#but something inside of him (similar to the pits) just believes in Danny

[nelkcats]

The Crime Lord does not stop flirting with me!

When Danny ran away from home and ended up in Gotham he wasn't quite sure what to do, adrenaline was coursing through his veins and all he wanted was a place to be safe.

That's when Crime Alley lit up like a Christmas tree and Danny knew it could be his new home, something about Crime Alley was drawing him in. It wasn't long before he decided to get a job to lay low. Of course, the latter was a bust because Red Hood noticed him almost instantly.

Contrary to his expectations, the Crime Lord took an interest in him but said nothing. He simply asked him to repair his motorcycle like a normal customer in his new job. Danny did and well, he couldn't help but repair some damaged systems and add some modifications. He hoped he wasn't stepping out of line, he just couldn't help himself, it was second nature to repair damaged things.

He thought Red Hood would be angry about it but the man seemed delighted (or as delighted as he could look with the mask), he looked at Danny and asked him what else he could do. Nervously, he told him that he was somewhat good with technology and before he knew it he had been hired by a gang (more or less, they were just asking for some custom orders).

So, technically he established as the mechanic and supplier to the Hood gang, and more specifically to the Crime Lord himself. He gave Hood some upgrades and became his supplier of (mostly harmless) weapons and upgrades. This attracted the attention of most of the gangs that were against the Crime Lord and Batman himself.

Jason, noticing how nervous the guy was assured him that he would protect him and no one was going to hurt him as long as he was around, it was obvious he wasn't from Gotham. For some reason, his new employee blushed every time he said those words.

Danny didn't know if Red Hood understood what he was doing (That was totally a flirt for protection spirits!), every day it was getting harder and harder not to respond to him. His ghost side kept screaming that he got a good match!

Which was technically true, considering that Red Hood had promised him protection and let him stay in his haunt (it became obvious that Crime Alley was his haunt after a few days in Gotham but strangely it accepted him)

Jason continued to promise Danny that he would be safe (poor boy always looked nervous) and Danny wondered how many days he could take the blatant flirting.

[avaritia-apotheosis]

Phantom Children Ch. 3

In which: Danny getting yeeted into the Lazarus Pit yields anticlimactic consequences and Bruce Wayne converses with a fruit loop.

AO3 | Prologue | 2 | [ 3 ] | 4 |

DANIEL BARELY HAD TIME TO SCREAM before he’s plunged into the green depths of the Lazarus pit, primeval waves crashing against the walls of the pool. Talia flicked her wrist, signaling the ten League members hidden in the shadows to approach. Each one spaced equally apart around the pit with smoke pellets synthesized from blood blossoms held in their hands, ready to drop at a moment’s notice.

Pit madness rendered the majority of the living uncontrollable, with even the weakest of humans imbued with a strength that could only be induced by the purest of rage. The League was not taking chances as to how a being like her son would react to it.

The waters stilled.

Then—

A bright flash of light. Then, faster than the eyes could follow, a figure erupted from the waters. Bone white hair that twisted and curled as if it were still underwater. Skin lightly tinged frostbitten blue and clad in a suit of black and white and shrouded in an aura of blinding light. Phantom appeared from the depths, floating above the pit like a god reborn.

His eyes burned a toxic green.

“What the fuck was that?”

But not pit madness green.

Talia ordered her assassins to at ease with a raise of her hand. She slowly walked to her father’s side just as her son—Phantom—landed at the edge of the pool. Idly, Talia noticed how different Phantom seemed in comparison to her son. Physical attributes aside, Daniel tended to make himself smaller. What venom that may coat his words and the vitriol in his glares dampened by the way he held himself. Shoulders hunched and head tilted down. Non-threatening. Hands always needing to do something, whether it be holding his arms or shoved inside his pockets or constantly brushing it through his hair. No matter how she and his instructors taught him how to hold himself like a warrior, like a soldier, he still tended to present himself as a skittering little animal.

Phantom was different. He squared his soldiers and lifted his chin high, unafraid to stretch out to his fullest height and use his defiance of gravity to make himself look bigger. Stronger. His arms held steady at his sides, curled into tight fists. Green eyes—green as the Lazarus pit yet without that spark of madness that so consumed everyone else—burning with righteous fury.

“You fucking threw me into the weird green pool. What even—who does that?”

Ra’s tilted his head. “Fascinating. It seems you have a resistance to the pit madness.”

Phantom blinked, caught off guard. “Pit…madness,” he echoed. A statement, though from the wrinkle in his brows and the look he shoots Talia, it was more a question than anything else.

“It is one of the side effects of the Lazarus pits.” Talia approached her son with caution, holding his face with both hands and inspecting for any differences. “While the waters rejuvenate, restore, and even temporarily imbue one with supernatural strength, it also tends to inflict users with temporary insanity.”

“Insanity?” His eyes widened, trembling hands coming up to hold her wrists. Strangely, Daniel did not pull away from her touch. “I could have gone insane?”

Those bright eyes of his looked so frightened. Haunted. Pupils dilated to mere pinpricks of blackness, lost in a sea of Lazarus green. “Oh habeebi, only temporarily.”

“Like that’s better!” He yelled. “Even temporarily, I’m—” He staggered back, breaking out of her hold. Harmless Danny Fenton bleeding into proud Phantom as he ran his hands through his hair, unwilling to look at anyone.

Ra’s continued to watch, his arms crossed beneath his sternum, muttering to himself. Her father had prided himself on being one of the most knowledgeable about the Lazarus pits and its effects. Now, faced with a new mystery, the scholar within the Demon’s Head emerged as he observed his grandson.

“No,” Ra’s said, mostly to himself. “Perhaps less of a ‘resistance’ and more of an ‘immunity’ to it, given how both Daniel and the Lazarus pit have similar compositions. It would be a fascinating tangent to follow.” He chuckled to himself. “How droll. The life-restoring Lazarus pit holding a connection to the land of the dead.”

Talia turned to her father. “So, Daniel will not feel any of the pit’s side effects, then?”

Daniel perked up at the sound of his name, halting in his pacing. “I…might not go insane?”

“Perhaps, though it is too soon to tell. You have the waters of the Lazarus pit flowing through your veins, Daniel.” Ra’s smiled; eyes gleaming with the sparks of pride. “You and it are made of the same chemicals, the same reality-defying compounds that can bring the dead back to life.”

“Well, great. I have the same chemical makeup as a glowing hot tub, what else is new—” Her son staggered, and she caught him. Impossibly bright rings formed at his abdomen and then split, transforming Phantom back into a human. Mortal. His face haggard and sweating from the temples, eyes back to her beloved’s pale blues.

Her father did not bat an eye. “The pit’s healing effects are slowed down, then? Or perhaps it is because he has no wounds to heal?” Ra’s hummed; chin cradled in his hand. “Set him back into the pits, Talia. I believe young Daniel has yet to absorb all his needed energy.”

