#i was aiming for Danny just looks like Tim

[nightingale-prompts]

Danny adopts himself

It's a common joke in Gotham that Bruce Wayne will adopt any black-haired and blue-eyed traumatized boy he finds. So much so that even he leans into it. But he was completely shocked when Damian confronts him about having a new brother that he did not want.

Bruce could barely get a word in when the rest of the family arrived upset that they weren't told about getting another sibling after Damian texted the family group chat (for once).

Damian had encountered a boy around Drake's age moving stuff into what was an empty room. The room was now furnished top to bottom with glowing green lights, tapestries of stars, random artifacts, several telescopes, and model rockets.

He knew the moment he saw the black hair and blue eyes that his father had taken in another ward.

Apparently Bruce was the last the know about his new "son" who was currently rearranging furniture and asking to helf Alfred with dinner.

Said dinner was an uncomfortable as Bruce was grilled by his kids on his addiction to adoption. Simultaneously they tried to get to know the new addition to the family.

It was easy to see that Damian didn't like Danny but it was equally easy to see that Danny could cow the boy like a border collie on a lamb. When Damian thew a dagger the teen caught it with one hand as it passed his face and then slid it across the table back to Damian.

"Try again. " Danny said "And this time don't aim to miss on purpose. If you want me dead you need to do better."

Damian put the knife away and huffed.

Tim and Danny hit it off almost instantly. The way they were able to bounce their thoughts back and forth made Tim believe that he found an equal.

Danny was able to understand Cassie immediately with just look in eachothers eyes like he was reading her mind but not in a creepy way.

Jason of course noticed the strange energy in the air around the kid. It was soothing. Like lavender wafting in the air. Well lavender for everyone else for him it was like opium. His eyes felt heavy like he had eaten a handful of poppy seeds. At the same time he felt full, like he had eating a full meal after starving for a week.

Whatever it is Damian was feeling it too. The demon looked even more his age as he rubbed his eyes and yawned. The crease in his brow gone.

Duke on the other hand was more on edge as his eyes flickered towards Danny before looking away. He had something he wanted to ask about the glowing boy but since no one can see it or just isn't saying anything he will keep quiet for now.

Next was Barbara who teased the new kid.

"So how do you like your new family? Ready to be the new robin?" She asked.

"Im robin." Damian mumbled groggily.

The others were waiting for Damian to finally fall asleep and glared at one another in a challenge to be the one to pick up Damian and put him to bed. Dick was winning.

Speaking of Dick, as expected he was off the wall excited to learn more about his new little brother. He wanted the full story as to why Bruce took him in. He could almost certainly guess it was because of a tragic situation and Dick was already ready to handle it as the greatest big brother ever and he wasn't sharing the title no matter what Barbara said. Even if she was Stephanie's favorite.

Bruce cleared his throat and the table went silent. "So, Danny. Where exactly did you come from? Why are you here? And how did you know who I am?"

Everyone went white. Did they all just risk their identities believing that Danny was a new Robin? Why didn't Bruce say something? Not even a signal for the protocol they would use.

Danny frowned looking a bit hurt.

"What do you mean, Bruce? You said you owed me. You said you'd give me anything I wanted if saved your son. I even helped you get back home when you got lost in time." Danny huffed feeling betrayed.

The table went silent.

Bruce made a few calculations in his brain before something must have come to mind. "I lost my memory for a bit so I need a bit of proof."

Danny placed a batarang on the table. The batarang had an engraving on it in a code that only Bruce knew.

"You told me to show this to Alfred when I came. We had a deal, Bruce. You promised me whatever I wanted." Danny huffed clearly insulted.

Just like Danny had said the code was the one Bruce had made. However this code wasn't a promise to grant a favor but to welcome someone new to the family. Past Bruce must have had plans to take the boy in but told Danny something else to lure him here.

Bruce recognized that everyone was right and he has a problem now that he's looking at it like this.

[deadsetobsessions]

Sea Cryptic! Danny AU- Pt.4

[Pt.1] [Pt.2] [Pt.3] [Pt.5] [Pt.6] [Pt.7] [Pt.8] [Pt.9] [Pt.10]

Danny was sitting in the back, his backpack obnoxiously taking up the seat next to him, when the door to the lecture hall creaked open near silently.

“What are you in here for?” Danny asked the guy who crept into class. He sympathetically took his backpack off the Seat of Shame and allowed the guy to sit down. Funnily enough, they had the same hair and eye color.

“Gen Ed. Undecided. You?” The guy grunted quietly back.

“Environmental studies. I’m Danny.”

“Tim.”

With the implicit understanding of two people in a required class they could not give less than two fucks about, Tim and Danny tuned back into the lecture. When the class was assigned group work, Danny looked over to see Tim softly snoring, head slammed down on the table.

“Tim. Wake up, dude.” Danny poked his shoulder.

“Huh? Class over?”

“Nah, we got group work. Discussion board.”

“Oh shit, thanks for waking me up. Wanna team up?”

Danny shrugged. “Sure. We should aim to post it in the middle so the professor doesn’t read our answers to the class.”

“Yeah, sounds like a good idea. Any idea what we’re talking about?”

“Kind of?”

“Good enough for me.”

——

Tim Drake kept seeing Danny Fenton around on campus.

“Danny! Dude, what are you doing?”

Danny turned, gloved hands full of crumpled trash. “Picking up after the student population, apparently.”

“Didn’t think environmental studies was that serious.”

“Global warming is very serious, you jerk,” Danny smirked at him, crossing the grass to put the trash into the trash can. “Reduce, reuse, oil shouldn’t be spilled in water and all that.”

“Basic stuff,” Tim grinned. Nice, he basically had a friend past Bernard now!

They were friends, right?

“And yet humanity fails to comprehend it. Incredible. Incredibly stupid that is.”

“They get it. Major corporations just don’t care.”

Danny sighed. “True that. You on your way to your next class?” He took off his biodegradable gloves off (nitrile and nylon, baby!) and chucked them into the trash.

“I’ve got free time, actually. Prof cancelled for his daughter’s surgery.”

“Oh, shit, that’s rough! You wanna go downtown and join the strike?”

“A strike? What for?” Even as he asked, Tim hiked his bag higher onto his shoulder, ready to go. They fell into step as the two left campus.

“Apparently, Quillan Pharma was doing some shady shit at their manufacturing plants. I think it’s like killing kids, and pouring toxins into the ground.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah. Oh! Poison Ivy’s gonna be there!”

Tim blinked. He casted a sideways look at Danny. Sure he’s been here long enough to know… but it couldn’t hurt to check. “You know she’s an eco-terrorist, right?”

“Okay, but like… people suck sometimes. And all she’s asking for is like don’t kill the planet. And she doesn’t do that whole mind control thing too much anymore! The Sirens are so cool. Plus, one of my best friends at home might actually kill me if I don’t try to get her autograph. Poison Ivy is like, Sam’s personal hero.”

Tim snickered. “Yeah, okay. Mind if one of my friends join? His name’s Bernard.”

“The more the merrier,” Danny nodded. “Ooo! Hot chocolate. Want some?”

Danny bought three drinks as Tim trailed behind, texting Bernard.

“He said yes.”

“Cool! We should meet up somewhere before the drinks get cold.”

Well, Danny got the autograph. Tim got a new friend, and Bernard got a drink from his crush.

——

“Oh, you’re the glowing dude that Batman always talks about!”

Danny blinked, eyes scanning the wing-like cape and the yellow emblem on the hero’s suit. Danny was indeed glowing, stars and nebulas freckling across neon green skin, and glowing hair the color of a white dwarf star, tinged with the blue from his ice core.

“I… have absolutely no idea who you are,” Danny lied, like a liar. He’s found a surprising niche of entertainment in messing with the local vigilantes and he’ll be damned if he missed this opportunity.

He heard a snicker from the comm lines as Red Robin visibly brushes it off.

“I’m Red Robin. Why are you picking up trash?”

“Picking up after you humans, apparently.”

The both of them blink, feeling a weird sense of déjà vu. A moment of awkward silence passed before they both shook it off.

“Are you here to help? No offense, but the track record for you people is terrible.” Danny strode over and grabbed a bag. He opened it, and shook it at Red Robin’s face. “See? Batarangs, these odd bird looking ones, the R’s. Seriously, pick up after yourselves!”

“Oh, woah, can we have these back?”

Danny yanked the bag back before Red Robin could get close. “Pay me. These were incredibly tedious to pick up. Especially the batarangs. I mean, I even found a whole bunch of old rusted ones in the middle of the bay. What did you do, dump an entire bag in there from the air?”

Red Robin sighed and took out a wad of cash, with tracking fluid all over it. Danny grimaced, smelling the odd scent on the money. “That’s not real cash. It smells off. Are you trying to give me counterfeits because you’re broke?”

Red Robin gaped, oddly offended. “No! They’re real!”

“Doesn’t smell like it. It’s stinkier than the trash. Go get the one with the money, the litterer. Tell him I’ll be back the next full moon. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.” Danny grumbled, disappearing on the spot to watch Red Robin flounder with the stack of cash and the piles of dead bodies on the shore.

“What the fuck even is my life these days?” Red Robin wondered out loud, stuffing the cash back into his pocket. He looked over the plastic wrapped bodies and slumped, sighing.

Oddly enough, Danny felt a sense of sympathy. Well, he’s not getting paid for sympathy. He’s not getting paid at all tonight, actually. Danny flew off, plunging once more into the depths of the significantly cleaner waters, and used his ice to scoop out oil stains.

Danny glanced around and sighed. He had a lot of work to do.

——

“So you’re saying he’s like a werewolf mermaid fae child immortal god thing, right?”

Bruce grunted.

“B, what the hell are you smoking these days? You know drugs are bad, right? Do we need Superman to give you that PSA?” Jason snickered.

Tim, massaging his arms from having to haul an ungodly amount of dead bodies, grunted. He’s so similar to Bruce that it gave the people currently in the cave hives.

“He said full moon. I don’t think we can track him with regular stuff. The bugs kept shorting out.”

“Oh boy,” Dick sighed. “Don’t fall off the spiral cliff, Tim. You’ve got midterms to think about so no stalking the guy.”

“Yet,” Tim shot back, changing out of his suit.

Bruce grunted, setting aside a huge stack of cash.

[corkinavoid]

I just found this in my notes

Apparently, I woke up at 5:23 in the morning, wrote it down, and went straight back to sleep. Trust my hyperfixated ass to still be making content even as I'm unconscious.

Anyways, yes,

DPxDC Trust Me, I'm an Engineer

Danny is half-ghost, but he is also a child of two mad scientists who spent the better part of their lives elbow deep in building all kinds of stuff out of all kinds of junk. Imagine what their kid, who loves science and engineering as much as they do, if not more, can accomplish?

When he moves to Gotham, he decides to leave all the heroics behind, hanging up his cape. Surely, he will be fine - Gotham has, like, what, six? seven? ten? vigilantes of its own. They don't need any more, and, besides, Danny is fairly certain he doesn't work that great in teams.

But there's just... so much crime happening.

Danny doesn't want to get involved, not really. He's retired. But he wants to help somehow!

So, he starts building unconventional devices for self-defense. A rubber duck that shoots lasers out of its eyes? A fork that turns into a shocker? A rice cooker that defends your home in case of an attack? A pen that transforms into a gas mask? You name it, he can build it.

It escalates quickly. Someone asks him to upgrade a baby carriage to a full impenetrable robot that will protect the baby inside it, and Danny decides why not. It's for safety. He installs countless safety measures so nothing could be triggered by mistake, and even though by the end the carriage doesn't look that much different, it proves effective in the first serious accident. In fact, it is so effective that it saves a total of five hostages, including the baby inside it, who didn't even cry because there are soundproof shields inside and recordings of the baby mother's voice.

Danny builds more of those carriages. Then he switches to home defenses. Then someone asks him to make brass knuckles that turn into a gauntlet shield in case of attack. Danny does a thorough check to make sure it won't fall into the wrong hands, but he ends up making it.

