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#robin is the only one danny makes a point to avoid after that
justwannabecat · 1 year
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DC/DP but Danny doesn’t explain why he has a thermos as his main weapon
Danny (ghost form): It’s soup time Skulker!
Nightwing: I’ve been meaning to ask… why do you have a thermos? Surely there are better weapons
Danny: Lol no
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Red Robin: What is this even made of? It’s like two pounds! I mean, that’s not a lot, but for a thermos?
Danny: Oh, you know, a special ghost-proof metal
Red Robin: *sarcastically* Oh, of course
—————
Red Hood: Seriously though, why a thermos?
Danny: I dunno, I didn’t make it
Red Hood: Then who did???
Danny: :)
Red Hood: ?????
—————
Robin: I have noticed that your catchphrase seems to be “Soup time”. Does this mean you cook and eat your enemies when you defeat them?
Danny: what the fuck
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charlietheepicwriter7 · 5 months
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Despite Danny's best efforts, no matter how much time past, Amity Park refused to see Phantom as a hero.
Sure, there were pockets of support, particularly among teens, but most of the town blames Phantom for the property damage, saying if he didn't fight the ghosts then it wouldn't be so bad, to that time he got mind controlled by Freakshow and "attacked" the mayor. It wears him down. It wears Tucker and Sam down. Jazz can only try to support them all.
Then one day, a member of the Justice League visits. Someone minor, and kinda a jerk... maybe a Wonder Twin? Zan? Whatever. They don't investigate; they don't look deeper. They listen to the town folks and declare the ghost hunters, Red Huntress and the Fentons, to be the official heroes of the town.
Worse? Danny Phantom is officially considered a villain to the Justice League. Tuck hacks into the Watchtower and confirms that they have a file (a heavily inaccurate file) about how to defeat Phantom.
Danny doesn't think he can do this anymore.
A few weeks later, a young villain escapes into Amity and demands (begs) that Danny help them escape from the hero after them. No idea who, I can't find a lot of info on teen villains in DC, so let's fudge some ages and make it Kyd Wyckyd from the Teen Titans cartoon. Danny agrees, because to hell with the Justice Losers, and they defeat the hero, becoming friends in the process. Kyd confesses that they became a villain after being ostracized bc of how they look, and they've been trying to avoid villain organizations because HIVE was abusive, but it's really hard to be a villain alone bc of all the heroes.
Sam gets an idea. Tucker agrees with the idea. Jazz is just happy they'll end up making friends.
The next day, the Teen Villain Alliance is formed, ready to assist with any teenage illegal shenanigans their allies might get into.
Some notes:
It's created to be a healthier option for teen "villains" to connect with others and support each other.
It's more important that this is for Teens rather than Villains. They're tired of adult villains taking advantage of them. The TVA would rather ally with a teen vigilante than with an adult villain.
Again, no idea who the teen villains are, but Klarion is definitely here. He leaves the Light for the chaos of the TVA. Maybe Ember is there too?
Timeline wise, this is around when Tim is still Robin, but Damien has arrived at Wayne Manor.
This is because, when it comes time to try to infiltrate the TVA, they'll have a convenient child-assassin who has none of the monitors of a teen hero that Phantom immediately picks up on.
Damien, who at this point has been abandoned by his mother, dismissed and scolded by his father, and has had no success at carving his own place in the family, jumps at the chance. He is then surrounded by peers who don't insult him or try to change his behavior (too much; jazz is trying to help him find healthier methods of expressing himself). He... might not want to continue being a spy.
Danny, Sam, Tuck, and Jazz are the founding members.
Danny reinvents himself as the High Prince of the Infinite, Prince Phantom Dark. He got kingship from fighting Pariah Dark, but since he's still alive, he's only a prince. He steals the last name Dark as an intimidation tatic against those in the know; only Danny would have the balls to claim family with Pariah.
Sam works as a powerless villain, but she might no be powerless? Either way, Danny gives her a bunch of repurposed Fenton tech, and she buys the rest with her parents credit card. She does NOT care if that's traced back to the Mansons. She would choose something goth, maybe something spider related or even bat?
I love Pharaoh Tucker, so I think he should get magic powers? Since pharaohs of old were considered the balance between the real and the divine. He's still a tech guy, now he's a tech and magic guy.
Jazz isn't really a villain, more of a team mom who's planning on using everyone's psyche's as her thesis paper. You know what, that's her callsign, she's Psyche. Sometimes she flirts with Nightwing.
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dcxdpdabbles · 5 months
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Phantom's Number 1 Fan Part 3
John Constantine calls a joint Justice League and Justice League Dark meeting.
It's not something he wants to do. He barely works with the LJD, but at least that lot understands his work and knows what to do and where to go.
The JL members always ask questions and forget proper manners when working with the paranormal- John isn't the most well-mannered bloke around, but even he knows to permanently say goodbye to ghosts so that they don't follow him home- and it's like trying to teach an intern while dodging bullets.
He prefers to avoid the whole origination, especially since Bruce's death; everyone has been walking on eggshells, and there is a sense of disorganization drenched in grief that John breaks into hives just thinking about, but this is big.
Bigger than he can handle it on his own or with just the JLD. Even if the whole group gives the bats not-so-stable glances as they filter in.
John notices that one of Batman's brats is missing- the smart one- but he has heard that the kid suffered some kind of psychotic break from his father's death. It's sad, really, mainly because John used to believe that the third Robin was the one with the good head on his shoulders.
What's worse is that the Third Robin up and ran off, having gone off the grid when he refused to accept Batman's death. The boy hadn't said anything besides, "The portraits told me!" after having a miniature breakdown in his home.
It didn't help that around this time, the boy teammates had all dropped like flies except for one. So yes, John knows it wasn't a big surprise that he lost it, but it was still sad to see. Kid is only seventeen.
