covered most of his face, but you could tell underneath that he was blushing. His shyness almost caught you off guard seeing as he didn’t seem so shy inside the store. It was endearing in a way.

“My number?” You couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off your face even if you tried. He was incredibly cute.

“Yeah… If that would be alright?” The crinkles by his eyes gave away his hidden smile under the helmet. While the helmet covered most of his face you could still see the bridge of his nose, and the freckles that lived there.

“I’ll make you a deal…” You leaned towards him more with your left foot planted on the ground outside of the car. His right eyebrow cocked upwards waiting for your next move.

“And what might that be?”

“I’ll give you my number if you take me for a ride on your bike.”

“Deal.”

There was no hesitation in his reply and the confidence in himself made him more attractive.

“Really? Just like that?” You were amused that he had even agreed and especially more so that he did it almost without a second thought.

“It’s not everyday a pretty girl wants to ride on the bike and will give me her number. But I don’t have another helmet on me right now and there’s absolutely no way I’ll take you out on this without the proper gear.”

“I can wait.” The words left your mouth before you had even realized what you said. You didn’t know this man and you were going to get on a motorcycle with him? What the hell was wrong with you?

“You don’t have anywhere else you need to be? Nothing frozen in there?” He gestured to the back of your car where you had just finished loading in all your groceries.

“Nope, I am completely free and nothing frozen in the back.”

He said nothing for a moment and just continued to stare at you in awe. He shook his head with a chuckle before he spoke again.

“Alright, give me twenty minutes and I’ll be back here… You’re seriously gonna wait?”

“I’m seriously gonna wait.”

With that he started the bike up again and released the kick stand. Before he backed up, he shot you another smile with a look of almost disbelief that this was happening. Once he took off you shut the door to your car and turned the engine on to get comfortable. You made sure to text basically everyone you knew about your plans for the night in case he was actually an axe murderer.

You scrolled through various forms of social media while you waited for the mystery man to return. When you heard the loud rumbling of the bike around the corner you checked the time. Almost twenty minutes on the dot. He was good.

You waited until he killed the engine to the bike to turn your car off and step outside. He took his helmet off and stepped off the bike. His delicate curls didn’t suffer any damage or deformity during their time inside his helmet, looking absolutely perfect. The same crooked smile you saw in the store had returned and it made your heart skip.

“I can’t believe you waited.” He tucked his helmet underneath his arm while he held another one in his hand. It was red and slightly smaller than his black helmet.

“I can’t believe you came back.” You closed the car door behind you and clicked the lock button twice to set the alarm.

“Of course I came back. I’m not sure if this helmet will fit exactly, but it’s better than nothing.” He held the helmet out for you to take. You did as he silently asked and took the helmet from him. It was heavier than you expected, but at least you knew your skull would be safe in it.

“Ya know, before I put this on maybe you should tell me your name?”

A smile cracked across his face making his eyes sparkle.

“It’s Daniel, but you can call me Danny.” He held his hand out and waited for you to shake it.

“Danny… Nice to officially meet you, I’m y/n.” Your left hand dropped to your side with the helmet as you grabbed his hand. Danny didn’t squeeze your hand hard, but his grip was firm. You met the pressure of his hand, squeezing back slightly.

“Likewise.” His smile was contagious, and it never left his face. Every time he looked at you, you couldn’t help the grin that danced on your lips.

“Have you ever been on a motorcycle of any kind?”

“No, I’ve been snowmobiling, jet skiing and on ATVs, but never on a bike.”

He nodded his head in understanding and seemed to think about what he was going to say next.

“Hmmm… Right. So there are a few rules we need to go over before you put the helmet on.” You followed his previous action and nodded in response.

“You have to hold on to me at all times, so don’t get all shy on me. When we turn, let your body follow the natural pull, don’t fight it or that’ll end up badly. If you’re nervous or uncomfortable at any time, let me know. We’ll be able to hear each other through the bluetooth in the helmets, but sometimes it cuts in and out, so tap my chest three times, okay?” You continued to nod as he went on explaining the important things you’d need to know.

“When we stop, try your best to not lean forward on me and brace yourself as we slow. Try not to move too much on the back as well. Lastly, relax and have fun. I won’t go any faster than what you’re comfortable with. Sound good?”

“Yeah, I think I’ve got it. Hold on tight, don’t lean too much to one side, communicate by tapping your chest three times or talking, brace for stops and don’t lean on your back, and don’t move around.” You ran back through everything he had just said, pretty sure you got it all down. It was a little nerve wracking to think about the fact you were trusting a stranger with your life. And that he was trusting you not to screw up.

“Sounds like you’ve got it. Ready to put that helmet on?” You held the helmet up wordlessly between the two of you.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Alright go ahead and slip it on, and I’ll help you tighten and buckle it before I put mine on.”

The helmet he provided you fit perfectly, it was snug without being too tight, and it didn’t wiggle around your face. You could hear his muffled voice asking how it fit through all the padding. You gave the helmet a tap on the outside and a thumbs up. His fingers got to work on the straps underneath your chin, constantly asking how they felt. Once they felt good, Danny slipped his own helmet on and set up the bluetooth.

You hear the bluetooth dial up tone before you hear his voice.

“Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear.” You saluted him jokingly, earning a chuckle that rang throughout your ears.

“Alright, I’m gonna hand you some gloves, go ahead and put those on while I hop on the bike.”

“Sir, yes sir.” He chuckled again, this time shaking his head.

“Easy now, I don’t know you that well… yet.” Danny winked at you as he handed you the gloves. Instant heat flushed to your cheeks and you were thankful that most of your face was covered. Damn him.

Once he was settled on the bike and you had the gloves on, he spoke again.

“Alright I’m gonna hold my hand out and I want you to use me to help you step on.”

“Got it.”