It doesn't take too much time for him to start making full-on robotic suits for people. Bulletproof, running on clean energy - Gotham has plenty of residue ectoplasm - with built-in defense mechanisms and stuff.

It is at this point that the Bats start taking a closer look at his inventions. Before that, they thought it was just some Rogue in the making, and they kept an eye on Danny, but never once has he created anything with the purpose of offense instead of defence, so they let it slide. But then Tim gets his hands on one of the suits and comes back to Bruce, nearly salivating over it.

A few weeks later, Danny gets an internship at WE. A year later, he is invited to work with the JL.

And that's when it hits him.

M e c h a s.

He can do real, actual mecha-suits for heroes. He can make them fit those heroes perfectly, enhancing their strengths and negating the weaknesses.

No alien invasion fucks with Earth anymore, because when they do, the JL just grabs their Danny Fenton Suits and whatever evil aliens were aiming to take control are annihilated in no time.

Maybe Tucker joins him along the way. Maybe Danny has an arms race with Lex Luthor, maybe Cyborg bonds with him over the mechanical rambling. What I'm saying is, cool robots for everyone!

[dcxdpdabbles]

God danny taking pics at the gala and tim just being enthralled by him while danny is completely oblivious to the fact that this is his birdie

When Danny reaches the podium, he realizes he doesn't have a speech ready. He doesn't even have a topic on what he should be speaking about. He barely knows what kind of art this charity funds.

Is it painting? The theater? Writers? Digital? Music? Who knows, not Danny. He just knows that it was for kids.

He is also still holding Ryan's hand, so the other man is forced to walk up with him. He didn't mean to cling to the overwhelmed ex-waiter, but Danny was really nervous right now, and he forgot his strength when holding on. So, despite Ryan's few frantic tugs, Danny's trembling fingers locked his plam in an iron cage.

A sea of faces is aimed at them, people who make thousands a day, waiting for Danny to open his mouth and deliver a speech on a donation that he supposedly made.

In the front row, Danny can spot Oliver Green and Bruce Wayne, who each recently gave five million to the art programs. Danny knows this because there was a joke online that the two were trying to outdo each other. It was a game to them, yet somehow, Danny Fenton is the name that appears with the most money donated.

The bright spotlight is blinding, to the point that Danny feels like he is going to sweat through his suit.

How much did Lady Gotham donate?

Rayn nervously shifts on his feet, his hand also starting to get sweaty in Danny's hold. He gives the other man what he hopes is a comforting smile and only receives a bewildered, nervous grimace in turn. Danny wishes he could offer to comfort him, but with the very little Gala training he has from the Ghost Nobility Meeting, he knows he can't afford it.

He turns to the crowd, leaning towards the mic with a crooked smile. Danny swears that whenever he had to uphold the duties of his title, it felt like the transformation of Phantom overtaking his body, covering every inch until the uncool nerdy Fenton was gone. All that remains is the High King Phantom.

"Good evening. I am Danny Fenton, and I just want to thank Mr. Wayne for organizing such an important event for the arts. What is art? Art is everywhere- the melodies of our music, the design of our clothes, and the wonder in our stories, movies, plays, and books. Even the shelter of our homes has art. It's proof of humanity, for it was the first way humans ever recorded their existence, and we used it to change our reality."

He smiles at the crows, using one hand to gracefully gesture to the ceiling that Mr. Wayne's family has tastefully decorated with wood carvings. "It's this wonder that we are now offering to our youths so that they may one day look up at a similar world and fine the wonder in it"

He has no idea what he's going on about. Public speaking has never been his strong suit, but thankfully, he has enough regal to make it appear he does.

Danny's articulation has smoothed out, turning each word into a hypnotic, soothing rumble that washes over the party. He knows it's working because the people's expressions have now shifted, looking both surprised and captivated as more and more phrases fall from Danny's tongue.

If you were to ask him how he knows this, well, he would mention that Sam had once taken a video of him while he was practicing his King's address, and he had been stupefied that Phantom had always sounded so confident, sass, and in control. He never raised his voice, but his words were sharper, and an accent from the high class appeared in his tone.

It had been enough to make Phantom look like a King since the start of the human race, and Danny was grateful that, like invisibility, it could pass along to his human side without a full transformation.

It felt like an out-of-body experience—he knew he was speaking, he could see the absolutely enthralled audience, and he could even feel Ryan's hand and the heat of the light, but for the life of him, Danny could not understand what he was saying.

If this was a movie, it would be the montage of a slow pan over the people, dramatic, inspirational music playing in the background to draw out whatever he was saying, and only the visible of Danny dramatically talking, but not actual speech was heard.

It was Lady Gotham. She had taken over his body and set it to autopilot. He knew because Clockwork had once done it to him when Danny was unsure about the move to Gotham.

At least she stepped in when he needed her the most.

"Thank you for your time," Danny finishes, feeling Phantom's confidence melt away as the roaring round of applause echoes through the ballroom. Slowly, he feels the control of his limbs return to him as he pushes away from the podium.

"Wow," Ryan gasps, staring at him with wide shining eyes. He looks like his breath has collapsed in his lungs. Danny feels his face heat up as the handsome man continues to stare. "That was the most beautiful speech I've ever heard. You're... incredible."

"Nah, man, I just really like...the arts." He fumbles. "Like taking photos 'cause I have...a camera." Danny shutters, gesturing to the thing hanging around his neck. "It got lens and everything."

Ryan blinks at him. "Are you nervous?"

"Yeah"

"Why? You just gave the most impressive inspirational speech I've ever heard."

"It's because you're hot and you're talking to me, and I'm not good with people," Danny tells him honestly, dropping Ryan's hand to rub at his neck. I also really want to take the Waynes' photos and be gone, back to the streets."

Ryan laughs, throwing his whole head back and trying to cover his mouth with his hand. Danny's eyes widened, utterly shocked by how bright he seemed now. "You, Danny Fenton, are the strangest man I have ever met, and I've only known you for an hour!"

Danny's face turns hotter. "Yeah...I ugh...I get that a lot."

There is a moment of silence, during which the clicking of people's wine glasses and the slow mutter of voices wash over them. Ryan considers him with a critical eye before he holds out his hand once more. "Do you care for a dance?"

"Dance? With me?" Danny repeats, but at Ryan's answering smile, he feels himself melt. Retaking the hand, he held through the long speech, Danny grins, "I love to. But only one song. I have to find the Waynes afterward."

"Why?"

"I'm on a job, actually. My client hired me to take photos of them."

"That's an odd request," Ryan comments, bringing Danny in close to sway to the music that plays. Danny shrugs his shoulders, carefully following the steps Princess Dora had taught him.

"She's an odd lady."

_________________________________________________________

Across the hall, Jason is watching the pair with intensity. Tim can understand the urge to figure out the new player because he knows who Danny Fenton is and where on earth he had hidden his wealth until this sudden splash.

However, that was mostly due to Tim's upbringing and current CEO job. What made Jason so focused on him? His brother usually never even blinked on any new money or old money.

He thought them too annoying and only came to galas to keep the civilian image up.

"Something on your mind, Jay?" He asks quietly, leaning on the wall and sipping his sparkling water.

"That's Ryan Aetos. One of my...employees."

Ah, a Red Hood Goon.

That could mean two things: Aetos needed more money for whatever reason and took a legitimate part-time job when not making rounds with the rest of the gang, or he was going rogue and planning on betraying Jason.

He was going to break one of Jason's rules, likely where they don't target the crazy rich because the crazy rich could buy the law and bring down it's wrath until the gang's territory.

In Tim's experience, it was seldom the first option.

"Do you think he'll do something?"

"I don't know. He seemed genuine when he spoke about his sick sister- she's why he's been trying to make a quick buck to pay for her medical bills- but he also has a reputation."

"What kind of reputation?"

"Manipulating and one hell of a Romance scammer." Jason grunts. "I've seen him trick three people into funding his lifestyle by batting his eyelashes. I've let him be since he never targeted anyone who didn't deserve it, and it was one less corner boy I had to worry about. But if he's pulling that now on Fenton...."

"Then Fenton may not react very well when he finds out. And we don't have enough information on him to know what he would do to Aetos." Tim finishes turning now to also observe the couple. Fenton is a flustered mess, seeming to be rambling and far too interested in the man wearing the waiter outfit.

Aetos, for his part, is smiling down at him with a content little grin and an adoring expression. It's hard to say if it's an honest one, though, because whenever Fenton glances away, hunger bleeds into Aeto's face.

Is the hunger of a man attracted to another man?

Or the hunger of a man attracted to greed?

Crude.

"What's your call?" He asks Jason since it is his employee. Betrayal or not, Jason has always cared deeply for those he considered his, including the men and women in his gang.

Jason watches for three more songs in silence before sighing. "Separate them. I'll take Ryan and see if I can figure out his plan. You find out more about Fenton. Maybe it is just New Money falling in love with a man down on his luck who's trying to care for his little sister."

"Sounds like a Hallmark movie," Tim jokes, pushing away from the wall. "I've always hated how cliche those movies are"

[skirter01]

AU: Dukes got a strange new teacher, Jason has a weird neighbour, Dick helped a poor civillian with two broken legs, and Tim's got a bad feeling about the knew Wayne Enterprises employee. Who knew they'd turn out to be the same person? Or... Dannys stuck in Gotham, how, why, when? To be confirmed, although, he's positive its something to do with a certain time-turning asshole. But now he's got bats on his tail and a serious case of the munchies. Good thing Sam and Tucker learned early on to slap a tracker on his phone.

----

Smol Teaser

Dick stumbled forwards, chain rattling around his foot as it pulled taunt. He hit the deck.

“No!”

Duke closed his eyes – and for a moment, he wondered what it would’ve been like if he’d just stayed home like he’d planned to – as Danny descended, mouth split into a feral smile and scythe in motion.

Then, “Bang!”

Dukes’ ears screamed as something exploded, a sonic boom erupting somewhere to his right. A fiery green blast flashed through the air, smacking into Danny like a sledgehammer and sending him hurtling into the concrete pillar in a blast of dust and debris.

Duke took in a sharp breath, eyes fettering over where the teacher landed. His eyes locked on Dick, who was staring over his shoulder from his place on the floor.

“Ha! Bullseye!” Duke startled at the voice and whipped to his right. “I am literally a God.”

Had he been transported to Men in Black right now? Because there was no other explanation for what this was right now. The owner of the voice was a young African American, with neat cornrows and dressed in a suit straight out of MIB, save for the sunglasses which were substituted for a slick pair of black framed glasses.

With a huff, the newcomer hefted an enormous smoking bazooka to rest between his shoulder blade and collarbone. He looked over the room with a grin. “Worry not ladies, knight with shining armour reporting for duty.” He proclaimed with a cheeky grin and a wink, patting the weapon’s steel side fondly, “No, need to thank me. Just doing my job.”

There was a click, and the stranger froze, “Who in the hell are you?” Jason growled through his modulator, stepping out of the shadows to the left of new guy, pistol aimed for a head shot.

The stranger’s eyes slid, acknowledging Jason’s gun from his peripheral. “Sure…” He drawled cautiously, ‘shoot the man with the bazooka. Do it.”

Jason pulled out his second gun. Head titling in challenge.

New guy grinned. “Geez, calm your tits. Names Foley, Tucker Foley.” He reached into his blazer pocket, pulling out a badge. “FBI”

The FBI?

Jason lowered his pistols. “The fuck is the FBI doing in Gotham?” Duke would like to know the same thing.

Tucker shrugged, “Shits and gigs” he said, dropping the bazooka from his shoulder, and catching its nose on his foot before he propped it up against the closest wall. He swivelled, jabbing a finger over at the downed spectre. “Mostly that troublemaker though. Do you mind if I–actually, why am I even asking you?” He stalked over to the cracked concrete pillar and jabbed at foot at Dukes downed teacher, shifting his lifeless body “Oi, Danny.”

Duke didn’t know how to break the news. “Um, Mr. Foley? He’s not–Well, he was killed by something, we don’t know what exactly. I don’t think he’s–yeah…Sorry.” Ever so eloquently put.

Tucker raised a brow, “Are you trying to tell me he’s dead?”

