#danny's writing

[cabinofimagines]

Totally NOT improvised birthday

A/N: Happy birthday Ash hope this saves you from the saddies -Danny

Words: 1,319

Usually, the Argo II monthly meetings are a casual thing, no one ever has plans in advance as to what they'll do once they're there. So it's pretty damn weird when you show up with a whole cake, a massive bag of snacks, and decorations.

"Cake!" Percy approaches to help you with the stuff. "Nice."

"What's all that for?" Frank asks with curiosity.

"My birthday," you replie casually.

Leo chokes on his drink while Annabeth stiffens in place, everyone else lets out different types of replies in various levels of panic and feigned exclamations of "Right, Frank! It's their birthday, don't tell us you forgot!" Everyone except Jason, Nico, and Will, of course, they all had marked the day in advance.

"Happy birthday!" Jason approaches with a sweet smile and gives you a crushing bear hug and a birthday bag.

"Thank you, man!" You smile happily, dropping the snack bag and the decorations on the table.

"We need tape!" Percy quickly gets up and walks to the door. "I'll get it!"

Annabeth grabs her cap and puts it on, instantly disappearing. Piper pretends to take a phone call and leaves while Leo rummages inside his tool belt. Hazel stretches a hand behind her chair and pulls literal treasure from the ground while Frank fidgets beside her trying to come up with something.

Nico and Will approach you, giving everyone else time to recover. Nico goes first, handing out his carefully wrapped present. He encourages you to open it—mostly to give everyone else a chance to find something—and inside you find a bag of rock-shaped chocolates of different colors and sizes and a whole new limited-edition deck of Mythomagic.

"Rocks!" You smile. "Thanks!"

Will goes next and hands you an envelope. "I thought it'd be nice to stretch out the celebration for another day."

"What?" You tilt your head in confusion and take a peak inside the envelope. "Ohhh!" You pull out three tickets to the newest Broadway show you once mentioned you were interested in watching. "Will!"

"Don't even," he brushes it aside. "Sponsored by dad, he says hi and happy birthday, by the way."

"Tell him I say hi back and thanks a lot!" You look at the tickets again. "There are three tickets here..."

Will blushes and clears his throat. "Yeah, I uhm—I don't know if it's okay with you, like, you can say no if you want to, but I thought we could go together?" He signals at you and Nico. "Like... us."

Nico gives Will a look but his boyfriend pretends not to see it, smiling at you bashfully.

"Oh," you feel fuzzy inside but quickly brush it off before getting the wrong idea. "That's really sweet that you want to escort me, thank you."

"Don't say it like that," Will laughs, though it comes out a bit too loud. "It's more like... a hangout. Right, Nico?"

"What he said," the boy says plainly, a light pinkish blush on his face.

You open your mouth to reply but someone storms into the rec room, screaming and stomping his hooves down the stairs. "I HEARD SOMEONE'S A YEAR OLDER TODAY!"

Hedge shows up at the foot of the stairs and happily makes his way to you, roughly patting your back and rambling about how small you were before and how proud he is that he's seen you grow (he literally never saw you as a child).

His present is a pocket knife and a survival guide that looks suspiciously hand-made by the satyr, but you can appreciate the effort, and it's a really cool gift anyway, so you smile and thank him for his presents.

Jason is next, and his gift makes your jaw drop to the floor as you open it, it's the official plushie of that one blorbo you've been yapping about for the past six months. "Where did you even get that? It's not supposed to be out for another two months!"

"I know a guy," he winks at you grinning. Then he pulls out a birthday card. "This is from Bobby, he couldn't make it but sends you his best wishes."

"This is awesome, Jason," you squeeze the plushie in your arms and hold the card carefully. Nico and Will look a bit pouty for a moment, but you overlook that.

"Sorry for that! It was my girlfriend, I had to pick up," Piper reenters the room, holding a large stick in her hand. "Here's your present, Y/N."

"A stick!" You beam, taking it from her very carefully. "My favorite!"

"It's not just any stick," Piper smiles, adopting a dramatic tone. "That is a friendship stick, Granpa says we give those to our closest friends to represent we are branches from the same tree."

"Why didn't I get a stick last year?" Leo frowns.

"Not now, dude," Piper mutters.

"That's so sweet and original," Will says with a knowing smirk. "I really like how that stick looks made exactly from the same wood the tree outside the Big House."

"All wood looks the same, Will," Piper states curtly.

"I disagree."

"Tape!" Percy returns holding the small roll. He also has a plushie shark under his arm with a blue ribbon around the chubby head. "Happy birthday, Y/N!"

When he hands the plushie, you can feel the slightly damp texture and you pause. "Is this wet?"

"It's part of the charm, don't question it," Percy replies without facing you, picking up the decorations and hanging them around the room.

"My plushie was better," Jason mutters, also picking up a few decorations.

"HA-HA, this is not a competition, superman!" Percy says tensely, then mutters. "If it were Nico would find the way to cheat..."

"For the last time, it was a fair tactic—"

"Happy birthday, Y/N, here's a crystal to make sure the stick and the damp plushie aren't haunted," Hazel gives you a nice lavender rock that you happily put next to your chocolate rocks.

"My present didn't arrive on time," Frank blurts out anxiously. "Amazon misplaced it. You know they hate me there."

"No worries, Frank, I get it," you smile innocently.

"Well, anyway, you got the lame presents out of the way, here's mine," Leo hands you something that looks very much like an explosive. "Why don't you open it like, over there, away from us?"

You stare at him a moment, but Leo would never actually murder you, no matter how much he threatens to do it, so you shrug and walk over to the table where you previously left the cake. "Sure."

Everyone gives Leo nervous glances while he keeps a smile on his face, which isn't really calming since he has a very unnerving grin. You press on the switch, and from the bomb erupts a massive amount of colorful confetti that spreads all over the table and the floor.

"Ohhh fun!" You exclaim.

"Oh, thank gods," Leo mumbles, his shoulders falling with relief. Then he raises his voice. "See? Now it's a real party!"

Piper puts some music on and everyone gathers to get cake, and play board games, Annabeth comes back after two full hours claiming she was upstairs in the bathroom.

"It's lady stuff, Valdez, stay out of my business," Annabeth snaps after the boy tries to question her. "Anyway, happy birthday, Y/N."

She gives you a properly wrapped present—in the newspaper, because eco-friendly—and inside you find one of the books you've been dying to buy for the past year, hardcover and collector's edition.

"Wow, guys, I wasn't expecting all of you to have presents for me," you smile big, looking at all the cool stuff your friends gave you. "This is the best birthday ever!"

Everyone shares slightly guilty looks but say nothing, giving you a second round of hugs. Jason makes sure everyone writes down the date before leaving so this doesn't happen again.

[barefeet-only]

Danny and Damian are related, with a twist.

Danny is the son of Talia Al Ghul, however he is NOT the son of Bruce Wayne. Ra’s has had his eyes on various people across the world that have either impressed him or show a unique skill set that he’d like to have. One such person was under the both categories and he got Talia to collect a DNA sample and as a result Danny was born.

This was before Bruce’s time with the League by a few years, but very quickly Danny was not meeting expectations. And by the time Bruce did show up Ra’s had lost all interest in Danny, moving on to better things.

Talia always hated Danny because she was forced to have him with a man who she never liked in the first place. Furthermore, because his skillset was lacking she found that even more reason for her distain. In her eyes, he wasn’t worth even considering her blood.

Danny, knowing that he was doomed if he didn’t make an escape, left the league sometime around when Bruce was moving up the ranks and was making waves within the organization. Perfect timing honestly, any attention he might have had was quickly gone when this prodigy showed up.

Danny escaped the League and went into hiding quickly after, settling on a rural area of the United States after bouncing around countries for a few months. This was mainly because Jasmine Fenton saw a young boy pick pocketing strangers while her family was visiting Chicago and scolded him. Her mother and father saw the boy and also lectured him to which Danny responded it was his only option (he was trying to get this loud family off his back so he could sneak away). Eventually the Fentons decide that if he has nowhere to go he might as well go with us, and Danny decides blending in with a Nuclear Family is the best way to ensure that his peaceful life away from the League stays that way. Oh how little did he know.

Flash forward a few years, Talia, who was visiting Gotham to check on Damian, sees a glimpse of a boy (now man) she thought she had forgotten. Her blood runs cold, if this abomination is in Gotham then her son is likely in danger and she would never let anything happen to Damian.

[thelotusrabbit]

DpxDc #19

Call of the void.

(shorter than my usual, but a funny thought. Also, little drawing at the end)

Something that Danny wanted to explore together with space, was the ocean.

The thing is: both were terrifying to him, but the thrill of the unknown, the immense voids that nature was capable of...

It was absolutely, existentially dreadful.

He loved it!

He wasn't really afraid of getting lost if he tried to take a stroll around, since he could quickly reach land, so why not try?

It wasn't really his fault that he let himself go!

Danny didn't even realize it was happening, but ectoplasm is a substance that tends to fill space. Between molecules, between atoms, it's everywhere, it's the ambient.

Long story short, he only found out that he had grown to the size of Godzilla when he was casually passing by Atlantis.

He hadn't even noticed the underwater city until he heard screaming coming from below...

Something about a leviathan?

[plainclothesdisaster]

DPxDC Mechanical Engineer Danny

Danny caught the attention of Batman while studying at Gotham University for his alternative energy projects. He’s hired right out of college to work on the Watchtower.

He shows absolutely no tell of his abilities till there’s a dire situation- Flash’s electric discharge messes with one of his projects in progress and the whole base would have lost air pressure if he hadn’t done a quick fix using telekinesis and ice.

Of course Batman notices.