You walked around to the back of the bike and grabbed his hand around the top of his left shoulder. He kept you steady as you swung your leg over the seat and sat on the back of the bike.

“You’re gonna have to get a little bit closer than that.”

You scooted forward on the seat and tried to get more comfortable. However, you still must not have been close enough because just as you got comfortable, Danny’s large hands wrapped around the backs of your knees and pulled you closer until you were flush against him. You tried to ignore the proximity and where his hands just were, trying to focus on preparing yourself for the actual ride.

“Sorry…” You felt like you had let him down a little by not meeting his standards.

“No worries, this is your first time. Sometimes you just need someone to show you. Go ahead and grab on. Don’t be afraid you’ll hurt me, okay? Hold on tight.”

“Yeah, okay.” While being this close to a complete stranger was unusual, you felt safe with Danny. You snaked your arms around his midsection and held your arms with the other hand, locking them on.

A moment later the bike’s engine revved to life and you felt the vibrations roll through your body. It had just become very real to you. You were about to go on a ride with a man you literally met maybe forty minutes ago. You were in far too deep to turn back now though.

“Ready? We’ll start out nice and easy.” Danny’s head turned slightly over his left shoulder to peek at you. Instead, his helmet knocked against yours softly due to the minimal distance between you. He muttered a quick ‘sorry’ accompanied with a chuckle. You couldn’t help but let a small giggle out.

“Yeah, uh… Just promise you’re not some kind of murderer who’s gonna kill me and dispose of my body in the woods…”

“I promise I’m not a murderer. Just a guy who desperately wants a cute girl’s number. You’re gonna have to trust me during the ride, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. I’m good. I’m ready.” You were basically trying to hype yourself up. Trying to prepare for whatever was about to happen. Definitely too late to turn back now.

“Alright then, let’s go.” Danny released the kickstand and began to walk the bike backwards out of the spot. Your arms tightened around his waist out of instinct as Danny took off out of the parking lot slowly. You remembered what he told you to do during turns and let your body stay neutral, following the motion of the bike while he took a right out of the parking lot.

“You doing okay back there?”

“Yeah, I’m doing alright. If you want, we could probably kick it up a notch if we’re below the speed limit. I’m feeling good.”

You meant it too. Riding on the back was fairly easy and you adjusted to it quickly. Letting your body move in tandem with Danny’s and the bike felt natural and you were loving it.

“Whatever you say, doll.” He laughed with amusement and gave the right handle bar a twist, accelerating. You didn’t go much faster, but you appreciated it. Danny seemed to be cautious about keeping the ride safe.

Buildings and houses and schools blurred in your vision, zooming past. Everything went by at warped speed which made your ability to focus nearly impossible. You did your best to keep yourself upright, but still pressed against him to not leave too much room. Constantly, you fought the urge to rest the cheek of your helmet against his shoulder, but decided that may not be the best option. You didn’t want to be too close to him so that you wouldn’t be able to brace yourself for stops or pull away when you stopped at red lights or stop signs.

Eventually, Danny pulled out onto a quieter road surrounded by trees. There were little to no cars and no people walking around. He kept the speed steady for a moment before speaking.

“Ready to experience some real speed?”

You were definitely ready. You had trusted Danny this far and didn’t think he was reckless enough to endanger you both. Less traffic also made you feel more safe. You tightened your arms around his waist tighter, gripping your forearms with more strength.

“Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s do it.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Just from the sound of his voice you could tell he was wearing his heart stopping crooked smile.

The build up of speed was gradual, but quick. One moment you were comfortable and the next you felt like you could fly off the back of the bike any second. But you were enjoying every bit of it. You hadn’t even realized that your small screams of enjoyment were now coming out as laughter. No matter how hard you tried to stop you just couldn’t stop laughing.

Your laughter finally died down with the speed of the bike as Danny started to decelerate. He pulled over on the side of the road, kicked the stand out, and killed the engine. You stayed on the back of the bike while he fumbled with the chin straps on the helmet and then slipped it off his head.

“Here.” He held his hand out like he did to help you get on the bike. You placed your left hand in his right using the leverage to pull your body up and swing your leg over the seat. Moving slowly, you were careful to not send your knee flying into his spine.

Danny didn’t let go of your hand after you stepped off the bike, and instead intertwined his fingers with yours to pull you in front of him. Both of his hands find the straps under your chin and his fingers release them swiftly allowing you to pull the helmet off.

“Not bad for a rookie.” He smiled up at you from his seated position on the bike. His discarded helmet sat between his legs, his large hands resting on top of it.

“I’ve been told I’m a pretty fast learner.” You shrugged nonchalantly, a smirk creeping its way onto your lips. Danny only smiled wider.

“Is that so?”

His eyebrow cocked as he spoke and his hand stretched out the short distance towards your hip, looping his index and middle fingers through the belt loop on your jeans. He tugged you towards him with minimal force, and you allowed your body to follow until his knee rested against your hip. You nodded your head slowly in response, teeth gnawing lightly on your bottom lip.

It was at this moment that you realized just how close you were to one another. You were so close to Danny that you could make out all the freckles that splayed across the bridge of his nose. So close that you could tell that his eyes weren’t just brown. They were hazel. Brown and green hazel. They were beautiful, and warm, and inviting, and they held you there, unable to look away.

His hand gripped your hip, the tips of his fingers digging into your waist, somehow bringing you closer to him. You rested your hand on his shoulder, a nervous knot of excitement twisting in the pit of your stomach. With bated breath you watched Danny’s eyes shift between your own before flicking down to your lips and back up to your eyes.

His eyes bore into yours with a silent question, your answer coming out in the form of a nod. The hand on your hip disappeared and came to rest on your neck, his fingers reaching the nape. He pulled you to him, pausing just before his lips brushed yours, his eyes flitting once more between your eyes and lips. He met your gaze again, his lips curled up in that soft crooked smile that made your knees weak.