He hopes they find him soon to give him the help he needs. John would offer a spell to try and find him, but he needs to learn about the kid better, which means his spell can only point in a general direction.
Nightwing looked downright ragged, but losing a father on the battlefield and a younger brother to his grief did a number on anyone.
John hates himself just a little for dragging the grieving family here. He does, but again, this is bigger than all of them. This is a matter of life and death- literally.
"Listen up. We have a bloody level ten on its way to Earth if it's not already here." His words cut through the muttering crowd, shutting everyone up. A level ten makes even the big, lousy Superman sweat. He snaps his fingers, allowing his magic to shift into the image of a King Phantom sitting on his throne- painted in the early 1200s and the picture that can be used to identify him.
The art style would have been almost modern if it wasn't for the unease that the painting could cause due to the glowing green from his majesty's portrait. They say the green was ectoplasm from the king himself- and that alone should warn others to not mess with him.
Everyone Justice League Dark member hissed through their teeth, sitting up straighter and a few even pale. John is once again grateful that they understand just how deep in shit they genuinely are.
"This is the Ghost King. He is not to be confused with a god or king of gods. He's something else entirely because he makes gods nervous. He is on his way here to kill whoever is dumb enough to threaten his pregnant fiancee, and I fear the rest of Earth will be collateral if we don't prepare-"
"That's Danny Phantom," A young voice cuts John off. He is surprised someone would talk over him in a level ten briefing. All eyes turn to Robin- er, the new Robin.
The kid is frowning at the image, his signature scowl already deeper than usual. He's also heard the new Robin was a spoiled boy who was not a team player.
"You know King Phantom?" John asks.
Robin nods. "Placeholder is obsessed with him. Half his room is covered with King Phantom's heroics."
"Do not call him that.," Nightwing hisses a second later. He frowned when Robin ignored him but returned to the room without further comment on the boy's cheek. "Danny Phantom is a low-level search and rescue hero. He pops up around the world but only sometimes interacts with people. Robin- Young Justice Robin- was obsessed with him."
The room gains an awkward weight as no one is willing to bring up the mentally unsound MIA teenager.
It's too bad for them. John has never cared about making anyone comfortable. "You said his room is covered in images of King Phantom?"
From the corner of his eyes, John catches sight of Zatanna's face. She's pale white, with a horrified expression as if though she was standing before the grim itself. Every other member of the Justice League Dark is in a similar state.
"Yes, he has a whole wall of posters and stuff." Nightwing conforms, and shit John knows who Phantom's after now.
The thing is, one just doesn't have pictures of King Phantom. No one knows why, but the Ghost King can not be documented. Not without having some kind of connection to the King.
Throughout history, the only ones who have ever had even one solid picture of the king- John's magic doesn't count cause he can't well hold the thing up forever- usually meant that the King would appear before them at one point.
There is also a myth if one could beat a member of the royal ghost family, then one wish is granted to them. If one can kill a royal ghost member, death can be overturned.
It's not true, obviously, for death is not easily beaten like that, but John knows that as an expert, would a mentally unwell teenager know the same?
It was also known that if the King appeared before you, something terrible would happen. The sighting of King Phantom often came as an omen and usually right before a terrible disaster.
In the last disaster, they lost Batman, and if King Phantom had shown up, where the Third Robin have spotted him? Where the Third Robin have thought the King could return the dead?
Not to mention the rumors!
King Phantom was hunting down a group of humans known as "The Bats." John hadn't put that much stock in that rumor simply because it could have been anyone- hell, when he looked up the bats seven different groups appeared, varying from boy bands to zoologists.
But if he placed the name "The Bats" next to the Third Robin's psychotic break, his obsession with King Phantom, and his intertwined fates...well, shit.
There is a slight chance that the Third Robin's fate could be intertwined with the Ghost King in a positive light, but John has learned to not be optimistic in his line of work.
"I think the Third Robin is gunning after the Ghost King's fiancee and unborn child in a misguided attempt to bring Batman back to life. He may have kicked started a war that humanity can not win," He announces. He hates to say. hates to even suggest it, but the needs of the many outweigh those of the few. "We have to find the Third Robin and attempt to stop him. If we can't reason with him, we must put him down."
Wonder Girl gasps a sob, pressing her hand against her mouth.
John hates himself a little more as she sobs; a few rushes to confront her, but no one is unaffected by the news.
"I'm ordering a hunt for the Third Robin," Wonderwoman speaks up to her steady leadership, returning everyone from their despair. "Every available hero will help. Do not use lethal force unless there is no other choice. We may be able to find him before King Phantom's armies arrive."
John just hopes they are not too late.
Meanwhile, across the plane of existence, unaware of the manhunt for his head, Tim Drake is trying to stare down a Yeti, attempting to put him in silk clothes that are just fabrics held together by strings.
"No."
"But-But- but you have such a flattering figure! You must flaunt it! The Great One will barely be able to contain himself if he sees you in this!"
"No. It looks like something you wear on a honeymoon to seduce your spouse. I'm not walking around in that."
"Well, you don't need to bewitch his majesty. You already have a child on the way." The Yeit mutters, considering the fabric in his claws with a frown. He is Frostbite's royal tailor and has been attempting to dress Tim for over an hour. Everything he's suggested so far looks like it came from those romantic fantasy games.
It's like they want to make him a sexy consort or something.
Tim's teeth grind against each other. He hates how often his role is reminded, how casually the yetis mention that Ra's expects a child from Tim.
He doesn't even know how that child will come to be, and it makes him sick. He's been bidding his time, waiting for his wounds to heal and to find a weakness in the frozen fortress, but so far, he is unsure how he will escape.
And Bruce is still out there, waiting for Tim to get him. He can't waste any more time here.
"How about this cloak?" The Yeti offers, holding up a dark metallic fabric that reminds TIm of his Robin cape. "If we are going for a more conservative look, something that screams power is just the way to make the masses wild!"