Batman assumes the worst- he suspects Danny’s a rogue of some kind, someone who has infiltrated the Justice League with an ulterior motive. But he can’t just fire Danny now- he’s the only one who knows how the new Watchtower energy source works. Plus, he’s not letting Danny go anywhere until he’s figured out his true motives.

Cue Batman subtly testing Danny- tossing things at him to trigger inhuman fast reflexes, having him lift too-heavy machinery, setting up convenient opportunities to steal or snoop or otherwise be up to no good. Danny does take advantage but only once, to use a computer terminal with unlocked clearance. He didn’t plant any bugs that Barman could find, and he otherwise kept up his powerless civilian act perfectly.

Still, Batman’s not satisfied. He brings an infrasonic sound emitter to Danny’s lab one day, and that, of all things, is what gets Danny to break.

“I know what you’re doing,” Danny admits with a sigh, finally. “If you’re really that suspicious of me, I can leave, but I kinda like my job so I’d prefer not to. The benefits are insane compared to what’s standard.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure. yeah. How about you turn off the freaking noise generator and we can talk?”

“Hm.” Batman obliges, and he takes the stool next to Danny at his gesture.

“Number one, I’m not a meta. Despite all the data and conclusions you’ve probably drawn otherwise. Number two, I’m on your side. I’m here to work on the base, that’s it. I follow your rules to the letter.”

“The-“

“The classified files I looked at? Yeah that was the one exception. You already know what I looked at, I’m sure, but maybe you haven’t figured out why. It goes back to point one- I may not be a meta, but I am something that organization, the GIW, cares about. I looked at your files on them to sus out your relations. Seeing as I don’t particularly love being the victim to twelve degrees of human rights violations if I can avoid it.”

“Hm.” The Ghost Intelligence Ward was one of many government agencies that the Justice League hadn’t worked closely with. But they also hadn’t been flagged for Justice League investigation. Danny’s comments made him doubt that call.

“Any other questions?”

“If you’re not a meta, what are you?”

“I’m an engineer. A pretty decent one. And I’d really, really like it to stay that way.”

Batman considers, and ultimately lets him stay. He likes Danny (everyone likes Danny), and it would be a massive pain in the ass to replace him. He really is a good engineer.

It’s only much later that his faith in Danny is repaid in spades.

Batman finds Danny on the Watchtower command bridge. Alarms are blaring, the station has been knocked out of orbit, out the window there’s shrapnel floating everywhere as a space battle rages around them.

On the station it’s chaos. Technicians run around, shouts from the med bay, sparks from the walls.

Batman and Danny stand at the main controls, watching the battle outside, stoic, unmoving.

Wonder Woman’s harried voice crackles through on coms: “We need backup.”

“There is no more backup.” Batman replies, while looking pointedly at Danny.

“What?”

Batman doesn’t move.

“What.”

“The impact from Darkseid’s initial attack should have sent this station on a terminal trajectory toward the planet.”

“Well. We aren’t currently plummeting to our deaths, so turns out it didn’t do that.”

“You did something.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re lying.”

“Maybe Superman nudged us back on course in all the chaos.”

“I’ve been watching the trackers. No one else with the capability has come near the station.”

“Can’t you just be grateful we got lucky?”

Sounds of peril screech over the coms. Danny’s face scrunches.

“Luck had nothing to do with it. As it is now, we are going to lose this fight.”

“Isn’t there anyone else you can call?”

“I’m asking you. You can help, can’t you?”

The glare-off lasts a long moment more before Danny breaks.

“Fuck. Fuckity fuck.” Danny runs his hands through his hair. “Shit. You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I’m asking you to save this and countless other worlds from a genocide. I’m also asking you to save my friends.”

Danny looks at him, hard, weary, and with a kind of deep resolve that feels far too ancient to be on the face of a supposed twenty-something.

“Fine. Fine. Okay.” He steps back and transforms. If Batman is surprised when he shakes off his human appearance like an old coat, he doesn’t show it. But what’s undeniable is the being in Danny’s place has the unmistakable presence of power.

“No one else can know.” His voice echoes in a way that’s sonically impossible, both sounding closer and further away than he should be.

He pulls a gear-shaped medallion seemingly out of thin air and puts it over his head in one motion.

“If I get in trouble for this, I’m blaming you.”

He vanishes. Outside, the shape of the battle changes instantly. The stars seem to glow brighter as the arms of the galaxy flash with the colors of the aurora. Then it’s like the void of space itself comes alive. It moves the spaceships back like they’re toys, plucking them from one side of the field to the other. It finds Darkseid at the heart of the chaos and massive arms of nothingness and darkness wrap around him. He’s screaming as it swallows him whole.

His armies scatter. The battle turns. The JL deal with the stragglers, but the air of relief is palpable.

Danny reappears next to Batman, once again donning his grease-stained coveralls. Arms folded.

“Happy?”

It took all of five minutes. Less, probably. Batman tamps down a thousand questions.

“Thank you.”

“I’m gonna need two weeks off minimum.” Danny snaps. “One to deal with the bureaucratic nightmare you’ve just caused me, and another to recover from the headache.”

Batman blanks. “Granted.”

Danny sighs. “And I’m not fixing the station until I’m back. It won’t fall out of the sky as is. Make up whatever excuse you want.”

“Done.” He considers. “I would prefer to tell them the truth. That you saved us.”

Danny glares. “I’m not supposed to save you. I made a pact not to use my power to influence the mortal realm.”

“A pact with who?”

Danny rolls his eyes. “The embodiment of Time. The concept of Justice. Among others.” He smirks at Batman’s confusion.

“And what, exactly, does that make you?”

He stands, framed by the space window, haloed by the stars. “I’ll give you three guesses.”

Batman frowns.

“Look. I like you guys. I like working on your base. I like supporting the work you do. But you can not go factoring me in to any of your plans or contingencies. This was a one time thing.

“So to answer your question again: I’m an engineer.”

[speakingtruthfully]

Dead on main writing prompt: Jason gets dosed by a rogue and accidentally exposes his and Danny's relationship......

“And this GIW kidnap ghosts?” Batman asks.

“Totally, Dad.” Jason nods. “But you can’t tell anyone I’m a ghost!” Jason claims.

“You don’t want them to get you?” Diana questions.

“Me?” Jason scoffs, “I don’t give a fuck about me. I just don’t want them to get Danny again.” He says in a duh kind of tone.

“Danny’s a ghost?” Dick asks in shock.

Jason smiles again, “He’s a Halfa; like me.”

“Two Halfas exist?” Zatanna asks sounding shocked.

Jason laughs, “Don’t be silly. There are four of us: Me, My husband, My husband’s clone, and that one asshole.”

“You and Danny are married!” Dick yells.

“Yes, Dickwing. My husband and I are in fact married.” Jason states.

“Why didn’t you invite me to your wedding?!” Dick doesn’t do a very good job hiding the hurt in his voice.

“I will invite you to the human one.”

“Wait, your wedding was a ghost one?” Dick asks.

“Duh.” Jason nods, “we’re only legally married in the Ghost Zone.” Jason then quickly adds, “Or Infinite Realms.” Jason shrugs, “Whatever you want to call it.”

“You’ve been to the infinite realms?” Constatine asks.

“Yeah.” Jason laughs. Then, stops as if realizing something, “Oh, My God.” He looks at his older brother, “Big Bird, Did I tell you that I met Jane Austin? Because I fucking met Jane Austin!”

“That’s- great, Little Wing.” Dick says in shock.

[saltymarshmall0w]

Demon Twins AU where Danny came to Wayne Manor with Damian

Dick threw himself on the couch next to Danyal. Damian was out of the house with Bruce for the next 2-4 hours after Danyal implied Damian would love to go with the zoo with his "dad".

The family of Bats couldn't help but notice their newest pair of members acted different when apart from each other.

He nudged Danyal, ignoring the feeling of a concealed weapon in his baggy pants.

Danyal looked over, raising his eyebrows, "Huh?"

"I've been curious, Danny why are you so..."

"Normal--- While Damian is a brat?" Danyal flipped through a couple channels as he spoke, still unable to make a choice on a show.

"I wouldn't put it like that, but yeah."

"er... so as the second heir, Mother decided to focus my education on, like, blending in to any environment for infiltration purposes. She even sent me to live with a few foster families so I would get an idea of how American families think an act." He stopped channel surfing so he could list them off on his fingers, "It was two weeks with the Burns, like, a day with the Mortons, and six months with the Fentons."

"Six months?" Dick questioned, alarmed. That was a long time for an infiltration mission for someone his age. How was he not attached?

Tim, who had taken up residency out of stabbing range for this conversation, set up with his lap top and a case file spoke up, "So, you're just masking all the time?"

"Affirmative." Danyal answered in the exact same way Damian did.

"Then why is Damian so..." Tim followed up, referencing his and Damian's contemptuous relationship.

"He's throwing fits to prove to me Father won't throw us out." Danyal shrugged. He ended up settling on an Animal documentary Damian would like.

[fandomfuntimem]

Dp x dc: batshit crazy driver au.

Bruce hired a new personal driver for the Wayne's. He was a nice enough guy. His grades weren't great, but he was a great driver and very patient. Like, really patient. Like, he is so unbothered by traffic, stupid drivers, and villain attacks, its kinda scary. But all the background checks came back clean. Minus his mad scientists parents, of course.

Daniel (Danny) Fenton. He could relate to any of the Wayne kids and hold an intelligent conversation with Bruce. Bruce feels that he doesn't need to be all Brucie Wayne around the young man. He doesn't know about their nightly activities yet, though. They're not quite sure if he even needs to know.