When his lips finally touched yours it was with light pressure. Like he was afraid he’d hurt you. Soft and warm, his lips fit against yours in a way you couldn’t describe. As if they were made for each other. Your skin tingled with goosebumps and felt like it had been set on fire. Just when you began to melt against Danny’s lips they were gone. Your eyes open half-lidded, coated with content and need, to see Danny staring back at you mirroring your expression.

“It’s, uh, starting to get dark out. We should head back.” You were still so close to each other that his warm breath cascaded over your skin. He was smiling at you when he spoke, his hand still holding the back of your neck.

“Yeah, okay.” Your voice cracked in a whisper and you smiled softly back at him.

Danny helped you put your helmet back on, tightening the straps and making sure the bluetooth was working before starting the bike. He held his hand out just as he had earlier and you grabbed on, hoisting yourself onto the back of the seat. While you got comfortable, Danny put his helmet on.

“Ready to head back?”

You snaked your hands around his waist and squeezed lightly before responding.

“Yeah, I’m all set.”

“Alright then.”

——————————

The ride back to your car was fairly quiet. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. In fact it was completely comfortable, just enjoying the moment you were sharing and watching the night fly by. Soon enough you and Danny were pulling into the spot next to your car. The parking lot was mostly empty, the grocery store having closed nearly an hour ago.

“Here we are.” Danny killed the engine to the bike and helped you step off the back.

“Here,” You held out the helmet he had brought you, “Thank you for taking me out on the bike. I, uh, had a lot of fun.” He hung his own on the handlebar as he stepped off.

“I had fun too, I’m glad you asked for a ride.” He didn’t take the helmet from your hand and instead pushed it back towards you gently. The confusion written on your features was met with a soft smile.

“Keep it. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time I take you for a ride.”

You smiled back at him and tucked it underneath your arm.

“Oh is that so?” You gave him a sly, playful smile and laughed.

“I hope so.” He laughed with you, and stepped closer, his hand cupping your cheek. You leaned into his touch with your hand laying over his.

“I think that can be arranged.”

“Good, because I’d like to be able to do this a lot more often.”

Danny’s lips met yours for the second time that night, and still you felt the imaginary fireworks. Still you felt the tingle it brought to your entire body. Still you felt that same fire from before. It was almost as if you had never felt truly alive until today. And just like before, the kiss was brief. When you opened your eyes, Danny’s were staring back at you softly. That beautiful crooked grin adorned his face making your heart clench.

“I think I could get used to that.”

Another hour had easily passed. You were both talking, and enjoying each other’s company and swapping life stories. The night was beginning to turn chilly, your body shivering lightly. Danny being the gentleman that he is, handed you his jacket, which you gracefully accepted even though it was far too large for you.

Eventually the night drew to a close despite you wishing it would never end. You could’ve stayed with Danny the entire night, just talking about your lives. You loved learning all the little things about him like the things he loved, and the things he hated, his passion for music and his family. Being around him was like a constant nicotine high leaving your entire body tingling, and your mind fuzzy.

“Hand me your phone.” You held your palm out to him. He had opened your door for you and you were sitting in the driver’s seat looking up at him.

He just gave you a questioning look, but took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to you, unlocking it first. You opened the phone icon and began typing your numbers in on the keypad. You saved your number in his phone and gave it back to him with your contact popped up on the screen.

“I intended to keep my end of the bargain.”

“How do I know this is your real number? That you didn’t just put in a fake one and use me for my clearly awesome bike?” His tone was playful, clearly making a joke.

“Well you could text me now, make sure it’s right.” A light, breathy laugh sounded from his lips. He did as you suggested and typed out a quick message. To neither of your surprise, your phone vibrated in your pocket. You showed him the notification and saved his number in your phone.

“I told you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Danny rolled his eyes, an amused smile on his face. He stepped closer to you and leaned down, kissing you a final time for the night. This kiss was a little different than the other two. There was the tiniest hint of passion and hunger behind the barely there force that came with his lips this time. Not letting either of you explore those feelings, Danny pulled away and grabbed your hand.

“I really need to get going, it’s getting late. Let me know when you make it home safely?”

“Yeah, I will.”

Danny placed a kiss to the back of your hand, and stepped back. He wished you goodnight, his voice coming out soft, and hushed. You said goodnight as well, shut your door and started your car. He waited for you to back out and leave the area you were parked in before he exited the parking lot too. The whole way home you couldn’t stop replaying the day’s events in your mind. It almost felt like a dream. A fairytale even. What are the odds right?

When you had made it home safely you remembered to text Danny.

I got home safe. Thank you again for a great day, it was perfect.

You went about your regular nighttime routine, washing your face, changing clothes, feeding your fish, etc… You also had brought in all of the groceries you had bought hours ago, and put them away. It wasn’t until you were changing that you realized you still had Danny’s jacket on. You slid into bed and picked up your phone to text him about it. He had already texted you back which made you smile.

I had a great time too. I’m glad today was perfect because that was just a scratch on the surface.

His text seemed promising of another… whatever today was. You weren’t sure if you would call today a first date, or a date at all considering you barely knew the guy, but you knew for sure you wanted to see him again.

Sounds like you plan on seeing me again?

You hit send before typing out another message and hitting send on that one.

Oh by the way, I still have your jacket!

When his next text came through, you were sure you were blushing bright red, and smiling at your phone like a lunatic. Or some kind of love-sick teenager.

I know, I didn’t ask for it back on purpose. I figured you could give it back to me on our second date ;)

————————————

taglist: @malany-gvf @dannyandthekiszkas @gretasimp @popejosh4ever @brujamagick @demolitionndann @hellowgoodbye @lipstickitty @ageofhearingloss @sunandthemoontwinflames @indigofallingsky @gold-mines-melting

add yourself to my taglist! :)

[clockwayswrites]

Didn't write the rest of this scene I've shared bits of or anything.