“Sure, yeah, that’s fine. Put me back in the crazy water, why not?” Daniel tugged at her shoulders. “Just…gently, please?”

Talia smoothed down his dark hair with a smile. “Of course, habeebi. I will even stay with you as well.”

When he looked at her, it was something almost akin to gratefulness.

------

In Gotham City, the upper echelons of society gather together at the Gotham Expo Center. The shining halls, which had been used as the site of a week-long exhibition of new scientific research, was reoutfitted to serve as the venue for the exhibition’s final event.

A gala. The hunting ground of the nouveau riche and old money families. Corporate moguls and debutants made their rounds across the floor, chatting with heirs and politicians and the who’s who of the upper class.

Scientists and researchers attempted to step out of their shells and dazzle the crowds. Wanting to fish a willing patron with deep pockets to fund their next project. Reporters huddled together like schools of fish, warily approaching the predators in their midst for a question or a photo. Both things many of the wealthy and affluent are easily ready to give, as long as it only showed off their best side in tomorrow’s society papers.

Bruce Wayne, the Prince of Gotham, and society’s darling observed everything as he always did, in that most people believed he barely noticed anything beyond what’s right in front of him. He raised the flute glass of champagne to his lips, pretending to take a sip as he listened to the chatter of sycophants around him. A few were even some promising researchers of which he made a mental note to pass along to Lucius.

Two nights ago, Bruce received a tip of unusual movements from the League of Assassins. The organization had been quiet as of late, and while Bruce had been very carefully monitoring their activities in the background, the sudden tightening of their security prompted him to take a closer look.

There had been sightings of the League of Assassins centered around a small town in Illinois—Amity Park. A rural tourist trap championing itself as the most haunted place in America. Something that Bruce would normally scoff at or zealously research about if not for John Constantine’s warning to “never go within a ten-mile radius of that hellhole.” With similar sentiments from others in the occult community, the Justice League decided to take that warning to heart. Bruce’s curiosity may have been piqued, but even he was tactful enough to avoid courting more trouble.

Suffice to say, Bruce—and especially Batman—could not afford to ignore Ra’s al Ghul’s movements. Whatever his plans were involved whatever anomalies were going on in Amity Park. And wasn’t it simply serendipitous that one of the guest lists for tonight’s gala was Vlad Masters, the mayor of Amity Park?

“Vlad Masters, is that you?” Bruce, slapping on his signature Brucie smile, masterfully detached himself from his previous group, quickly heading towards the nearby bar where he spotted Vlad getting another drink.

“Why, Bruce Wayne, it’s been so long!” The two shook hands, of which Bruce was slightly surprised at how cold to the touch Vlad was. A health condition, perhaps. Then again, there was something in Vlad’s appearance and stature that spoke of a deeper reason.

“It’s been, what, two years? What brings you to Gotham?”

“Business; the usual really.” Despite whatever friendly aura they’re projecting, Bruce Wayne and Vlad Masters weren’t friends. More acquaintances that have been forced to mingle a few times because of the nature of their business and the demands of high society. From what Bruce knows, Vlad is a business tycoon that’s as blindingly charismatic as he was infamous for his quick rise to wealth and a few rather shady dealings.

Bruce stuck his hand in his pocket. “Well Vlad, last we all heard was you dipping your toes into politics. You’re a, uh, what, a governor?”

Vlad let out an obviously fake chuckle. “Oh nothing as grand as that. I’m only a small-town mayor, really.”

“Right!” Bruce snapped his fingers. “So, what’s that like?”

“Oh dreadful work, really. So much paperwork, so many things to do or oversee, but rewarding in its own way.” He puffed out his chest. “Many of the people in Amity Park do rely on me, you know. Though I’m afraid my schedule’s busy enough that I barely have time to go home!”

“Well, we’re very happy that you made room enough to visit us here in Gotham.”

Bruce sensed Damian coming to stand beside him and instinctually placed a hand around his shoulder. Though his youngest had been steadily adjusting to his new life here in Gotham, he still preferred to stick to his father’s shadow than mingle with those of his own age groups at galas. (Then again, Bruce was very similar when he was younger so perhaps it was a genetic thing).

He smiled down at Damian—frowning as he’d rather be patrolling the streets in uniform as opposed to schmoozing with people he hardly cared about. “Have you met my son, Vlad? Damian, this is Vlad Masters, a business partner and a, uh—” He scrunched his face, pretending to remember what Vlad’s current occupation is. “Mayor of some small town out west.”

Bruce turned to look at Vlad, expecting to see some variation of ‘insulted but trying to keep up a polite façade’—only to freeze.

Vlad’s face paled considerably. His beady eyes comically wide as he looked at Damian, the fingers curled around the stem of his flute glass bone white. Damian, unnerved, steadied his stance but shifted minutely closer to Bruce.

Well, this was interesting. “You alright, Vlad? You looked like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

Vlad jerked his head towards Bruce. Surprise—and fear? —contorted his features for a brief moment before smoothed back down into a proper mask. “Mayor of Amity Park, yes. My apologies,” he chuckled. “Young—Damian, was it? —only reminded me of someone I knew once.” He shifted his gaze back to Damian. “The resemblance is actually quite uncanny.”

Damian furrowed his brows. “Amity Park?”

“You’ve heard of it, Damian?”

“I would be surprised if you did.” Vlad masters took a small ship of his champagne. “Then again, it should be expected that you might have heard of it. The town does love it’s ghosts.”

Bruce laughed. “What, like Casper?”

“Something like that, yes.” There’s a tightness to Vlad’s voice. “Amity Park is its own breed of strange. We’ve handled things well enough on our own in the past, and quite honestly you get used to all of the spooks eventually. Though I must say the shadows are quite new—I’d often ask myself if I should petition your city’s vigilante and put him on the case.

“Shadows?”

Vlad easy smile shifted into a faint grimace. “They have a rather nasty habit of snooping.”

------

Despite Bruce and Damian’s attempt at plying Vlad for more answers, Vlad kept his mouth shut, evading questions and changing topics skillfully. Something that only raised Bruce’s alarm that something was going on.

“So,” Bruce unbuttoned his suit as he stepped into the car, “How did you hear of Amity, Damian? Ghosts and ghouls don’t exactly seem like something you’d be interested in.”

He waited for Damian to buckle his seatbelt before shifting the Bentley into drive and pulling out of the Expo. They had stayed at the gala long enough, making their rounds and giving the media enough for a headline in the society pages.

Damian rested his hand against the window. His face scrunched as he watched the looming facades of Gotham’s architecture pass by. “Mother mentioned the name once or twice,” he said. “I was not…privy to every operation that happened in the League, so I don’t know anything despite that my grandfather took an interest in Amity.”