Ugh, he really needs to think of a plan soon.
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flamingpudding · 9 months
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The Ghost King is my Uncle Drabbles
A/N: The original this sorta ties too: Original One Shot
>>Masterpost
Shovel Talks
Constantine swore up a storm of course only mentally. It wasn't like he was going to voice any of his thoughts right now. Not when he was faced with the good damn Ghost King. All he wanted was to summon one of his contracted demons to gather some information and what did he get the fucking Ghost King.
"Trench coat! We meet again. You worked on your manners, I hope?"
"Of course your majesty." Well he didn't but he avoided the freaking bats like crazy.
"Well I gotta thank you. Well you and my In-Law that's busy and asked me to substitute for your call since we meet and before and so on." The Ghost King casually waved his hand in a dismissive manner before looking around with his eyes sparkling in recognition and it sent a shudder down Constantine's back. "You are giving me the perfect opportunity."
Did… did the Ghost King just pull out a green glowing sword from a fucking portal and why did he have that glint in his eyes? Constantine paled. Why did this have to happen to him?
"If you will excuse me for a moment. I need to look for a Kryptonian real quick. I will deal with your problem right after. Promise."
With that the Ghost King phased through the floor apparently in search of Superman who just happened to be in the watchtower today. Fuck. Constantine run out of the room in mild panic and pushed whoever was on communication aside as he dialed for the bats. The moment someone on their end pick up he didn't bother to explain anything and just shouted for one of them to get their fucking ass here as fast as possible or superman was going to be history!
Okay that might also have sent the people witnessing his panic into chaos but this was a fucking emergency.
It was only minutes later that Batman did indeed arrived together with Nightwing and Red Robin with the Zeta-Tube at the watchtower to bear witness to Superman getting cornered by the Ghost King with Constantine bound by echo-bindings for apparently having annoyed the Ghost King with his pleading to spare the Kryptonian.
"Now I am sure I don't have to repeat myself but, IF you ever hurt Baby Bat a fate way worse than the Soul Shredder and the Nightmare Realm will be the least of your problems. The last guy that hurt my family is still in there and I will gladly make you permanently join him."
A cough resounded and Danny turned his head, a bright smile on his face as he spotted his little nephew and two of the little babies.
"Baby Bat, Baby Menace and Baby Stalker! I will be done in a little bit!"
"Ghost Ki-"
"Uncle Danny."
Batman let out a suffering sigh as Nightwing and Red Robin snickered.
"Uncle Danny. Why are you threatening Superman?"
"Because Jazz forbade me to use the Soul Shredder on humans but Superman is not human so I am allowed to use it on him."
"Uncle Danny, why do you want to use the 'Soul Shredder'" -as a joke Nightwing used air quotes- "on the him in the first place?"
"Shovel talk."
Batman chocked and Red Robin spluttered as Nightwing had a hard time suppressing a laugh. Constantine and Superman gapped at the Ghost King.
"You… are threading him for shovel talk purposes? What even is the nightmare realm?"
"A place you don't want to be in. Very traumatic and perfect to externally punish anyone that hurts my family in any regard as long as I am allowed to dump them there."
There was an added barely hearable grumble of "I would have sent the Joker and Ra's in there long ago if Clockwork weren't such a stick in the mud about keeping the timeline straight and their roles and bla bla bla."
Red Robin did a double take. Did the Ghost King just admit that he would have liked to sent their rogues into a place that was most likely hell? Wait didn't he mention sending someone in there permanently earlier.
No one noticed Superman slowly inching away from the blade still pointed at him while the Ghost King's attention wasn't on him. Well the bats noticed but didn't react to it, deeming it safer for the Super.
"Uh you said you dumped someone permanently in there?" Red Robin tried to keep the attention on them.
"Well yea." The Ghost King casually shrugged, adjusting the blade so Superman could no longer inch away from him. "I looked away from the Ice Mirrors for a week and someone dared to hurt Moma Bat. Of course I was enraged and snatched that guy off the street to permanently drop him in there."
There was a beat of heavy silence. Batman under his cowl bluescreened especially with how casually Danny just admitted at having snatched up his parents murderer to punish the man. Well that explained why he never found the culprit.
"Now If you excuse me little Babies I am gonna finish this talk with the Kryptonian and make sure he knows what will happen if he hurts Baby Bat."
With this the Ghost King turned back to the rapidly paling Superman with a feral grin. The Birds sweat dropped as Batman was still not mentally present, his mind still working through the information.
"Think I would be able to borrow that sword?" Red Robin suddenly asked as Nightwing eyed Batman worringly. "He only said that Great Grandma forbade him to use it on humans. He never said we couldn't."
"Don't let Robin or Hood hear that." Nightwing said, even if he wanted to borrow it himself too. With B mentally still checked out he had to act as the responsible one. That wouldn't stop him from asking their Ghost Uncle later if he could borrow the sword anyway.
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@gilbirda Ok, so you made a snippet of on of your AUs a while back (braindead rejected! soulmate i think) and I haven't been able to think of much else since. So my brain made a little thingy for you!
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1. Tim takes a risk one day by writing back to whoever was doodling on his body, with a glittery purple gel pen, asking them to stop trying to contacting him.
All the person asked was, "Why?"
Tim never answers.
2. Danny faces constant rejection from his peers, authority figures, his parents and sister neglect him and now his own soulmate doesn't want him. They hadn't even met before he was rejected. Jazz finds out about Dannys powers and tries to reach out but Danny rejects her pretty violently due to his own pain. Then the episode where Sam and Tucker ditch him for Gregor happens and he gives up.
The two people in his life that has had pretty much complete control over his life and trajectory just abandoned him and he does not take it well. He ripped the symbol off his chest, disappeared and never came back.