The first sign there was something more to Danny happened when Tim was sitting in the passenger seat. Tim was struggling with a math problem. It was driving him nuts. It only took a quick glance for Daniel to solve it, though, "it's thirty-six"

"What?"

"The answer is Thirty-six. You forgot to carry the three."

"Huh..."

He was right, Tim made a simple mistake, sure. But that was advanced college level math. Danny was a straight c student and never went to college. It only took him a momentary glance to solve it. Tim, though suspicious, chalked it up to a simple case of gifted kid syndrome. He related to it and began to consult with Danny on some of his math problems. Danny was more than happy to help, for a price, of course.

Then, there was a villain attack. The villain's goons ran rampant through the city, terrorizing anyone unfortunate enough to be outside at the time. But not Danny, they'll tried, oooh they tried. But those goons swiftly found themselves zip tied, in the trunk of a car, and on their way to jail. All while Danny blasted some music by a small artist named 'Ember'.

Alright. He is in Gotham, and his mother was a black belt, so maybe he was just well trained. Its good to know how to deffend yourself.

Then, Damien was kidnapped. It was so fast they barely saw, but a white van sped by and grabbed Damien as he made his way tawords the car. Initially, Damien expected the chauffeur to panic and call the police. But when shouting and cursing were heard from the front seat, and the men in the back slipped the van door open to check behind them, it was revealed Danny had followed them and he had a gun.

What could only be described as an action movie chase scene ensued. Every corner they swerved, every shortcut they took, Danny was right behind them. Driving like a bat out of hell, he shouted and fired at the wheels of the van. Knocking one out, the van swerved and was forced to come to a stop.

A kidnapper grabbed Damien by the hair and held a gun to his head, but before the threat could even leave his mouth a bullet flew through his hand. He dropped Damien and fell to the ground screaming, clutching his hand.

The kidnapper in the van already took off running but was swiftly stopped by Redhood arriving just in time to see Danny helping Damien up and checking him over, profusely apologizing for "letting this happen."

When asked why he did all of it, his simply answered, "I don't think I would get paid if I let Mr. Wayne's kid die! I can't let a kid die in general!"

Bruce, of course, gave the young man a bonus and a few days off for the stunt. Accompanied wlth a few stern words about safety. What was truly remarkable was that there was not a single scratch on the car. Untouched, meaning he never hit anything during the whole ordeal. "I just learned what not to do from my dad!" He joked, but Bruce felt that, despite the clear joking tone, there was some truth to the statement.

The family is suspicious, very suspicious. The man they previously viewed as their simple and humble driver turned out to be a monster of a fighter, and they have no idea how or why.

----------------------‐------

A/N: Feel free to add onto this in any way you would like :3

[terrestrialnoob]

Gut Feeling

DPXDC

Commissioner Jim Gordon meets an odd kid in the precinct.

--

“Come on, you really don’t have a way to directly contact Batman?”

Jim smiled. Kids came to the station and asked that all the time. Usually, it was just curiosity and showing them the signal was enough to get them to sign up for the Junior Police program. This one looked a little older than most, teenagers were often “too old” to believe in Batman, but again, give them a little faith now and they’ll never loose it.

“Lookin’ for the Bat, kid?” Jim asked, knowing he was about to make this kid’s –

Jim froze. The kid turned to face him and it was Bruce Wayne. Not playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne, but freshly a teenager Bruce Wayne. The Bruce Wayne who Jim had checked in on time and again from age eight until he ran off on a globetrotting trip to find himself. The little Bruce Wayne with too pale skin and dark bags under his eyes, and not enough love to make up for all the grief weighing him down. And he didn’t look like Damian either, where Bruce was obviously his father but there were distinct traits from his mother. This was a carbon copy of a boy Jim remembered vividly.

“I am.” He even sounded like teenage Bruce. All business, like he was on a mission.

“I might be able to help you, but it’ll take a while.” Jim said and the officer the kid had been talking too gave him an odd look. He waved her off and told the kid to follow him to the commissioner’s office. Normally, he’d be more dramatic, put on more of a show for the kid, but his gut told him this was different, this was important. He offered the kid a styrofoam cup of water then closed the door behind him. “So, what do you need to talk to Batman for?”

“It’s personal. I need to talk to him in person.”

Jim took a sip of coffee from his cup. “He doesn’t appreciate me calling for no reason in the middle of the day.”

“So you do have a direct line?” The kid nearly jumped out of his seat. “If he’s upset, it’ll be my fault, just call him, please.”

“Who should I say wants to talk to him?”

The kid hesitated. “He doesn’t know me, but I have to talk to him.”

Jim frowned. “What’s your name, kid?”

He swallowed and looked like he wasn’t going to answer for a moment. “Danny.”

“Danny…?” Jim wanted a last name but Danny kept quiet. Jim sighed, “He’s likely not going to show up until sundown.”

“I can wait, as long as you guarantee he’ll show.”

“And you’re not going to tell me why you need Batman?” Jim just got a glare in response. “What about one of the other heroes?”

“Only Batman, no one else can help.”

“You sure about that? Not even Superman?”

“Not unless Superman can get me in the same room as Batman.”

“Why’s it so important that you meet him in person?”

“It’s personal.”

Jim liked this less and less by the minute. “Do your parents know you’re here?”

Danny looked away but right when it looked like he wouldn’t say anything he mumbled. “They wouldn’t care anyway.”

After another moment to give the kid time to reconsider, Jim pulled out the Bat-phone. It was a normal Wayne-Tech cell phone, but Jim had been given very specific instructions on how and when to use it. The phone listed all the Gotham Vigilantes without visible numbers so they couldn’t be copied and handed out. He pressed the one for Batman.

“Stand outside, would you?” The kid gave him a look, but followed the request. Jim could see his shadow in the door’s window, not so subtle eavesdropping.

It rang a few times, and Jim sat there awkwardly with a teenager listening to his every move. Finally, a familiar voice picked up the other end of the line. “Commissioner Gordon.”

“Sorry to call you out of the blue Batman, but I’ve got a kid here who needs your help.”

“Who?”

“Says his name is Danny, that you’ve never met him but you’re the only one who can help him.”

“Why?”

“Refuses to tell me.”

“What’s your best guess, Commissioner?”

Jim looked at Danny’s shadow, it looked like he was straining his ears to try and hear what he was saying. Danny had given him almost nothing to work with. Just his name, that he’s never met Batman but needs to talk with him in person. But Jim was here because he listened to his gut. A feeling like when you see a random rock on your neighbor’s doorstep but you’d never go in without an invitation. A feeling like you know what’s in the present and are preparing your surprised face. A feeling like when you cheated on your wife and you know she knows.

“He looks like Bruce Wayne.”

A beat of silence. “What?”

“Danny looks exactly like Bruce when he was a teenager. Exactly the same.” Jim hoped Batman would get it, feel in his gut what Jim felt.

“And he wont say why he’s there?”

“No, and he demands to see you in person.”

“I’ll be there in an hour.”

“10-4.” The line cut off before Jim had finished saying it. He called Danny in again. “He’s on his way.”

Danny glared at him. “If he’s not, if you called some social worker or something, you’ll regret it.”

“I’m sure.” Jim sighed and downed the rest of his now cold coffee.

The sun hadn’t set, but only just barely. Jim ended up taking Danny up to the roof in the end after all, if only to save his window from being broken into. The kid had a red hoodie on, but he was still shivering in the autumn chill and it was just going to get colder by the minute as the sun made its way behind the horizon.

Jim checked his watch and, at exactly an hour from when he called, he acted surprised when Batman and Robin appeared out of nowhere. “Bats.”

“Commissioner.” Batman greeted but his eyes went straight for Danny. “Danny, I assume.”

“Yeah, I…” Danny hesitated, looking at Jim and Robin.

All it took was four words from Batman. “What do you need?”

The kid held out his hand with a flash drive in it. “I’m your clone. My par- The people who made me wanted to make a stronger version of you, but they got ahead of themselves. My DNA is degrading and I’ll die if I don’t get your DNA to stabilize me.”

Holy cow.

“You don’t expect us to believe that, do you?” Robin sneered at him.

“The flash drive has all the info on it. All the data about the cloning process and the, uh, relevant experiments after that.” Batman gave the kid a look. “I didn’t want to waste time on unnecessary data.”

“If what you’re saying is true, why are you here, alone? Are they working on a different solution?”

Danny’s shoulders hiked up. “I’ve been a failure for a while now, I’m not worth the resources and they’d learn more from an autopsy.”

Oof, kid. Jim looked at Batman who seemed to feel the same… if Jim was reading him right.

“So, you wont object to a DNA test?” Robin asked with a cocky head tilt, at least he was relatively easy to read.

“You can try.” Danny said, and then realized what that sounded like. “I mean I wont stop you, but my DNA degrades faster outside my body. You’ll have to take me to whatever lab you plan on using.”

“Then we will.” Batman said and jerked his head towards where they’d probably parked that ridiculous car of his. But then he looked at Jim with a nod. “Commissioner.”

“Batman.” Jim returned the nod. “You’ll tell me how things turn out, yeah?”

“I’ll give you a report.” Batman joked – Jim could tell, it was gut feeling.

[bluerosefox]

F*ck Forgiveness. I Want Vengeance.

Hmmmm

Another DeadTired idea. And Ghost King Danny with Consort Tim.

Tim dies a bitter ended death with the Batfam (Maybe during his RR run and isn't caught by Dick when he is kicked out of WE window? Or its in the future where his relationship between the bats is bad.)

So yeah Tim dies. And wakes in the Infinite Realms and learns to unlive in that Realm and gained a wonderful afterlife.

And somehow manages to gain the attention of the Ghost King, King Phantom and somehow manages to become his Consort after some adorable ghost courting.