“And I’m sure that from Masters’ odd phrasing, Ra’s didn’t just magically lose that interest either.” He narrowed his eyes. “Contact Oracle and have her dig up everything we need to know about the situation in Amity Park. I think it’s time Batman made his introductions to some out-of-town guests.”

[damianwaynerocks]

Ghosts in Gotham

Danny Phantom / DC Comics

Dedicated To: @lexosaurus​

Summary: The Batfamily has been through their fair share of the supernatural. That’s why they originally weren’t worried whenever ghosts started showing up in Gotham City. Until one day, something happens; Batman is captured and taken into the Ghost Zone. With no way to go in there themselves, with no way to fight the ghosts inside, the bats decide to call the person who can; Danny Phantom. Together, Danny takes Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown and Damian Wayne into the Ghost Zone before the Batman is lost forever.

Word Count: 2744

A/N: Yes, I did put a Ben 10 villain in here. Sue me.

Masterlist

Chapter 4

__

"Fenton, do you have any twos?"

"Go fish."

Damian grumbled something in Arabic as he picked up a card from the pile.

"I feel like that was a bad word."

"You would be correct."

Danny turned to Stephanie. "Steph, you got any fours?" he asked. Stephanie huffed as she handed him a four of hearts, and Danny grinned victoriously as he took two fours and laid them on the ground.

Seeing as they had a two-hour trip to get to the prison, the four had set the Speeder on autopilot and decided to play a card game. Usually, the Infi-map would have their trip being two seconds, but something was wrong with it, so it was much slower than usual.

"Yo Timbers, you have any kings?" Danny asked the oldest boy. Tim smirked and shook his head.

"Go fish, Ghost Child," he replied. Tim had found it hilarious that Skulker referred to Danny as 'Ghost Child,' and had taken up calling him that as well. He turned to Damian. "You got any twos, Demon Spawn?"

If looks could kill, Tim would be six feet under. Damian threw the card at his older brother, whose eyes gleamed as he laid the twos down by his side. "Danny, you have any... sixes?"

"Yes, sir, I do," Danny chirped as he handed over the card. Tim turned back to Damian.

"You have any threes?"

"No, Drake, I do not," Damian said with a proud smile, "Suck on that." Danny and Stephanie clapped.

"You're learning slang!" they said simultaneously. Damian rolled his eyes, before looking at Stephanie.

"Brown, hand me your sevens," he ordered and smiled proudly as she gave him the cards. "Uno!" he shouted.

"Wrong game, dude," Danny said, "But good effort!"

"So, Danny," Stephanie said, "Why do you call Future-You 'Dark Danny' when you could call him something that isn't cringey like 'Dan?'

"'Dan?'" Danny echoed, "That sounds so... normal. Like can you imagine newscast being like, 'the world is ending, and soon we will all be slaves to Dan.'"

"It sounds much better than Dark Danny," Damian piped up as he took a card from Tim. "That sounds like a roller coaster ride at Six Flags."

"The gremlin's right," Tim agreed. Danny glared at them.

"I'm feeling so attacked right now, guys, and I'll have you know that my girlfriend came up with that name."

"You," Damian said derisively, "Have a girlfriend?" Tim rolled his eyes.

"Damian, yes, you knew that. Samantha Manson, you've literally met her parents at a gala one time," he paused, "Did you not pay attention at all when we were reading Danny's file?"

"I only cared about his abilities as Phantom," Damian replied as Danny exclaimed, "I have a file!?" simultaneously.

"Uh, duh," Stephanie answered, "You think we'd tell you the greatest secret ever if we didn't run a background check first?"

"So you guys know I died, then?" Danny asked nervously, scared of what they'd think. Yeah, sure they knew he was half ghost, but would they think it was weird that he was technically dead? That he wasn't technically fully human?

"Yeah," Stephanie answered as though it was obvious. Danny blinked.

"And... you don't care?"

"You believe you are the only one who has died before?" Damian rolled his eyes, "You are not as special as you think, Fenton. Get over yourself.”

Danny's jaw dropped. "Wait, you've died before?"

"Damian and I both have!" Stephanie said before Damian could reply. "We call ourselves the Dead Robins Club. Jason's in it too. Dick wants to be in it, but we won't let him because he only faked his death, he didn't actually die."

Danny's eyes lit up. "Can I join!?"

"You are not a Robin," Damian pointed out, "So no, you cannot." At Danny's frown, he sighed, and added, "But if you are going to be a child about it, perhaps we could speak to Todd and see if you could be an honorary member."

"Hey, we have like, thirty minutes left till we get there," Tim spoke up, "So let's go over the plan again."

Danny cleared his throat. "Right. So I'll be the distraction. I'll fly in there and cause a ruckus, and distract Walker so you three can get in and find Wulf."

"And because we're humans, we can just walk through things," Tim added, "And I get the collar off of Wulf, and we rescue you."

"There are so many holes in this place," Damian pointed out, "What if Wulf does not trust us? What if Drake cannot get the collar off?"

"Well, that'd suck," Danny replied, "But I trust him, don't worry. The only part that should be difficult is getting me out. Totally do-able, just difficult. But I've done it twice, so we should be fine."

"Yeah, we got this!" Stephanie cracked her knuckles with a grin. "We've succeeded on missions that had way lower odds than this," she paused, "Hey Danny, this Walker guy wants to keep order in the Ghost Zone, right? What are the chances he'd help us?"

"Like two percent," Danny answered, running a hand through his hair, "And even if he does believe us, he'd lock us up here and go after Dark Dan- I'm sorry, Dan," he rolled his eyes at his friends' pointed looks, "by himself, and he doesn't know how he works. This is our best bet."

"Don't worry, we've got this!" Tim promised, "I've broken Jason out of jail before, I'm basically an expert at this."

Thirty minutes later, they had arrived. The four jumped out of the Speeder, Danny pushing a button inside that turned it intangible before he got out. He turned to his friends. "So," he said, "You guys ready?" At their nod, they began.

Danny flew into the air, over the barbed fence. "Hey Walker!" he yelled, "Look at me! I'm a distraction!" He shot a barrage of ecto-blasts into the sky, lighting up the prison in lazarus-green flashes in a similar fashion to fireworks on the Fourth of July.

He grinned as he saw ghosts in police-like uniforms swarming out of the entrance and heading towards him. He rushed towards them, his eyes lighting up as he shot a beam of ecto-energy at the guards, blasting them aside.

A few guards lifted their blasters to their shoulders and fired. Danny did a backflip in the air, contorting his body around the shots before sending back some of his own. This continued for a while, Danny darted in and out of their ranks. He was smiling widely as he lifted both of his hands above his head, a large ball of ecto-energy crackling in them. "You ready for this!?" he shouted as he prepared to throw the massive fireball. "Yippee ki yay, moth-" he was cut off as a net was shot at him, enveloping Danny and sending him crashing to the ground. He groaned as he looked up, and wasn't the least bit surprised to see who had caught him.