WC: 913, Masterpost Sometime after Danny meets Red Hood, before he plots.

Jason actually stopped on the stairs when he saw Danny. He was going down and Danny coming up, but the sight made Jason freeze rather than just stepping to the side like he normally would. Danny looked beyond exhausted. His usually perky hair was limp, the bags under his eyes were impressively dark, and he tripped over every step. Jason was half worried that while he had been away, Danny had gotten turned into a zombie.

Considering it was Gotham and the city already had Grundy (and Jason himself), it was a disturbingly valid concern.

“Midterms,” Danny mumbled several long moments after he had caught sight of Jason standing on the next landing up.

Okay, midterms made sense too.

(Nice not to have to clean up a zombie outbreak as soon as he was back in town.)

“Just starting, in the middle of, or over?”

“Over, thank the Ancients. Last paper turned in,” Danny said with a dramatic motion that made him wobble dangerously against the railing. Jason closed the gap between them nervously. “I’m gonna go… go… what’s the word?”

“Eat? Shower? Sleep?”

“That!” Danny snapped his fingers. “All of that. In some order, I guess.”

Jason reached out and gently took Danny’s arm. “Okay, Tuesday, I don’t know if I trust you not to slip in the shower and smash your pretty face in right now.”

“You think my face is pretty?”

Ignoring his blush, Jason moved past that fact quickly. “So how about you come up to my place. You can shower while I make you a snack and then you can lay down for a nap. When you wake up, I’ll have dinner ready.”

“Mm, dinner. I like dinner. I miss dinner,” Danny said dreamily.

Jason decided just to get them moving up the stairs. “When’s the last time you ate something more than granola bars and soup, Danny?”

“What day is it? Wait! I know this. Physics. T-R. Thursday!” Danny said. He was clearly very proud of himself.

“Food, Tuesday.”

“Yes please.”

Holding back a sigh, Jason carefully directed Danny up the stairs to the top floor. His things wouldn’t exactly fit Danny, but he was loathe to let the other out of his sight right then. He’d just make sure to grab sweats that had a drawstring on them. After Danny was asleep, he could make a quick run to the store to get some fresh things for dinner.

It was a bit of a juggle to keep a watchful arm around Danny and get his door unlocked and then relocked, but Jason managed before guiding Danny through the bedroom to the full bathroom.

“Stay.”

“Yes sir,” Danny quipped, words interrupted by the large yawn he took.

Once Jason was sure Danny would stay standing he pulled away to go dig out some clothing and a fresh towel, only to turn around and run into the dresser himself like he was the one sleep deprived. It was just that, well, Danny had started to strip and was already down to his boxers. It was a lot of skin on display and Jason couldn’t help but watch the play of freckles and scars across the shoulder blades.

That was… there were actually a concerning number of scars, for a civilian.

And the type of scars… a lot of those looked like burns and electrical scars. Several puncture wounds too. What was Danny getting into? Jason gripped tightened on the clothing in his hands. They needed to step up training.

“Clothing!” Danny cooed sleepily.

Jason shook himself out of his thoughts and delivered the clothing into Danny’s grabbing hands. “Be careful in the shower. I’ll be outside the door in case you fall.”

“I’m fine,” Danny said. “I’m not even bleeding!”

That really wasn’t reassuring.

“Still, be careful, Tuesday,” Jason said, making a quick exit as Danny started to pull down his boxers. He didn’t want Danny to remember all this after some food and sleep and feel like Jason had invaded his privacy or anything.

While the shower ran, Jason considered just what he could do for the snack. He thought he had some waffles he froze and he had to have some breakfast links in the freezer too, so pigs in blankets would be easy. No fresh fruit, but he had froze so a smoothie for vitamins and fluids. He might add some powdered mix to it also. Then he could tuck Danny in for a nap before he ran a quick trip to the grocery. A soup and some fresh bread would be nice and easy to keep warm for as long as Danny slept.

The shower shut off, Jason tried not to worry about the sounds of bumbling about, and then the door opened with a whoosh.

“Ta-da! I am still mostly alive!” Danny said triumphantly.

“I’m proud of you, Tuesday, a real accomplishment there.”

“Do I get a reward?” Danny asked, a hint of that feral smile that Jason had seen as Red Hood playing across his lips.

Jason cleared his throat. “Sure, you in a blanket, pigs in a blanket, and a smoothie.”

Danny hummed before nodding. “Deal.”

“So glad you agree,” Jason drawled as he deposited Danny on the couch and draped a red throw blanket around his shoulders. Jason leaned in a little to catch Danny’s eyes. “Now, stay.”

Danny wavered for a moment, leaning forward close enough to touch before he just slumped back into the couch with a wide yawn. “’Kay.”

-----

AN: I know you all have seen a few bits of this before, but finally got the rest of the parts done around it! There should prob be more after the last bit here, but wanted you all to finally have some Not!Writing again! Sorry for any issues, my fingers really are not doing what they should atm.

I no longer tag, but you can subscribe to the masterpost to be notified!

[oleander-nin]

Hi ollie!! Can i request the platonic yan mud dogs with a human reader? Ty!!!

A/N, not important: I'm going to make headcanons for them soon, so yay. Any criticism is welcome, constructive or not. This is supposed to be a gender neutral reader, so if I screwed up somewhere, please tell me.