Duke resisted the urge to point out that this Tucker guy did actually shoot him into the wall with a bazooka. He was dead before anyway, but still.

“Obviously,” Jason grumbled, crossing his arms. “Some occult thing.”

“Right.” Tucker’s face twisted into a slight frown, and he nudged the body again. “Danny, stop foxing and get up.”

There was a groan and Duke took an involuntary step back.  

Tucker prodded Danny again. “C’mon, up and at ‘em.”

“5 more minutes.” Danny rolled over onto his side. “M’kay?”

Dick’s mouth was wide open at the scene. “Are you serious right now?”

Danny popped his head up, hair and face covered in dust, his eyes narrowed. “You’d think coming at them with a scythe would scare them off, right Tuck?”

“I told you it wasn’t going to work.” A feminine voice came from the doorway, and a woman stepped into the room. “But please, feel free to be disappointed.” She was dressed in back cargo pants, and a cropped purple tee, dark hair neatly braided down her back. She leaned against the door, “You missed our anniversary.” She said pointedly towards Danny.

Danny dropped his head back to the floor. “Can we go back to when I was just a lifeless corpse?”

Tucker gwuaffed. “You’re already a lifeless corpse, there’s nothing to go back to, stupid."

[bet-on-me-13]

Valerie Gray gets a Security Job in Gotham

So, basically, Valerie's dad gets a new high paying Security Job at Wayne Tech, and he decides to bring his daughter into the Business since she can use her Red Huntress Skills

Not like she's gonna have much use for them, Phantom managed to establish a peace treaty between the Ghost Zone and Amity Park, so now there's no need for a Professional Ghost Hunter/Hero.

Also, she kind of needs to get away from that period in her life, and maybe move on from her breakup with Danny (and the argument that happened after the reveal)

So Val applies for the Wayne Tech Job alongside her dad, and during the Interview she manages to reveal most of her secrets, by the virtue of the face that she doesn't really care anymore. Not like it matters at all.

...

Interviewer: So, do you have any reverent work experience?

Val: I'm a retired successful Superhero from Illinois, Red Huntress, and I managed to fight off multiple Other Dimensional beings during that time. I also have experience traversing dimensions if that's helpful.

Interviewer: Uh...

...

Interviewer: How do you feel about fighting super-powered Villains once a week?

Val: Please, those guys are cool and all, but many of the Ghosts I've fought have the same powers but dialed up to eleven.

Interviewer: OK, gonna have to look that one up later...

...

Interviewer: How would you deal with attempted Theft by a Super-powered Rouge?

Val: Aim for the knees.

Interviewer: Can you elaborate?

Val: Aim for the Knees. Then the [REDACTED]

Interviewer: Remind me not to get on your bad side...

...

Inrerviewer: How do you feel about potentially/probably dying on the job?

Val: Basically everybody in my town is so Ecto-Iradiated to an absurd extent. If I got killed I would just become a Ghost and be back in by Monday.

Interviewer: OK that's just ridiculous

Val: My Ex's dog, Cujo, was killed while working as a Security dog, and came back to work the next week. If he can do that, I can do the same.

...

Interviewer: *pulls off fake Groucho Marks glasses to reveal Tim Drake* I regret deciding to review this batch myself.

[torscrawls]

A Ghost by Any Other Name

Danny tries to discreetly combat the ghosts suddenly showing up in Gotham without anyone finding out his secret, find out exactly why the ghosts have decided to follow him like lost ducklings after his narrow escape from his hometown, keep under the radar of both the Bats and his parents, not melt any more than he already has, and not worry his new and innocent friend Tim. Who knew that running away from home would be this stressful?

Wordcount: 1,620

Chapter 1/10

Can be read on AO3!

This fic has art from the wonderful and talented Luca!

---

Tim was just exiting his favorite coffee-shop when he was suddenly tackled by a shouting woman. “My baby! There you are!”

He watched his innocent cup of quintuple-shot espresso sail through the air and splatter across the sidewalk at the same time as he registered her muscular arms and the clear press of several weapons strapped to her body. Not a normal civilian then.

Right. Priorities.

The woman kept her strangle-hold on him as she continued, “Thank goodness you finally managed to get away from that terrible ghost!”

Tim twisted to get his attacker off him. Then he noticed that he wasn’t held in any of the multitude of restraining holds that he had been trained to escape. No, it was something a lot stranger than that. It was a hug.

“I think you have the wrong person,” he managed to get out as he tried to ease her off him, finally registering her earlier words and mentally readjusting the scenario towards a case of misunderstanding rather than an attack. Hopefully. It wouldn’t be the first time a villain took a roundabout way of getting to him, even if he had to say a hug was quite a nice way of going about it.

And that was the moment he noticed the frankly ridiculously big man bounding towards them with a wide smile and tears streaming down his face. He wasn’t slowing down. Oh shit.

He patted the woman on the back to get her attention since she seemed completely unaware of their impending doom. “Um…”

She only squeezed him harder and said, “God! It’s been so long! We were so worried!”

Tim’s bad feeling turned into dread. “… We?”

Then the man slammed into both of them with a wail of, “Danno!” 

The air rushed out of Tim as he was squashed between the two strangers. He might have been robbed of his morning coffee but he couldn’t deny that he was wide awake by now. Cass would be proud, and laugh her ass off. Tim vowed to never let her know about this.

After what felt like an eternity and what was surely a few cracked ribs, the woman disentangled herself from the hug with practiced ease that would put Catwoman to shame. She somehow managed to get the man to let Tim go and after a few seconds of struggling to breathe, Tim managed to wheeze out, “What's a Danno?!”

Then he was staring down the barrel of a gun. He tried to quell his instinct to kick it out of the woman’s hands, but it was the middle of the morning rush, and they were standing on a fairly well trafficked sidewalk, where even if people were smart enough to give the gun-wielding-maniacs—ergo, possible villains—a wide berth, it didn't mean they weren't staring.

Tim slowly raised his hands in a disarming gesture as he thought of a way to get out of this. So far they hadn’t made any demands. They also hadn’t harmed him (except his coffee and his wounded pride). Tim just wished he knew what this was about. So far he had been hugged twice, then had a gun aimed at his face. A gun that glowed green, emitted a worryingly high-pitched whine, and was very clearly home-made. Wonderful.

As Tim looked between the woman and the man he noted how both of their expressions had gone from relief and love to cold and hateful in the blink of an eye. He tensed, ready to disarm her, no matter the people around them. He refused to get himself shot before lunch.

The woman’s hands were steady—even though Tim noted that one of her hands were wrapped in bandages, and how both she and the man looked like they hadn’t slept in days—and her voice was flat as she said, “Phantom might still be overshadowing him.”

Tim frowned as both of them looked intensely into his eyes and after a few tense seconds the woman gave a satisfied nod. “The ghost is gone. You're safe now.”

She lowered the gun but Tim’s frown only deepened. “Ghost? What ghost?” 

The man and woman exchanged looks which only served to confuse him even more. 

“Honey,” the woman said in a soft voice, holstering her gun before placing a hand on Tim’s arm. He shook her off. “Honey, you were kidnapped by Phantom. It overshadowed you. You’ve been missing for a long time! That's probably why you can't remember anything.”

The man nodded along. “We’ve followed you to several cities. You must be exhausted!”

They seemed genuinely distraught by what they were saying but that didn't change the fact that they were absolutely insane.

Tim shook his head. “Look, you’re clearly confused. I’m not—”

He didn’t get to finish before the big man patted Tim on the shoulder with enough force to make him stumble. “Come on, now. It’s time to go home!”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Tim bit out, his patience running out. He was almost certainly late to his meeting by now, he didn’t have his coffee, and these two seemed allergic to making any kind of sense. “Who the fuck even are you?”

“Language young man!” The woman with the gun admonished him at the same time as the hulking man shook his head with a disapproving, “Is that any way to address your folks?” 

“My what?!”

These people were absolutely crazy. He already had one unstable parent which was more than enough, thank you very much. He had to get away from them. He took a few steps backwards. The big man stepped with him.

“Son. We know you must be scared, but—” 

“Why would you think I'm your son?!” And what kind of parents would be so ready to pull a gun on their child?

The man slammed a meaty fist into his other hand. “Is this something Phantom put you up to? Oh, when I get my hands on that ghost I’ll—”

The woman grabbed Tim’s arm in a startlingly strong grip. “Are you sure you’re okay, honey? Did that pesky ghost mess with your head?”

“I’m not your son!” Tim exclaimed with increasing desperation. He slapped her hand away. “And stop touching me!”

At this she paused, wide eyes fixed on him, before they narrowed sharply.

The man’s eyes fixed on the side of his neck as he slowly said, “What happened to your scar…?”

The woman finally drew back from him. “Daniel would never hit—”

“Wait a minute…” the man said as he pointed an accusatory finger at Tim. “You're not Daniel!”

Tim groaned as he dragged a hand through his hair. “That's what I've been saying the whole time!”

“Oh!” The woman tilted her head with a calculating look in her eyes that made a shiver of discomfort crawl up Tim’s spine. “But you really do look similar. You both have dark hair and blue eyes.”

Tim waited for more attributes that he shared with this mysterious Daniel, but nothing else came. That was why they had mistaken him for their son? His hair and eye color? …Shouldn’t they be a bit more familiar with what their own son looked like?

The man rubbed at his shin. “Did we have another son?”

“Ha!” the woman laughed, “Of course not, honey. We wouldn’t forget that!”

Tim wasn’t so sure, but he didn’t want to risk starting another argument with these people. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder and awkwardly said, “So, I have to get going. It was… interesting meeting you.”

“Yes! Right! We need to keep looking!” The man straightened up and then screamed at the sky, “Don’t worry, son! We’re coming for you!”

Tim winced, both at the volume and at tomorrow’s headlines which he could already see in his mind’s eye. ‘Wayne Enterprise’s young CEO Tim Wayne caught roughhousing in the streets’. His family would not let him live this down for weeks.

“So sorry for the inconvenience,” the woman said as she lowered goggles over her eyes and took out what looked like some sort of tracking device from somewhere on her jumpsuit. She didn’t sound sorry at all. She continued under her breath, “Phantom should still be in the city… We won't let it get away again.”

And Tim was fairly certain that they should be more focused on finding their apparently missing son than hunting down some ghost, but who was he to judge? And he really didn’t want to get involved in this situation any more than he already had.

The man didn’t even try to apologize as he, once again, slapped Tim on the shoulder with enough force to make him stagger. “It was nice meeting you, young man! And remember; the only good ghost is a dead one!”

“Aren’t all ghosts dead…?”

That made the man boom out a laugh loud enough to make Tim wince. “I like your humor! If you ever get into any trouble with the undead just give us a call!”

Tim didn’t even know their names, but didn’t have time to ask before the woman exclaimed something about a reading and they both took off down the street on a run.

Whoever their missing son was, Tim hoped he stayed far away from them.

His eyes landed on his spilled coffee and Tim heaved a sigh as he turned back towards the coffee-shop. He would have to call in late, but he refused to face any more of this day without caffeine. 

He had more important things to focus on than Bruce getting some competition in the adoption-department. Oh, well. He probably wouldn't see them again.

At least he could console himself with the fact that ghosts aren't real.

[thecatchat]

Ace the bat hound becomes a ghost dog because he's such a good boy and dedicated to justice. Inspired off of this post here.

But, instead of being found out by Danny, it's the batfam's usual mystic contacts, like Constantine, that discover and reunite Ace and the Bats. Constantine muttering about how annoyingly resilient the particular brand of ghost is. From the infinite realms, Ghosts from there are a headache and a half to get rid of but portals, information, and really anything about it is far and few between since no one's been able to get into contact since some fight a couple centuries ago (Dark being sealed away). Justice Leauge Dark promises to let the family know if they hear anything or find any relevant information about the Infinite Realms, but since literally nothing has been heard from them in so long, no one really knows anything off the top of their head about it.

While Ace is technically supposed to be hidden away at home, he ends up sneaking along one day to help deal with Joker after the clown kidnaps Nightwing and/or Robin (Damian). The photos and videos of the event are blurry and smudged, but word of mouth gets around, and soon, the entirety of Gotham is celebrating the return of Bat Hound the Ghost, the very good boy back from the grave.