A large ghost in a snow-white trench coat with a face of the same color was sneering at him. "Well well well, if it isn't Danny Phantom," Walker smirked, "Causing a ruckus outside my prison? That's against the rules."

_

"This way," Tim said quietly as he led Damian and Stephanie into the compound. Well, Tim wasn't truly the one leading. Cujo was in front of them, nose to the ground, intent on sniffing out Wulf.

Damian and Stephanie had their backs to one another, the former using the latter to guide him as he was facing the rear, watching for anything trying to sneak up on them. "The Ghost Zone reminds me of the Lazarus Pit," he muttered to himself, "And Phantom's hair is white from it, just like Todd's streak. I wonder..." he stopped talking as Stephanie came to a sudden halt.

They pressed themselves against the wall as six guards marched past, hauling a chained Danny behind them. He was glaring defiantly at Walker, seemingly mocking his stern words, showing no fear.

"I think we're good," Tim whispered as they passed, "Now let's-" he was cut off as he leaned harder against the wall and fell right through it, dragging Stephanie and Damian with him.

"Crap," Stephanie huffed, rubbing her head. "Did you forget that we're like the ghosts here? We can phase through everything here." She frowned as Cujo jumped into her lap, licking her face. He seemed to have phased through with them. "And I guess Cujo can too."

"Red Robin, if only your memory was as strong as your grip," Damian snapped, using Tim's hero name, "Then perhaps we would have found Wulf by now."

"Hey, I'm following the same dog as you," Tim retorted, "Now come on, let's go. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

Cujo yapped as he turned to the right. He dashed in that direction, seemingly having picked up Wulf's scent again. The Gothamites followed him through the prison. They reached a pair of sliding doors below a sign that read 'Dangerous Prisoners' above it.

"Sounds like our guy," Stephanie said. Tim nodded in agreement as they stepped through the doors, phasing through them.

All three of them shivered, a chill running up their spine as terror possessed them. None of them voiced it to the others, but they all got the sense that they were near something that was positively evil.

Cujo, however, didn't seem to mind. Or, if he did, he didn't show it either. He pranced down the hallway, looking over his shoulder and barking at the heroes to follow him. They did so, walking slowly and looking both ways.

They were all more terrified than they had ever been in their lives.

Cujo stopped, wagging his tail with his tongue lolling, in front of a cell. He barked again as he waited for Damian, Tim, and Stephanie to catch up to him.

Wulf was massive. He appeared to be a humanoid-wolf hybrid with a green undertone and a silver collar. He snarled, his hackles rising as the three stood in front of him.

"My name is Red Robin," Tim began, "And this is Robin and Batgirl. We're friends of Danny Phantom."

"Friends of... Dan-knee?" Wulf asked gruffly, his teeth bared. Tim nodded.

"Yeah. He sent us here to break you out," Tim took a hesitant step forward, "But first I have to get that collar off of you. Can I do that?"

Wulf slowly nodded and watched Tim phase through the bars of his cell with narrowed eyes. He flinched as Tim pulled out a small device from his utility belt and set it on the collar. A holographic screen and keyboard appeared above his gauntlet. Tim typing something on the keyboard, and with a blink of the device, the collar fell off.

Wulf rose to his full height, towering over Tim. The latter stood up straight. "Danny has been captured," he said, "Will you help us free him?"

Wulf looked at him and grunted. He turned intangible and phased out of his cell with Tim close behind.

"Fantastic," Damian said with a nod, "Now, let us go find Phantom." The five began to leave but stopped dead in their tracks as a terrifying voice spoke.

"Humans!" the voice hissed.

The Bats turned around to see a terrifying ghost. It had a purple cloak with a spindly tan and black striped body and one glowing purple eye and the same collar that was on Wulf around his neck. The ghost narrowed his single eye as he spoke.

"You are freeing this oaf but not me?" the ghost snarled, "You are leaving me to rot? Me? Zs'Skayr? The High Ecto-Lord of Anur Transyl?"

Wulf snarled as the others were frozen in fear. Something was wrong about this Zs'Skayr. Batgirl, Robin, and Red Robin were heroes. They'd fought with the Justice Leauge. They'd gone toe to toe with Joker.

But Zs'Skayr?

They couldn't explain it, but this being was absolutely horrifying.

"Who are you?" Damian was the first to speak up, shaking like a scared dog being brought outside for the first time. Zs'Skayr's eye flashed.

"I am Zs'Skayr!" he roared, "The most terrifying being in the universe! Arch enemy to the Omnitrix!" he met Damian's eyes. "I am the one who can break you free. I can save your friend and destroy this cursed prison."

"We can't let you that," Tim croaked, "Absolutely not."

Zs'Skayr's eye did not leave Damian's. He cocked his head. "There is a darkness in you, child," he hissed, "One you are trying to overcome. Do not fight it! I can give you all the power you could ever desire!"

Damian gulped, clenching his fists and staring Zs'Skayr right back. "I do not need your power," he said stiffly, "And I do not need your help."

"Let us go," Wulf interrupted, putting a paw on Damian's shoulder. "Need help Danny."

Damian nodded, and with another glance at the Hellish being, they left.

_

Danny closed his eyes in pain at Walker's punch, but refused to fall. He looked up with a gleam in his eyes.

"That's really the best you got?" Danny scoffed, "You're losing your touch! You've known me for two years and that's all you can do?"

"Just tell me why you're here, kid," Walker replied. Danny groaned.

"I already did!"

"You think I'm stupid enough to believe some lie about time travel?"

"I mean, yeah, I think you're pretty stupid," Danny replied, "But I'm not lying!"

"Sure you aren't, kid."

Danny gave the ghost a blank stare. "You know, Walker, you seem to have trust issues. That sometimes stems from trauma. Do you want to talk about it?"

Walker narrowed his eyes before punching Danny in the face. The boy turned back to him and laughed.

"I've fought Pariah Dark, Fright Knight, and you multiple times and you think a measly punch is gonna shut me up?"

He was stalling. Danny just had to keep it up until his friends could get the cuffs off of him, and he could freeze Walker.

Speaking of freezing, Danny froze as he slowly shut his eyes and sighed, "I've gotta say, though, you might not be the only one who can be stupid," In a ring of light, Danny transformed back into a human, and phased out of the cuffs with ease.

"Ha!" he yelled, "In your face!" He shifted back into his ghost form and grinned as his hands lit up in blue light. "You know, I hate to just run out on you like this, but I gotta go." With a flash of light, Danny thrust his hands in front of him, and a bolt of ice shot from his palms. Walker screamed as his body was encased in ice.

Danny shook his head as he floated to the ground. "Now, where oh where are my friends?"