-Ollie

Tw: Kidnapping, dark themes, yandere themes

Words: 1964

Summary: Your new friends aren't quite what they seem

The rat yokai’s nose twitches as he throws down another card and takes a replacement, his sharp eyes glued on the carefree ogre in front of him. The stolen, broken clock in the corner ticked loudly, puncturing the tense air around the two yokai. It was only supposed to be a quick game, but with the stakes on it, it might as well have been a death match. Danny’s eyes drift over the leader of the Mud Dogs carefully, trying to find a crack in his perfectly curated poker face. The game had been going for longer than expected, each yokai holding their five cards close to their chest, both metaphorically and physically. Leonard’s eyes dart to the clock, taking in the time. He needed to win this before you got out of school.

Leonard throws down his cards the same time Danny does, the ogre grinning smugly at his full house. Danny sneers at his partner in crime, pushing his double set of pairs further away as if they made him sick. Knowing Leonard got to spend the majority of time with you in itself made Danny nauseous. Danny pushes back his seat aggressively and stands up, walking away from Leonard who was still celebrating his win. Mickey would be back with you soon anyway, and while Leonard won the honor of calling the shots, Danny could still claim his own time with you.

After stumbling upon their base by accident when you first discovered the hidden city, the Mud Dogs quickly latched onto you. They were fascinated by you and quickly became attached, inserting themselves into your life as your close friends and protectors. After all, you were just a human. They couldn’t let you go off on your own into the dangers(or so they claimed) of the hidden city.

Leonard watches the rat yokai leave, a smug grin still on his face. You would arrive with Mickey in just a few more moments, kickstarting the Mud Dogs’ day. Danny moves to the kitchen, rummaging through the old fridge and rotten cabinets. His whiskers twitch at the lack of food, upturning his nose to what little they did have.

“Hey Leonard,” Danny says, his torso halfway in the fridge as he shuffles what little food they did have around. Leonard perks up at his voice, watching Danny with a glazed interest. “We ain't got much food left ‘round here. What do you say we bring them up top for a tour of the market while we resupply?”

Leonard taps his fingers against the table, thinking it over. “We don’t exactly have money to buy things.”

“And they don’t have to know that. One of us can distract them at all times so they never notice.”

Leonard leans back in his chair, sighing. They really did need to stock up, but he didn’t want you to find out their criminal ways. Having you be scared of them was the last thing the Mud Dogs wanted. Despite them having found you mid robbery, you had yet to realize that your new friends were some of the most wanted criminals in the hidden city. Not that they were going to hand that information over. They’d hide it from you ‘till the day they died.

Leonard and Danny halt their conversation and turn towards the door as Mickey’s loud voice sounds through the hideout, a clear warning to shut up in case they were discussing anything unsavory that they didn’t want their human to hear. Mickey enters with you by his side, chatting happily with you while you walk together, Mickey more slithering than walking. You wave to the other Mud Dogs, a bright smile on your face. Both Danny and Leonard immediately untense, relaxing near you. Everything would be fine now that you’re here and safe. They would figure it out.

“Welcome, welcome!” Danny purrs, pulling you into a tight hug. “How was the trip over here?”

Danny looks more towards Mickey when he asks, waiting to see if the eel gave any indication of a possible problem. With a quick shake of the eel’s head, Danny was reassured. He returns his attention to the rambling human, his tail twitching as they talk. Leonard walks behind you, leaning over you and resting his chin on your head.

“How ya’ feel about a tour of the city?” Leonard asks as soon as you take a breath between your story about your dream, grinning down at you. Mickey eyes Danny and Leonard in confusion, scrunching up his face. Danny taps Mickey’s tail quickly with his foot, getting him to stay quiet as you squeal in delight.

“Really? You’re finally going to show me around the city?” Your excitement puts the Mud Dogs more at ease, Leonard’s grin growing.

“Of course we are! You’ve been asking for weeks.” Mickey says, quickly going along with it. Leonard nods, pushing you back so he could grab you by the shoulders.

“Seeing the city is something you’ve been looking forward to, and we’d be happy to be your guides. We just need you to agree to a couple rules first,” Leonard says, Mickey and Danny nodding in agreement behind him. Leonard waits for you to nod before continuing, his eyes set on your face. “First off, no running off. You’re to stay by our side at all times.”

“What if I want to go see something?” You ask, a bit miffed you can’t explore.

“Then you ask one of us to come with you.” Danny quickly says, his snout twitching again. “Now, as for the second rule, don’t go chatting with everyone.” Danny boops your nose with a clawed finger, smiling warmly as your face scrunches up. “I know you like to make friends, but most people around these parts aren’t as accepting as us. Just stick by us and you’ll be fine and dandy.”

“Third rule is to listen. If we say it’s time to go, it’s time to go.” Mickey interjects, pulling you into a hug. His squishy body seems to melt onto you and you can feel the electrical current running just below his skin. The Mud Dogs look at you expectantly, none of them moving as they wait for you to listen to their rules. You sigh, realizing it would be futile to fight them on any of the conditions.

“Okay, okay. I agree to your rules.” You say, holding up Mickey’s body as he wraps himself around you. It was an odd feeling holding the eel yokai, the squish of his body being not unlike the plush of a stomach, but around his entire person.

Leonard takes your hand, brushing Mickey off you as he starts to lead you back out of the base and towards the street market. It would be the easiest for the criminals to blend into, and the least patrolled. Mickey taps Danny twice on the arm, signaling for him to fall back with him as Leonard keeps you next him a couple paces ahead. The rat and the eel fall behind, their voices a hushed whisper while their eyes are trained on the surroundings as they exit the safety of the hideout.

“So what’s with the sudden city tour?” Mickey grumbles, having expected to hang out with you in the comfort of the base. Danny sighs, running his hand over his face like it wasn’t his fault they were going on the expedition.

“We were out of groceries, and if we’re planning on continuing up our good graces, we should probably have food for our friend that isn’t rotten.” Danny says, his eyes scanning the perimeter. He could see the way Leonard, despite appearing to be completely enraptured in whatever you were saying, was on edge as well. Danny could only hope the outing goes well. It was his idea after all.