Meanwhile, things are going great for the family, just having Ace back makes everyone feel just a bit better (because Ace is a full ghost with a core and is helping to filter the currupt ectoplasm called Lazarus Water with physical touch). Jason is over more often and enjoys flopping on the couch with Ace for a quick snooze, Dick is over the moon to fight with Ace by his side again, Damian makes sure Ace is properly introduced to the rest of the animals that live at the mansion, Tim actually falls asleep semi-regularly now after Ace starts bothering him about being awake, and everyone else is reaping the benefits of having a bat trained dog that seems to be able to sniff out when they need a dog to pet.

Then these guys in white show up.

Ace had seemingly been on edge all night and when it was time to turn in for the night and let Signal come out for the day, Ace follows along, not listening to any command to stay home. Some of the others stay ready in the cave but they let Signal and Ace go out with the promise to call the moment something big happens.

Now, up until then, Ace's powers had been tallied up to: intangibility, invisibility, and occasional hovering/heightened jump. Every other exercise responded out as normal dog (except for the whole being dead thing). Maybe slightly higher emotional intelligence, but some dogs are just Like That. Through some tests, they do find that Ace has a new found hatred of Lazarus Water, but they don't find any obvious weakness that isn't a banishment spell which is as worrying as it is a relief.

So when these white suits start shooting using guns that glow the same green as Ace in Signals' vision and the shoots hit? Ace yelps in pain before seemingly barking out some kind of energy ball? And barreling into a wall so hard it cracked from another shot? Every single alarm that Signal can think to trip gets set off.

But not before one of the suits (one of the many suits, they're terrible fighters but there's just so many of them and two of them) takes out something that looks like a thermos and points it at Ace.

Within a second, Ace is gone.

Signal is so shocked he almost gets hit himself by the dozens of shots of energy blasts now aimed at him. He can't get to the white van in time before it speeds off.

----

I'm going to end this part here. I'm going to continue this in the reblogs but I also want people to take a crack at this story themselves! If you're inspired by this please put your thoughts or stories in the reblogs or tags!

[starry-bi-sky]

Childhood Friends Au: Jason

there's something burning in the empty room inside my head fill it up with doubt let it in, let it spread

When Jason gets Tim's text in the groupchat, he ignores it. And then a short series of buzzes distract him from a drug bust. It hasn't even been that long since he reconciled with the family, with Bruce. He thinks that perhaps he should have left it sooner.

He glances at it momentarily when the buzzing stops and he doesn't need to knock out more guys. He sees Tim's question dedicated towards him, and his response is instant, his thumbs flying over in response.

He doesn't care, he's trying to patrol.

(He does not have Danny's number in this phone, it's new. A model from this year rather than one from four years ago. He wants that old phone back. He hasn't even looked at their old letters yet.)

(Jason bets that they've been packed away in storage with the rest of his things. He doesn't want to visit the manor, but maybe he should. Just to find those letters again. He's not sure if he's allowed to.)

And then Tim says its Danny, and Jason flies up to the past texts to find the photo before he can think. And then there is Danny staring right at him again, with the same old smile on his face that he always aimed at people. Lopsided, Danny's favorite kind of smile.

Something old, something new. He's got piercings, and his eyes are as blue as they've ever been. He has an undercut, it looks self-done. It looks good. He looks tired.

Danny's good at hiding things from people, it comes with the purchase of being a street kid. But Jason can't have someone else's back without knowing the ins and outs of the person in question. Jason knows when Danny is tired, and Danny knows when he is too.

Before his death, whenever Danny came over he never missed a beat in telling Jason that he looked like shit. Were Bruce's fancy rich-people, cloud-made mattresses too soft for him? He can find him a moth-eaten street mat for him if he needs it. It'd be like the good old days.

(Jason wishes he could have told him he was Robin, but it wouldn't be safe.)

Jason had to see him with his own eyes, had to confirm with his own eyes just how much Danny had changed. It's just his luck -- if he has any left -- that he arrives to Bruce's dumb gala just as Danny steps out onto their once-shared, west-end balcony.

He drops down, something heavy in his throat, before he can properly think it through. Danny looks up before his feet even touch the ground, like he knew he was there. Jason wonders if he did. There is a cigarette in Danny's mouth. Something old. And something flashes in his eyes that Jason cannot place. Danny looks tense.

Jason feels like he's made a mistake.

In the end, watching Danny walk away feels a lot like Jason is losing something -- or is he missing something? Is it both? He wants to reach out, grab Danny's arm, but his feet are glued to the balcony floor. There are so many things he wants to say, but his tongue has glued itself to the roof of his mouth. Something has crawled into his mouth and died.

So much has been said with so little words. He wants to spin Danny around and ask him so many questions.

What do you mean you spoke to my ghost?

What do you mean I told you the Joker killed me?

What else have I told you?

The Fentons were right?

What happened while I was gone?

Why are you scarred? Where did those come from?

(He is not blind. He saw those silver lightning scars etched into his best friend's skin, saw that it disappeared under his sleeves. Danny did not have those the last time Jason saw him, the last time he was alive.)

(The sight of it makes him alight with murderous intent. He wants to take his best friend by the front of his shirt and shake him -- who did this to you? Who did it? Tell him, he will fix it.)

(But he can't. He doesn't. Doing that means revealing who he is. It means telling his best friend that he has been alive for the last five years and he did not tell him. It would mean telling his best friend that he did not want him to know.)

You're going to kill the Joker for me?

What have I missed?

What do I not know?

You look so tired.

But before he can even get his mouth to move, Danny is gone back inside. The door swinging open, music once muffled now blaring out for only a few seconds before Danny is slipped back inside.

And Jason is left on the balcony, alone, with more questions than he thought he would have. He stares at the broken cigarette on the ground, it feels like a metaphor for something. Jason can't figure out for his second life what it is.

Maybe it's not a metaphor at all, maybe the curtains are sometimes just blue. Maybe sometimes your best friend just tells a vigilante that he is going to murder someone; that he is going to avenge his best friend with his bare hands and feel no remorse for it.

It is what Jason wants Bruce to do, wants someone who loves him to do. But he's not sure if its something he wants Danny to do. Not when he has been living a normal life -- or as normal as it could be -- without hide nor tail knowledge of what Jason used to do, or what he does now.

What have I missed?

Danny. He's missed Danny. He didn't look into Amity Park out of fear of what he'll find; of what he might do. But now Jason thinks he might have to.

Danny has talked to his ghost. Danny is going to kill for him. He has that look in his eyes that Jason knows so familiar; the one where he needs Jason to play distractor while he stole something from the corner store. The one where he looks a kid five years his senior in the eyes and kicks him in the dick because he cornered him and Jason, itching for a fight.

There's a look so familiar in his eyes; the one of a boy that's set his mind to something and he is going to do it. He can't call it the eyes of a cornered animal, because Danny has never been cornered, not when he's been with Jason. He calls it the eyes of a boy about to do something he will never regret.

He watches him leave with the Vlad Masters guy. He hides atop the roof and eavesdrops. The paparazzi have since left now that it was much later in the night; they are not the bigger fish, even if they sometimes parade it to be.

"I thought I told you to make nice." Vlad Masters scowls as he walks to the other side of the sleek black limousine. "To not embarrass me."

Jason frowns at the way he talks. His fingers itch, and something old lurches in his chest: the same old protectiveness that he used to feel whenever he and Danny were about to get into a fight. And then, later, when they would stand inside Bruce's galas with people who couldn't care less if they breathed or died.

Danny scowls right back at him, all venom and bite, and leans against the side of the car. "I did make nice -- as nice as I could when you dragged me here."

Vlad Master rolls his eyes, huffing. Jason's frown only deepens. It's not easy to make Danny do anything he doesn't want to. His sister has tried, so have his parents, as well as his teachers. But Danny is wild and so is Jason. Rebellion and disobedience -- no, independence -- cut into them from the streets like its broken glass.

Jason doesn't remember Danny ever mentioning knowing a Vlad Masters. They must have met after Jason died, then. He doesn't like him. He's the same as all the other socialites in that party. There is a greed in his eyes that Jason knows rots down to the core of him.

"I thought you would enjoy being here, little badger." Masters tries, and his tone makes Jason ruffle. As does the nickname. Danny's scowl only ever deepens, his fingers curling to dig nails into his palms. He looks at Masters like he wants him to burst into flames. "You are friends of the Waynes, I thought you would like the little reunion."

"Whether I did or didn't is none of your business." Danny says. The door clicks open on Masters' side, as if they remembered that they were on the street rather than in the car. Masters climbs into the back, and Danny opens the door. He only reaches in though, and pulls out a old hoodie.

Danny pulls it over his head, and his vest and button-down are hidden underneath it. "Don't wait up you old fruitloop, there's someone here I need to see." And he slams the door shut with more force than necessary.

(Jason makes a mental note to look into Vlad Masters. Who is he to Danny. How did they meet? There is an old animosity between each other that Jason has never seen before. Not even when they were on the streets. Not to this extent.)

Jason's heart seizes up. Danny's reminder early surges to the front of his mind. Right. That's right. He's going to go see him. Jason. He is going to lay flowers on his grave. He remembers that Jason likes zinnias. There are no florists open this late at night, Jason thinks.

He follows Danny from the rooftops. Danny sticks close to the buildings, slipping in and out of shadows. Jason wants to know where he learned how to do that. Where did he learn how to move without a sound?

Five years is a long time to be away from someone, Jason thinks. Something that fills him with dread. Five years is a long, long time. He's afraid that it's been too long. Will he still know Danny like he used to, if he asks? And if he doesn't?

More, more, more. More questions than answers. More things that Jason doesn't know about someone he used know to like the back of his hand. It scares him, and he hates it.

(There is scarring on Danny's hand that Jason has never seen before. Maybe that's the metaphor he was missing before. Maybe there are still more.)

Danny moves like a ghost down Gotham's streets, his hands shoved into his pockets without a care in the world. It is confusing. It is concerning. It is proof that more things have changed than Jason likes.

Danny somehow finds a florist open at this time of night, and buys a bouquet. And like he told the Red Hood, he buys zinnias. Reds and yellows. For a moment, Jason thinks that Danny knows. He wonders if he does.

What would he have told him, if he was a ghost? He told him that the Joker killed him. Maybe that means he told Danny he was Robin too, like he always wanted to. But couldn't, because it wasn't safe, and it wasn't just his secret to tell?

Why has nothing changed, now that he was alive again?

"Did you know," Danny starts, when he sits down at Jason's grave with flowers slipping gently from his fingers, before the tombstone below. Jason is as close as he can without being seen, hiding like a ghost. "That red zinnias mean stead beating of a heart?" He smiles sardonically, "You picked quite the flower, Jay."

(There is an echoing in his ears, Danny's voice faint in the back of his mind. Ghosts can hear you when you speak to their grave, did you know? Jason can hear him better than he should.)

Jason knows the irony. Perhaps it's got double the meaning now, now that he's alive again. Danny doesn't know that though, sitting before his grave with flowers that symbolize a beating heart. Between the two of them, Jason thinks that the only heart here is Danny.

(Between the two of them, the only heart here is one that's made between the two of them.)

"Yellow zinnias," Danny continues, resting his chin in his hand, "mean daily remembrance." His smile tilts on the axis of his mouth, a wrinkle between his brows. He looks pained. Hurt. There is no comment made. Like it doesn't need to be said.

Jason thinks he can hear it anyways, and his heart twists like someone took it and twisted it like a rag, trying to drain the dirty water out of the cloth. He hurts.

I miss you. Is what he hears. Is what Danny doesn't say. Is what Jason knows he's thinking anyways.

I am right here. Is what Jason wants to say, but doesn't. He is right here. But his feet are grave-bound to the floor, and a part of him feels like he's clawing out his own grave again. But the dirt falling is endless and merciless. He can't get free.

He bites his tongue, a lump in his throat. Shame wells in his heart and Jason wants to shrink away from this. His feet are grave-bound to the floor.