"Right here, my guy!" At the sound of Stephanie's voice, Danny turned around to see his friends, with Wulf close behind. Danny's face lit up.

"Wulf!" he shouted with glee, "I've missed you, buddy!"

"Miss you too," Wulf replied.

"Let's get out of here," Tim said, "Before they realize you and Wulf have escaped."

A red flashing light lit up above them. Damian sucked in his teeth. "Too late."

Danny waved his hand. "Come on, let's go!" With that, the group dashed forward, phasing through the wall.

They skidded to a halt as they were faced with ten guards. They swung their batons. "Freeze!" one of them yelled.

Danny shrugged. "If you say so," he blasted them with a wave of ice, freezing the guards. Tim grinned.

"Nice one, Phantom," he praised as they continued forward, tucking a rolling above the frozen ghosts with ease.

They phased through another wall, Wulf leading them forward. Two guards appeared in front of them, but Wulf swatted them aside with ease. Phasing through another wall, they were outside.

They were almost to the Speeder. Danny looked behind him and saw an army of guards swarming out of the doors of the prison. Danny skidded to a halt in the air and turned around. He blasted the group with ice, freezing half of them. The other half, though, they kept coming.

Danny turned back around, phasing into the Speeder where the others were already seated. "Come on, Tim, let's go!" he urged, looking outside the window as he spoke. Tim pushed a button on the control panel, and the vessel rose into the air and, with sonic boom behind them, shot into the air and away from the prison.

[christinesficrecs]

Lost Sterek Fics

So many lost fics!  Please comment/message me if you can help. :) 

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- I’m pretty sure it’s kind of long but I could be mistaken, stiles and Derek have children and at some point their son becomes an alpha and the near the end of the book Derek and his son turn into these giant wolves and fight off a creature that I can’t remember and stiles is really upset about it cause they might never be able to turn back. 

- it’s of sheriff spanking stiles and derek is in stiles room listening. stiles goes back in his room and they have sex!!

- Derek was confused by the other bitten werewolves saying things like "the wolf wants" or "the wolf part of me" because he always have been one since he was born a werewolf and never divided himself like that? 

- Derek is drunk & thinks that his feelings are unreciprocated& stiles takes him back & tells him that they are not so Derek lines up his fingers with Stiles & counts them to 10,so basically he's saying that he is not dreaming& the feels behind that one!!!

- Derek is famous and powerful & he and Stiles start a relationship. What I remember is one scene in particular where they are being interviewed and they get some judgement because Derek and Stiles are versatile and werewolves consider an Alpha as a bottom a sign of weakness. I remember Stiles & Derek basically rolling their eyes at each other about the stupidity of that while being interviewed. 

- Sterek are in love, but so are their kids. So they never get married, (because they don’t want to hinder their kids love) but their kids end up married at the end. (might be a series)

- Werewolves growls all have different meanings. Some generic ones everyone can understand. But some growls you have to know the wolf really well to know what that growl means. Derek has this growl that Stiles doesn't know the meaning of.

- Derek and Stiles are fighting and Stiles says something like "we don't trust ech other" and Derek brings what happened at the pool ans say something like "that doesn't mean nothing to me" 

- Stiles is writhing the story of his life with Derek and at the end he write it as if Derek have died in fire and his last words with Derek is something like if I die I lose you and that scare the sh*t out of me or something then he stop writing because his husband -SHOCERK- enters the room and it is Derek

- Stiles and friends cheat at lacrosse to make their families happy. Because they were fired from Hale Company. And Derek and stiles are in a secret relationship?

- Stiles, and the others, end up befriending Erica while Peter is still going around killing people as an alpha. I only remember that Stiles and Erica, with some of the others, were at like a diner? And Peter attacks, and bites, Erica when they leave.

- i’m pretty sure it was a human au that was set in New Orleans. One of them, Stiles or Derek, worked at call center and the other worked at a diner. I think Scott was Stiles’ roommate." & "update i remember that Derek was a 911 call operator and Stiles was the one working as a server at the diner."

- Stiles is magic and when they were lilttleish kids makes Scott’s father go away, possibly forever.

stiles’ mother/grandma always made him a special soup, and he never knew what the secret ingredient was until Derek made it for him the same way, when he realised it was love.

- Stiles and derek are running away together to fight monsters. At some point there was a troll closing up on them and they hid on top of a tree and stiles got loopy? 

- Derek and Issac are cops who follows who stiles is an agent gone rogue. I think stiles kills the bad guys in frond of them and saves Derek's life. 

- Stiles and Isaac alone in a house and they hear a suspicious noise so Stiles is like we should call Derek but the suspicious noise actually ended up being Derek and he’s proud of them for thinking to call him?

- it's either a season1 or 2 au where stiles and derek enter an arrangement where they sex it up in exchange for derek to try to teach scott werewolfy stuff. i remember at one point danny and stiles talk abt the arrangement and danny later chews derek out abt being more gentle. 

- I vaguely recall a season 1 canon divergence where Allison tells the sheriff that Kate has Derek chained up under the Hale house  

- Stiles and derek are mates and Stiles goes out of town for a while and derek goes into his wolf form and sort of becomes a bit feral but then stiles comes back and helps him

- derek and stiles are at some sort of searching ceremony esque interview and derek unconsciously flashes his eyes at stiles. Peter explains later in the fic that derek was trying to pique stiles' interest (unknowingly). 

- Stiles is patient/test subject on somenkind of shady facility where they do experiments on humans and I think he's been there most of his life. Derek is a new doctor in there and is the first one who is kind to stiles.

- Derek only asked stiles out to annoy Scott, but actually fell for him, stiles over hears Derek and Issac talking about it and I think he leaves for college, I remember near the end that the wolfs did something to his jeep so stiles had not choice to stay at the house to talk to Derek because Derek made a huge mistake and wants stiles back. 

- to help defeat the alpha pack Stiles and Allison go to Derek. Derek says he can only do it if they join his pack. Derek proceeds to have sex with Stiles, while Allison has sex with Issac and Boyd. Scott gets pissed, and Allison has Boyd’s babies. I think it’s a series, 3 short fics.

- I'm looking for a fic that has Stiles at a party. I believe he is used as werewolf bait or turns out to be alluring to werewolves and didnt know it.

- I think Derek and Stiles are in a basement under the Halehouse, and because of some kind of moon Derek wants Scott to be in that basement. They make fun of Scott but he hear them and he lock the door when Derek and Stiles are inside. Smut happens 

- Stiles being a spark and just learning how to use his powers, Peter Hale is helping him learn when he discovers that every time that Stiles uses his powers he gets aroused and Derek helps him out through it, 

- Stiles and Derek are in the woods, and some type of creature makes both of them hallucinate. Derek then attacks Stiles thinking that Stiles is a monster. It was like a horror or psychological horror. 