Mickey stays quiet, only grumbling under his breath. The two catch back up to you and Leonard, easily falling into pace with you. The Mud Dogs watch your face light up as the area opens up, the many stalls and lights of the outdoor market making it seem truly magical to an outsider. Leonard glances around, relaxing a tad when he doesn’t see any cops present. This didn’t seem to be too bad an idea after all.

Mickey swipes a coin purse from a passerby’s belt, flashing it to his partners in crime. They would steal necessities, while buying you what you wanted. They just had to time it right so you didn’t grow suspicious. Moving through the market went smoother than expected, many of the people in this area being shady themselves, so most barely flinched when the infamous Mud Dogs showed up to their stalls.

Mickey pulls you to look at some flowers, keeping your back to the others while they swipe different foods from the corners of the stalls. As your eyes widen at the unique markings of the petals, Mickey feels a sense of pride. The hidden city held many treasures, and he felt elated to have introduced you to one. He hangs around you as you admire the flower, running your fingers over its leaves. 

“Mickey, (Y/n). It’s time to go.” Leonard calls, catching your attention. You dust off your pants when you stand, Mickey quickly rejoining the others while you make your way back through the market as a group. You trail a step behind, letting them lead the way as your eyes wander. The market felt so alive, as if it was its own entity that breathed air and had feelings. Maybe it was, everything felt possible down here.

You continue to people watch and mindlessly admire the many goods being showcased on stall counters, trying to burn the magic of the area into your brain. As your eyes float along the crowd, they land on a simple piece of paper posted to a pole. Their frayed edges showed true to its age, similar flyers accompanying the one that caught your eyes. It was Mickey’s mugshot, with his description, picture, and a set reward being pasted on the page. Similar ones were next to it, but for Danny and Leonard instead.

You walk towards it almost robotically as your blood runs cold, their crimes being listed in a smaller font under their photos. Every word made your stomach churn, the blood leaving your face and giving it a deathly look. The three yokai you had grown so attached to, the ones you truly saw as your close friends, were criminals. Highly wanted ones, at that, with murder, kidnapping, and robbery being some of their more notable crimes.

“You weren’t supposed to see those.” A steady voice murmurs in your ear. You feel a hand rest on your shoulder, your face turning to look at the disembodied voice you recognized so well. Leonard, his posse not too far behind.

Your stomach drops as you try to take a step back, warning bells blaring through your head. “I uh… I need to go home.”

“We know, that’s where we were heading before you disappeared on us.” Danny scolds, taking your wrist in his own hand. “What happened to agreeing to the rules?”

Your throat runs dry as you try to speak, but it was clear they weren’t expecting an answer. Danny promptly starts to drag you back towards the base, the supplies they had gathered being carried by Mickey and Leonard. Pleas tumble from your mouth as you hopelessly try to tug your wrist away, but Danny’s grip was unrelenting. He never even glanced back at you, his eyes focused on the path home. For once when they walked, they completely ignored you, barely listening to a word you said. It was time to go home, and this time, that’s where you’d stay.

[luxaofhesperides]

Ghostlights cuddling for comfort, but also they're oblivious idiots who are pining over each other but thinks its unrequited

“Ugh,” Duke says, dropping down onto the bench besides Danny.

Danny nudges him with his shoulder. “Rough night?”

“Slept for like an hour,” Duke mutters, “This sucks. My head’s going to burst like balloon and my eyes are about to fall out.”

“Yikes. You know, you could have just canceled for today. I wouldn’t have minded.”

Duke sighs and presses the heel of his palms against his eyes. “Maybe, but I would have minded. We barely see each other anymore, man. I’ve missed you.”

“Oh.” Danny bites his lip, trying and failing to stop from smiling. Something soft in his chest glows at the words, a growing spark of happiness in knowing that for this, at least, the feeling is requited. It’s nice to hear that he was missed, and it would be even nicer if Duke wasn’t in pain, pushing himself just because he didn’t want to cancel. Carefully, Danny reaches for him and pulls his hands away from his face. “Here,” he says, “Let me.”

His hands are always cold. Most of him is cold, really — side effect of having an ice core. Sam told him once that his hands were better than an ice pack, and he’s hoping she’s right or this is going to be weird. 

Danny gently presses his fingers against Duke’s temples, his hands cradling Duke’s face. Duke is tense for a few seconds, then abruptly relaxes, leaning into Danny’s hands. 

“Is this helping?” he asks, voice hushed to keep from aggravating Duke’s migraine.

“Mhm. Yeah, it feels great. Thanks, Danny.”

Duke goes completely limp, leaning against Danny. They sit there for a minute in silence, the rest of the world feeling far away. As nice as it is to just exist together, he knows what Duke needs most right now is quiet and stillness. Gotham is very much not that, and every honking car that passes by makes Duke wince, trying to turn away from the road even more.

“Hey, let’s head back to my place. It’s close by, and a lot quieter than out here.”

“Are you sure? I know we planned to go to the arcade today…”

“The arcade can wait. You’re more important.”

Duke blinks open his eyes and looks at Danny with something soft in his gaze. Being so close together, barely any space between them, with Duke looking at him like that makes Danny’s cheeks flush red, unable to think anything but please kiss me.

Which is never going to happen. Duke is his friend, and just his friend, no matter how much Danny wishes they could be something more. It’s a pipe dream, something so impossible it’s almost laughable. 

Duke likes being friends with normal human Danny. He doesn’t want to imagine how he would react if he found out about Danny being half ghost, assuming this imaginary reveal happens without Danny being hunted down and cut open by GIW agents. 