Despite the fact he's been dead for like a few months in his original Realms timeline, time in the Infinite Realms is more ocean like than riverish, Tim has been happily married to his husband for what feels like eons.

So Tim was not, very very not happy when his ghost is suddenly pulled away from his anniversary dinner and stuffed back into his body.

He hears yelling and fighting, wakes to see the Bats fighting League Assassins while Batman is fighting Ra's in rage.

And Tim.

He isn't happy at all.

He already figured it out, connected the dots.

Oh Ra's was going to regret bringing him back. The Bats, and he KNOWS they should had respected his last wishes to be fucking cremated, ashes scattered in space, so THIS wouldn't had happened.

Cause Tim wasn't playing around anymore.

[phantom-dc]

Bruce sighed.

He never thought he would die like this. When he started out as Batman he was certain he would meet his end fighting the criminal underworld of Gotham. When he got older and life got stranger, he believed he would die fighting off a threat like Joker or Deathstroke, maybe even Darkseid. Being used as a human sacrifice to the King of the Infinite Realms was not on that list, let alone being a willing sacrifice.

Unfortunately, it had been necessary. An asteroid was on collision course with Earth. The asteroid had a colony of sapient alien life on it, so destroying it was not an option. As the League grew desperate, Constantine revealed a similar incident had happened a few years ago. The King of the Infinite Realms had, along with his subjects, turned the Earth intangible and both the Earth and the Asteroid had survived. Constantine isn’t sure why or how, but there are signs an extremely powerful ghost had merged realities and in the process erased the memories of this event from the entire population of Earth! The only reason Constantine knows about it is because a Demon with time-based powers told him during one of their poker games. Summoning this King was risky, as they had no idea what the King would want in return, but this entity seemed like their best bet. Now Bruce thinks they had been wrong.

Superman pulled Bruce out of his thoughts:

“Bruce, are you sure you want to go through with this? If we work together, we might be able to-”

Bruce cut him off:

“No, Clark. You heard Constantine. If we do not hold up our end of the deal, the Ghost King could simply make his ally, this “Clockwork”, reverse time to before the planet was saved. The Earth and the asteroid will still be destroyed, killing everyone on both. This is the only way.”

Clark looked dejected. He knew his friend was right. The King had turned the entire Earth intangible with one hand! He knew the League couldn’t defeat this foe, not without help. Any being that could help them would demand even more bloodshed in exchange, though. One human life in exchange of saving the entire planet had been a steal, according to the Justice League Dark. Clark looked at Bruce:

“Are you going to put on your cowl? This will be the only chance you have to tell the other Leaguers who you are.”

Bruce looked at his cowl. He had taken of his suit, so that his family had something to bury. But to reveal his identity to anyone other than Clark....

“I will keep it on. Even if I die here, I cannot risk anyone finding out my identity and using it to get to my family. I hope the League understands.”

Bruce is pulled into a hug. As Clark holds him as close as he can without breaking bones Bruce cannot help being filled with regret. He wanted more time with his family and, dare he say, friends. This was not how things were supposed to go. Clark pulls away and seems to want to say something:

“Bruce, I just want you to know, I-”

“WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON, B?”

Suddenly Nightwing enters the room, along with the entire Bat-family. Even Alfred and Oracle, donning masks, are there. They looked confused and scared, which made sense. They had all been summoned to the Watchtower, and when they had seen non-field members there as well they knew something was very wrong. Robin stepped forward, demanding an explanation:

“Father, what is happening? Why did you ask for us here? Explain yourself this instant!”

Red Robin looked ready to fight, staff in hand and in a low stance:

Where is the danger? Who is the enemy? Do you have intel for us? ARE YOU BEING MIND CONTROLLED?

Spoiler yanked at Red Robin’s cowl, pulling him out of his paranoid spiral:

“Easy, Captain Paranoid! Let him speak!”

Red Hood was clearly agitated. It was never a good sign if he was asked to the Watchtower:

“The fuck is going on, old man? Are you dying or something? That’s my stick, not yours!”

Bruce steeled his nerves. This was not going to be an easy conversation. How does one tell their family they are going to die and there is nothing to be done about it? Things had been going well for them, too. Dick and he hadn’t fought as often anymore, Jason had not called him names when he patrolled Crime ally last week, Tim hadn’t done anything that could be considered villainous (that he knew of) and Damian had not stabbed any goons for a month. Truly things had been good. Bruce knew this would mess it all up. He feared Jason would start killing again, or Damian would take out his grief on the criminals or Tim would… Well he had no idea. Last time Bruce disappeared Tim blew up so many LoA bases (he still wasn’t sure whether there had been people inside or not), so it was anyone’s gue-

“Sir, could you please elaborate on why we are here? I’m assuming it has something to do with the reason for this dreadful cold, and perhaps your lack of a shirt?”

Bruce sighed. Alfred always knew how to get through to him. With a heavy heart he told them everything. He would sacrifice himself for the survival of both planets. There was nothing to be done about that, and he asked them to please accept his decision. Naturally everyone was outraged. Amidst the chaos, Orphan asked a question:

“Why you?”

Bruce explained that, according to Constantine, the King had asked for a single sacrifice in return: “To feast on a non-magic, non-meta mortal human that will not resist being consumed.” It had pointed specifically at Batman, making sure they all knew which one it wanted. There had been no time to negotiate the prize, so he had accepted. After that it had left immediately for Earth, turning it intangible so the asteroid flew through harmlessly and fulfilling its end of the deal. Orphan seemed to think for a bit, before speaking up again:

“We’ll miss you.”

She hugged Batman. The others, realizing there was nothing they could do, at least not before facing the King, joined in as well. Bruce told them how proud he was of everyone. That they were strong and brilliant, and to please protect each other and Gotham in his stead. He thanked Alfred and Oracle for their help over the years and to please continue to support the others with the same strength they used to help him. After a moment they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Wonder Woman had entered the room. With a saddened expression, and a dented doorhandle that showed her tension, she had come to collect her friend.:

“Batman. It’s time.”

Bruce nodded at her. Thanking her, he tried to leave with her, but was stopped by Alfred. After a quick hug, Alfed offered Bruce a cookie from the plate he had brought along:

“Every man deserves a final meal. I’m sorry this was all I have to offer.”

Taking a grateful bite, Bruce allowed himself to indulge in the taste of home.

“Thank you, Alfred. This means more to me then you realize.”

Steeling himself once more, Batman and the others followed Wonder Woman to the main room. It was the largest room in the Watchtower, several stories high with observation platforms, security screens showing cities all over the planet and a teleportation platform. As they approached the room, Batman was surprised by the cold that radiated form the entrance. Opening the door the source of all the cold and grief became visible to the group. Signal had to shield his eyes:

“What the hell!?!”

There it was, the High Ghost King of the Infinite Realms. A giant being, which had been so large they had to move to the observation platform to speak with it. Even then it towered over the heroes. It’s skin impossibly dark, with constellations spotting its tail & torso. The stars converging on its lower arms, making it look like it was wearing glowing white gloves, the same as a strange symbol on his chest that seemed important. The stars on its neck blending seamlessly with its hair, yet leaving its head completely dark aside from a few little spots on its face. The only facial feature they could make out where 2 Lazarus green eyes, focused on the new arrivals. On its hand, a ring with a skull on it that had freaked out the Lanterns. On its head a dark crown covered in patches of frost, and its own Aurora Borealis spreading from it. The room had already been partially covered in frost simply from the King’s aura. Power emanated from it, which had caused several members that had been dead and revived before to kneel on reflex, which was frightening even if they managed to get up on their own again.

Martian Manhunter had tried to peek in the Kings mind, hoping to find a way to convince the King to spare Batman, but he had been unsuccessful. As soon as he tried his knees buckled, and he had been pushed out. Ever since the Ghost King had radiated frustration. Now, as Batman entered wearing only his cowl and some spare pants, that frustration seemed to spike dangerously. Was the King upset he had been left to wait for his offer?

"What the fuck is this? I didn’t ask for a striptease, especially from some old Frootloop!”

“Constantine, what’s wrong? What is it saying?”

Batman was worried. He had not expected more anger from the being when presented with the offering. Looking at Constantine, he saw the magician frantically looking through the pages of his books, desperately looking for a translation.

“Hang on, mate. I’m doing my best here! Ehrm… no, that’s not right… Something about mating? Maybe he likes you, Bats. He also said something about “the absence of clothing” so…

Suddenly he is cut off by a strange sound coming from the Ghost King. It makes a strange motion with its body and its giant maw opens, as more of those sounds escape. It reminds Robin of Alfred the Cat when he has a hairball. However, there is more sound in the Watchtower now. The Red Hood is clutching his stomach as he is doubling down in laughter.

“HAHAHAHA!!! WHAT? HOW THE FUCK DID YOU TRANSLATE THAT BADLY? HOLY SHIT!”

The Ghost King stops making the noises, and it’s eyes snap to Red Hood. It moves it’s head closer to him, casually passing it through the barrier Constantine had put up. Constantine’s swears in surprise, but the King seems not to care as it “speaks” to Red Hood:

"Oh, thank the Acients! Someone who understands Ghost Speak! Can you PLEASE help me and translate for us? This trench coat guy is terrible, and somehow twists everything I say in the worst way!"

Red Hood relaxed, looking up at the Ghost King’s giant head.:

“Sure man, no problem. I’m pretty sure he is using like 3 different dictionaries to get this far. I saw him first translate Ghost to Pixie, Pixie to Gnome and Gnome to Demon before telling us in English! So, what’s up?”

Batman was stunned. The Ghost King actually face palmed. What the heck was going on?