- everyone has a secondary gender (omega, beta, alpha) but there are werewolves as well. Derek is Alpha-alpha, and Stiles is human Omega while Scott turns into Beta-beta. It followed along the first season of Teen Wolf and instead of Derek manhandling Stiles in the show, he grabs his hand and squeezes it. (1/2)(cont) It progresses until Stiles, Lydia and Allison are shopping for formal wear for the dance and Stiles starts to get his heat when Peter shows up and takes them hostage. The end chapter has Derek helping Stiles through his heat as he looks up at the moon with red eyes. 

- im looking for this accidental mating fic where scott and stiles are at dereks and stiles accidently mates with derek after he tries to run etc?

- stiles was helping derek with school I think and they got along and one night - stiles had a nightmare I think and was having a panic attack and called derek but didn't tell him about the nightmare and talked about something else and stiles got calmed by derek voice ..  

- derek is an alpha and like everyday people try to fight him in order to get his powers? i think they’re all in high school and that stiles is the new kid? 

- it’s where derek was at a clinic, and stiles was the one to ‘examine’ him — with sex toys, etc., — on the last chapter, it was established that they were already together and roleplaying. they were in the clinic that scott works at which stiles had gotten the keys to.

- It has two parts. The first involves someone poisoning the wolves so that they'll shift/go crazy. Stiles is in high school and he and Derek drink wine?? The second, the pack goes to college, and Derek breaks up with stiles to protect him. Stiles starts taking pain killers and gets depressed, the Alpha pack shows up, and Peter ends up being evil and trying to kill everyone??

-  Stiles kinda is hurting when he has his first time with Derek?

-  stiles Accidental Voyeurism on Derek showering and he is nervous because he is nervous to talk to him because he’s just that hot!

- stiles is adopted by the hales I think and Derek figures out he's his mate, I think there's growing up time skips, but the ending is Derek rushing home from college because the Argents are there to start the fire, stiles stays back with Talia to help defend their home.

-  it’s girl!stiles and it’s where she has hairy legs and arm pits and just owns herself and she goes on a camping trip with Derek and they’re both naked because they don’t really care for nudity,

-  I'm looking for a fic that had Stiles continuously flirting with other people to make Derek jealous after he realizes how good the sex is.

- There is a similar new fic called ‘User Error’ (first chapter looks great), it’s the troupe where Stiles is the brains behind the business and his partner (Scott?) tries to push him out/limit his input, Stiles is hurt but agreed to leave, but not before pulling out receipts of patents and just totally owning the situation, leaving but pretty much taking the rights to everything with him epically schooling those around him.

- stiles goes back in time to before the hale fire and tries to stop it, (fire is on night of a school dance) but he could only save Cora? I think he went be the name Cris or something similar

- Stiles had a boyfriend but he loved Derek and he thought Derek didn't loved him back so he would hide all his emotions from the pack, cause he was in so much pain. And they would fight a lot. I don't know if he was a spark or no.

- stiles and derek hate each other and When they lost their friends they were stuck together to search for them..

- Derek is in heat at the hale house and told everyone to stay away, but stiles didn’t and so Derek kisses him and makes stiles go into a pseudo heat and then they ride it out together.

- stiles finds out that derek has never actually gotten a good blow job bc his peen is that Big™ and he decides to rectify that, and i think stiles find out bc derek never lets him give him one im not sure

- It's an AU where the pack are all friends who are into surfing and are going down the coast (in mexico) finding small beaches and Sterek hooks up but then they get all awkward and depressed until Derek apologizes and clears things up. I remember it had some bi Erica and beach sex.

- I'm looking for a fic where Stiles has trouble accepting compliments from Derek and he buys himself a second-hand leather jacket to feel like part of the pack and Derek compliments it which Stiles thinks is sarcastic because obviously the jacket is old and damaged so basically he thinks everyone pities his loserness. low self-esteem drama ensues.

- I’m looking for a fic where Scott pushes stiles away for his own safety and then stiles befriends Boyd and one day Scott after a fight with some monster? Or big bad of the week? Scott tries to call stiles and his number has changed. Then it’s scott showing up at his house and basically trying to befriend stiles again..I think I remember something about Scott and stiles having plans to blow up stiles piece of crap phone

- a derek hale one shot. the plot is that the reader has a crush on scott and derek decideds to help her forget. i think the fic was called 'make you forget'

[prissyhalliwell]

Mean Queens

Author’s Note: I’m sure this idea has been done a million times across the OUAT fandom, but I wanted to write something fun to mark the birthday of our fabulously talented and awesome @midstorm. I truly treasure my friendship with this special gal and I hope you all will join me in wishing her the happiest of birthdays!

Summary: When Belle French makes a deal with Mr. Gold to infiltrate the mayor’s inner circle, she ends up discovering more than she bargained for.

The day Regina Mills was hit by a school bus and walked away without even breaking a manicured nail was the day Belle French realized she had made a terrible mistake.

Shortly after arriving in Storybrooke, Belle had begun spying on Regina and her two closest friends. However, it had only been recently that she had begun to suspect that there was more to the trio than designer wardrobes and unpleasant personalities.

Seeing Regina pick herself up off the asphalt, without a broken bone, cracked high heel, or even a hair out of place, was enough to convince Belle of what she had only suspected until now.

The Mean Queens of Storybrooke were witches.

Three months earlier

“You want me to spy on the mayor?”

Mr. Gold, Storybrooke’s most despised resident, nodded calmly. “Yes, and her little minions, too. In return, I will forgive your father’s debt.”

Belle stared at him unblinkingly. After a few moments, he seemed to grow slightly uncomfortable under her gaze. It was the first time she’d even seen him look such a way and, despite the oddness of his request, it was somewhat reassuring.

It was that look in fact that even made her consider the deal he offered. It was true that Moe French owed Gold an enormous debt. She loved her father dearly, but he was hopeless when it came to handling money. It was one of the main reasons she had moved to Storybrooke earlier that year, both to keep an eye on him and his bookkeeping.  

“I have questions,” she said, trying to keep her voice level. “If I’m to agree to this, you’re going to have to be honest with me about your motives.”

Now Gold definitely looked uncomfortable.

“I’m not very good at honesty, dearie. But I suppose it’s never too late to try something new.”

She didn’t laugh at his quip and she thought he almost looked disappointed.

“Why do you want a spy?” Belle asked, questions leaping to her mind. Gold always gave the impression of being the one who held all the cards in town. Realizing there was something he didn’t know was almost as much of a surprise as being asked to be the person to help him.

“Let’s just say, I have a suspicion I need proven about the mayor and her cronies. I’m fairly confident in my assessment of the situation, but I’d rather not play my hand if I’m incorrect.”

