#no it's not illinois because it takes the fentons two days of driving to get to vlad's at least

[rey-129-fan]

Well, it's been a while since I've posted any fanfic... Let's change that.

Good news! I'm not dead! My brain did try to get me to do things that could unalive myself for a bit, and then I lost nearly an entire side of my family over the span of 3 years, but I'm still here and still kicking! And I have two new puppies who are adorable and so loving.

Now for this story, this is inspired by a few posts I saw on @theglamorousferal, mostly the one about Amity Parkers going to college in Gotham and buying a hotel (I'm making it a co-op student house, but I've never lived in one, so if something's unacceptably wrong, tell me, if not, artistic license), but also the one where our main Trio buy a building to set up shop there, and wind up adopted my Jason (I swear, I saw that post after I wrote the first chapter, but it just fit so well).

***

Honestly, Amity Park was weird long before the Fentons moved there- the original settlers named the nearby lake Eerie, and it wasn’t after the Great Lake.  It’s just that before the Fentons’ machine punched a hole through reality and created a permanent doorway to the land of spirits and ghosts, the weirdness was not as blatant.

Prior to that, Amity Parkers were some of the few that could move to Gotham without suffering a breakdown that was common for new arrivals.  Now there was a slight dip in newcomers for about a decade or two after the Bat made his debut and then the crazies that followed him, but then Amity Parkers got used to the spirits of the dead wandering around following the aforementioned punching through reality.

All this to say that Gotham Universities were a rather common destination for young Amity Park adults seeking higher education.

Now because of this, there were always apartments advertising themselves for people from the small town.  They, after all, tended to not have a breakdown after their fifth rogue attack and just pack up and leave halfway through their lease.  But it got very annoying having to sift through all the advertisements when looking for a place to stay- something Danny Fenton saw his older sister go through when she got in to Gotham City University.  The boy then shared what he was witnessing with his two best friends- Tucker Foley and Sam Manson.  Tucker offered to help filter out the spam, which Danny’s sister Jazz thanked him for but turned down.  Sam… Sam instead got thinking.

Sam had been to Gotham a few times in her life.  She had an idea of the areas closest to the schools and how much those should cost.  And looking at the letters Jazz was getting, the offers were a little too high for a regular college student to afford.  Sam was also familiar with how many hotels were not being used in Gotham- people building them in hopes tourists would come to stay while visiting the East Coast, tourists that could not be convinced to visit due to the high crime rate and the lack of activities or places of interest in the city itself.

She quickly went to work, looking in to these empty hotels.  She was rather upset by their numbers and put together a spreadsheet of them, with details like number of rooms, any amenities they may have, and nearby landmarks.  She then grabbed her two dorks and marched to Casper High’s Community Outreach director.

Now Sam’s presentation raised a few eyebrows, mostly because it was in a completely different state, but Sam shot back that because of the efforts to incorporate the town’s new ghostly residents and provide them with helpful ways to feed their obsessions- efforts led by the Fenton family- Amity Park had very few homeless, and those that were had a huge community safety net to help them get back on their feet.  Additionally, with how many people moved between the city and the town, helping the city could be argued to also be helping the town.

The Outreach Director just sighed and gave Same the green light to at least draft and send out a proposal to the powers that be in Gotham, saying that there wasn’t much that could be done before they got backing and approval.  Sam thanked them before leaving, Danny and Tucker trailing behind.

She was back the next day with a draft of her proposal and a list of who to send it to.

***

Since returning from the dead in the eyes of the public, Jason Todd was often contacted by groups trying to use the Wayne fortune to fund their own personal projects.  They thought Jason would be the easiest to con- sorry, persuade- since he was a former street kid unlike the rest of his family.  Thus surely he would know just how much this new building with low income housing would help the people of Gotham- it even came with a pool and gym!

Yeah, he did know how much the people of Gotham needed housing, but $2K a month was not affordable when you’re barely making $30K a year!  Oh and the pool and gym were only available for those who could shell out an additional $2K a month.  Jason knows, he read the whole document carefully.

God, sometimes it was hard to tell who was worse, the psychos in Blackgate or real estate investors.  And sadly, he couldn’t just pop a bullet in their heads and be done with it because 1) it would raise too many questions and 2) it would make Bruce get all sad and mopey- again.  Jason just did not have the mental energy to put up with that on top of the rest of his life as a crimelord/vigilante/long-lost adoptive second son of a billionaire.

All this to say, he was not impressed when he first glanced over a proposal to convert the unused hotels around the city into housing units- especially since it was from someone that did not live in Gotham.

Manson?  Wasn’t there a family with that name that would attend some of Brucie’s galas?  Oh yeah, their family made its fortune off patenting the machine that wrapped toothpicks in plastic, as well as a couple others.  And they had a daughter around Repla- Tim’s age.  Hopefully this wasn’t her trying to be a kiss-ass like her parents.

Jason finished reading and sat back.  The proposal wasn’t too bad.  Converting hotels into apartment buildings would be easier than office buildings, and the suggestion to use ex-convicts that wanted to turn over a new leaf as building managers certainly wasn’t the worst.  Also creating a fund for those that couldn’t afford rent, as well as community kitchens and gardens were certain plusses, though would need to have the right people in charge to make sure they actually worked as planned, and to keep the Court of Owls from messing with it.

Overall, it was something Jason would consider, after some research and maybe talking with the rest of the Bats and Birds.  And if this was from the Manson kid, maybe get Dickie or one of the others to talk to her next time there was a gala in town.  Or talk to her himself, if the Pit wasn’t too loud.

…Dick was probably the better option to talk with her if it came down to it.

***

There's the first chapter. I'm going to go write the next one. When I have a good log of them, I'll then go and edit them and put them on AO3.