He’s still in hiding, always waiting for the worst as he stays in the apartment his friends (living and dead) had set up for him. The building is for ghosts so it technically doesn’t exists, which means it’s the safest place for Danny while he’s actively being hunted by the US government. 

He can’t be honest with Duke. Can’t be as close to him as he wants to be. Duke deserves more than to be dragged into Danny’s problems and put in danger.

Even so, Danny can’t help but want him around, pushing his luck each time they hang out.

“Come on,” Danny urges, standing up. He pulls his hands away and Duke’s brow immediately furrows, his pain returning. “It’s only a few streets away.”

Duke sighs, then visibly braces himself before he stands up. Danny tucks himself into Duke’s side, taking as much of his weight as he can as he walks them down the street. It’s times like these that he wishes he could reveal his powers safely and just fly them to his apartment. But even without the GIW gunning for his head, showing off powers in Gotham is a sure fire way to get a target painted on his back.

“Almost there,” he says as they turn a corner. 

His apartment doesn’t have a fixed address. It doesn’t have a fixed location at all, drifting around, but it likes this street the most, so this is where it usually is. Danny takes them halfway down the street, then turns into an alley, following his ghost sense. 

Where there’s usually a dead end is instead a building, looking as if it’s always been tucked away in this alley. Danny keeps a tight grip on Duke as they climb the front steps, silently asking for the building to let him stay while he’s with Danny. The door opens easily, which is as good as an agreement, and they’re inside without anything going wrong. The small entrance lobby is empty, with an area for packages filled with clearly magical artifacts carelessly wrapped in bubble wrap. 

Danny drags them past that quickly, hoping Duke doesn’t notice, and calls the elevator down. It arrives silently, the doors opening to let another tenant out. Carefully, Danny positions himself in front of Duke, making sure he doesn’t see how the tenant, who nods at Danny, has a still bleeding wound in his stomach that has him nearly split in half. 

“Alright,” he says, ushering Duke into the elevator, “Just a little ride up and then you can lay down.” He hits the button for the fourth floor and they ride up in silence, Duke dropping his head down to onto Danny’s shoulder again, wrapping his arms around his waist as he stands behind Danny. He’s glad Duke can’t see his face; there’s no doubt that he’s blushing like crazy and if that doesn’t give away his feelings, he doesn’t know what will.

Thankfully the elevator ride isn’t long. If Danny had to go for more than a minute with Duke breathing softly against his neck, his warm hands on his stomach, Danny would have collapsed into a pile of flustered goo.

He opens the door to his apartment and kicks his shoes off. Duke follows in suit, still plastered onto Danny’s back, refusing to let go. 

“Come on,” Danny says, leading him to the couch, “Sit down and I’ll grad you some water and painkillers.”

Duke nods against his shoulder, then slowly detaches himself from Danny and makes his way to the couch. He drops onto it gracelessly, pressing his face into a cushion. 

Danny winces. He must be feeling really bad. He knows how bad migraines can be with sleep deprivation, having suffered through high school with only a few hours of sleep at night, if he got to sleep at all. Frankly, it’s a testament to Duke’s strength that he lasted the entire walk to Danny’s apartment without complaint. 

He returns to the living room with a full glass of water and a bottle of Advil, setting them on the coffee table to crouch next to the couch and place a cold hand on Duke’s cheek. “Hey,” he says softly when Duke turns to look at him, “Is Advil alright? It’s all I had.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Thanks, Danny.”

Duke sits up and shakes out three pills, then washes them down with water. He drains the rest of the cup quickly, then falls back against the couch with his eyes squeezed shut.

“Is there anything else I can do to make you feel better?”

Duke immediately reaches a hand out for him.

“Um?”

“Sit next to me. I feel better when I’m next to you.”

“Oh! Alright. Bet you’re only saying that because my hands are cold.”

“You caught me,” Duke laughs, pulling Danny onto the couch. He goes easily, tucking his legs beneath himself, and places his hands on Duke’s temples again. “Man, I owe you my life.”

“I don’t think my cold hands are worth quite that much.”

Duke hums, but doesn’t say anything else, so Danny settles in and focuses on keeping his hands a little colder than normal. 

The apartment is quiet. No sound from outside can reach them, one of the few ways the building looks after its tenants. Danny and Duke fall against each other, at ease with each other. There’s no need to fill in the silence, and with Duke’s eyes closed, Danny doesn’t have to carefully shove down his feelings and act normal. He indulges in the warmth of Duke’s body pressed against his, a hand on his knee and an arm around his waist. 

He keeps his hands as steady as possible as he looks over Duke, adoring all the little details he can see; a small scar on his chin, the fullness of his lips, the way his hair falls into his face now that it’s long enough to keep in braids.

“I can practically hear you thinking,” Duke murmurs, “What’s on your mind?”

You’re cute, he thinks, I feel safe with you. I want to kiss you. I wish I could be brave enough to be honest.

I wish I was brave. I wish I was brave. I wish I was brave.

“Nothing,” he says. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah. I might fall asleep though.”

“That’s fine. You know I would never say no to a nap.”

“Come here, then,” Duke says, and before Danny can do anything, Duke gets a stronger grip on his waist and pulls Danny down on top of him as he falls back towards the arm rest and gets his legs on the couch.

“Duke!”

Duke laughs underneath him, and Danny can feel it roll through him. Okay! This is definitely something he’s going to think about… forever. Wow, he can feel Duke’s abs tense up as he laughs, and has he always been ripped? Unfair. Also unfairly hot. 

“Is this alright?” Duke asks, voice soft and quiet. There’s a hesitancy around his words that Danny doesn’t like hearing, and he brings his hands down to sweep his thumbs soothingly over Duke’s cheeks.

“Of course it is, man. I’d never refuse cuddles.”

“Okay. I’m gonna pass out now. Wake me in an hour?”