It wasn’t a lie, but it didn’t really tell her anything either. From the smug look on Gold’s face, it was clear he was fully aware of that fact.

Belle fought the urge to roll her eyes. She decided to move on to her next question, and hope he was a little more forthcoming this time. “But why me? I’ve only spoken to the mayor a handful of times.”

At this question, Gold smirked. “I’ve noticed Regina eyeing you over at the library. I think she may be considering making you her new little pet.”

So far that was the one bit of information that made sense. She knew Regina more by reputation than anything else, and what was clear to even a newcomer such as herself was the woman’s pickiness. Whether it was her impeccable wardrobe or those she spent time with, the mayor was nothing if not choosy.

“That’s logical, if a bit creepy.” Belle chewed her lip as she thought, turning the situation over. Despite the warning bells clanging in her head, there was a tiny part of her that was excited at the prospect of going undercover. From what she knew of Gold and Regina’s relationship, the two frequently butted heads. Word at Granny’s was that most city council meetings ended with the two of them shouting at each other. Most likely, the information she was being tasked to find out would be something equally boring, like property investment details or who had the largest estate.

“Tell me more.”

*     *   *     *    *

A few days later, Belle stood next to Gold, gazing into one of the Rabbit Hole’s dirty windows. He was pointing at a secluded booth in the back of the dimly-lit bar where three women sat. While she recognized the mayor right away, Belle was less certain about the other two, though she thought she had seen them around town before.

“That there is Ella De Vil,” Gold said, gesturing to a leggy woman with an odd dye job. “Her brain is filled with nothing but smoke and gin. I suppose it’s fitting since she runs this god forsaken pit.”

“What’s with the fur coat?” Belle asked.

Next to her, Gold shuddered. “Don’t ask.”

He moved onto the third woman at the table. “That’s Jasmine Abadi. She’s the principal at Storybrooke High School and the town’s biggest gossip. She knows everything about everyone.”

“And she apparently has a penchant for really big jewelry,” Belle said, noticing the large gold earrings hanging from the woman’s ears.

Gold snorted. “It’s her way of rebelling. Apparently, Regina made her give up hoops last year.”

“Your stories about Regina are getting more and more ridiculous, you know. I’m still not convinced she’s as bad as you say.”

The tall tales Gold had been feeding her about Regina had only grown more fanciful in the past few days, which only convinced Belle further that this entire endeavor was a result of nothing more than their petty rivalry to be top dog in Storybrooke.

“Don't get me wrong, dearie. Regina may seem like your typical selfish, back-stabbing bitch, but she’s so much more than that. She views this town as her own personal kingdom to rule over. Those other two are annoying, but they’re merely her little workers.”

The thought that many people would describe Gold in a similar way occurred to Belle, but she chose to keep it to herself. He tended to get rather grumpy whenever she brought up his own reputation.

While his dark humor and manners could clearly use improving, he was far from the monster the town had painted him. Belle still didn’t know exactly what he was after with Regina, and though she vowed to figure out his endgame before she told him anything, she was no longer as worried as she had been that first night.

Gold was a bit of an ass, but that was about it. No one who told such corny dad jokes could be truly evil.

Turning her attention back to Gold, she realized his gaze was now focused on a tall man with stubble and greasy blond hair who had just walked over to the pool table near the queens’ booth. “Alright, Miss French. I believe the time is now.”

Belle straightened her blue lace dress before looking up at Gold. “How do I look?”

A surprising shiver passed through her as his eyes trailed down her form and up again. She thought she caught an appreciate look in his eyes, but all she got from him was a grunt and a begrudging comment of “You look passable”.

With a role of her eyes, she marched past Gold, swinging open the bar’s front door and stepping inside. It took her eyes a few moments to adjust to the low lighting. She ordered a martini at the bar, hoping the liquid would inspire the bravery she so desperately needed.

Drink in hand, she wandered over to the pool table nearest her targets. The man Gold had been watching earlier was still playing, and he paused mid-shot to glance up at her.

“Well hello there, little lady,” he said, making no attempt to hide the fact that he was openly leering at her.

Belle frowned. She had been trying to figure out a way to approach the table next to her; the last thing she wanted to deal with tonight was some overgrown oaf who didn’t know the meaning of “no”.

“Is he bothering you, Miss French?” Regina didn’t wait for an answer before turning her full glare on the man, who seemed to shrink under her gaze. “Keith, why are you such a sleaze? She’s not interested.” The mayor turned back to Belle, gesturing at the empty spot next to Ella. “You better sit down before he starts drooling on you.”

Belle slid into the booth next to Ella, trying not to let her surprise show on her face. Gold had said Regina had shown an interest in her in the past, but until now, she hadn’t really believed him.

Maybe this won’t be so hard after all, Belle thought.

“Allow me to introduce my friends, Ella and Jasmine,” Regina said, nodding at each in turn. “Girls, this is Belle. She’s new to our little town.”

“Delighted,” Ella purred.

“Welcome to Storybrooke,” Jasmine said. “We’ll be happy to give you the 411 so you know who to avoid in town.”

Belle tried to smile in return, her nervousness beginning to return now that she had all three’s attention on her. The women seemed to be assessing her, taking in everything from her curled hair to her new dress.

Unsurprisingly, it was Regina that spoke first. “You’re very pretty, Miss French.”

“Th-thank you,” Belle replied, feeling the blush rise on her cheeks.

“So you agree?”

“What?” Belle felt like she had missed something in the exchange, but all three women seemed to be looking at her expectantly. “I – I guess so?”

She was saved further embarrassment as a group of seven men, all short in stature, passed by the booth on their way to the now vacant pool table. Most kept their eyes averted from the women sitting there, except for one. His scowl rivaled even that of Mr. Gold, and Belle wondered if it was the presence of the queens or if he was always that grumpy by nature.

“That bearded fellow is glaring at us,” Ella said unnecessarily.

Jasmine let out a long-suffering sigh. “He’s just mad because I told the Mother Superior that he was making eyes at one of her girls. Honestly, I did him a favor. Who has a thing for nuns?” She flashed a brilliant smile and waved enthusiastically at the man. “Omg, Danny Devito, I love your work!”

His face turned beet red and he immediately dropped his gaze. The booth erupted in cackles.

Belle let out an uneasy chuckle. She had an uncomfortable feeling that she was going to be missing Gold’s dry humor after all.

*     *   *     *    *

A little later that evening, Regina excused herself to use the bathroom, leaving Belle alone with the other two women. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to do some digging on Regina. Unfortunately, Jasmine and Ella were too busy gossiping about the rest of the town.

“You know who's looking rather dashing tonight? David Nolan.”

Jasmine’s face turned up in disgust. “You did not just say that, Ella.”

“Why?” Ella asked distractedly as she continued to leer at him from across the bar. “He's a good kisser.”

“He’s your cousin!”