This has no title yet because I suck at naming. Feel free to comment with suggestions for a name, both for the fic/au and for the eventual hotel/co op. As well as any shinanegans and majors/colleges/universities for our liminal young adults.

Part 1/? Next >

[avaritia-apotheosis]

Phantom Children Ch.4

In Which: exposition for exposition's sake exists, and Vlad looks way more suspcious than he ought

| AO3 | Prologue | 3 | [4] | 5

VLADIMIR MASTERS. Human male in his mid-forties, and most notably the founder and CEO of VladCo, a billion-dollar industry that mostly specializes in manufacturing weapons and technology. Graduated summa cum laude from the University of Wisconsin despite having to drop out due to a lab accident in his second year, landing him in the hospital. Despite being based primarily in Wisconsin, he made an unexpected move to Amity Park Illinois shortly after reuniting with his college friends Drs. Madeline and Jack Fenton.

Not even a year later, Masters ran for mayor of Amity Park and won the election by a landslide. Suspicious, considering Masters being an unknown and the former mayor Montez being quite popular. It’s during Masters’ tenure in office that reports of ghost attacks to the Justice League steadily died down.

“Why?” Damian asked.

Barbara shrugged, pulling up a few files on the screen. “I originally had a theory that related to VladCo’s buyout of Axion Labs—a technological research and manufacturing company that’s mostly local to Amity—being a factor. Within the last couple of years, they had been experimenting with highly volatile chemicals with hallucinogenic properties. Amity had always been known for being extremely superstitious with its ghosts, and if Axion Labs had somehow accidentally released that chemical into the city, well…” She leaned back into her chair, hand twisting in the air. “You could bet how that ended up. The hysteria around ghosts only grew worse in the last two years, with suspected sightings from once every few weeks to multiple in a single day. Early attempts to capture sightings were unsuccessful, and soon enough Amity Park was just written off.”

Much like the mass hysteria surrounding the urban legend of the kuchisake-onna in Japan in the late 1970s, Bruce thought. He pulled up some news footage from Amity Park dated a few years back of citizens being interviewed about their ghostly encounters. Beside these videos were a few photos taken by a shaky camera, showing bright blurs of light streaking across the sky or vaguely humanoid shapes rising from the ground.

“So VladCo., bought out Axion Labs, improved its security, and slowly helped detoxify the town?” Damian shifted his weight onto his other leg and crossed his arms.

“That’s what I thought, but—”

“But the ghosts ended up being real.” Bruce pulled up a video of a field reporter-slash-weatherman taking cover as a figure dropped from the sky, breaking through the walls of a building. The figure—features distorted by an eerie glow—shot out of the rubble just in time before a green blast hit it.

Oracle enlarged other news footage with a few taps on her keyboard. Beings zooming through the air. Massive plants erupting from the ground. Technology coming to life. Each video more worrying than the last, and most showing some footage of a figure bathed in a white glow. “I’d be hard pressed to call any of these faked.”

It begged the question as to how Amity Park survived this long unscathed. Since, if he remembered correctly, even the Dark Leaguers tended to avoid Amity Park like the plague. “They have their own heroes, then?”

“Think along the lines of vigilantes with unofficial support.” A few more files popped up on screen. One showcased a female in a full-length black and red body suit on top of a hover board. The other was a male; young, perhaps a teenager, with white hair and a black and white suit. Hazmat? “The Red Huntress and the Phantom of Amity Park.”

“Partners?”

“More like enemies working on the same turf. Sources place Phantom as appearing first, though it seems Red Huntress has more government support in the end despite there being no official statement. They seem to be the most effective ghost hunters in town, though far from the only ones. The Fentons of Fenton Works are also acting as ghost hunters, though their track record of success leans more towards their anti-ghost tech than any hunting. The town’s even attracted visitors from the Ghost Investigation Ward; a side branch of Cadmus though a now defunct organization.”

“This doesn’t make sense,” Damian said. “If anything, this should be more than enough reason for a League intervention. Why the Justice League didn’t come sooner is the real question here.”

Bruce’s lips thinned. “That’s because we were warned off it.”

“What?”

While there was no rule against heroes entering another hero’s city, there were certain unspoken rules that demanded that JL members avoid claimed cities or stay just outside of city lines until given permission to enter. Some were especially strict about it such as Batman’s ‘no metas or outsiders’ rule. Others were more lenient, simply requesting a warning before entering.

Amity Park, despite having no listed heroes in the database, was marked with heavy ‘Do Not Interact’ warnings for humans and metas alike.

“Justice League Dark said that under no circumstances should the League interfere in Amity. The situation was never explicitly laid out for us except to say that everything was being handled.”

“Oh yeah,” Oracle chimed. “Constantine even had it bolded, underlined, italicized, and in all caps. The occult community was very clear about everyone staying away—and apparently this decision had support from Amity Park too.” She pulled up another document. “That’s probably what led to the decline in their ghost reports, actually. Amity’s claims were considered bogus and brushed aside. No one outside their town—not even their sister town of Elmerton—believed them, so they simply stopped asking for help.”

Strangely, it reminded Bruce of Gotham. Both cities existed in its own isolated sphere, unwilling to let any outsiders interfere in its business.

“It’s safe to assume, then, that whatever Ra’s al Ghul wants with Amity, it has to do with these ghosts. Do we have anyway to contact the town’s vigilantes?”

Oracle shook her head. “Ghost attacks within the past few months have slowly died down along with sightings of Phantom and Red Huntress. Your best bet is asking Masters directly.”

Damian glowered. “Masters blatantly sent out an invitation for Batman to my father. How do we know that Masters hasn’t somehow found our secret identities?”