3. Danny zooms into a new dimension/universe/whatever to avoid his former friends and family from being able to track him only to land in a place called Central City and immediately getting roped into helping Captain Cold who gives him a normal domino mask and they end up working together for a while.
4. Danny somehow overhears one of the speedster talking on the phone about his friends brothers soulmate issue at some point and they perfectly describe the interaction that happened between Danny and his soulmate all those years ago, down to the glittery purple gel pen and the types of doodles Danny had made as a kid and the things he said.
Danny learned one of his soulmates belonged to a group of detective vigilantes in a place called Gotham. Unfortunately he was spotted by the speedster and Danny had to bounce.
5. The Flash made reports to the Justice League about a meta teen who hes been having trouble with for a while and can't seem to pin down. He only asked for tips though as he "could handle it himself."
6. Danny leaves for Gotham and learned about Catwoman and Batmans weird Master Thief and Greatest Detective dynamic and decided that's what he wants to do. He was going to make his soulmate chase after him one way or another. Someone was going to want him even if they were wanting him behind bars.
He begins robbing bank vaults and museums, leaving no trace or clue as to what happened until he starts leaving a calling card of sorts.
7. Jason, who's been on the outs with his family lately meets this spunky white haired meta kid running around with a sci-fi mask/visor thing and giving supplies to homeless encampments and keeping the less fortunate alive and befriends him. He learns that this is the guy everyone has been searching for and just...tells no one. Jason is all for a Robin Hood vigilante, and really, its kinda funny to see his family squirm.
8. Phantom and Catwoman rob the same museum at the same time but for different things. They stare at eachother from where they're both still crouched from thier respective landings until Danny breaks the tension with "I didn't see you if you didn't see me?"
Catwoman laughs, amused. "Sure."
9. Danny finally narrowed down which of the batfam is his soulmate and introduced himself to them as Phantom.
The first thing Danny did was hit on Tim. Tim is flustered but otherwise doesn't really respond to it and tries to fight Phantom into submission, so of course Danny ghosts him by disappearing through a roof mid fight. Danny made a big show of his intangibility in that fight and made it seem like it was the only power he had but he was very skilled with it and he wanted to impress him.
10. Phantom becomes well known to the underbelly of Gotham. Mostly the homeless and nightworkers. But Danny was open and friendly. Never judging and always ready to lend a helping hand. Even better. He never came to collect on favors.
Over time, they became loyal to him.
11. Danny gets framed for a series of murders and the whole gang (minus Hood) are trying to capture him, thus, motorcycle chase scene. They use the white of his tires to tell when he's gone intangible due to all the dirt falling off the wheels. Nightwing jumps onto the bike and shocks Danny with his encrizma sticks right before Danny grits out "bye bye birdy~" and makes a big show of taking in a deep breath and holding it.
Nightwing is forced to jump off the bike as Danny runs through the concrete abutment of the overpass and coming out the other side
12. Danny meets Tim and Duke in his civilian form while he was at a Wayne tech conference. Danny had been asked about one of his inventions and was trying to show off the blueprints and explain things and thats why he was there in the first place. Duke of course, was internally screaming because that's the guy thats the guy they've been hunting for nearly a year but can find nothing on.
Red Robin confronts Phantom that night on a rooftop and Phantom laughs at him, "Thats why I was avoiding Signal for so long. He'd see my magical girl form and know instantly."
RR holds out a pair of handcuffs and says "Its over Danny." Phantom smirks and says, "I don't think it is, Tim" before jumping off onto a different roof and disappearing into the night. Tim is shook.
13. Danny over hears Robin berating RR at an old clocktower and intervenes, "Little Wayne, you do realize you were the first person I figured out, right?"
Damian proceeds to lose his mind.
14. Tim accidentally finds a material that Phantom can't phase through and quickly gets to work making things he can use against Danny. What he doesn't know is that Danny can phase through it he just pretended he couldn't because he wanted to see what would happen/what Tim would do.
Danny can sense the material and it feels really wierd to him, but doesn't harm him at all.
15. RR manages to knock Phantoms visor off his face and realizing it was made of tech he swipes it and brings it back to the cave for study.
He wasn't ready for all the information on the computer. Not only was his nemesis(?) from another plain of reality (he thinks Danny is from the ghost zone) but he was once a superhero with his own Rogues Gallery and human city to protect. Which begs the question, why did he become a Phantom thief?
16. The Joker hears about Phantom giving the bats the run around and comes to a misunderstanding about which bat he's been messing with which ultimately ends with Joker saying that he is Batmans ultimate nemesis and Phantom asking what that had to do with him? The misunderstanding is cleared up when Phantom complained about Joker even thinking that he was flirting with Batman because "Ew! He's an old man!"
Joker still got a few shots in for the heck of it but so did our ghost boy but they were no longer enemies.
17. The whole batfam had been freaking out about finally capturing Phantom and celebrating and plotting on how they were gonna get him to keep his mouth shut about thier identities until Jason came in,
Jason: Need help?
Phantom: Please?
Jason: *escapes with Danny*
Batfam: What?! No!!! Why?!
18. The batfam have only a vague idea of the Robin Hood thing going on. They know he's doing it just not to the extent its gone to. They find out later on that Phantom had been working with RH and his gang to sell off the items and most of the profits go to helping people. Other times he strait up gives jewelry and whatnot to children and working girls because "Everyone deserves something pretty, and even if its not your style you can keep it for a rainy day"
Phantom quickly gains a following and Danny doesn't even know about it. Clueless indeed.
19. Dannys main motivation in this is essentially just playing Cops and Robbers with Red Robin. Nothing else really matters to him. Not the robberies, not the fact he's working with a crime lord, not even his own safety matters much to him anymore. Hes readily zooming down the path of self destruction and Hood starts telling his family stuff, but only because he was genuinely worried about "Casper" crashing and burning.