"I'm sorry for not visiting sooner." Danny says, hand dropping out of his chin to pick at the ends of his sleeves. His smile fades into a frown. His voice wobbles. "I'm sorry, I don't have an excuse. I should have."

Please don't be. Jason thinks. He doesn't think he can be upset about it, not when Danny is laying yellow flowers on his grave that mean remembrance. i think of you daily. Not when Danny was going to kill the Joker for him.

Jason still doesn't know what to think of that. He still isn't sure if it's real or not.

"I went to one of Bruce's galas today." Danny says, and Jason knows. He saw him there. Danny smiles weakly. "I know, right? First time in five years. Vlad dragged me along, you remember him right?"

No, I don't. Jason thinks, and he feels a flutter of anxiety. A sense of impending doom. A choking dread. What else have I missed? He thinks again. Why doesn't he remember? Danny told him about Vlad, but it can only be from when he was a ghost. How long was he a ghost before he was revived? How often did he and Danny speak?

Jason doesn't like not knowing things, he doesn't like not knowing things about himself.

It would be so easy, a little voice whispers, to reveal himself now. To step forward and take his helmet off. To tell Danny that he was alive. To demand answers that only Danny could know.

But then what? When Danny inevitably asks his own questions? About how long Jason's been alive? Why he was dressed the way he was? Why he didn't say anything earlier, on the balcony?

(But he did say it earlier, when he offered Danny the cigarette and silently asked him for his thoughts.)

Jason is afraid of what Danny might think of him, if he tells him what he's done. About the blood on his hands and the bridges he's burned. What if telling him is just more gasoline on another bridge, with Danny holding the match? He stays silent. Fear is a powerful motivator. It's a powerful deterrent, too.

"The asshole blackmailed me into coming." Danny says, drawing his knees up to his chest. He looks disinterested. Annoyed, actually. Like what he is saying isn't sending alarm bells through Jason's mind. Like what he's saying doesn't concern him. "It's really dumb, actually."

He sighs, long and tired. There is grief etched into every line and pore in his face. "I could have handled it without even needing to come to the gala, I've done it before." He mutters when his eyes open. His fingers brush against the petals of the bouquet.

(And that only sends more alarm bells ringing in Jason's mind. Red lights blaring. Distress fills the cavity of his lungs. What has he missed?)

"I only agreed because I missed you," Danny says, "and Bruce. He invited me to come over sometime soon, to catch up. I agreed and I'm not sure why I did."

Jason didn't know that.

Danny continues talking. Jason listens in dutifully. He feels like a stranger imposing on his own grave. It's ridiculous. It makes sense. He feels like he should slink away and let Danny talk to his grave in peace. He cannot bring himself to move.

If he closes his eyes, he can pretend that he's sitting in front of him, like it's the good old days and they're back in Jason's room in the manor. Staying up late and trading stories back and forth. Sneaking out to the balcony and climbing onto rooftops they’re not supposed to go on. 

Jazz is getting her psychology degree. Him and Sam had a big fight a few years ago, but they’re better now. Tucker wants to start his own tech business. 

And on and on Danny goes, rambling about every little thing he can think of in the last five years since they last talked. He jumps back and forth between topics, when he remembers something he cuts to it. And then jumps back off to the next thought passing through his mind.

"I don't know what I want to do." Danny says, finally, after he exhausts every other topic to talk about. "I wanted to be an astronaut, but now I'm not so sure." His knees draw up to his chin, and he looks so sad. He looks nineteen. Small despite his size.

Were they really just nineteen, verging on twenty? Jason feels older among his years. Fourteen feels so far away.

Danny breathes in slowly, it's a sound that trembles. From where he stands, Jason sees Danny's eyes film over with tears. He makes a choked out sound that sounds like a terrible mix of a laugh and a sob.

"Where did you go?" He whispers. He tries to smile, and it is this pained, awful thing that drops within a second. Fingers clutch at his legs, diggings wrinkles into the fabric. "I know you're still here. Where did you go?"

There is no answer. Guilt is an animal with claws, and it burrows into Jason's heart to make itself home between the tendons. Tears slide from Danny's eyes down his cheeks. He still cries for him, five years later. Five years after. Jason feels worse.

"I haven't stopped looking for you." Danny continues, his voice cracks, and the words run over Jason's ears like water sliding off a duck's back. He doesn't hear it at first -- no, he doesn't understand it at first. And then when he does, he plunges his hands into the waters of his mind to drudge it back up.

You're looking for me? Do you know I'm alive?

It's another question to Jason's never-ending list.

"You might as well tell me where you are now." He smiles again; tries to. It wobbles, lips pulling back to show teeth as more tears spill over and carve red marks down Danny's face. "Or I'll find Cujo and sick him on you. He's gettin' real good at tracking things you know."

Jason doesn't know who Cujo is. But it sounds like a dog. He knows Danny's always wanted one, but their apartments would never allow it. It's not like his parents could afford one either.

There is a silence that hangs over them, with only the sound of the city around them. Danny seems to tremble more and more as each second passes, until finally a bubble pops. His smile drops, and so do his knees that were pressed into his chest.

He doesn't say a thing, not with words anyways. He hunches over and hugs himself with nails that dig into his elbows, failing to stifle a years' old grief. Jason wants to flee, lest he breaks his word to himself and steps out to console and dry Danny's falling tears. It feels like a betrayal unto himself to only stand there and watch him drown in his grief.

Guilt is a thing with claws, and Jason leaves the cemetery with hatred eating his tongue. Danny deserves the privacy that a ghost cannot give him. Jason may no longer be a ghost, but he is still the next best thing. either way I'm left holding onto the shovel and rope digging in the dirt finding bones, finding ghosts

[lostonehero]

Tma x Malevolent

So it's time travel now.

Tim and Jon came back too and are in the same high-school

Neither are happy about it

Tim can't be mad at Jon because he just confessed everything that happened after he died in the explosion.

Tim decides to rope Danny in because let's keep him from the horrors.

Jon still has his eye powers, so he goes to look for Martin after a bit of prodding from Tim and Danny.

"Ceaseless watcher turn your gaze upon-"

"Oooo so knew is spying on me." A man with white hair and bloody hands and feet stare back. Martin is beside him, sitting next to a man who appears to be staring at nothing. Martin has been messing with a knife in his hands, but no blood wells up from the cuts.

Jon stumbles back, covering his eyes and Tim stops him from hitting his head on the curb."

"Dude what the fuck was that?" Tim raised his brow holding Jon in his arms.

"Someone.... someone stared back." Jon barely gets out as a man appears floating above the two.

"I wouldn't consider myself a man." The white hair man laughs then gives a soft oof as a red-headed teen appears, and they both crash to the ground. The white-haired man without missing a beat lifts up the teen with a manic smile. "Oooo, you followed me! I'm impressed."

The red head was still holding his knife and stabbing it in the white hair man's shoulder and wriggled out of his grasp.

"Kids yaknow like a sponge they just soak up knowledge and powers don't they." He laughs loud.

The red head gets up, dusting himself off. "I was aiming for your neck."

"Martin?" Jon jumps back with Tim as the white-haired man rushed them.

"You know my beautiful boy?" The man gave a manic smile.

Martin takes the knife out of his father's shoulder. "This is, unfortunately, my father. You can call him Kayne."

"Isn't your father some sort of deadbeat?" Tim crosses his arms and raises his brow at Kayne.

"He didn't know I existed, he fucked my mom and threw her out, which meant through time. Again, I don't think he realized he did that." Martin sighs. "He's the God of disorder, or madness. Just call him Kayne, and no, he isn't related to the fears. Actually, the only reason he's able to cross the threshold of this time period is because of me, all of the old ones are blocked off because of the fears."

"Sharp as a whip, too." Kayne chuckles pinches Martin's cheeks covering his face with blood. "Oh, I never did like the new gods. Taking a child as an acolyte? That's such a waste. Children are so unpredictable."

Jon blinks. "How did you see me?"

Kayne laughs and floats above Martin. "You ask better questions than the John I know."

"He's a God, Jon. You also aren't subtle looking at anything." Tim rolls his eyes.

"To be fair, you are... well was a terrible stalker." Martin shrugs.

Kayne laughs more manically. "You make such interesting friends."

[batpham-discord-highlights]

Danny the teen heroes mentor Part 1

source: #crack

Part 2

Midas: Space Doorway CEO hero school, but it's Danny Fenton trying to give young heroes advice and doesn't realize he's a bit of a mentor now think Zoom except he really doesn't realize he's a mentor/teacher now

ectoentity | Dino Facts CIO aw

Midas: Space Doorway CEO Danny "I can help you with everything except hero costumes" Fenton

ectoentity | Dino Facts CIO his literally is part of him

soap something similar to "don't make that face or it'll get stuck forever", "don't wear that costume or you might be stuck in it like me"

Midas: Space Doorway CEO we cannot emphasize enough that, though it is not necessary, we prefer him doing this as Fenton

Midas: Space Doorway CEO [something similar to "don't make that face or it'll get stuck forever", "don't wear that costume or you might be stuck in it like me"] Amazing THEY THINK IT'S A METAPHOR

soap oh my gosh oh my gosh Fenton, the accidental mentor they wonder why he has such good advice he's just a civilian, why does he have intimate knowledge about government policies and budget first aid?

Midas: Space Doorway CEO Danny: heard you were joking and bantering while fighting kid: I can explain- Danny: I'm so proud, here, a book full of puns. Go wild, you little punk

Midas: Space Doorway CEO [he's just a civilian, why does he have intimate knowledge about government policies and budget first aid?] Y E S

soap Danny: the trick is to annoy your opponent until they get angry, then they get sloppy, and they're easier to deal with

Midas: Space Doorway CEO there's a method to the madness

soap how does he meet these various children?

Midas: Space Doorway CEO alleys. in the middle of attacks. on a roof. typical hero places

ectoentity | Dino Facts CIO he takes a vacation to go travelling with dani and they keep running into kid heroes

soap they each tell tales of this guy they met who told them some actually pretty helpful advice

Midas: Space Doorway CEO Kid: -struggling in the middle of a fight- Danny, a total stranger: aim to the person, not the device! you can take care of that after they're knocked out!

soap he's like, tied to a bomb with a bunch of other hostages

Midas: Space Doorway CEO Danny: you did such a good job out there Kid hero, confused but really happy about being recognized: t..thank… you?

soap its so funny to me that several kid heroes all know this random guy from a tourist-trap town by name, because he yelled advice at them during a fight

Midas: Space Doorway CEO Kids: and today's advice is..? Danny: Coffee is really addictive, please don't drink it- Yes, I know I'm drinking my 7th cup right now, that's the point

soap they start a group chat its mainly them asking Danny for advice on stuff they can't/don't want to ask their mentors

ectoentity | Dino Facts CIO "also it'll stunt your growth" danny, 5'5"

Midas: Space Doorway CEO "that explains a lot.."

soap occasionally he posts something completely out of context (e.g. "if you see a floating blue guy in overalls yelling about boxes, ignore him and call me, you'll only make it worse.")

Midas: Space Doorway CEO and it either never happens or it does the next f second

ectoentity | Dino Facts CIO — 10/21/2022 3:10 PM the groupchat is like "wtf blue guy?" and fifteen minutes later one of them pipes up "i was wondering what was going on with that guy" danny does not explain what was going on with that guy, he just shows up, soups him, and thanks the kid (all in human form)

soap or like "if you see a radioactive-green glowy liquid, DO NOT drink it!!! or touch it, preferably!!!!" on the side, one of the batboys (I'm thinking Tim?) just turns to look at Jason/Damian/Cass and squint

Pete [danny does not explain what was going on with that guy, he just shows up, soups him, and thanks the kid] appears from behind a street lamp offers to buy the kid some food

ectoentity | Dino Facts CIO yes the kid tries to get some answers "what was that guy?" "annoying"

soap "how do you know him?" "highschool."

[knowlessman]

bnha ep 10-13 I think. oh yeah, the big boss guy, that's what was up. handface. professor facepalm.