“Unlikely,” Bruce said. “Vlad Masters, despite his wealth, has done well to keep a low profile. He’s met Bruce Wayne a total of three times within the last decade and Batman not at all.” That, and with the kind of spyware Batman has, he’d be able to tell when, where, and who was trying to dig deep into Batman’s past. Masters hadn’t even registered as a ping.

“Besides, there’s always a few rumors of Wayne Enterprise’s involvement with Batman. All this tech has to come from somewhere, no?”

“How long is Masters staying in Gotham?”

“Umm…” Oracle leaned forward in her chain and flipped through a half-dozen windows. “Going by his reservations at the Gotham Royal Hotel, he’s leaving tomorrow.”

Bruce pivoted on his heel, heading deeper into the Cave. “We better make this count, then.”

------

According to Oracle’s intel, Vlad Masters was staying at one of the executive suites in the Gotham Royal Hotel. A titanic structure with forty-eight floors, two towers, and the gothic aesthetic that never seemed to leave Gotham’s architecture.

Scaling the building as well as entering the suite proved no challenge for Batman and Robin. But upon entrance, it was abundantly clear that the room was vacant.

“Are you sure you guys are in the right room?” Bruce could hear the clicking of Oracle’s keys through their comms. “Masters had reserved the suite on the west tower.”

“Yes we’re in the correct room, Gordon,” Robin hissed.

“Codenames only, Robin.”

Robin clicked his tongue, sweeping the common room for any hidden bugs or cameras as Batman scouted out the rest of the room. The bed was made to hotel standard and the bathroom towels all completely replaced. There were no clothes in the hotel closet or dresser.

The only thing left that indicated occupancy of the room was an unmarked manila envelope unsubtly tucked within a pillowcase.

Robin tensed at the sight of it. “A detonator of some sort?”

Batman rotated the package, holding it up to his scanner. “Doesn’t seem to be. Regardless, it might be better to take it back to the Batcave and locate Masters ag—” The envelope started ringing. A standard ringtone found in most phones. Quickly, but carefully, Batman opened the manila envelope and dumped its contents onto the bed. A ringing burner phone and a flash drive came tumbling out.

Batman threw the flash drive at Robin before answering the phone, holding it up against his ear but saying nothing.

Silence. Then, Masters’ voice filtered in through the phone with a strange echo-like quality. “Good evening, Batman! I’m so glad my invitation managed to get passed along.”

Batman growled into the speaker, “What do you want, Masters?” He signaled Robin to do another sweep of the room for any signs of Masters they might have missed.

“I sincerely apologize for not being there to meet you myself; incredibly rude of me, I know. But it cannot be helped, the shadows are growing ever bolder.”

“So, you are aware then, of the League of Assassins’ presence in Amity Park?”

“A league of assassins? What a terrifying notion that is.” Batman frowned. It was unlikely that they had misread his words at the gala, so why was he acting unaware now? Could he be watched? “Why such a group would appear in my little town, I wouldn’t even dare to guess.”

Robin came back into the room and signaled back ‘negative.’

“Why did you call for us, Mayor Masters?”

“Do you know what is so very tragic, Batman?”

“This is strange,” Oracle said. “I can’t pick up his signal. He’s not appearing on any of my cameras, either.”

“When someone so young dies much to soon.” A pause. “Could you even imagine such a thing? A parent burying their own child.”

Batman could. He had no need to even imagine it because he lived it.

“Some very close friends of mine have been weighed down by the shadows of death and I require help in providing them the closure they need.”

“Are the Fentons the targets, then?”

Masters paused. Then let out a breathy laugh over the phone. “Oh, if only it were that simple.”

“So a different target.”

“Everything you need to know is in the flash drive I’ve enclosed in that envelope Whether you take up the case is entirely up to you—though I do hope you take it. Regardless, if he is not returned soon then I assure you that a disaster unlike any you have seen before will arrive.”

Batman narrowed his eyes. “Is that a threat, Masters?”

“No,” He laughed. “That was no threat. That was promise.”

The phone line disconnected just as Oracle exclaimed that she finally found Masters boarding his flight back to Amity Pak.

[epickendall]

The Summer of Del'goxoth part 5

The next day Danny takes an early flight in the morning on a private jet provided by the FBI from Amity Park Illinois to Crescent City California. Danny told Tucker and Sam about the whole FBI witness protection at first they were shock and a bit angry until Danny says how dangerous Del'goxoth is what the FBI told him eventually Sam and Tucker understand why Danny has to leave. Danny waited on a couch in a private lounge all by himself in Crescent Airport waiting for what Agent Walker inform Danny before he left Amity Park that they hire a detective from Los Angles name Detective Earl Washington to watch over him.

The door open to the private lounge steps in well-built African American men he is blad but had a goatee, the men wore a light blue shirt, blue jeans, black belt, black shoes, and wearing a silver wristwatch.

Danny stands up from the couch "are you Detective Earl Washington?"

"Yes just call me Washington I'm here to watch you for your witness protection," said the men

"Yeah the FBI told me,"

"Well good, come on Danny get your luggage we have to leave now,"

"All right" Danny grabs his luggage he fellow Washington

Washington led Danny away from the staff and people waiting for their flight without any of them seeing Danny. They made they're way to a parking lot next to the airport they go to a white 1970 boss 302 Mustang.

"So this is your car Washington?"

"Yes, it is I got four rules before you get in,"

"Rules cmon it's just a car,"

"It's not just a car Danny it's my baby, my pride, and my joy. Now here are the four rules one no eating in my car, two don't get any dirt, dog shit or anything that makes a mess on the car floor, three don't touch my radio or change my radio station, four the most important rule of all you'll never drive my car under no circumstance got it, kid,"

"Fine by me Washington,"

"Good you know the rules put your staff in the backseat,"

Washington and Danny get in the car they drive out of the parking lot heading over to the location that the FBI made set for them. On the way there inside of the vehicle was silent. Danny was on his phone and Washington was driving the car while thinking to himself.