"Of course he is. That explains why it sounds like he is putting this through Google Translate 4 times! These guys summoned me to save the Earth, which, totally cool. Happy to help! But a summons makes it official, which means I need to get an offering. I can’t leave without it or I face a mountain of paperwork from some stupid bureaucratic eyeballs for not following proper procedure. But I can always ask something simple and get it over with. No biggie, right? WRONG.”

Red Hood actually grabs a chair to sit on. Not even in a somewhat respectful way, he is sitting on it backwards, casually leaning on it.

“Oh, boy. How badly did they fuck up? Gotta be big since Batman over there is ready to be eaten?”

The King glares at Constantine, who puts up his bravest “time to out-bollock a Eldritch Demon” face. The King is not impressed:

"Man, I asked, and I quote: “I’d like to eat a regular human meal that doesn’t fight back, like that guy would eat!” I wanted it to be clear I didn’t want blood, or corpses or virgins or any of the other horrible things stupid cults try to give me! I just wanted a burger or something! But then Mr. triple dictionary over there somehow turns that into: ‘’I wish to feast on a non-magic, non-meta mortal human that will not resist being consumed, and it must be that one.” I’ll admit I was pointing at one of the non-supers, but that didn’t mean I wanted to eat him! I just wanted to make sure it was normal food, something that doesn’t fight back!”

Red Hood looked confused, asking if the King’s food usually fights back. The King rolls it’s eyes:

"In life, I lived with mad scientist parents who treated lab safety as a suggestion at best and a chore for teens at worst. Put enough samples in the fridge and you get a whole new type of Thanksgiving trauma. Dang, I’m getting even more hungry. I’d love some turkey right now. Could you get them to bring me some food? That way I can have my sacrifice and leave…”

Red Hood stands up. He asks if the King can wait a few more minutes, claiming that after all that frustration he deserved something better. Getting a nod from the Ghost King, the Red Hood suddenly shouted over the platform railing towards the waiting Leaguers:

“FLASH! Get your squad up here, and bring pen & paper! I got a job for y’all!”

Zooming up every member of the Flash family gets a list of things to get and a warning not to tell the Bats what’s on it, or Red Hood will shoot them in the knees. Looking at the lists, they quickly caught on what was going on and promised they wouldn’t tell. This was way too funny! Red Hood does a fake bow to the King, clearly amusing himself.

“Don’t worry, your Hungry-ness! Your sacrifice is being prepared! Anything else we can assist you with?”

The Ghost King seems to tilt its head in amusement. Whatever Hood was doing, it was working, which honestly was the only reason nobody had tackled him to the floor.

"Actually, if you could get that Frootloop to put on a shirt that would be great. He is shivering and honestly, I’m worried he’s going to poke someone’s eye out with a nipple. Why is he shirtless anyway? Please tell me he wasn’t actually trying to seduce me or something, he’s old enough to be my dad! Gross!”

This caused Red Hood to again double over in laughter. Everyone was confused, what could possibly be so funny in this situation? Constantine had frantically tried translating during their conversation, but it had gone too fast for him. He gave up when the King mentioned eyeballs and seduction, accepting he wouldn’t get anywhere like this. Batman however couldn’t resist his need to know everything anymore.

“Hood, report! How are you communicating with the entity?”

Red Hood turns to Batman, walks past him and towards Alfred, grabbing one of the cookies he had brought with him. As he walks back and hands it to the Ghost King, he starts to explain:

“Honestly, not sure. It feels instinctive, like a second mother-tongue. Pretty sure it’s some sort of “dead-guy-language” you learn when you die. Speaking off: Turns out Constantine is a VERY unreliable translator. Spooky here is actually pretty chill! He used you as an example to make sure we knew what he wanted, not to demand you as a sacrifice. He is in fact pretty ticked that you guys tried to feed B to him. Speaking of: Batman? Put a shirt on, for fucks sake. You look like you’re going to freeze your tits off.”

This earned a round of giggles from Green Lantern & Green Arrow. Now that the tension had left the room, other Leaguers also smiled in relief. Besides, it’s always fun to see Batman being the butt of a joke. Sure enough, Batman let out a frustrated sound, that got the rest of the Bats to join in on the fun. They understood that their dad in fact felt rather silly right now, which meant that they had more to gossip about soon. Constantine now was wondering what Hood was up to:

“Mate, I did my best! Sorry for not being fluent in every language in existence. What the hell did you send the Flash to get? The bloke is a scientist and denies magic when it’s right in front of ‘im! What could they possibly get that I couldn’t-”

At that moment, the Flashes zoom out of the Zeta tubes and zoom across the observation deck. After a few moments of red and yellow blurs, the deck is covered with tables filled front to back with food! Picking up a receipt that fell to the floor, Batman realizes this is take-out from all over the world. Seeing a puddle of Lazarus water grow on the floor, he looks up. The Ghost King is actually drooling! Red Hood steps aside and gestures to the feast:

“Welp! There is your sacrifice! One. And I also quote: “regular human meal that doesn’t fight back, like “that guy” would eat!” Well, more of a feast then a meal, but I’m sure a big guy like you can finish it, and you can always take home the rest I guess. Bon Appetit!”

Opening his giant maw, the Ghost King digs in. Well, as much as he can. He actually looks kind of silly eating everything with a tiny fork. Still, judging from the purring sound emanating through the Watchtower it’s to the Kings liking.

"DUDE, THIS IS SO GOOD? I need to know these restaurants! You want a bite for helping me out? You saved me SOOO much annoying paperwork, I was about to bail!”

Picking up a plate of karaage, Red Hood took of his helmet revealing a second mask underneath and dug in as well:

“Don’t mind if I do, this smells fantastic! Oh shit, you should try this stuff, it’s great!”

Red Hood being allowed to partake in the offering so casually caused Constantine to do a double take. He realizes he seriously misjudged this entity. Still, that didn’t explain the horrific stories about him. He would need to do some digging into that, maybe with Hood as a translator. For now he takes a swig of his drink. The world was saved, no one died or lost their Soul and he didn’t make any new enemies he thinks. Plus, Batman felt like an idiot, and that always made the Brit smile.

All in all a good day!

[cabinofimagines]

The Automaton Mash

Last part from Halloween of the year! Hope y'all enjoyed our brainwaves. Pairing: A lot platonic, both MCGA and TOA, x gn!reader Word count: 2.9k Warnings: only our humour I suppose Happy Halloween! - Danny & Asnyox

Lester is the next guy to come up to you in a frantic state. “Have you seen Hecate?”

You stare at him without understanding. “Yeah, plenty of times. Not today though.”

“Very funny. Seriously, I thought I had handled that yesterday but I could’ve sworn that I saw her like three minutes ago and I keep hearing these scratching noises coming from the vents…”

Your heartbeat picks up at his statement. “Eh, what now? Are you sure it isn’t the music echoing through the vents? We’d never held a party indoors before, maybe that’s it?”

“No, no. I tell you, Hecate is here,” Apollo winces. “Maybe I should stop using her name. Anyway, if you see her tell me right away. Gods, you wouldn’t believe how hard it is to keep her from showing up at your parties since the one you held years ago at her house, now she keeps saying how she’s so eager to see it first-hand but if she realizes there are no large campfires with dancing witches all over and that you’ve also invited people from other realms she’ll be so disappointed that she’ll forbid you from making parties!”

You frown. “Is that the reason why you’re always around during Halloween? Wait, what do you mean other realms? Is this about the undead, because I don’t know who invited those guys, Nico didn’t.”

“Klaus is literally right there.” He gives you a look pointing at the entrance. “Why else would I be here every freaking year?”

“Because you love and miss us?”

Lester brushes it off. “Yes. Lots and lots. Anyway, we must find Hecate—”

“It’s not Hecate,” you sigh heavily. “I know what the noises are, but I don’t think we can do much without halting the party. I could use your help, though.”

“Oh. Doing what?”

“We need an expert at dressing up to judge the costume competition and you are our guy,” you smile. “So in about twenty minutes or so go meet Calypso in front of the stage, pretty please?”

Lester glances at the hallway again but gives in. He hopes nothing bad happens while he sits back and enjoys the party.

Percy was looking for Alex. He felt bad for whatever Klaus and possible-real-santa had to put up with on a yearly basis. Starting the preparations for Christmas during Halloween? That’s just insane. But he also knew that he had approximately 20 dollars, a half pack of gum, and a pharmacy receipt in the pockets of his costume. 

If only he could recall what Alex was dressed as- he hadn’t seen her yet, but he knew that Annabeth told him before, in one of her costume planning rambles. With a little chance she might have more money on her, and if not he could try Piper too. 

In Percy’s searching frenzy he wasn’t really looking out where he was going, until he bumped into someone. Percy quickly looked and saw blonde hair, pointy ears and-

Oh gods there were three of them. Did all the elves have to go to this party? Did they have nowhere left? Was the world that far gone? Without a second thought he blurted out a quick “I’ll get you money!” to the closest elf, before running off in a different direction. Said elf turned to his two fellow Legolase’s. 

“What’s Percy’s problem?” Magnus asked, as Jason shrugged. “I think it has to do with Klaus again,” Will said, and Jason seemed to understand. Magnus, however, was left in the dark, for only a moment, before Will sighed and started explaining the saga of Klaus and Percy’s obsession with Christmas.  

Percy figured he would simply give his earthly possessions to Klaus immediately- he can always do a fundraiser next Christmas for the elves. With this mindset he went back out to meet with Klaus and his friend. Before Percy could come close enough to see what they were doing, Klaus’s friend pointed at him. Klaus turned around and smiled widely. 