20. No one knows why Phantom is fixated on Red Robin. He refuses to tell them. Red thinks its just because he's the smartest of the bats and he's not entirely wrong.
21. Danny legit started scheduling his heists with Tim to ensure they're both free after one couldn't make it too many times which blew the birds mind. Phantom must have been just that confident that he would always win. The bats eventually think Danny will stop stealing if RR isn't in the city for a long period of time. Danny more or less followed him and stole stuff from whatever city Tim was in. If there wasn't any museums or banks then Danny would steal a local landmark. Tim still wasn't sure how Phantom stole an entire building that one time but it had never been seen since.
22. Hood grows to be very protective of our favorite ghost boy. They bond and are actually really close. Danny admits he always wanted an older brother.
23. Tim goes off world for a while to see how Danny would react and Danny just...drops off the radar. No one knows where he is and after a week or two they start getting worried.
Tim returns after three months and Danny reappears two weeks after him with a tan and keepsakes from the places he visited on his vacation. Tim later screams into his pillow.
24. Tim has made it his personal mission to figure out who Danny really is, why he's fixated on him, where he came from, ect. Hes trying so hard but can't find anything. Its almost like he didn't exist before. Tim suddenly got an idea after Phantom accidentally got hit in the face and got a nosebleed. Tim saw green blood and immediately realized Danny might not even be human. Fortunately for our little ghost, he thinks he's an alien. A Martian specifically. Tim manages to snag a good sample from treating Phantoms wounds. Ghostboy was so focus on his core thrumming and mentally comparing it to his heart racing that he didn't even notice.
25. Tim later freaks out because the meta is freaking made out of Lazarus water.
The entire batfam was not happy to discover this and decided to work together to pressure Phantom into telling them what he was and what exactly he wanted.
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help-itrappedmyself · 28 days
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Summoning Game Show Part 5
Masterpost
I just spent an unnecessarily long time making A Quiz so I would have questions and answers ready to go, only to not put any of them in. And spend a ridiculously long time doing math because I had to redo it like three times. Numbers are not my strong suit. In any case I now have a fully functional Jeopardy game and the next part.
~~~~~
It’s a close race. They were equal on the mountain track and neither really got sidetracked by Skulker on such a straightforward route. They made it to Zone Two almost even, but Jason almost immediately falls behind as Skulker hits him with a paintball. Being shot at shocked him more than anything, but realizing it was paint, he stopped trying to avoid it and just kept going, letting his armor deal with most of it. Skulker got bored and quickly went after Johnny instead, who got irritated and started a shouting match with Skulker as he drove. The different terrains meant they had to keep slowing down and speeding up, and Skulker got bored with the paintballs and started throwing water balloons instead. This was more annoying for the drivers because the water made the sand and mud trickier to drive on. Both Johnny and Jason both got their bikes temporarily stuck in mud and had to drag them back out while Skulker cackled above them. 
Zone three allowed Jason to catch back up to Johnny. This was what he was used to and he was able to go faster with more confidence. Johnny and Jason separated after Skulker shot a net at them both. And they found each other again on a straightaway leading to the finish line. It was close at the end, but Jason managed to pull out ahead. 
They shook hands at the finish line, walking back into the main room together. They separated when Johnny left to go back to the stands, followed closely by Skulker. 
“Wonderful race, very intense, great driving all around.” Danny says, very entertained. “Well earned win, Jason. I’ll remind you this is what you have currently.”
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“What letter would you like to guess?”
“I’ll take I.”
“Another vowel, very good.” Danny waves his hand again. “There are two I’s!
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“The next challenge is trivia, which will be played by Red Robin as he is the only one who has yet to participate in a challenge.”
A new podium appears on stage as Danny’s podium rotates so the two are facing each other. Red Robin walks up to the new podium.
“ The theme is SPACE!” Danny is so excited he is practically bouncing. A jeopardy-looking game board appears on the screen. “ You have 6 categories, all space themed, they are:  Earth, Other Planets, Space Numbers, Stars, Other Space Entities, and Spacecrafts! There are 9,000 possible points, you need to get at least 7,500 in order to win! The game can stop as soon as we’ve reached that number.”
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Red, being Red, decides to do all the hardest questions first. He starts at the bottom left corner, gets the first question right. Tim thinks since he got the hardest one he could probably finish out the Earth category pretty easily, so he goes down the list and gets them all correct. 
With 1,500 points he decides to start the next category with the hardest question as well. This is his first wrong answer. He starts going up the list, and gets the 400 incorrect for this category as well. Danny is disappointed. The rest of the boys are infinitely relieved that Tim is the one doing the trivia part. They probably would have lost already. 
Tim does get the rest of the ‘Other Planets’ category correct and moves on with 2,100 points and 6,000 points left on the board. He decides to start ‘Space Numbers’ with the 100 point question and keeps going, acing the whole category. He now has 3,600 points. With 4,500 points left on the board he needs 3,900 more points. This means he can only lose 600 more points. He aces the ‘Stars” category, then moves on to ‘Other Space Entities’. He misses the last question, leaving him with 6,100 points and 1,500 left on the board. Tim can only afford to miss the 100 point question, so he decides to start at 500 and get it over with.
He continues until he reaches the 200 point question. If Tim answers this one he will win, and he does so correctly the screen changes to shoots of confetti.
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thenewgirl76 · 17 days
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I'll Make You Believe
While the whole "asking a ghost how they died is the worst taboo ever, so don't do it or you'll be in a world of hurt" headcanon is always fun to implement to either create temporary conflict or simply move the story along, I think it'd work just as well on both ends if it was only a minor offense.
Like if you were to ask a once living ecto being how they died the most negative response you'd get would either be some variation of "None of your business puny mortal" or an explanation using the most vividly graphic, stomach turning details as an act of petty revenge as well as insurance you never ask again.