"Why did I take this job? Out of all things that I hate most then criminals are teenagers for whatever how long those clowns for FBI agents take for their case I have to watch over the world most famous teen," Washington thought

Danny tries to break the silence in the car "So Washington why did you become a detective?"

Washington looked at Danny back at the road "I became a detective because of my dad,"

"Your dad is a detective?"

"Was a Detective, he bust all sort of crimes in LA until he got old and had to retire,"

"So you're following your dad footstep?"

"You could say that, speaking of parents what your folk like?"

"My parents are pretty good,"

"So no trouble between like your mom and dad,"

"No? Why you ask?"

"Nothing just asking,"

"To let you Washington my parents are happily married so don't think of any idea,"

"What idea Danny? From the file the FBI gave me, your mother seems to be a lovely person,"

"Gross!" Danny makes a fake vomiting sound "you sounding like Vlad,"

"Whatever I'm a ladies man Danny, so I never mess with someone marriage," Washington smiled

"Ladies men huh,"

"Yep, once put the moves on the girl I want she mine for the night, I heard that you broke up with your girlfriend I could show you the moves if you like,"

"Ha, no thanks,"

"Suit yourself,"

After a few hours of driving Washington stopped at a motel in Eagle Point Oregon for the night Washington left the motel to met up with an FBI agent and get food for him and Danny. While Danny was on a bed playing his Nintendo Switch with the TV playing in the background. Danny plays Mario odyssey until he a loud explosion from the TV he looked up to a commercial for a movie.

It shows a large town in that look like it take place in the 1950s full of giant dragons attacking people, then there a couple of clips of Logan Hall fighting the dragon with a shotgun, at the end of the commercial shows a dragon skin with red lettering that says "THE RETURN OF THE DRAGON FROM FANASTY DREAMS."

"That movie was so bad when Tucker and I saw it three weeks," Danny thought

Washington returns to the motel with a duffle bag in one hand and Chinese food on his other hand. Washington throws the duffle bag next to Danny, and he put the chinses food on a table.

"What with the duffle bag Washington,"

"Inside of your duffle bag is your new identity when we get to the town that FBI got us a house for,"

"A new identity?"

"Yeah, that why you'll move around town without anyone knowing that your Danny Fenton,"

Danny looked inside the duffle bag was a new set of clothes, IDs for his new identity, and a blonde wing.

All Danny could say was "this is going to be interesting,"

[ibelieveinahappilyeverafter]

Your Words On My Skin - Chapter 4

Bonjour, mes chers! Sorry for such a long pause between these updates. Real life decided to sneak it's way back in and let's just say it's not going down without a fight.

AO3 FFN

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Summary: Danny Fenton was born with writing on his arms that proved he had a soulmate out there for him that was much, much older than his parents were comfortable with. The result was his skin being covered as much as possible and Danny warned that he shouldn’t look at the words or write any back. Danny has always been a little bit curious as to who his soulmate was, but he never thought on how curious his soulmate was about him.

<<First Chapter>><<Last Chapter>><<Next Chapter>>

Chapter Four

::

“Fuck.” That seemed to be the only word possible to accurately describe Danny’s feelings as he stared at his arm where all of Andrew’s words had been cleaned away and replaced with a question that made him feel like his heart was being stabbed.

He had woken up and expected to see a ‘good morning’ or a new story idea that Andrew had scribbled down in the middle of the night - day? - and instead he was greeted with a heaping amount of guilt and irrational anger that it would be so much easier to explain all of this if Andrew had a phone. Right, okay, shower first and then brushing his teeth and then explaining why they had the worst luck ever when it came to soulmates. That was a good plan. Right… Explaining…

He could explain all of this, couldn’t he? It was pretty simple when he laid it all out neatly. He had just stayed quiet because words had appeared the moment he was born, and his parents had terrified him into never even looking at his skin. Right. Easy.

“Time to get up for school, Danny.” Hearing the knock on his door, Danny looked up as Jazz peeked into the room. Judging by her expression, Danny’s expression was even worse than hers. “Soulmate troubles or ghost troubles?”

“He just asked me why I never wrote back.” It seemed to take a moment for Jazz to understand what he meant, but when she did she gave a wince. “How do I even- I can’t- He doesn’t have a phone.”

“Okay, okay, don’t panic. Hey, it’s okay, we’ll figure this out.” Thank whatever fucked up deity was out there for taking pity on Danny and giving him a great big sister. “Has he written anything else, yet?”

“No, and he erased everything else, too.” Danny moved over as Jazz sat down beside him, chewing on her lip and, okay, good, she was thinking. Maybe she would think of a plan to get Danny out of this mess. “What do I say?”

“Well… There’s always explaining to him the truth. Does he know how old you are, yet?” Yes- No. Maybe? Danny couldn’t remember if he had ever actually mentioned his age. “That’s a no, then.”

“He might know. Maybe- Possibly.” He… He probably knew. Nn. “Okay, so, maybe he doesn’t, but does that really change anything?”

“Danny, that could change everything, and you know that.” Yeah, but… He didn’t want it to change everything. “I know your situation is difficult, but if you want it to work, then you need to communicate with each other.”

“Mhm, yeah, so, hey, can I get big sister Jazz back, please?” Therapist Jasmine made him feel bad about his life choices.

“Write to him, explain what’s going on, and if you need to then dump him.” Well, besides that last part, it was a pretty solid plan. “ You should probably take a shower first, though. You have school today.”

“Right- Yeah, that first, but, yeah.” Sliding out of bed, Danny quickly drew Jazz into a hug. “Thanks, Jazz.”

“No problem, Danny. Now go fix things so you don’t sit around here moping.” He hadn’t been- Okay, so he had been moping a little. He was good now, though! So good. Right. Shower and then talk.