“Ah Percy, found any gifts?” He said, as he made sure that Percy stood in front of both his friend and him. Percy squinted his eyes as Klaus seemed to be using sign language, but he didn’t question it. 

“I have twenty dollars and some gum-” he said and he felt himself get flustered. Klaus’ friend was staring intensely at his face while he was talking. Percy sighed, “I couldn’t find Alex, but I promise I’ll raise more funds soon!” 

“Oh, but twenty is plenty right now,” Klaus said, “Let’s go get some resources for our workers- I know just what candy they need.” 

And without question, Percy followed the two elves to the nearest store. 

Alex saw her newest target- a Latino on the smaller side. She simply knew that he would be an easy scare- he was already looking extremely anxious. Besides, he was clearly dressed as some sort of dwarf appropriation, and Alex figured he should get a good scare for daring to do so. 

She also figured he was probably unaware of his crimes, but that didn’t matter to her.

So, slowly, she stalked her way to the boy. She didn’t need to try too hard to be silent, as the noises from the party would cover any footsteps.  She was hovering right next to the Latino’s shoulder as he turned around and screamed, high and shrill, for only a moment, as the ghost in front of him started cackling. Leo regained his breath for a moment. 

“Geez, are you one of those undead that are visiting?” he eyed the ghostly figure in front of him, which casually nodded. “Sure am.” she answered, like a normal person and not at all like what Leo imagined La Llorona to sound like. At his scrutinizing gaze Alex felt like she should elaborate, “This is just a costume though.” 

Leo nodded slowly, before properly looking at the costume. 

“Sick costume! Did you have help from Blitzen making this?” he asked. “How do you know Blitzen? Either way, this is all homemade by yours truly.” she answered and Leo whistled. 

“I just met the dude, uh, are you joining in the costume contest?” he asked and Alex shook her head. “Why not?” “If too many people see the costume I can’t freak anyone out anymore.” Alex shrugged, “Besides I have seen what Blitzen has made and there’s no way I am winning, it’s unfair.” 

Leo eyed La Llorona for a moment, before casually looking to the side. 

“If it’s unfair, you know you can bust the awards ceremony.” he suggested, “I live here, I know exactly where you could come from to scare everyone in the audience, if you aren’t a pussy at least.” It barely took a second for Alex to answer.

“I’m in.”

As you sit down between Calypso and Lester at the judges table, you look around searching for Jason or Leo, but neither is within sight. Holding back a groan, you put on an easy-going smile and signal to Calypso so she goes upstage and speaks to the crowd, announcing the costume competition.

As the contenders quickly gather backstage, Calypso explains what they’ll be basing their ratings on and how the crowd is allowed to interact with the process. The prize is, of course, a bag of drachmas and the opportunity to host next year’s Halloween party if the winner wishes to.

Calypso goes back to her seat giddily and calls out through the mic. “First contestant, you may come out now!”

While the competition comes through, you have one eye on the costumes and the other on the vents. If only you had a set of security cameras set up on this stupid table to switch channels every so often and see if the animatronics are getting closer or further away, now that would be helpful and certainly not scary at all.

When Annabeth comes up on the stage she’s holding a large, worn cloak over her body, and you all stay silent whispering about her strange choice and why she deemed it competition-worthy. That is, until she swirls the fabric with a dramatic flare and twirls, tossing the large cloak aside and revealing a highly realistic armour underneath. 

Gasps are heard everywhere, and in the back you hear a girl squeal. “Oh gods, she’s Chappell Roan!”

Annabeth sighs. “I knew that would happen,” she raises her voice. “I’m Joan of Arc, guys, not Chappell! Love her music, though!”

Calypso, Lester, and you lean your heads closer together and whisper. “Okay so that is a pretty cool costume,” Lester starts. “I love Joan of Arc! She was super funny.”

“Mhm, not to be that guy, but if Annabeth wins she’ll get to host Halloween next year and you guys weren’t here to see that, but let me tell you, if she hosts that means Percy and Grover host, and you do not want to see how things go when they’re left in charge.”

“Yeah? And how’s it going for you tonight, hm?” Lester raises a brow.

“What?” Calypso looks slightly concerned. “Is something happening that I don’t know of?”

“Nothing, my sweet, stay in your bubble.” You pat her head distractedly. “Now, Lester, in my defense I’m not hosting, Leo and Calypso are. And the bad side of things is all Leo. However, you may’ve noticed Leo is nowhere to be found, so maybe he already fixed things while everyone was gathered here in a safe space!”

A dreadful high-pitched scratching comes from the ceiling and the vents when two dozen automatons fall out in a cascade of rusty old bodies. You wince, staring at the chaos as three of them fall too close to Annabeth.

“And that’s our queue to stop arguing!” You claim already halfway out of your seat and jumping over the table to fight the machines.

Lester makes his bow appear and Calypso pulls out a dagger from her ankle. You have no idea if she’s got any more hidden and if she also had them on while chilling and watching movies with all of you, but now there are worse things to worry about.

Annabeth stumbles back in shock when the automatons all start crawling towards her, and then a male voice shouts her name, getting her attention. “Your costume!” Blitzen shouts. “It works as real armor, you can fight!”

Annabeth seizes the banner she’d carried to the stage and twists it. It splits in half, creating two medium-sized spears with shiny silver points. “For le goulash!” She shouts before stabbing one of the robots in the head.

Your eye catches a glimpse of something squirming over your head just as you decapitate an automaton and you gasp. “Holy shit, is that a ghost bride?”

Lester squeaks out. “It’s Hecate!” 

But you pale when the girl falls directly over an automaton and cuts right through his middle as if it were made of butter. “That’s not Hecate, that’s one of the undead!”

“That’s my friend Alex!” A short man runs past you smiling from ear to ear. “Mess them up, my friend!”

“Isn’t that…” You squint, but Lester tackles you before you can finish your thought.

From the ground you watch as a large guy dressed up as a bear tears the costume off his body and, in what can only be described as an act of pure madness, sticks a pumpkin over his head. A lit, real-life pumpkin.

You get up to help him but a guy, looking extremely similar to Jason but speaking in a more high panicky voice, urges you to run to the other side. “He’s fine he’s just excited, keep moving!”

“And who are you?” You demand, feeling like you’re suffering some kind of mass hallucinating from smelling Leo’s half-baked goulash.

“I’m Magnus!” He responds while his sword flies all around him slashing robots. You’re not very sure, but every time that thing flies past you, you could swear its humming the Monster Mash.

“Oh, Annabeth’s cousin! Didn’t know she invited you! So you must be the undead Nico sniffed!” You retort after tripping an animatronic and slamming it’s head against the ground.

The human Jack O’Lantern runs past you with the remnants of his costume now also on fire, but he really must have some thick skin, because it doesn’t seem to bother him. Next to him a red-haired girl dressed as Merida shouts instructions at him so he knows where to hit next, given that his vision sucks at the moment.

“Demigod life, am I right?” Magnus says with a hint of dry humour. 

You smirk. “Dude, and you didn’t see our last year’s competition of cabin decorations for Christmas.”

“You guys celebrate Christmas? Aren’t you pagan and stuff?” Magnus pauses. “Oh no, am I the racist Legolas?”

“Duck!” You exclaim, slashing your sword just an inch above his head and cutting through a robot’s arm.

“Here’s the elf candy!” Percy comes through the main entrance holding a tote bag.

Hearthstone and Klaus stop behind him, the three of them coming to an abrupt halt when they see the carnage of metallic limbs and oil stains scattered across the room. 

“What the hell happened?” Percy scowled, locking eyes with Leo. “Dude, I know your waiters were glitchy but you didn’t have to butcher them!” He walks up to one of the bodies and picks up the head. “The off switch is right there!”

You and Jason share the same infuriated look. “Would you like me to hold the goulash while you strangle him with your wig?”

“No need, I’m gonna choke him with the goulash,” he grumbles, walking away to get to Leo.

“Your prize,” Calypso comes up to Annabeth holding a small bag of drachmas. “Your costume is awesome. Good luck hosting Halloween next year, don’t ever ask me to do it again.”

“I don’t wanna host Halloween,” Annabeth scrunches up her nose. “I share a house with Percy!”

“Leonidas Valdez.” 

Leo gulped- he had really hoped that Jo and Em wouldn’t notice anything amiss. They said they would be gone for most of the party week out of respect, but here they were, at the end of the party. He turned to his moms, trying to not look as guilty as he felt. 

“What is the one thing we said you were not allowed to do?” Jo’s voice was strict, and Em was standing next to her with the same look on her face. “Go see the automatons, lest they activate.” Leo admitted, knowing there was no way out of this. “And what did you do?” Em asked. “I went to see the automatons, and they activated, BUT-” Leo took one second to see no interruptions from his moms, “We dealt with the problem now! Nobody got hurt, and you don’t have to worry about the automatons anymore!”  Em and Jo looked at each other for a second, before looking around the mess that was the Waystation currently. “You’re off the hook for tonight, but you will face consequences Leo.” Jo said, before she and Em joined hands and walked off, probably not wanting to see the aftermath for much longer. Leo hoped he could convince the party goers to help clean up. 

“Wow, I’ve never seen them that strict, even with me.” “HA!” Leo jumped up, only to come face to face with Lityerses, “Ah, sorry Lit. Didn’t hear you coming this way.” Lityerses shrugged. “Anyways, Jason is looking for you, something about wanting to dump goulash on your head. I would go to him before he gets to you.” 

As the chaos settled down, Blitzen reunited with Hearthstone, asking why Hearthstone was here. 

Klaus is a childhood acquaintance of mine. He also hates Alfheim. He invited me.  