Danny moves his hands back up to his temples and says, “Sure. Get some rest, Duke. You really need it.”

He feels Duke relax beneath him, breaths slowing down as he begins to fall asleep. It’s peaceful and quiet and Duke is warm in a way Danny never can be with his ice core. He doesn’t mean to fall asleep, but curled up on the couch with Duke in the safety of an apartment that only barely exists has him drifting off in no time at all.

. . .

(Duke wakes up before Danny. Their legs are tangled together and Duke has moved during his sleep, turning so Danny is held tightly to his chest, his back to the cushions, while Duke is balancing very carefully at the edge of the couch. 

It’s been hours, and he should be heading home soon, but he stays as he is, enjoying this quiet moment for as long as he can have it. Danny is in his arms, safe and content with him, his head no longer hurts beyond a residual ache he can easily ignore, and he can admire how pretty Danny is without being worried about Danny catching his lingering stares. 

These moments are precious to him, rare as they are, and he wants nothing more than to kiss Danny once he’s awake and let his feelings be known.

But the Signal has lots of dangerous people after him, and Gnomon has started causing problems in Gotham again. So he’ll bite his tongue and keep his less platonic feelings buried under lock and key until it’s safe enough for Danny to be around him more often.

And when that time comes, he can only hope that Danny will feel the same way.

That’s all far away from the stillness of Danny’s apartment. All that matters is that he has Danny in his arms. Everything else can wait. 

For now, this is more than enough.)

[hypewinter]

Dick heard sniffling coming from somewhere. Which was weird to say the least. It couldn't be Bruce. Dick has just finished storming out of his study after another argument and this sniffling was coming from the opposite direction. Besides Bruce didn't cry. He frowned and grunted in displeasure. At most he would get this pathetic kicked puppy in the rain look that always weakened Dick's resolve but he never cried. And it definitely couldn't be Alfred. Dick had never seen the old butler show anything beyond mild disdain in ways of negative emotions. Even when he was angry at Bruce.

So then who was crying? Dick immediately switched to detective mode. He lightened his footsteps and carefully followed the sound down the hall. He crept closer and closer to the noise until he arrived at a door where he could hear hiccupping. The boy prayed that this wasn't one of the creakier doors of the manor as he opened it. It creaked but thankfully not loudly. At least not enough to notify the stranger as the noises didn't let up.

Dick slowly clicked the door closed and waited patiently for his eyes to adjust somewhat to the newfound darkness. Judging by all of the boxes placed all around, this must be one of the many storage rooms around the manor. Dick's mouth set in a firm line as he tiptoed around the boxes, looking for the source of the sound.

As he rounded the corner of one particular stack he caught a flash of green. The sniffling abruptly stopped but the intruder could not stop his hiccups, which had become more frequent. He was panicking. Dick put his hands up in a placating manner, hoping the figure could see his silhouette.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered.

"I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't know anyone lived here," came a whimper. It was low but not deep or gravelly. So a teenage boy? What was he doing here?

Dick took a hesitant step forward but immediately stopped once he saw the boy scramble back. His eyes were adjusting more now aided in the fact that the boy's eyes cast a faint blue glow. Odd. He could have sworn the boy's eyes were green a second ago. One thing at a time.

"Nope, I live here with my d- guardian and butler. Though between you and me, he's more like my grandfather." That earned him a weak chuckle. That was good. He could work with that.

After a beat Dick asked, "Mind if I join you? It feels weird towering over you like this."

The boy shrugged. " 's your house," he replied. Dick took this as another good sign and carefully sat next to the boy.

"Soooo-" he started- "any reason you're crying in a storage room at my home?" It wasn't exactly the most tactful way to go about it but the boy wonder had a feeling that trying to beat around the bush wouldn't work out so great.

He moved to get up but Dick quickly stopped him. "It's okay. You can stay. It'd be pretty heartless to throw you out right now when you clearly have nowhere to go."

"I just- I needed a place to lay low. I thought an abandoned mansion would be a good place." That tripped quite a few red flags in Dick's mind. "Bu- But I'll leave now," the boy quickly said, scrubbing at his eyes.

The boy flinched at that. Okay that was a sensitive topic. Got it. The young hero redirected the boy to a different topic. "What's your name?" he asked. "Mine's Richard Grayson by the way. But you can call me Dick."

"Dick?" the boy repeated.

"Yep," Dick replied, popping the p.

"I.... see."

Dick was honestly surprised the boy hadn't made fun of his name. Many his age often did but then again, not many his age snuck into gothic manors to cry their eyes out.

The boy rubbed at his eyes again before saying, "I'm Danny."

"Nice ta meet ya Danny," Dick said with a beam. He got a nod in return.

Another silence lapsed between the two before Dick spoke up and said, "Say are you hungry? Alfred will probably be preparing dinner around this time. You can join us if you want."

Even in the darkest he could tell Danny's eyes grew round like saucers. "Really?" he asked, incredulous. "But why?"

"Well because you look like you could use some food." And seeing the look on Bruce's face would be priceless.

Danny hesitated a little but after his stomach made up his mind for him by growling, he agreed.

Dick guided Danny out of the room. Once they were in the well lit hallway, he could finally see that the boy was only wearing some tattered jeans and a well loved hoodie. In the middle of Gotham winter. How was this kid not a popsicle? Even his shoes were just some beat up converses. Dick was desperate to know Danny's story but decided to at least wait till after dinner. As to not overwhelm him.

He led Danny to the dinning room where Alfred was already setting out the plates. The old butler took one look at the boys before silently going to the kitchen. He returned a minute later with an extra set of plates.

"Shall I also prepare a guest room?" he asked.

When Danny's only response was his mouth hanging open, Dick couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah Alfred, I think you'd better prepare one," he said, clapping Danny on the back.