Rushing through his morning routine more than a little, Danny was soon sitting on his bed in a tank top and staring at his clean arms before forcing out a sigh and uncapping his pen. “Alright, Andrew… I hope you don’t hate me for this.” If his soulmate was decades older than him, then… Well. He was about to be in for a very nasty shock.

Still. After everything the least Andrew deserved was the truth- Danny had been through fifteen years of silence, too, but his probably hadn’t caused the pain that it had to Andrew.

Danny made sure to not make any of it sound like an excuse as he wrote, because, well, he was just as much at fault as his parents were, really. Danny had put his soulmate through fifteen years of silence because he had been too scared to look at what might - or might not - be there. This- This was just as much his fault as it was theirs. All of it.

It took a lot of small writing and a lot of awkward twisting, but Danny eventually managed to explain everything. He explained about his parents, and how words began appearing when he was just born, and how he was scared to look because his parents made it seem like he just didn’t have a soulmate, and if he never looked, then it couldn’t be proven true, right?

He made sure to tell Andrew that he was fifteen, sixteen in April, and was currently a Sophomore at a high school in Amity Park, Illinois. He talked more about his friends, his sister, and- Well, he may have left his last name out. Andrew might not ‘believe in technology,’ but if he lived close enough then Danny didn’t want him to know that he was ‘one of those crazy Fentons.’

‘So yeah it kind of built up a lot over the years since the moment I was born really and it built and built and I know it’s not an excuse but for what its worth Im so so so sorry Andrew.’

It felt like an eternity before Danny began to see words written in purple pen that was squeezed in on his upper right thigh. ‘I suppose that would explain a lot.’ For some reason, Danny had a feeling that Andrew was very, very shocked by everything.

‘Im mature for my age?’ Jokes. Jokes would help. Right? Hopefully? Maybe? A moment passed by and the words were then viciously crossed out with the purple pen, and, right, Andrew was probably panicking a little bit. ‘Deep breaths??’

‘Is it too much to ask for some time to think?’ That- That was fine, honestly, because Danny sure as hell would want time to think- Hell, he had needed time to think after what his parents told him.

‘Take all the time you need Andrew Ill still be here’ A few seconds passed, and Danny couldn’t help but grin as he saw a few hearts doodled around what he had written down. Danny made sure to draw a few of his own before capping his pen and collapsing on his bed with a tired sigh.

That… It hadn’t gone bad, at least? Granted there were probably places he could have explained a little better, but overall it seemed like Andrew accepted it okay.

“At least it can’t get any more dramatic to-” A wisp of blue escaped out of his mouth and Danny groaned as he rolled over to smother his face into his blankets and why today of all days! Right, okay, time to go be a hero-

Ooh. He could work off some aggression depending on who it was… “Come and face me, whelp! Let the true hunt finally begin!”

“Oh, that is just perfect.” There was nothing for stress relief like bashing in a tin can a couple hundred times. Besides, Danny didn’t even have to feel guilt where Skulker’s suit, was, well, a suit.

Besides, it would be a nice distraction until Andrew wrote him back.

::

“Fifteen. He’s fifteen. My soulmate is fifteen-years-old- Randy, he’s fifteen-years-old.” Instead of looking appropriately horrified, Randy only stared at him before slowly raising his eyebrows in a rather insulting manner. “He’s fifteen.”

“You know, funnily enough, I figured that out myself when you woke me up screaming about how your soulmate was fifteen.” That- Andrew hadn’t been screaming, he had been… He had been loudly panicking, was all.

“Randy, my mate- Danny is fifteen and I’m- I’m-” He wasn’t even sure how old he was, right now! Fifty? Probably fifty- Actually, it might have been the late forties. Maybe. Somewhere in that age range, at least- He was old. “I’m a horrible, selfish, loathsome, despicable-”

“Would telling you to calm down do anything besides earn me a punch?” Turning to glare at his idiot brother who was not at all taking this matter seriously, Andrew looked around for whatever was closest that could be used as a weapon. “You’re not horrible. It’s not like you can control how old your mate is, Andy.”

“Yes, yes, I know, but he’s fifteen, Randy. That- That’s hardly anything!” Andrew remembered what they were like when they were fifteen and it was, well, it wasn’t the best. God, he had been alive perhaps longer than his mate’s parents had been alive. Oh, dear, that was such a horrible thought.

“If it helps, you’re technically twenty-two and, as far as we know, you won’t be aging again. That leaves Danny plenty of time to catch up to you, yeah?” Right- Right. Plenty of time to catch up and pass him and become even older than him and then Andrew would be the one so much younger and-

“That’s worse. That’s so much worse, Randy.” Because finding out he had been alive longer than his mate was one thing, but finding out that his mate would live, grow older, and die, and that Andrew would be left behind and forced to continue- Worse. Very, very much worse. “Please stop helping to make it worse.”

“Look, you two aren’t going to be solving anything by worrying and fretting and avoiding the important questions. You finally asked him why he never wrote back and now you know - which, really, this is a much better option than a sadistic, sociopath of a mate.”

“Yes, yes, I suppose you would be right, except that makes me the sadistic, sociopathic mate!” God, Danny would never want him once he found out his age- As well as a ghost? If that didn’t drive him off than the fact Andrew was a former assassin would. “Perhaps I can shift reality-”

“No using reality shifting powers to solve your relationship problems!” Making sure to be as petty as possible, Andrew collapsed onto the couch Randy was on and did his best to sit on the man’s arm. “Andy, c’mon, you’re a writer. You’re good with words. You two will find a way to work this out.”

“Yes, but- Oh, hold on.” Danny’s words from before had been messily scrubbed away recently, Andrew seeing a faint imprint of the explanation that he had been seeking for years. What was left behind had Andrew’s blood- Heart- Fuck.