(watching OP) author really said "I am going to make a character that is the most hateable little shit. I'm gonna make sure nothing about either him or his design is likeable. gonna put him in a fucking diaper." -- stg the most mid anime op I have ever seen this many times

League of Villains? not Every Villain Is Lemons?

greninja to the rescue! …did you really have to save him tho? -- see, not having to listen to mineta in english is like, idk, a third of the battle

they want to kill him because he is batman, yes

oh, he didn't even teleport them far, just to random parts of the dome 'XD

the name does stick : ]

stop giving this guy lines, why does he have lines now

'XD it cuts to three of the villains in the water while Deku's talking and you have two normal-ass-looking people and a fucking Cenobite

k thanks for sharing, worst character

oh stop being generous, froppy, you were always the only way anybody was gonna get off that boat and you know it

"episode 11: game over." well that's cheery. also I saw spy kids 3 recently, dang is that not a good movie but it isn't, like, not fun. they say "game over" so many fucking times tho, I did not remember that and was not prepared for it. fun guessing-game at the end tho where characters keep showing up to fight and only the ones that absolutely shouldn't be here get to have shots of them actually fighting. I wanna see danny trejo punch a giant robot goddammit. -- ahem. anyway. anime.

…so, todoroki. cool guy. how is a guy this cool in the same show as mineta, anyway?

'XD who is this silly goof? "audio girl used Aimed Kick! dumbass learned Volt Tackle!" -- jiro and kaminari. got it. also Quiet Metal Gear's quirk doesn't even benefit from her boobs being out, she literally just shat an entire rubber tarp out of her back, which was covered -- momo, right. also creators please just stop writing teenagers and then Doing This Shit, wtf

"when he overuses his quirk, his brain short-circuits" well that's a problem; he didn't look like he had much dumber to get

nooooo, not hat-n'-clogs D:

six-arm guy's secret ability: really good hugs

bakugo's learning to pretend he's got anything other than violence in his head when somebody calls him on it ("I'm gonna beat up that portal guy! not because he stood in front of me, but because if he's gone, the enemy can't escape"), and I guess that's character development?

he fuckin said the spy kids 3 thing. is that gonna be a thing here, too, have I been bamboozled

also yay for emergency exit makin his exit in an emergency, gotta love it

and now the other guy said it. maybe it's just this episode tho, they've said episode titles a few times

-- "'game over?' what are they planning?" to put sylvester stallone in a giant robot, by the sound of it

im sorry how long has this disaster dome had a bouncy castle in it

walk faster dude you're gonna go poof any second

"we got a Continue" maybe facepalm is just all arcade lingo and that's his deal. maybe his villain origin is that he tilted a pinball table too hard

gotta be at least one or two heroes here who do illusions, right? could be all might isn't even here.

walks right past Thirteen "sorry, Aizawa"

Kirishima. got it. the guy who reminds me of a certain danganronpa character whose name I also forget is Kirishima

o_o dang, this one-punch villain reject goes harder than I expected -- oh nvm lol he's just a freaky-looking namekian

"the joker is the good guy actually" -- "he's already figured me out?" elle woods what, like it's hard?

aye, the shonen way. all the chips, right now, they'll either come back later or they won't but that's a problem for a future that won't exist if the present isn't saved. -- I thought he was gonna blast mojo piccolo to bits, but instead he just blasted off again

…oh damn, I got confused and thought this was ep 13. welp. was figuring on finishing the season this sitting, so here goes

every time this opening starts and it shows deku in the school uniform I think I'm looking at yu yu hakusho or mob psycho or something, and I've never even watched those

jiro asking a libertarian with a hostage why he doesn't have a job, like that's a good idea

not missing the fact that we're seeing a villain stimming btw : / -- "these casuals are wrecking me, all might OP, plz nerf!"

"it might be the case that I can't move right now, you warthog-faced buffoon" (geddit, might)

holy shit it's mccrassidy overwatch how in fuckaroo did they get the rights to him

there's that spy kids 3 nonsense again

probably ain't much more dangerous than a villain who learns from his defeats and doesn't take it out on his underlings. wassit called, the Evil Mastermind List? that.

CAT PERSON. …the bell is a little much tho

deku: literally exists bakugo: "and I took that personally"

ayup. next season next time. maybe with less of a break between, but fucked if I ever know when I'm gonna do what. : |

[illeaadante]

Batman AU - Ghostwing

Ok. Listen. Listen. I can’t stop thinking about this so I need to put it out there so other people can maybe think about it too and talk to me about it.

Disclaimer that I still don’t really know anything about batman/the batfamily other than what I’ve picked up from tumblr, tiktok, and cultural osmosis.

Here we go.

This kinda turned into more of a fic than I intended, so I’m putting it under a Read More.

A convention for ghost hunters is held in Gotham because it’s obviously the most haunted place in america. Every single ghost hunter is invited. This, of course, includes the Fentons.

Jack and Maddie are ecstatic and, of course, drag Danny and Jazz along. Vlad wasn’t invited as he is not known in ghost hunting circles but he knows that Maddie and Danny are going to be there, so he goes. (Vlad also goes on the off chance there is something there worth stealing for Valerie.)

So, the Fentons are going, but you know who else is going? Jason Todd, because he thinks it’s funny, Stephanie Brown, because she also thinks it’s funny, and Tim Drake, to see if any of their technology is worth buying/stealing and coopting into batsuits.

The batkids step in and do a double take to make sure they didn’t walk into a Rogues Gallery meeting-in-process. Everyone is there, the Fentons, the Guys-in-White, is that millionaire Vlad Masters skulking around in the back? But they are well trained and take everything in like good vigilante’s wood. Jason and Steph bounce around from booth to booth, mocking the ghost hunters under their breath or to their faces, and generally aim for the people who seem the craziest. They land on the Fenton’s because someone set Jack off on a tirade.

Jason clocks Jazz’s unimpressed demeanor and Danny shrinking himself in the corner while doing homework with far more desperation than required. His eyes narrow a bit when he notices how the red head seems to be distracting the Fenton’s away from the boy.

Danny is not having a good time and it shows. He’s grateful to Jazz for playing defense for him but he just really wants to go home. This much weaponized ecto-energy in an enclosed space is making him twitchy, and he knows if this convention goes on for too long, Technus or Skulker are bound to show up. He already spotted Vlad lurking, trying to get his mom alone while avoiding his dad’s attention, and firmly shoved himself further into the back corner of the booth. He couldn’t get away, but it made it easier for Jazz to keep everyone else away. He was alternating doing homework and texting Dani, who had been to Gotham before. His head snaps up when he feels someone staring at him and locks eyes with someone whose eyes are faintly glowing green. He hisses, which draws Jazz’s attention.

Jason sees the kid notice him and say something to the girl, the both of them watching him while the boy texts without looking. Jason and Steph share a look before edging around the booth to get to the kids.

Vlad also sees a shift and decides to give up drawing Maddie away to talk to Daniel. He goes up with a practice smile and attempts to move a stubborn Jazz out of the way subtly.

“Jasmine. How lovely to see you. And Daniel, my boy-” 

“Not your boy, Vlad.” Danny growls, uncurling himself to stand beside his sister.

“Oh come now-”

“What are you doing here, Mr. Masters?” Jazz says with the lift of an eyebrow. Her arms uncross to hang loose at her sides, but the batkids watching can see the outline of some kind of baton in her pocket.

“Oh, certainly I can visit friends?” Master’s was attempting to skirt the girl, Jazz, but she absolutely was not having it.

“Funny, your only friend here is dad and you seem to be avoiding him.” The boy spit out. Masters’ smile dropped like a gargoyle off of a parapet.

“Daniel...” the man said with the worst attempt at menace Jason had witnessed in a long time.

“I think you should get going, Uncle Badtouch.” Jason said, inserting himself between Masters and the kids. “Wouldn’t want anyone to think you were creeping on some kids.”

Vlad looks affronted for a moment, before his eyes turn calculating as he stares at Jason’s face.

“Have we met?” He asks.

“Thankfully not.” Jason growls, eyes starting to glow just a bit more for emphasis. Strangely, Masters seems calmer, more enthusiastic instead of scared. Jason only subconsciously notices the boy, Daniel?, out of the corner of his eye, texting frantically.

“Surely we must have. For people like us, all we have is each other.” Masters tries to purr. Tries.

“What the fuck are you on? There’s no way we are even slightly-” he cuts off abruptly when Masters’ eyes change from (whatever color they normally are) to bright, unnatural green, and then back.

“You see?” Vlad chuckles, delighted. “We’re the same, so really both you and Daniel should join me.”

“Literally no one is ever going to join you, Plasmius.” Danny hisses. “Even when you make them they want nothing to do with you, so just leave.”

Vlad is just about to retort when a boom of “Vladdie!” comes from  behind the kids. Masters sneers before slipping away with one final “you will join me one of these days.”

Jason and Steph, now confused about why the boy called Masters Plasmius and what he meant by join him look to the other pair for an explanation. Tim’s also found them after looking over all of the tech. 

“Jay, your eyes.” He taps his brother before standing on the other side of Steph from him.

Jazz’s head snaps up from where it had bent over Danny’s phone with him, reading Dani’s texts.

“Mom!” she called, startling her brother and  the woman in question. The batkids watched the blue jumpsuited figure turn to her kids.

“What is it honey, I’m talking experiments.”

“Danny and I have made some friends, we’re going to get a bite to eat with them.” She said, pointing to the batkids who were trying to look like that was exactly what they were doing.

“Ok, have fun!” Maddie immediately turned back to her conversation. “Tell us if you see any Ghosts!” Jack called after them.

Danny and Jazz dragged the three out of the venue and only stopped while they were on the street.

“Right, do you know anywhere we could actually go? preferably someplace populated where Plasmius won’t show up.” She said, turning to the three Gothamites.

“Yeah, I know a place.” Jason took the lead and led the other four to a hole-in-the-wall Mongolian place.

“So, mind telling me what the fuck was all that with uncle badtouch?” Jason started off.

“I’m so calling him that next time I see him.” The boy said.

“We should probably do introductions first. I’m Jazz Fenton.” Jazz said, “and this is my little brother Danny. I already know that you” she gestured to Tim “are Timothy Drake-Wayne, but who are you?”

“I’m Steph, and this is Jay.”

“Right, so?”

Jazz and Danny looked at each other. “Okay.” Danny said slowly. “What is said at this table cannot leave this table. I mean it. Not even our parents know about this and they can’t know about this.” 

“Oooooo, keeping secrets from the old people? I’m in.” Jason, Steph, and Tim also quickly agreed.

“So, the think is: I’m a ghost. Well, I’m half-ghost. We’re called halfas.”

“Original.” Tim snorted. Danny just gave him a look.

“That’s why my eyes glow like this.” He demonstrated, going from blue to green and back, “I can also do a full transformation into my ghost form, but that’s kinda flashy. Plasmius, I mean Vlad, is also a halfa and we both thought that Jay was one too because of the eyes.”

“But my eyes don’t change color, they just glow.” Jay said.

“Yeah, most people with green eyes just have them glow when they’re possessed.” Danny shrugs.

Then he launches into an explanation of ghosts, halfas, the ghost zone, and what he-- and to an extent, Jazz-- has been doing in Amity Park as the hero Danny Phantom.

“...And we know you aren’t actually a halfa, because Dani-- that’s Dani with an ‘i’, short for Danielle-- has been to Gotham before and ran into you guys once. So I told you my secret identity because, you know, fairs fair.”

And I kinda ran out of steam, but basically Danny gets a support system in the form of the Batfamily and both he and Jazz eventually get adopted by Bruce because the Fenton’s are criminally negligent. The misunderstandings with Valerie are cleared up and the two of them get back together but this time with ghost-and-crimefighting as part of their relationship. Jazz and Babs hit it off, Valerie’s dad starts working with Lucius Fox, and upon request, each member of the batfamily takes a trip to the Ghost Zone to see their deceased loved ones and talk to them. Just, Danny Phantom becomes Ghostwing (Dani also shows up and stays with them in Gotham, but she doesn’t really crime fight much unless it’s right in front of her or Danny needs help, and no one begrudges her her choices), he and Jazz become part of the batfam, and Vlad spends forever looking for another halfa that doesn’t exist.