Blitzen nodded as he looked around the room, only to be interrupted by Hearthstone getting his attention and pointing at Leo- still dressed as a dwarf. Blitzen turned to Hearthstone with a questioning gaze, as his friend had mischief in his eyes. He’s just like you. Hearthstone signed. Blitzen glared at him, as he pointed to the guy dressed like an elf next to Leo, holding a pot of food. He’s just like you. Blitzen signed, and Hearthstone hit him softly. I don’t even like goulash. His friend signed back. 

Before Blitzen could react, Halfborn, still partially on fire with the jack-o-lantern pattern, went up the stage. Somehow this sight of him alone quieted the room, as a manical grin was on his face. “HEY,” He started, loudly, “IF THIS IS HALLOWEEN EVERY YEAR, Y’ALL ARE INVITED TO VALHALLA NEXT YEAR.” 

Nobody cheered, and the next sound was TJ, still impeccably dressed as Sherlock, getting on the stage too. 

“Uh, Halfborn, love the enthusiasm, but most people here are not dead. So maybe Boston will do?” he suggested, and it took a split second for Halfborn to nod. Before he loudly made a new statement. “Y’ALL ARE INVITED TO HALLOWEEN IN BOSTON NEXT YEAR. NOW CHEER.” 

That seemed to do the trick, as reluctant cheering broke out in the crowd. What just happened? Hearthstone asked Blitzen, who seemed a bit disappointed. We’re hosting Halloween next year. Blitzen answered.

[corkinavoid]

DPxDC Ring of Rage? More Like Ring of Engage

The thing is, Tim didn't mean to put it on. He was just kind of playing with it to keep his hands busy while he was thinking about the recent murder case. GCPD had their hands full with the serial robbers that didn't rank high enough to catch Batman's attention, and Tim never had a problem with helping the police if he had time.

And the ring was a perfect fidget toy, if he is being honest. Small and plain enough not to distract him, but the round stone in the middle was loosely attached, making it able to spin inside the frame. Which is what he did, again and again, like those fidget spinners.

Of course, he was just destined to drop it sooner or later. And then, when he reached under the table to pick it up, his finger caught inside the ring, and, well.

The ring was now firmly on his finger.

The problem was that he couldn't take it off.

It wasn't stuck, at least not in the general sense of it - Tim could easily spin it around, and it wasn't tight. But it wasn't loose either, and as soon as he tried to move it past the knuckle, the ring heavily disagreed, almost like shrinking down and absolutely refusing to be detached.

Barbara suggested soap, which didn't work. Dick tried for a more mechanical approach, first with pliers and then with a laser, which the ring resisted with no effort. Cass, who was actually the one who brought the damned thing into the Cave after one of her adventures in Hong Kong, just smiled and shrugged, which was of no help either. Damian offered to cut the finger off, which probably would have helped, but Tim rather liked all his limbs attached.

Bruce called Constantine. The magician took one look at the ring, barked a humorless laugh, and pat Tim on the shoulder sympathetically.

"Congrats, mate," he said, a wry smile on his lips, "I hope you file for divorce."

Although, while all the rest of the Bats and Birds devolved into fits of hysterical laughter (Steph), indignant sputtering (Damian), and cries of outrage (everyone else sans Alfred, who was pointedly unimpressed), Tim couldn't even bring himself to be surprised. Really, his life had been a shitshow since he was around ten. It's not like he didn't expect himself to be accidentally married to some otherworldly magical creature by this point.

The worst part - worse than the actual engagement, that is - was that Constantine couldn't exactly tell them who the spouse was.

What he did say was that the Ring belonged to the King of Infinite Realms, Keeper of Unseen Worlds, and Eyes of Universe. But those were only titles, and, as John Constantine begrudgingly admitted, there has been a change in the management recently, so no one really knew what the new almighty monarch looked like or what they were, much less their whereabouts.

"You can't blame me for not being keen to find out, though," John said, wincing, "The last one was a bloody tyrant, and the Realms operate under the right of conquest rule."

At least, the mage assured them that since the being had not yet come to collect their shiny new spouse, they might never show up at all. The Ring has been lost for ages after all, so maybe the King didn't even remember having one. Or, the previous King didn't, and the new one didn't know about or didn't care.

The first week after the incident, they spent anxiously researching and worrying. Bruce even went as far as making Tim wear a tracker at all times, which was not great, but he did appreciate the gesture. Kind of.

After the first month with no sign of any changes, the worry started to abate. In half a year, most of the family stopped trying to keep an eye on Tim at all times lest he suddenly disappeared. Two years later, even Tim himself treated the Ring as a natural part of his daily life. The stone inside was still a great fidget toy, engagement or not.

Three years, one month, and five days after Tim first put the Ring on his finger, when the world was falling apart and breaking in front of him and there was not a single thing he could do to stop it anymore, Tim pressed his lips to the cold, dark strip of unknown metal on his finger.

"Whoever you are, I don't even care, please," he whispered in a useless prayer, his voice hoarse and his throat dry, "please, help."

And the world came to a stop with a short, amused chuckle.

"Oh, I thought you'd never ask."

[part 2 ->]

[thelotusrabbit]

DpxDc #8

Sleeping like the dead.

Danny has died and came back.

He obviously knows that, his friends and sister know that, but he may have forgotten the consequences of it.

Mainly, his now numerous “health issues” that other people (outside of Amity) would find… worrying.

That’s why he was denied access to the space program, or why the universities denied him scholarships, fearing he might not actually be able to finish their programs.

Danny didn’t really want to ask his parents for money either.

He knew they didn’t have a savings account for him, and he was actually trying to distance himself from them when he saw them finally keeping their promise of tearing apart ghosts “molecule by molecule”.

Lots of jobs wouldn’t hire him because of his “health conditions”, so he decided to leave Amity Park and travel to Gotham.

Getting help from Tucker, he found out about a grandfather (on his father’s side) who lived there and, after contacting him, offered Danny a place to stay until he found a job.

The address brought him to an… absolutely gigantic mansion, his jaw dropped to the floor as he stared at it.

Smiling at him, an old man with a sharp mustache offered Danny his hand.

“It is lovely to meet you, Danny. Certainly a surprise, but a welcome one.”

Danny smiled back, shaking it.

Alfred Pennyworth had a son, once. A son who decided to cut him off after college due to his growing obsession with the occult.

It was later that he found employment with the Waynes, missing his son every day and, admittedly, projecting a little on Bruce, loving him as his own.

After decades of silence, his apparent grandson contacted him out of the blue, asking for help.

Nobody could blame him for jumping at the occasion, so it was like this that (DNA test confirmed it) Danny Pennyworth Fenton started his training as a butler in Wayne Manor.

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

It wasn't much later that Alfred noticed something wrong with the boy.

The slow breathing, the pale skin and occasional twitching.

Introducing him to the Waynes was chaos, as expected, but a couple of weeks later, everybody behaved like Danny had always been there, which was nice.

And, soon enough, there were more people noticing his nephew's odd behaviors.

On top of everything observed before, they noticed the nose bleeds, the way his skin would take a blue tint to it, the way he wouldn't use his left arm for a day or two...

Then one night, Alfred peered Danny's door open, like he did for every guest in the house, and he saw him.

His nephew, under the covers, perfectly still...

His eyes, unseeing but open wide...

His jaw slack and his skin cold...

[zhelin-thames]

A Ghostly Text Mishap

Danny flopped onto his bed, phone in hand, glaring at the screen. Another long day of dealing with Vlad's manipulative nonsense had left him frustrated beyond belief. He opened his messages, found the contact labeled Trucker, and began furiously typing.

Danny: You will NOT believe what Plasmius did this time. The absolute NERVE of this guy. You’d think being half-dead would make someone LESS petty, but nooo, this man’s ego is bigger than the Ghost Zone.

Danny: He tried to "buy" my parents' company AGAIN. He offered to “help” with ghost containment tech but really just wants to snoop around for weaknesses in the portal.

Danny: AND he had the audacity to call me “Little Badger” like it’s a term of endearment. I swear, if I hear that ONE MORE TIME, I might go full ghost and dropkick him into the Fenton Thermos.

Satisfied with his venting, Danny tossed his phone onto the bed and buried his face in his pillow. Unbeknownst to him, he had made one critical mistake.

Jason Todd, aka Red Hood, was sitting in his safe house, polishing his guns when his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen.

Unknown Number: You will NOT believe what Plasmius did this time…

Jason raised an eyebrow. “What the hell is this?” he muttered, scrolling through the tirade. By the time he got to “Little Badger”, he was smirking.

He typed back:

Jason: Kid, I think you’ve got the wrong number. Unless this “Plasmius” guy is a Gotham villain I’ve somehow missed.

Danny’s phone buzzed, and he rolled over to check it. His heart dropped when he saw the reply.

Danny: Oh no. This isn’t Trucker, is it?

Jason: Nope. But you’ve got my attention. Who’s Plasmius, and why does he sound like the type of guy I’d shoot on principle?

Danny hesitated, then decided to just roll with it.

Danny: Short version: he’s a half-ghost fruitloop billionaire who’s obsessed with ruining my life, becoming my creepy stepdad, and taking over the world. Think Lex Luthor but undead and ickier.

Jason burst out laughing, earning a curious glance from Roy Harper, who had just walked in.

“Who’s got you laughing like that?” Roy asked, setting down a bag of takeout.

“Some kid who texted me by mistake,” Jason replied, showing him the messages.

Roy skimmed them and snickered. “Plasmius? Sounds like a knockoff vampire villain.”

Jason’s fingers flew over the keyboard.

Jason: Okay, kid, you’ve officially got my interest. I don’t know who you are, but if this Plasmius guy’s half as bad as you say, I’ve got some creative ways to deal with him. You in Gotham?