“What is it? Did he ask you why you don’t believe in technology again? Or maybe- Oh.” There, written on his skin in words that were written too fast and too small, was a question that might damn it all.

‘how old are you??’ It should have been a simple question that would be easy to respond to, but- But if he said twenty-two, then Danny would be suspicious and think he was lying, now. If he said his true age, however, then Danny might never want to talk to him again because he was older than his parents, probably. 

“Any idea how to answer that one, then?” Mm, yes, see, now- Now that was the question of the day. How to answer this without driving Danny off. “Maybe if you just stretch the truth for a little bit-”

“Randall.” Andrew glared over to where Randy had his hands raised peacefully. “I am not going to lie to my soulmate about my age of all things! I don’t want to lie to him period!” Which, okay, the technology thing had broken that a little, but- But he only said that, so he didn’t lie to Danny further! Yes, okay, alright, he hadn’t exactly been honest with Danny about some things, but he had never lied about anything too important! He had just neglected to mention a few key points of who he was.

‘I suppose you would want to know- Don’t you have school this morning?’ Ignoring Randy’s snorting noise that was supposed to be laughter, Andrew sighed in relief when he saw swears scribbled out before Danny stopped writing.

“So, your plan is to distract him, instead?” Yes, well, it wasn’t a very bad plan, now was it? It had worked, after all! “He’ll ask you again eventually, you know. Especially when he doesn’t see an answer.”

“I know, I know, I just- I need to figure out the best way to answer, is all.” Standing up, Andrew chewed at his lip as he headed towards the kitchen. Maybe some baking would help clear his thoughts. At most, it wouldn’t hurt matters any more than they already were.

“You’re living off borrowed time, now, frérot.” See! That- That wasn’t helping. It was ominous, and worrying, and made Andrew wish he was still alive just so he could start breathing funny and distract Randy from his problem by making him think he had asthma or some such rot and- “Hey, hey, breathe, Andy, breathe.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, we don’t exactly need to breathe, anymore.” Andrew didn’t even complain as he was pushed towards a kitchen chair, instead just collapsing in it, propping his arms up on the table, and hiding his face.

He had spent years wishing and hoping and praying for a soulmate, and it led him to this. A fifteen-year-old boy who was scared too often, alone too much, and wanted to know his soulmate despite what his parents had told him. Danny has no idea that Andrew was a ghost. He probably thought Andrew was fifty - or at least near that age - and he still wanted to talk to him and spend time with him and get to know him.

“You know, there are some bonds that lead to platonic soulmates.” Randy’s voice was quiet, the man close enough to ruffle his hair. Andrew didn’t even bother to smack his hand away. “It doesn’t always have to be-”

“This is.” It was. Andrew knew it as well as he knew Danny knew it. They were meant for each other as soulmates often were. They- Well, Andrew wasn’t quite sure on Danny’s exact feelings at the moment, and his own were a little murky, but he knew it wouldn’t be long until he fell in love with his mate. “I want to tell him, Randy, but what if…”

What if he ran? What if he stopped writing again? Danny had always known silence, too. It wouldn’t hurt him to just stop writing and continue as he had been. Andrew… He had spent so long wishing and praying and if his mate just left out of nowhere- He hated it. He hated so much that he knew something like that would break him.

“Andy.” Feeling Randy’s hand on his shoulder, Andrew at least peeked his head up to see that Randy was looking serious for once. “Worrying yourself like this isn’t going to help either of you. I know… I know this is difficult, but wouldn’t it be better to let each other know the truth of everything at the start?”

“What if he runs away, though? Randy- We’re ghosts. We weren’t meant to have connections like this with the living.” It was so stupid. It was a trope that Andrew had never wanted. The dead in love with the living. Souls meant to be, but bodies that could never touch. Love for someone that they should never feel love to. Star-crossed lovers.

“What if he stays?” It… It wasn’t impossible. Oh, it was improbable, that was certain, but their situation- It didn’t have to be impossible. “You bought yourself some time for now, so take a breath, calm yourself down, and don’t fight back as I take over your kitchen.”

“Take over my- Randall! You are not taking over my kitchen!” Randy was already grinning and flying over to the fridge, Andrew loving more than hating how he was already laughing, and, right. He had bought himself some time. A little time was all he needed.

No matter what, he would find a way to fix things between him and Danny. Somehow.

::

“Danny… You’re in the library. You’re in the library during study hall- Are you studying during study hall?” Staring at his friends, Danny wasn’t sure if he had ever gone from surprise to annoyance as quickly as he had then. “Sam, punch me, I need to see if I’m- Ow.”

“You know, you’re usually supposed to be quiet when you’re in a library.” Was it petty that Danny hoped their school librarian would toss his friends out? It was probably petty, but dammit, it was earned pettiness. “And no, I’m not studying. Jesus, who do you think I am, Jazz?” The shared looks between Sam and Tucker were just insulting.

“Okay, you’re in the library during study hall and you’re not playing video games on the computer you’re using- It actually looks like you’re in a database- Hang on, what are you really doing?” And as usual, Sam’s judgement fell away to insatiable curiosity as she started pushing Danny and his chair out of the way.

“You know, this is why I have ghost powers.” Sam and her damn curiosity. “Not that you need to know, but I’m actually looking up people with the name Andrew Riter-”

“You’re looking for your soulmate.” That was a very judgmental tone, but considering Tucker was still rubbing at his side, Danny would rather not get punched. “And you’re not asking him where he lives because…”

“Because he won’t tell me? Because he figured out I’m fifteen and he’s not? Because I just told him why I’ve been avoiding him for all these years- Look, do you want a list? It’s a very long list- Okay, okay, sorry, no need for violence.”