[iceeckos12]

A time travel au. angst and h/c. inspired by this post

Warnings: jon’s very low self-esteem

“What do you think of him?” Jon suddenly asks, staring blankly at the wall of the breakroom.

Tim pauses in the middle of chewing his sandwich to give him a long, considering look.

He’s mostly decided to suspend his disbelief until further notice, simply to keep from losing his mind. What else is one supposed to do when future versions of Jon and Martin, who are also apparently dating, tell you that your workplace is currently involved in a plot to end the world? Ideally he would’ve processed one big revelation at a time, but apparently they don’t have time for that, so goodbye grip on reality, it was nice knowing you. I’ll hit the restart button as soon as things start making sense again.

Tim wipes his hand across his mouth, swallows, and asks, “You mean Jon II?”

Jon rolls his eyes, like Tim’s being obtuse on purpose just to annoy him. “Yes, I mean...him. Me. Jon II.” Then his nose wrinkles amusingly, the same way it always does whenever he says the moniker. He’s hated it since the beginning, but it was a battle he quickly lost, what with all three of his assistants opposing him.

Normally, Tim wouldn’t have thought twice about shrugging and answering, but...Jon’s been uncharacteristically quiet lately. Oh sure, he’d blushed up a storm upon learning that his future self and Martin were dating, and he’d expressed his own misgivings at the beginning, but...since then he’s been eerily, silently watchful. In Tim’s experience, when presented with this sort of puzzle Jon generally buries himself in research, and doesn’t emerge until he’s good and ready to do so.

There’s something else on his mind.

So Tim puts down his sandwich and gives himself a moment to think carefully through his response. “I mean...he’s a lot like you, obviously. But he seems…” What’s a polite way to say, the trauma and the boyfriend seems to have made him a little more easygoing? He certainly smiles more freely than he ever has, which...honestly, makes Tim want to cry sometimes. How horrible, that so much abject cruelty had just made him more kind. “...tired. A little less high-strung?”

“I see,” Jon says, turning his mulish gaze to his curry, dragging his spoon through the thick sauce.

Tim waits a beat longer, but when nothing else seems forthcoming he prompts, “Why do you ask?”

Jon’s reaction is only to press his lips into a thin, tight line. Tim knows this mood; he’s weighing how insecure he’ll look if he says whatever’s actually bothering him out loud, versus how much he wants someone else to hear it. Pushing him now will only make him clam up, so Tim just waits.

Tim’s patience is rewarded when Jon blurts, “But you like him. You...you all do.”

“Yes,” Tim says slowly, because it’s true. Martin’s so enamoured with a Jon that actually likes him that he keeps bringing him tea just to get another glimpse of that gentle, thankful smile, just to strike up another conversation about nothing. Sasha has decided that he’s the most interesting thing that’s ever happened to her, and insists on consulting him whenever she reads a new true statement.

Tim’s personally a little unnerved by the awful, sad way future Jon looks at him sometimes, or the way he flinches back whenever someone tries to touch him without warning. But he’d taken Tim aside and quietly explained everything he knew about what happened to Danny, so.

Oh, Tim thinks, feeling like an idiot for not realizing it sooner. Jon may be an old hand at fooling others with his grumpy persona, but Tim knows that he’s just using it to hide his massive inferiority complex. “Wait, are you jealous?”

Jon ducks his head, and his ears darken. Gotcha, Tim thinks. 

“Jon, you know that that’s still you, right?” he explains gently, quietly relieved that it’s not something more complicated. “We like him just as much as we like you, because you’re the same person.”

“But he’s not the same, is he?” Jon protests. “Look at the scars on his neck, on his hand. And he has panic attacks, and he flinches at loud noises, and, and—”

He breaks off, biting down hard on his lip, threading a hand through his hair.

Tim stares at him, feeling off-kilter, like he missed a step coming down the stairs. That doesn’t sound like jealousy. “...Jon?”

Jon shakes his head, his breath escaping him in thready, devastated gasps.

He can’t tell what’s going on in Jon’s head, and it’s starting to scare him. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

Jon just sits there for a moment long, tugging at his hair, staring sightlessly at the middle distance. Tim gently untangles his fingers, giving him something a little more solid to hold onto.

“You all like him,” he says at last. “You all...he’s so kind, and he’s funny, and you like him, because someone hurt him first. He’s different—we’re different—because someone cut our throat and burned our hand, and you like him better.”

Tim’s horrified. “Jon—”

“Should I accept that?” he continues, the words flooding from him like a dam finally exploding in a shower of groaning wood and weathered stone. “Do I—how do I carry on knowing that I could be the person I want to become, if only I give myself to monstrosity, if only I let myself be hurt like that?”

“Of course we’re not going to let that happen to you!” Tim interrupts, voice higher and more frightened than he meant it to be. He’s applying duct tape to a raging river. He has no fucking idea how to fix this. “You don’t deserve—”

“Don’t I?” Jon demands, whirling on him, eyes flashing. “Don’t I deserve to be happy? Or am I unworthy of even this kind of improvement? Am I doomed to be like this forever?” Tears well in his eyes, spill over. “Don’t I deserve it?”

And then he slowly, inevitably, dissolves into tears, his slim shoulders shaking as he curls over and buries his face in his elbow. Tim drapes an arm across his back, angling his body so he can gently tuck Jon’s head against his shoulder. He doesn’t know what else he’s supposed to do. Even if Jon were in any shape to hear it, he has no idea how to fix this.

Tim could tell him that he and Martin and Sasha all think that he’s fine the way he is, and it’s the stress of an apparently eldritch job that’s causing him to push people away, but he doubts Jon would believe it. Words mean nothing when actions have been screaming something entirely different all this time, and Jon’s always been more observant than they give him credit for.

“Oh, Jon,” he whispers when the tears finally start to slow, dropping a kiss onto silver and black hair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you felt that way.”

Jon pulls away and shrugs, averting his reddened eyes. Tim squeezes his elbow to prevent him from retreating entirely. They sit like that for a moment, Jon going very still and very tense under Tim’s hand, settling into the vulnerability like an open wound.

“I’m sorry,” Jon says finally, sniffing heavily. He’s aiming for his usual brusque, dry tone, but his voice is shaking, and he’s not fooling anyone. “That was unprofessional of me.”

Before Tim can stop himself, an incredulous laugh rips out of him. “Jon,” he says quickly, “We’re well beyond professional. You know that, right? You don’t have to hide from me.”

Jon flushes. “Yes, well—it was unfair for me to put this on you, as your fr—as…” His expression goes all fragile and uncertain, and Tim’s heart aches.

“It’s not unfair,” Tim corrects gently. “As your friend,” and here he pauses for emphasis, “I want to know when you’re feeling like this.”

“Oh,” Jon murmurs, then straightens and scrubs the teartracks from his cheeks. “Oh.”

Tim nods reassuringly, takes a deep breath, and makes an educated guess. “I know you’re scared, Jon. We all are. This place is...horrible, and seeing what you went through is...terrifying. I can’t imagine how that must be for you.” He lets his eyes flicker up. Jon’s still watching him, rapt, and good, good. I haven’t lost him. “I won’t deny that he’s getting along with Sasha and Martin quite well, but...but that’s not because of what he—you—went through. It’s because….right now, you’re pushing people away because you’re scared, but he’s already done that. He knows that pushing people away just means you end up alone. It doesn’t mean he’s a better person, just that he’s a little wiser.”

“But how can you be sure?” Jon asks, leaning forward, eyes big and desperate.

“I mean, I wouldn’t have become your friend if I didn’t like you,” Tim admits unashamedly.

His bold honesty is rewarded by Jon flushing and ducking his head.

“But even so,” he continues, sobering, “Even if you were the worst person on the planet—and you’re not—you wouldn’t deserve to be hurt like that, no matter what the outcome. Does that make sense?”

Jon looks thoughtful as he says, “I—yes. Yes, that makes sense.”

He can tell though, that Jon doesn’t quite believe him. That’s okay—honestly, it’s what he was expecting. Tim’s been running headfirst into the wall that is Jon’s terrible self-esteem for as long as they’ve been friends. This problem is going to take more than one half-assed pep talk.

That’s okay, though. Jon’s worth the effort.

[impyssadobsessions]

“Sorry.. about your jacket..” Danny apologized as he leaned against the wall, spitting leftover vomit from his mouth to the ground. Well, there went his lunch... breakfast? “Don't worry about it.” Jason was using his jacket to wipe off the vomit from his suit. It wasn't the worse thing he had on his jacket. Though, the glow of it raised some concerns. “He has ten more just like it-” Dick dodged the jacket as smacked against the wall.

Danny panted, he felt like he was suffocating. Which he found astounding because he randomly forgets to breath on the daily. His stomach was in knots, as he could barely keep his head up. He could have sworn he got hit by a car instead, if it wasn't for how slimy his skin felt. “We need to get this shit off. I can't imagine how Danny feels, but my skin feels like its melting.” Jason had a migraine settling in, he couldn't smell anymore, but that didn't mean his nostrils and airways weren't burning. He hated not being able to breath. “There's a kitchen on the 9th floor.” Tim stated on the comms. “I don't think we could make it that far up the stairs.” Dick frowned, glancing at Danny and Jason. They needed to hurry whatever they did. Danny's skin was starting to ooze and Jason's skin was flaking and extremely red. “Why not grapple up? That's what we-” An ecto-beam was heard being fired. ===== >wo ==== “Oh and here I was thinking you took the elevator.” Plasmius shot another blast at the two vigilantes making them dive out the way. Elevator? Oh right, he would need one to carry equipment up the floors if ghosts weren't phasing it. Maybe Danny and Jay could get some use out of it. “Hey, Plasmius feels like static when he's near by. He'll do anything to get an advantage.” Dick warned over the comm.

Static. Cass and Tim both strike at the first tingle in the air, causing an invisible duplicate to dissolve into goo. This was going to be- Tim felt a yank on his cape, pulling him through layers of floors until he was smacked into the ground. Before he could retaliate, his cape was dragged back up into the ceiling, choking him as Plasmius laughed. Tim didn't look at where he was shooting, using the angle his cape was being pulled to aim his shot at Plasmius. He could hear a snarl and his cape didn't lift any higher. Unfortunately, he wasn't dropped back down either. He was stuck. Tim kept one hand on his collar and the other was pointing the gun at his cape. He shot at it, causing the cape to rip off and allowing him to land on the ground with a roll. He rubbed his neck, now staring up at the ceiling with a piece of his cape hanging. He was starting to understand why Jason and Dick might have stopped using capes. He also forgot phasing was a thing. He'll have to keep that in mind. Either way, he better keep moving. He hated the idea of fighting Plasmius and his duplicates alone. “He's going to try to fight us all one by one,” Tim pointed out over the com, “He just sent me down a few floors-Uh oh...” Plasmius filled the hallway in front of him with duplicates. “Uh oh indeed.” Tim hated being right sometimes. === w u w ==== Cass tried to reach for Tim, but her hand went right through him. Barely dodging a beam, she flipped forward as it scorched the place where Tim was dragged through the floor. “I wondered if he had a nice trip?” Plasmius chuckled looking smug as he floated in place. Cassandra glaring up at Plasmius, readying her staff for an attack. “Too bad you won't get to know.” Cass felt the hair on her neck stand up, without turning, she stabbed the staff backwards into duplicate stomach, causing it to dissolve. She flipped the staff, slamming it into the ground to propel herself towards the smug looking Plasmius that floated in front of her. She smacked down the staff at the duplicate, however Plasmius countered with a shield shoving her back as it shattered. Cass flipped back, but was caught in the air by her arm. Quickly she pulled out the ecto-gun, blasting at the invisible figure before she could be pulled into the ceiling. Cassandra landed on the ground, and immediately returned to her fighting stance with a spin of her ectoplasmic staff. Plasmius started to fill the hall on both sides of her. “Oh, bravo. Almost impressive. Now, let's see how you deal with an army? Hm?” Plasmius's laughter echoed as all the duplicates laughed, preparing their ecto-beams. Cass lifted her hand up, twitching her fingers towards her, as a way of saying 'Bring it.' === O o O ==== Damian hated this guy. So much. All he was doing was cackling to himself, sipping from a wine glass. Where did he even get that?! “I could almost call this entertaining if it had happened any other night.” Plasmius hummed as he watched the screens of the monitors. “Ah, I should have dragged Little Badger up here to watch. He'll just have to settle with seeing their corpse along side his parents.” Jazz clenched her fist, shaking a bit in anger. She turned her head to glance at Damian, who matched her gaze with an annoyed look of his own. They had to do something, they couldn't just wait there the entire time. They glanced around the room, taking in what they could. Whatever they did, they couldn't draw too much attention. Jazz didn't have anything to fight with, making herself a prime hostage target. Damian didn't want to save her butt again. “Oh Butterscotch pie! Just die already!” Plasmius growled as he glared at the screens. Jazz nudged Damian spotting a vent in the corner, its cover was already blown off. They could use it as an escape route. Now how to distract Plasmius. She could unplug the monitors, but that might just alert Plasmius of their presence. Damian already devised his own plan, taking out the lipstick again, so he could aim without the gun being seen through the spaces between the monitors. He aimed for the