So what could possibly be a way more serious, far more dangerous no-no when it comes to ghosts instead? Well, how about stating ghosts don't exist/there's no such things as ghosts? The reason why being you're invalidating the trauma they've experienced in their last moments.
Makes no difference whether you were aware of this or not. If they find out or worse, it's said to their face? You better hope they'll settle for beating you black-and-blue. Because the alternative is becoming a ghost yourself by the time they're done with you.
Now in dpxyj fics when Danny interacts with Wally and the whole "ghost are/aren't real" argument between them comes into play it's usually depicted as a trivial disagreement. But what if you were to make it more angsty by inserting this take on lack of ghostly etiquette?
Let's say after getting to know his teammates better Danny starts talking about his origins (in vague detail) and exploits, only to eventually be interrupted by Kid Flash declaring that he can't possibly be a ghost as they don't exist. And Robin, Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Superboy all become quite alarmed watching Danny go from easygoing to looking ready to beat Kid Flash to a pulp, as he's now fighting back his ghostly nature. To avoid giving in to the urge he abruptly leaves with a dismissive attitude, much to KF's confusion.
From there it spirals. KF, not realizing he's poking a hornets nest continuing to voice his skepticism whenever the opportunity comes up and each time Danny barely manages to keep it together. Until one day Danny in an explosive rage snatches up KF and in a tone colder than ice tells him he knows what he is, what he went through to reach that state, and that he has no need to justify any of it to him.
Then he leaves once more before he really loses it. Before going after him Miss Martian informs KF of how Danny opened his mind to her and that for his sake she hopes he never shares those memories of what he went through with him. Feeling bad now, KF tries to apologize once Danny returns. Which results in failure again and again since Danny keeps giving him the cold shoulder.
After having yet another apology disregarded KF, in mounting frustration blurts out that he wishes he understood what has Danny so convinced he's a ghost, unaware a certain wish twisting genie he was warned about had been invisibly lurking in the vicinity the instant Danny was elsewhere. Along with the rest of the regulars, as soon as KF's denials had spread to the Ghost Zone Desiree was on the warpath, intent on showing just how real ghosts truly were. By sheer spite and determination she beat everyone else to him, just in time to hear him say the forbidden word, presenting her with the perfect means of retribution.
With a "So you have wished it so shall it be" KF is magically transported to an underwater submarine, occupied by Black Manta. Unable to run as freely without potentially damaging the sub and causing it to flood, the fight upon his unexpected arrival is drawn out to the point KF starts to feel his hyper metabolism weakening him. It's when he's close to dying of starvation that one of the more incompetent goons sends him crashing into the stash of ectoplasm Manta had smuggled with the intent of using it to pollute the waters of Aquaman's Kingdom. The last thing KF sees before blacking out is Desiree looming over him with a smirk of satisfaction.
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nelkcats · 1 year
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Consequences
When he felt compelled to take over as Robin in order to save Batman from himself, Tim didn't have high expectations; he didn't expect to be adopted by Bruce, he didn't expect to acknowledge the fact that his parents were abusive by leaving him alone for months, he didn't expect anyone to care if he ate or not, and in general he didn't expect to gain a family.
And for a while he thought that everything would get better: he gained brothers, he had a caring father, he had no financial problems or had gotten sick; And yes, maybe Robin's patrols were harsh at first, maybe Bruce's words when he was angry reached his heart and hurt him deeply, but he was fine.
Until he wasn't, at some point he felt more abandoned than ever even though he was surrounded by his family. When he was talking to his boyfriend, he realized that everyone took him into account but no one really appreciated what he did.
At first he didn't understand why Danny looked at him concerned and kept asking if he was okay while he told him an anecdote from his life as a vigilante; they had known each other for a while (Alfred had noticed, the others hadn't), they started talking, dating in coffee shops and even revealed the fact of being vigilantes after a few months on a relationship, that's when they started sharing anecdotes with each other.
Danny mentioned that he was being a hypocrite for caring so much about his stories when his were just as bad. Tim didn't get it until he started to see things from another perspective.
He never realized how much it hurted how Bruce had never thanked him for helping when he was lost in time, or how Dick avoided talking about his Robin time by concentrating on Damian, he thought he could understand but that didn't make it any better, Jason's nickname was beginning to make sense.
He didn't realize how broken he felt when Jason tried to kill him and blamed him; He was his childhood hero, Tim loved Robin because Jason put him in the stars, however, no matter how many times he explained to his brother that the only reason he had taken the suit was because he had no choice, and that he felt forced to blackmail Batman to be his Robin before Bruce became what he hated most. Jason still didn't care, still called him Replacement over and over again, blaming.
Or Damian who kept trying to kill him, refusing to acknowledge him, and when he defended himself he ended up getting reprimanded. Not even Bruce thanked him for all the work he did in taking over the company as CEO. His entire family went on with their lives without repercussions.
Maybe he was being naive as he refused Danny's requests to run away from home and stay with him, at least for a few days so they would miss him. He felt like a broken record repeating the phrase "it's okay, they're trying, they can change", the look on his boyfriend's face told him he wasn't doing a good job on believing his own words.
The mansion made him feel small at times, ignored; it was fortunate that Alfred was actually paying attention to him and offering a cup of hot chocolate at such moments.
At some point he couldn't take it anymore, Jason and Damian's comments had gone too far, Bruce's lack of response along with Dick's laughter commenting that they weren't saying it in a bad way only made him angry, so he left the cave and called to Danny, he told him it was time to go.
He said goodbye to Alfred, Cass, Duke and Steph who had generally not contributed to his decision, and he regretted that he couldn't stay longer to get to know them better, but the damage had been building up for a long time.
He wrote a letter detailing his reasons to the rest of the family, leaving along some clues to let them know that he had left of his own free will and they wouldn't be able to find him even if they wanted to, he sighed as his anger turned to resignation.