Ella waved the comment off. “Half the town is related, darling. I wouldn’t be kissing anybody if we were puritans about it.” She took a drag on her cigarette and blew a perfect circle into the air that seemed to change color as it floated towards the ceiling.

Belle blinked and gazed down at her beer mistrustfully.

Oblivious to Belle’s confusion, Ella continued. “Besides, he’s my first cousin.”

Jasmine nodded. “Right.”

“So you have your cousins, and you have your first cousins, and you have your second cousins...” At the look on Jasmine’s face, Ella trailed off. She sighed, setting down her cigarette in an ashtray. “That's not right, is it? I was never handy at biology.” She smirked. “Now my biology teacher was another story…”

Jasmine turned to Belle as if desperate for a logical conversation. “Tell us more about you. Have you met a lot of people yet?”

Gold had told her to use him as bait, and Belle finally saw her chance.

“Just a few. I did meet my father’s landlord the other day, Mr. Gold. He seems like a real piece of work.”

As she suspected, it was the right thing to say. Jasmine scowled the moment his name was mentioned.

“Gold is absolutely vile. He gives me the creeps.”

“I heard he skins children for their pelts,” Ella added. “Not that I judge.”

Before Belle could think too much about that comment, Jasmine started talking again. “If he ever gives you trouble, you tell us right away. We have ways to protect you.”

“Ways?” Belle asked, finally feeling like she was getting somewhere.

“Gold likes to pretend he’s got this town wrapped around his finger, but it’s not true. There’s a lot he doesn’t know. For example, in a couple months there’s going to be a full moon and – ”

“Enough.”

They all jumped, before turning to stare at Regina. Belle hadn’t even seen her leave the bathroom, much less approach the table. Her tone was quiet, yet the one word carried enough weight that Jasmine had immediately gone silent.

Regina slid back into the booth and gave Belle a friendly smile. “We don’t want to bore Belle with everything that Gold doesn’t know. We’d be here for weeks!”

The other two seemed to fall over themselves to agree with her and the conversation turned back to the people around them again. Belle learned that Dr. Whale took medication for a boil on his back side and that Jefferson Hatter was considered too gay to function, but she didn’t learn anything helpful.

The next morning, Belle was walking back from getting coffee at Granny’s, nursing a hangover and a migraine, when a black Mercedes Benz pulled up beside her. The top was down and three heads turned in perfect unison towards her.

“Get in loser,” Regina said with a lipstick perfect smile. “We’re getting mimosas.”

*     *   *     *    *

The next couple months passed in pretty much the same way. Between hanging out with the queens and reporting back to Gold, Belle’s spare time was all but eaten away. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d been able to curl up and read a book.

In hindsight, she’d probably have been better off getting a part-time job to help her father pay his debts to Gold instead.

The worst part was that she still hadn’t found out whatever Gold was looking for. He still refused to give her any more hints about it, and Belle felt as in the dark as ever.

There was definitely something going on – that she knew for sure. The queens’ attention on her was exhausting, but occasionally they would disappear for a night and deflect any of her questions about where they’d gone. Though Belle’s liver was infinitely grateful for the respite, she knew their absence was important. If she could just find out where they were sneaking off too, maybe she could fulfill her part of the deal and finally get back to her real life.

It was almost three full months before she made a breakthrough. The queens had come stumbling into Granny’s after pulling an all-nighter of some sort, still dressed in their clothes from the day before.

The detail that had grabbed her attention however was the pine needles that had gotten stuck in Ella’s fur coat. The three had clearly spent the night in the woods, despite the oddness of such an idea.

She’d had never pictured them as the camping sort – especially not in stilettos – so it was obvious that there was something extremely important worth going out into the woods for.

Belle smiled into her coffee and bit back a shriek of triumph. Next time they went out of town, she would follow. Finally, she was making progress.  

*     *    *     *   *

Unfortunately, the big secret had turned out to be just that – big.

Hidden in the bushes outside the town line, Belle had seen a school bus plow into the mayor, only for Regina to hop up a second later no worse for wear. The bus itself drove on as if it had hit nothing more than a pothole.

Despite the overwhelming urge to run, she’d followed the three out into the middle of the woods into a small clearing. In the middle of the grass, stood a large black pot boiling above a fire.  

It was a witch’s cauldron.

Whatever mix of bravery, curiosity, and stupidity had kept her going that far fled, and Belle ran out of the woods as quickly and as quietly as possible. Less than ten minutes later, her car came to a screeching halt outside of Gold’s pawnshop. She burst into the building, the door slamming hard behind her. “They’re witches!”

Despite her near hysteria, Gold nodded as if her statement made complete sense. A slow smile spread across his lips. “I knew it.”

“And you thought it was a good idea for me to spy on them?!” Belle couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I suppose I’m lucky I’m not a toad right now!”

He waved a hand lazily. “I would have changed you back.”

“Oh sure, you would have…” Belle trailed off, her eyes growing wide as Gold returned her gaze with an amused look. She took several steps back. “But – but…”

“Belle, there’s no reason to be worried. You are in no danger from me.”

“You’re a witch!” she shrieked. “Nothing you say is going to be reassuring!”

He shrugged. “Technically, I’m a sorcerer, but that’s semantics.”

Belle sagged against the counter, the weight of everything crashing down on her all at once. “I can’t handle this anymore.”

She was surprised when a hand squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. Looking up, she saw that Gold had walked up silently to stand beside her. His earlier cockiness had disappeared to be replaced with something that Belle would’ve called worry had it been anyone else.

“I told you I would protect you,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion, “and I will.”

Despite everything that had happened in the last few hours, something inside Belle calmed at his words. “Alright, what do we do now?”

“Isn’t it obvious, my dear? We’re going to dethrone the queens.”

*     *    *     *   *

Less than an hour later, Belle and Gold were crouched down behind some bushes near the witches’ clearing. So far nothing much had happened and Belle was beginning to get a crick in her neck.

Next to her, she could hear Gold sniffing. “What is that horrible smell?”

Belle sniffed herself before blushing. “Oh, Regina gave me some perfume.”

“Why are you wearing it now? We’re trying to keep a low profile, not advertise our location to the entire animal kingdom.”

“It’s not my fault! I’ve washed these clothes a half dozen times, but the scent doesn’t come out.”

“You smell like a baby prostitute.”

Belle narrowed her eyes. “If you’ve ever wondered why you don’t have friends, this is why.”

“Need I remind you that you are under my employ – “

“Need I remind you that I’ve more than done my duty – “

A cruel laughter rang out above them. “Need I remind you both that you’re in way over your pretty little heads.”

The two gazed up to see the three queens standing over them, smirking.

“This wasn’t how the story was supposed to end,” Belle said with a gulp.

“Didn’t you know?” Regina said smugly. “Mean always wins.”

The End?