eyes, planning to temporarily blind Plasmius. He fired. One. “ARGH! What in red velvet!?” Plasmius covered his eye, dropping the wine glass with a growl. Jazz was a bit taken aback, but matched Damian's side gaze again. Getting an understanding. She yanked out the power cord on her way out from behind the monitors, running. Plasmius turned to attack her, only to be shot in the other eye. He howled, hands pressing against his eyes in pain. Damian ran out from behind the monitors, shooting a few more times at Plasmius before climbing into the vent. === u3u === Dick gritted his teeth as he heard the commotion over the comms. Jason was shifting Danny to help, half-carry him. Since Danny was being stubborn about being able to walk. “Go on, I got Danny.” “But-” “The quicker we defeat that bastard, the better off we be.” Dick reluctantly nodded, glancing over Danny one more time. Danny gave a thumbs up, “As long as I'm not dead, I'm fine.” “That's not a good measurement of health.” “Subjective.” Danny coughed. Dick shook his head, “Call if you need help.” “Fly away will ya?” Jason just shooing him with his hand. Dick nodded one more time than ran off in the direction of the stairs, hoping to make it up to one of them in time. “I really am.. fine you know.” Danny wheezed, leaning on Jason for support as he stood. “Yeah, Yeah. Come on, let's fine the elevator.” Jason walking Danny on his side that was free of vomit. Though now slime from Danny's skin was soaking in. “Serious, I've been worse.” “That doesn't make any of this better.” Jason gruff, as he pulled Danny along. Silence fell between theme, making Jason's stomach twist in knots. Maybe he said something wrong. Or maybe it came out wrong. Jason couldn't really tell his tone, he was barely keeping his thoughts straight. Or maybe it was the repellent. “I wonder if this is how my clones felt.” Definitely was the repellent. “Don't know, can't ask them.” “Yea.. it be kind of rude...” Danny mumbled. Jason raised a brow, as he tried to think about that. He hissed as it made his migraine worse, yeah, he'll just drop it. Danny's head probably isn't doing as good either. === uwu === Cass was taking down every duplicate that got close to her. Using her staff like a fan blade to knock several out at once, following it up by shooting with the ecto-gun. If she kept the staff moving, Plasmius couldn't get close enough to touch her. It deflected a few beams too. She needed to make it to the others. Even though she was confident she could defeat all of duplicates on her own, she was afraid of leaving the others alone too long. Danny and Jason needed to find a source of water too. Only known one with easy access was on this floor. Kitchen wasn't the only thing they found either. There was a few freezers and a couple of greenhouse rooms. One with strange plants. Cass smack down on a duplicate's hand that rose up through the floor, propelling herself with the staff to fly over a few of the duplicates' heads. She quickly spun around her staff after landing to clear the way. No matter how many she cleared, more seemed to appear. How long can he keep this up? She wasn't going to test it, as she bolted down the hall. She smacked duplicates out of the way while she dodged the beams. She kicked off the walls and used her staff to help her stay mobile. Sliding under floating figures then rolling back in a sprint. Cass made one mistake, and one was all it took. While attacking a duplicate in front of her after kicking off the wall, she left herself open as more appeared around her, firing. === ouo === “Danny, what does that say?” Jason peered at a sign, he felt like he could somewhat read it. It was next to a cut out in the wall. “Gimmie.. moment.” Danny rubbed his eyes, then had to wipe them again with his shirt. He squinted his eyes at the words. His eyes kept blurring the words, he wonder if he could. Pain. But he could read it for a short moment. Then groaned as he hung his head. His eyes burned. Using even his ghostly sight was starting to cause

problems. Jason kept a tight hold on Danny, furrowing his brows. He saw Danny's eyes flash green for a moment. He waited before opening his mouth to speak- only for Danny to cut him off first. “Fine.. fine.. it said elevator. So.. this should be.. it.” Danny sooooo wanted to dunk Vlad in a vat of the repellent. Jason kicked at the wall to see if it did anything, nothing. He huffed, dragging Danny to the opposite wall, sitting him down. “Gotta sit your ghoulish ass down for a moment.” Danny snorted, as he slid down the wall, to sit on the ground. Jason turned to peek around the wall, there was a hallway between the sign and the cutout. So maybe the entrance was to the other side. Tapping on the walls to try and find a door. Bingo. It wasn't an easy find as the door seem to shut upward, instead of to the side. He didn't see a button, but he did find a keyhole. Pulling out his own lock pick he got to work. Despite all the advance science having electronic keys was not in Vlad's budget. Perhaps they malfunctioned with ghost tech? Eh, didn't matter. Jason was just glad he didn't have to lug a half-dead... er? Teen up the stairs. He grinned as the door opened, revealing a large elevator. === ewe ==== Tim wasn't having an easier time, but he still was taking down the duplicates in succession. He was really starting to get annoyed though, wishing he took the bazooka instead. It would have cleared out the hall a lot faster. Tim ducked a blast aimed for his head and shot one back. Quickly shooting at his feet, to avoid being yanked again. He was trying to think, while wrapping his cape around his arm to keep it from being used against him. Shooting with the other as he kept moving. Plasmius could fly, phase through walls, duplicate in massive proportions, shoot ecto-beams, turn invisible, and be a pompous creep. How could he use that to his advantage. What did Danny do? So far all he got from watching Danny was that he was good at rodeo- Bat-a-rangs.. He wondered. They didn't hurt the moose-wolf or the catfish too badly. So he couldn't use it as a weapon, but maybe. Tim took out the bat-a-rangs covered in ghost ice, holding them like brass knuckles. He ran towards the duplicates, weaving side to side. He was waiting to get close to one-perfect. One popped up near his feet. He smashed his knuckles down into Plasmius, being phased through the floor with the duplicate. Letting go of the bat-a-rangs, he took out his ecto-gun and shot the duplicate, making it howl and dissolve. He quickly took the bat-a-rangs and ran while they other duplicates phase through the ceiling trying to catch him, firing pink ecto-beams. Tim weaved and dodge out of the blasts, he only shot behind him blindly. He was focused on running. Which after today, if he did not have thighs like Dick's, he doesn't think he ever will. He skidded as Plasmius flew in front of him, Tim took aim and fired. Only for the ecto-gun to be blasted out of his hands by one from the ceiling. Damn that burned. He had to move. Tim dodge rolled out of range of another blast, taking out another blaster. He fired wildly at all the duplicates. “You really an annoying rat, aren't you?” Tim turned to blast behind him, only to be punched in the face by a pink glowing fist. It sent him flying across the floor. Owowowoowow.. Tim pushed himself back up, applying a little pressure to his jaw with his arm. His mouth was bleeding a bit. He glared up at Plasmius who surrounded him with duplicates. The half-ghost's fist glowed as he charged up a beam. Tim felt his limbs be held in place, making it impossible to move as duplicates revealed themselves. This wasn't good. “Sit tight and relax, this will only hurt.. a lot.” Plasmius cackled aiming his fist at Tim. A green beam shot through, piercing the duplicate's cheek causing the Plasmius to dissolve. Several beams of green followed suit, freeing Tim to take out the last two duplicates that held him. Dick ran up, helping Tim to his feet, panting. “Not too late am I?” “Maybe to save my molars.” Tim rubbed his face, returning

to an alert stance. He was so glad Dick was there. Especially as more duplicates surrounded them. Dick whipped out his escrima sticks, spinning them. “Ready for round 2?” Dick grinned. “Ah tatatata.. Not so fast. After all, you wouldn't shoot an ally?” Plasmius flew down from the ceiling, restraining Cass in his arms. She gritted her teeth, kicking and struggling, trying to free herself. Only for Plasmius to send a small shock to her, causing her to writhe in pain. “Orphan!” Dick and Tim glared with clenched teeth. “You see brats, I don't have time to waste on exterminating pests tonight. I'm so close to FINALLY having what I want, and I won't let ANYONE stand in my way.” “What is that? Killing Danny's parents, kidnapping him and his sister? Causing mayhem across the country?” “A family.. and power. You see, once ghosts are known then ghost tech will be in high demand and my business partner you see.. have so much to gain. I don't even think Lex Luther could compete.” Plasmius tossed Cass's body towards them. Her body pulsed and shook, from the shocks, as she struggled to get up. Tim crouching beside her as Dick kept ready to defend them. Plasmius filled both sides of the hall with duplicates, all powering up their ectobeams. They were going to vaporize them on the spot. “Farewell, heroes.” Plasmius laughed manically as they all prepared to fire.

[voiceless-terror]

Tim my beloved for the ask game?

Also who would have guessed you were Jon Archivist Sims all along jsjdj

Who would've thought...that all this time....i was just defending myself. that's self care, baby!!

anyway, back to tim stoker my beloved ~~~

First Impression: Canon bi man!! Canon bi man who is a very good researcher! And then I heard his voice and i was gone <3 For real though I enjoyed having canon queer rep right from the get-go, and was v charmed by him overall.

Impression Now: Tim I love you but why did it have to be this way? I understand a lot of the character change stems from the trauma, but it is sometimes very hard to connect that prodigious anger in season three with the man we’re introduced to in season one.

Favorite Moment: Maybe the season one finale? I just love him bursting in like the kool aid man, ready to fully take on the worms and take his pants off if needed (jarchivist voice: it is not, good lord). Idk I just like high, kind of goofy heroic Tim coming to help his friends, yknow? That, tied with ‘are you in trouble’ (i swear im not copying jay i just have a lot of similar Tim feelings) in season two….god, the angst. He still cares!! Even when everything’s going to shit!

Idea for a story: Okay I can’t tell you how many unfinished Tim fics I have. Looks at my three remaining Jontim week fics. Looks at my Danny lives WIP. But I am particularly eyeing my ‘jontim roommates fic’ that I vague about every couple of months where. Well. Jon and Tim were roommates in precanon and how their relationship goes from there. Just slowburn learning to live with and love each other. Soft. Sometimes angsty. One day.

Unpopular Opinion: Not gonna lie it was really hard for me to reconcile how he was at the end with how he was in the beginning. I still love him of course, and people change esp when traumatized, but….gah. It’s very tragic and I feel like some of the anger was there simply for conflict (as opposed to say, the real anger at being stalked and feeling helpless that I totally understand) and idk. Tim deserves to feel angry!! But it seems like some of it is aimed at blaming Jon for the sake of making him more isolated in the narrative? Idk idk.

Favorite Relationship: Jontim. Jontim. Jontim??? Jontim.

Favorite Headcanon: I like ADHD Tim! He presents differently than Jon, who is my main projection for this headcanon, but I feel like it fits. He gets deep into hyperfixations, and can be very very restless and needs to move around, really gets thrown off when things mess with his routine. I also like to think of him as the most level-headed on the team - he likes his jokes just as much as the next person and can tease, but he’s also the guy you come to when you have a problem and need some objective advice. A very good listener.