"Are you ready?" Danny questioned, taking his hand gently as they walked out of the mansion.
"Ready as I'll ever be"
That's how Timothy Jackson Drake said goodbye to his home dimension and headed to the infinite realms, of course he was going to sneak in a couple of times to help his friends but never when his family is around. He hadn't expected the life in the palace or the marriage proposal that came years later, but although the place was gigantic, Tim felt good in it, comfortable, appreciated.
Time in the Realms passed quite quickly, unlike his original dimension, so years for him were a couple of months for his family.
He found it ironic that Danny was summoned as the Ghost King by Ra, who had the nerve to order the "creature" to give him the secrets of the Lazarus pits, offering the Batclan as sacrifices. Tim looked at the time portal connected to his home dimension (That Clockwork had given him to watch his family and friends, even if he was upset he was not going to let them die) wondering if he should interfere.
It was decided when Danny called Fright Knight to deal with the nuisance that was Ra, and he accompanied him as a royal adviser (regardless of his second title as ruler, he actually liked being a part of strategizing better and Danny was happy to give in to his wishes).
With a weary sigh he crossed the portal and began to recite Ra's crimes, indicating how he had damaged the balance between life and death since he corrupted the ectoplasm on the Lazarus pits to extend his life at the same time that Frighty stopped the man.
No one in the room bothered to pay attention to the stupefied bats who were watching the missing member of his family, but years older, that apparently was the Ghost King royal adviser. They tried to call him but Tim just gave them an annoyed look before continuing with his work.
By the time Fright Knight took Ra completely chained through the portal, they finally saw the ghost king move, he started kissing Tim's face repeatedly, which had turned his frown into laughter.
The moment they finally processed the scene they both disappeared, and well, weren't those the consequences of their own actions?
----
Thanks to @unadulteratedsoulsweets for the general idea, I enjoyed writing this! Even if it ended up a little bigger than I expected
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talzane · 2 years
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I've been seeing a lot of Damian and Danny Twins AUs lately, but they always seem to recognize each other by appearance. They're two kids raised by the League to, assuredly, be a deadly duo at least until Ra's decided one of them had to go. Once Robin starts working with Batman--depending on the canon, he's also trained by the League--those team(twin) fighting lessons and years of practice should come back like muscle memory. For Danny, that should resurface at least a little as he works with Tucker, Sam, Jazz, and possibly Valerie (for this specific AU it would make a *lot* more sense if Valerie was added since she can also fly and then have Danny train her to fight like a Leaguer beside him).
Somehow, probably a ghost nut convention, Danny ends up in Gotham. Batman has been incapacitated and captured by Scarecrow, who is once again bragging about his latest fear toxin that will bring Gotham to its knees, starting with its Dark Knight. Danny has to help a fellow vigilante out and heads off, following the signals of Gotham's shades to Scarecrow's base. Danny, being cautious for once in his vigilante career, surveys the base, and sneaks in.
Robin, the only other bat in Gotham by some misfortune, decided to sneak off to "rescue" his father all by himself. He had no clue who the newbie breaking in Scarecrow's base was, but his father wouldn't want him to let them die, which is why he found himself following the *glowing* imbecile.
*Nice going Fenton, you could have just turned intangible. I guess old habits must come back,* and not wanting to miss another opportunity for improved sneaking, Danny promptly turned invisible and broke left as he continued to creep farther into the building.
*How did that idiot manage to evade me?* Damian wondered with no small hint of irritation after he entered by the same entrance and turned towards his right.
Minutes later, both teens entered into a large, open area. Apparently Scarecrow had set up shop in a large warehouse with ample office space at the front, which the boys had found empty of threats, to their mutual frustration. Danny, still invisible, flew to the rafters and slowly drifted deeper into the warehouse towards the source of the noise and lights he could see. Robin kept to the right of the warehouse, grappled to the rafters and swiftly darted along them towards the area where Scarecrow was likely holding his father.
As Danny neared the back of the warehouse, several things became very clear. The first was that his eyes had been correct, those were *actually* massive vats of chemicals. The second was that massive vats of chemicals without lids existed somewhere outside his parents' basement. The third was that this "Scarecrow" guy, with all his advanced chemistry lab set up, advanced formulas, TV cameras, hired thugs, and insanity was...just a dude with a sack on his head. Danny shook his head, *this is why I don't fight humans.*
Robin, on the other hand, was primarily focused on finding a way to neutralize the thugs around Batman long enough to free him. Robin thought for a moment, Damien Wayne thought for a moment, and Damien al'Ghul thought for a moment. Something in his gut told him his plan would work, and father had said to trust his gut unless it told him to kill people.
Robin leapt from the rafters onto the thug nearest Batman and after absorbing the rest of his fall with a precise roll to his right into the back of another's ankles (ACL tear if done right...or wrong for the rollee), he darted, again towards his right, attempting to clear a space around the objective.
Danny, from his vantage on the rafters, saw a flicker of motion before *Robin* dropped through his field of view and instinct kicked in, pulling Danny after him. Danny, feeling years out of practice, barely avoided twisting his now-much-larger ankle on the shoulder of the goon he crashed onto, and his roll to his left into the next thug's calves was horribly off target to the point he had to yank the man's feet from under him with ghostly strength, but this fight felt...right.
Damian noticed the stutter after his partner landed, that didn't normally happen. *Normally? Ttt, father isn't so clumsy...*
After a minute, perhaps two, had passed, a small space and a shorter window had appeared for Damian to free Batman.