Danny stared at the message, blinking. Who even was this guy? But... he did sound like he knew how to handle problems.

Danny: Uh, no. I’m from Amity Park. It’s kind of a supernatural hotspot, so I’ve got it covered. But thanks for the offer, I guess?

Jason smirked.

Jason: Supernatural hotspot? Kid, you’re talking to someone who’s been resurrected. Ghosts don’t scare me.

Danny froze. Resurrected? Oh no. This guy might actually know about the supernatural.

Danny: ...Wait, who ARE you?

Jason: Name’s Jason. Most people call me Red Hood. Ever heard of me?

Danny blinked, then groaned. “Of course. I text a vigilante. Just my luck.”

Danny: ...Yeah, I’ve heard of you. So, uh, thanks for not tracking this number and showing up at my house or something.

Jason: Yet.

Danny felt a shiver run down his spine.

Danny: That’s not funny, dude.

Jason: Relax, Little Badger. Your secret’s safe with me. For now. But hey, if you ever need help dealing with your undead billionaire problem, hit me up.

Danny sighed, shaking his head.

Danny: Sure. Thanks, I guess?

Jason leaned back, grinning as he saved the number under Ghost Kid.

“Roy, I think I just found the weirdest contact in my phone.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Roy replied, tossing Jason a burger.

“Not bad. Just… different.” Jason chuckled. “Plasmius, huh? Sounds like fun.”

[saltymarshmall0w]

JL representative: Well, Shazam it looks like you will be a valuable member of the Justice League. Now, let's talk about Phantom your... sidekick?

Billy (14, has had his powers for less than a month): Phantom? Oh, uh! Yes! He's my s--

Danny (15, has had his powers for over a year, and held Billy's hand through every power manifestation): I will phase you into the ground six feet deep if you finish that sentence. I am not his sidekick!

Jl member: *placaitingly* of course you're not, kiddo!

[liketolaugh-writes]

I've been playing with a no-one-knows AU where Danny has been married to Jason for years but hasn't told him his secret. Jason knows that Danny isn't human, but hasn't pressed because Danny is so terrified when he approaches the topic. The Batfamily do not know.

Presently, the GIW are in Gotham and closing in, and the Box Ghost has come to Danny seeking help.

----

“You’re a ghost,” Jason said gently, pulling one of Danny’s hands away from his face to wrap it in his own. Danny let him. “Aren’t you?”

Danny’s breath hitched again.

Surprisingly, the Box Ghost looked almost as horrified as Danny.

“What? NO! I, the BOX GHOST, would not out Danny Fenton to his human family! For he is as human as I once was!” He flailed his arms in blatant panic. “There is nothing to reveal, for Danny Fenton is most certainly NOT a ghost!”

“What’s wrong with Danny being a ghost?” Box Lunch wanted to know, tilting her head up to peer up at her father in confusion. “Is it a secret?”

“BOX LUNCH!” the Box Ghost wailed, every inch a mortified parent.

“Yes, it was, or your father would not be so blatantly lying about it,” Damian told her, taking pity on the child ghost.

“Oh!” Box Lunch nodded seriously. “Danny isn’t a ghost!”

Danny let out a slightly hysterical laugh, and then started to cry, gasping quietly with tears pouring down his face, hunched down to hide from them. He didn’t pull his hand out of Jason’s.

“It is no longer a secret here, as it has become apparent,” Damian elaborated.

Box Lunch scrunched up her nose. “Oh.”

“Ghosts are not bad,” Cass said softly, “if ghosts are Danny.”

“Danny.” Jason scooted closer and pulled Danny against him, and Danny let him, pressing into him without unwinding at all. “Danny, I already knew. I’ve known for years.” Danny tilted his head up to give him an incredulous look, and Jason grinned at him. “You’re not good at hiding it, stardust. Your freckles glow when you’re excited and your eyes flash green when you’re frustrated. You walk through closed doors when you’re sleepy and things fall through your hands when people startle you. I’ve known you aren’t human since we moved in together.”

“…Oh,” Danny murmured, guilt and relief and wonder swirling together in his still-wet eyes.

“Phantom!” the Box Ghost scolded. Jason took note of the sudden change in address. “You are the worst secret keeper ever!”

“Shut up, Boxy,” Danny snapped. He pulled away from Jason and wiped his eyes, sniffling. Their hands stayed locked together. “We, we need to hide you and bitty-bite b-before we talk about this any more. I wasn’t joking about the Guys in White.”

The Box Ghost flapped his arms dismissively. “They will not find us! They are looking for YOU, and their instruments will not be prepared for such subtle spirits as Box Lunch and I!”

“They are looking for me while I am hiding,” Danny said, soft but barbed. He wiped his face again and turned around to better face the other ghost, glaring sharply. “Something I am well known to be very good at. Far better at than you.”

The Box Ghost went so pale he was almost translucent.

“You don’t look like a ghost at all,” Tim said, studying Danny. “Your skin is pink, you don’t glow… most of the time, no pointed ears or fangs. Your eyes are normal.” His eyes narrowed. “Is this… not your natural appearance?”

Danny flinched. “I… I…” He swallowed, staring at nothing, and then forced his attention back onto the Box Ghost. “Your base signatures are pretty low. If you stop using your powers and suppress your auras as much as you can, you can probably bring them low enough to hide.”

No answers would be forthcoming for now, Jason understood. He signaled sharply to Bruce and Tim, the most likely to try to interrupt. Wait. Time-sensitive, finish operation before proceeding.

Bruce didn’t look pleased, but he nodded sharply. Tim just watched, thoughtful eyes fixed on Danny. Damian was scowling, Dick frowning faintly, but Cass’ curiosity looked borderline idle. Jason watched Danny interact with the other ghost with a healthy blend of interest and concern, and tried not to wonder if Tim was right.

“Box Lunch, do you know how to land?” Danny asked. It seemed like a silly question until Box Lunch wrinkled her nose and cocked her head.

“Land?” she asked, audibly uncertain. For that matter, her father looked vaguely baffled too. “Like… with my feet? On the floor?”

Danny managed a smile and nodded. Box Lunch eyed the floor, then drifted down to hover at floor level. “Like this?”

“Not exactly,” Danny said, sounding more fond than anything. He slid off the bar stool and knelt down in front of Box Lunch. Jason couldn’t look away; he’d been deprived of any open knowledge of Danny’s nonhuman side for so long that his curiosity was damn near insatiable now. And Danny teaching a kid of his species? That was doing things to Jason. Good things. “Close your eyes.” Box Lunch did. “Feel the energy in the air. Do you feel gravity? Do you sense how it pulls things down?” She nodded uncertainly. “Hold onto that feeling. Let it hold onto you. Do you feel it?” Nod. “Good. Now- let go of the sky.”

The instructions didn’t make a lick of sense to Jason, but Box Lunch dropped right out of the air and landed on her feet. Her eyes flew open, and she pinwheeled dramatically until Danny caught her.

“Ahh!” she squealed, looking dismayed. “I’m heavy!”

Danny chuckled. “No, bitty-bite, you’re still light as a feather.” He picked Box Lunch up and held her out in front of him, smiling. She squealed again, kicking her feet, her eyes bright with delight. “Good job. Do you think you can hold that?”

“Um, sure,” she mumbled, not looking at all sure.

The Box Ghost landed on the floor with a grunt - Jason suspected that he’d been listening to Danny’s instructions too. He held out his arms for Box Lunch, and Danny handed her over willingly.

“Now what?” the Box Ghost asked tentatively, staring at the floor like it would eat him. Yeah, Jason could definitely believe that he’d never landed before either.

“Now, you listen to me,” Danny said seriously. He reached out and grabbed Box Ghost’s arm, demanding his attention, and forced eye contact. From the Box Ghost’s wide eyes, this behavior was as new to him as it was to Jason. But then Danny continued, speaking as firmly as if he were willing his words into existence. “You are not a ghost. You are not a ghost.” Understanding flickered across the Box Ghost’s face, and he screwed his eyes shut. His glow started to dim. “You are solid. You are heavy. You are warm. You are made of flesh, blood, and bone. You are not a ghost. You are not a ghost. You are human.”

The Box Ghost’s glow receded and disappeared. Except for his blue skin, he almost looked human now. He opened his eyes uncertainly, and Danny gave him a weary smile and a nod, letting go of his arm and leaning back.

“But what about Box Lunch?” the Box Ghost asked anxiously, looking down at Box Lunch. She’d squeezed her eyes shut to try and follow Danny’s instructions, but didn’t seem to be meeting with the same success.

Danny sighed. “I’m not sure how to explain it to her,” he admitted, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair as he looked at the little girl with worry. She opened her eyes and gave him an anxious look, and Danny gave her a small smile. “It’s not your fault, bitty-bite. It’s just… you’ve always been a ghost, so you don’t have your dad’s memories of what it felt like to be human.”

Box Lunch stomped her feet. “I can pretend!”

“Then pretend,” Danny said seriously. “It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just do your best.”

“Wehh!” Box Lunch flailed her arms, brow furrowed in concentration. “I am human! My body is super solid and I crash into things a lot! And I run around on the ground and eat human food! Fear me!”

It was so cute that Jason muffled a laugh, and he wasn’t the only one. Box Lunch ran a circle around the floor, then crashed into a wall on purpose and bounced off, giggling. Even Bruce’s hard expression softened into a fond look.

“That should keep you off the sensors,” Danny said to the Box Ghost, voice low. Something about his eyes looked exhausted. “Just make sure Box Lunch maintains it. Maybe keep playing human with her.”

The Box Ghost nodded uncertainly. “Thank you, Phantom,” he said quietly. “I know that we can count on you.”