“Oh for- Why do you boys never know how to communicate!” Sam grabbed his chair and pushed him back in front of the computer. “Why are you using a school computer to do this?”

“Because my parents and Jazz snoop. Look, soulmates typically live pretty close together, right? Only one out of every million end up living more than two or three hundred miles apart, so if I can find an Andrew Riter near Amity Park or close by, then I’ll find him. See? Easy.”

“Right, you just have to sort out one of the most common names ever. Easy as can be.” Huffing and nudging Sam out of the way, Danny went back to his very important research. “You know what I’m hearing? Stalking-”

“I am not stalking my soulmate.” That would require finding him, first. “Look, at least I’m not as bad as Tucker with his last few crushes-”

“Hey!” Taking the chokehold with grace, Danny squirmed only a little as he glared back up at Sam. “If I do this then I can at least find out what he looks like or how old he is or something. Sammy, he hasn’t even told me how old he is, yet. It was a battle to get his last name out of him!”

Glaring down at where his question had been ignored in favor of a short idea about star-crossed lovers or something, Danny spitefully drew a few stars over the idea. “Are you sure you wouldn’t just rather wait and have him tell you this on his own terms? What if he finds out you’re looking for him and he doesn’t want that?”

“Dunno. Haven’t thought that far, yet.” Danny hit print as Tucker finally let him go, Sam crossing her arms and looking at him. It was the look of guilt that usually had Danny caving, but not this time! “Sammy, c’mon. What would you do if you were me?”

Sam could claim she was uncaring about soulmates all she wanted, but Danny saw her clutch at her sleeves and glance to Tucker too quick for the other to notice. “I still think this is a bad idea.”

“We tend to excel in bad ideas, though.” Tucker grinned before snatching up the printed papers and going through them quickly. “Right, make a list of what you know, and I’ll start coming up with an algorithm to cross out some of these.”

“Wait- You’re helping me?” Danny looked between the two, not even flinching as Sam whacked him with her sleeve. “But you just said-”

“If it’s important to you than it’s important to us.” Sam took half the papers, flipping through them herself. “Oh, wow, that’s a lot of results.”

“Over a thousand,” Danny groaned, looking back down to his arms and biting his lip at seeing his stars had been scribbled in with a blue pen. Underneath that were words appearing about star travel and space and pretty much everything Danny loved and dammit. He was weak. He was very, very weak. “I just… It’s not even that I want to know what he looks like, but I want to know- I want to know he’s out there.”

“What do you mean?” Seeing a librarian lurking nearby, Danny logged off his computer and grabbed his bag, Sam and Tucker falling into step with him near at once.

“I mean it’s like- When it’s just writing back and forth on our skin, it’s- I don’t know. It’s weird. It’s like if I look away from his words, then they were never there. I know the words are there, I can read them and see them and everything, but it’s…”

“The words don’t make up for the rest of it,” Tucker finished quietly, Danny raising an eyebrow when his gaze slid to Sam and then back to him and oh. That- Alright, Danny would definitely be coming back to that, later. “I’m sure he’ll tell you who he is eventually, but until then we’ll help you as much as we can.”

“You are stuck with us.” Sam linked their arms together, Danny trying not to laugh as Tucker did the exact same thing on his other side. “And until your soulmate shows up to sweep you off your feet and steal you away, we’ll be here for you.”

“You want to encourage the three-way rumors between us, don’t you?” The two both grinned in the exact same way and oh, come on, they had to know they were soulmates. Fuckers. “You’re awful.” Danny loved them. “You think we can do it, then? Track down my wayward soulmate?”

“Dude, after what we’ve been through, I think we can do anything. I mean, this is nothing compared to some of the stuff we’ve done.” That was true, but it still felt- It felt bigger than everything they had done before.

“We’ll sort this out, Danny,” Sam smiled, kissing his cheek and smirking when Tucker raised his eyebrows and- Oh- Oh, no.

“I swear to god if you two start some fight on who can show me the most affection, I will be very upset with you.” Escaping out of their grips, Danny stuck his tongue out as he ran along ahead to class, trying not to laugh at their loud complaints about ‘leaving them.’ Dorks.

For as great as his friends were, though, there was still the fact that he wanted to know. He still knew so little about Andrew and not enough ink in the world could tell them everything there was to know about each other.

Looking to his skin, he saw plenty of new words, along with a small, scribbled little ‘sorry’ written on the back of his wrist. Danny slowed to a stop, staring at the word and quietly groaning. “Why do you have to make this so much more difficult?” Now he was feeling guilty.

‘if you could only be trapped in one place for the rest of your life where would you be trapped?’ Distractions. Distractions would help and learning about Andrew was always a great distraction.

‘My library.’ Whoa, wait, what, Andrew had a library? ‘Would I be supplied with food for this hypothetical forever?’

‘probably’ Most likely. Danny stared at the reply for a few moments, biting his lip and he could try asking again, but… ‘you can only eat one food for the rest of your life what is it?’ Not yet. Andrew would try to avoid the question, still, so Danny would just work up to it. Besides, if Sam and Tucker pulled through and they got lucky, well.

Andrew wouldn’t be able to avoid Danny’s questions if they were face-to-face.

::

Staring at where Randy was sleeping on a pile of books, Andrew frowned and very slowly and carefully pulled out one of his knives. Seeing Randy tense, Andrew threw it in a smooth, quick motion, amused when Randy’s arm snapped up to catch it as the rest of him stayed still. “It’s no fun if you make it look so easy.”

“You know, most people don’t find it fun to throw knives at their sleeping brothers.” Randy tossed the knife back to him, yawning as he sat up and stretched in a way that gave a few loud cracks that had Andrew wincing. “Alright, alright, next pile.”

“I know you agreed to help me with my research, but perhaps you should actually sleep in a bed instead of on my books.” Plus, Andrew was starting to feel a little bad about recruiting Randy into his soulmate research binge when he was fresh off a job.

“And perhaps you should worry less. Done stating what we’re never going to do?” Randy stood up and his back gave another crack, Andrew letting out a small whine. That sounded like it hurt. “‘M fine, ‘m fine. Besides, I’m not leaving you on your own again. When I got back you had worked yourself up into an attack.”

“It wasn’t an attack. I was just… I was a touch worried about not finding the materials I needed.” Ignoring his brother’s look, Andrew cleared his throat as he gathered a few more books to him. Surprisingly, he didn’t have that many books on soulmates. It was rather disappointing.

“Uh-huh. How many books have you read since I last asked you that question?” Oh, aha, wow, Andrew very much did not want to answer that question. “You’re obsessing.”

“We’re ghosts, obsessing is what we do.” Snagging one of the books Randy had been sleeping on, Andrew sighed as he brushed it off. “There has to be a case like mine and Danny’s documented somewhere, surely.”

“Yeah. Definitely a case where an alive kid ends up being soulmates with a ghost who’s been dead longer than both of them were alive for.” That… When said like that… “Ah, jeez, c’mon, don’t get the depressed look-”

“I do not have a depressed look, thank you very much. I’m simply concerned on the fact we haven’t found anything even remotely similar to my situation.” They had been through dozens of books by now and there was still nothing even close to what they were going through.

“Hey, hey, Andy, c’mon.” Randy threw an arm around him and trapped him in place, Andrew huffing and upset over the fact that he didn’t even try to escape. “It’s possible that all of this will work out-”

“I know that.” That was the part that was terrifying him. “This could all work out and if we do this right, then we’ll both be happy, and that’s…” It was terrifying because he knew what happened when he held hope.

“Oh, Andy.” Randy pulled him into an actual hug and oh, god, it was that bad, wasn’t it? If Randy was actually hugging him, then he must have looked more pathetic than he thought. “We’re not used to good things happening to us, are we?”

“I believe an argument could be made that such a statement is very much an understatement.” Andrew finally sighed and leaned against Randy, feeling more than a little hopeless at the situation. “I don’t know what to do, Randy.”

“Well, the whole research thing is a good start.” Yes, he supposed, but there was still… Randy was right. A situation like this had never been seen or heard of. A ghost being soulmates with a teenager who was still alive? It… No matter how one looked at it, there was nothing but heartbreak, except… There was still a chance of it ending happily and it terrified him. “What do you need?”

“I need- I need a book- I need something to help me figure this out.” Knowledge had never let him down before. There had always been a book to help him out of a situation. Whether it was to distract him, give him inspiration, instruct him on what to do next, or even just to give him an escape, there was- Books and knowledge had never let him down before.

“Okay, we’re off to a good start on the whole book thing.” Randy finally let him go before pushing him down into a seat, Andrew huffing as a pile was pushed in front of him. “These should be the last ones, yeah?”

“The last ones with an academic approach to the subject, yes. I’ve yet to go through and pull the books that have a fable outlook.” Watching his brother stare at him, Andrew huffed. “I am not simplifying that when I know for a fact you understood it perfectly.”

“Damn. You were so much more fun before you caught on to the fact I was smart.” ‘Smart.’ Randy was certifiably a genius if Andrew could just get him to sit still long enough to take one of the tests. “Okay, we have the nonfiction checked off, but maybe check fiction? Kernel of truth in every story?”

“That was my thinking, yes.” Andrew flipped open the book closest to him, staring at the blurry words before he was staring at the cover again. “That was rude.”

“You haven’t slept and for as much as you want to complain that ghosts don’t need it, you do need sleep if you want to stay sane.”

“I’m not tired. My eyes just need to rest, is all.” This time the book was pulled away from him, Andrew collapsing back in his seat and looking up at Randy as pathetically as he could. “Randy.”

“Five hours, one meal, and three brownies and then I’ll let you get back to work.” Mm… No. Andrew didn’t like that. He would just keep reading- “Andy. Do you really think Danny would want you driving yourself crazy like this?”

“That was low.” That was just- That was just mean. “You’re awful.” Completely ignoring his brother’s grin, Andrew pushed himself up and oh, alright, yes, maybe a bit of rest would be good if he was seeing that many black spots. “There’s still at least a dozen books-”

“I’ll keep searching.” Oh. “Hey, at least I know your crazy filing system, and I know how to take notes you can actually read. Just go get rest and I’ll take care of this.”

“You’re so awful.” Aiming for a hug, Andrew slumped more than anything, amused when Randy easily supported him. “You’re supposed to be an annoying big brother who never shuts up and ruins my hopes and dreams and-”

Andrew’s words were drowned out by Randy’s laughter, the sound making him relax more than anything else. He may have had horrible luck when it came to the soulmate area of his life, but at least it was made up for with such a great brother.

As helpful as Randy was, though, he had been right when he said this was a unique situation. Something like this… Stories, maybe, but it was doubtful this had ever happened before. That begged the question of why did this happen?

Maybe his mate was as cursed as he was. Danny seemed like a sweet kid, but even through written word Andrew could tell that he was hiding more than he wanted to admit to. They all had secrets, but Andrew knew what the ones hidden in darkness looked like in daylight. Danny was hiding, yes, but Andrew… He was doing so much worse.

Danny had been honest and told him so much, and yet here Andrew was dodging questions and avoiding answering due to not wanting to hurt their feelings. It- Was there any way out of this that didn’t hurt Danny’s feelings?

Randy had been right back at the start of this mess. Andrew was going to hurt Danny and break his heart because, well… Andrew looked down to where patches of stars inked with pen were scribbled across his words. He didn’t need Randy’s look to know there was a hopeless look on his face, and, really.

He had fallen so quickly, hadn’t he?