Danny, appreciating the moment he and his mysterious partner had bought, made eye contact with their objective. Tall, dark, brooding, bat-obsessed, and intimidating was putting it mildly. The Batman was terrifying and his gaze was fixed on Danny, so Danny pointedly looked away from him and returned to his job, keeping watch. Dam-- his brot-- Danny had never been that great at rescuing the target anyway, he'd made the best distractions when necessary though. *Could have just phased the bindings off him, stupid,* the voice in the back of his head chided him. *Great going, Fenton. Really slipping up today aren'tcha?*
Damian's hands fumbled for less than half a second as he released Bruce from the table, but he couldn't help it, that had felt...just like before. As the bindings fell away, Batman removed himself from the table and focused the full might of his glare on Scarecrow.
"Forgive me, Dark Knight, if I'm not afraid of your...theatrics. You see my new toxin will--"
An echoing, teenaged voice cut him off, "Blah, blah, crumble the Dark Knight to ruins and bring Gotham to Wisconsin or something, just give up already!"
Scarecrow's mask twisted to match the sick grin underneath, "Is this a new bat for me to te--"
"Am not," the voice, coming from the glowing figure, retorted.
The few goons who had managed to regain their feet since the first beatdown slowly worked to form a perimeter between the 'Crow and the Bats (and co).
"Good, then try *this*!" Doctor Johnathan Crane cried as he hurled a small vial filled with a yellow fluid at Danny's feet. Both Batman and Damian lunged to make space and time to don their filtration masks, but the glowing figure didn't move and vial smashed between his feet.
Damian's heart clenched in fear, *Why didn't you move!?*
The Bat's eyes narrowed.
Danny breathed in the sweaty aroma. *Ugh,* "Dude, was this supposed to smell like gym shorts?"
The Scarecrow stood amidst the vast chemical distillery he had set up in his months out of Arkham, behind the wall of hired muscle he had found, and his jaw fell slack. All his calculations had amounted to was the smell of used gym shorts!?
While the 'Crow's brain tried to reset from Danny's perfect distraction, Danny turned his head back to face Robin with his customary, cocky grin.
Damian recognized the signal for what it was and they sprung back into action together, in sync. As they bounded through the remaining thugs like scythes through a wheat field, every thug they threw was stomped out by the other, every combat roll to quickly find a new angle was covered, and every opening was protected just like they'd been doing this for years.
The fight came to an end to the symphony of Scarecrow's screams, "It's not possible. It's just not! My formula was perfect!" They ended when Batman, who had already handcuffed the pleading lunatic, had knocked him out for "resisting arrest."
Danny and Damian stood near each other to catch their breath, supposedly, but they were appraising each other. Their physiques matched, even if one of them glowed, the eyes matched, even if they shouldn't, and the hair, which was still waving around despite the lack of wind, definitely didn't match, but Damian had a feeling.
Robin was dressed like a stoplight. It was really not Damian's style...at least not back then, but maybe it could have been by now. The hair was the same, he couldn't make out the eyes through whatever was covering them, but this was Damian, no doubt about it.
Danny stepped closer to Robin. Robin's body language immediately became tense in a falsely disaffected manner. Definitely Damian. Danny swooped in for a hug and turned his head intangible, *Ha! Got it right that time!*
When Damian swung at the mystery glowstick's head, he didn't expect his fist to go through it, but his fist certainly collided with their ribs.
Yup, it's Dami.
Damian let himself relax, this was Danyal. Somehow, he was alive, and Damian returned the hug. He'd kill Danyal for not telling him he was still alive later.
"Robin!"
Damian's eyes cracked open to see the disapproving figure of Batman glaring down at him.
"Report!"
In case it wasn't clear, Danny was "slipping up" because he was running on instincts from his days with Damian, not cause he's having problems.
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atimeofyourlife · 10 months
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Part 2 (or 1.5?) of this Eddie's POV of after the argument outside the diner (AO3)
Eddie felt sick as he watched Steve walk away with Danni. He knew he'd fucked up by listening to Gareth, and allowing him, Grant, and Jeff to fill his head with their dislike of Steve and twist what he knew of Steve. Steve who had, as Danni had pointed out, been so hurt by cheating. Nancy cheating on him with Jonathan. His father's constant affairs that Steve had been aware of from a young age, where his mother would leave him home alone in an attempt to prevent her husband's wandering eyes turning into wandering hands. The hurt expression on Steve's face was one that would haunt him forever. It was a hurt that he had caused, by listening to his friends over choosing to trust the one he loved.
He went back inside feeling lost. Had he just fucked up the relationship beyond repair? He didn't even know how to start to fix it.
"How pathetic was he? Was it all crocodile tears and claiming it meant nothing, and he still left with-" Gareth started, but Eddie cut him off.
"I fucked up. Seriously fucked up." He dropped back into his seat at the table, and started to push around his food, he'd barely started it, but couldn't stomach finishing it.
"Yeah, you fucked up by trusting someone like that, but you know now. He's the one that seriously fucked up the relationship, by fucking that-" Grant said, sounding like he was trying to be reassuring.
"She's his cousin." Eddie snapped. "Not some girl that he's fucking. And I fucked up because he told me about her before he left for Chicago. That he'd be spending all his time with her because she's the only person in his family that isn't insufferable."
"If you believe that, you're way less smart than we give you credit for, man. That's just one of the classic cheating excuses, oh she's my cousin. We just grew up kissing and sleeping naked together, so we don't want to stop." Jeff replied, his tone growing mocking toward the end.
Eddie didn't bother replying, just standing up and dropping the few dollars to cover his food on the table. He needed to get out of there. He needed to find a way to make it right.
-
Eddie just drove around for a while, trying to organize his thoughts. Trying to come up with some way to apologize to Steve. His bandmates were obviously no help. He considered talking to the kids, but then he would have to explain to them why he needed to apologize. And they would give him hell for treating Steve like that, not that he wouldn't deserve it. There was no chance of Robin helping, she would have heard it all from Steve and would come out swinging.
He got home, thankful that Wayne's truck was there. Wayne was his only hope for any help, even if it would come with judgement for his actions. Because Wayne liked Steve, and had warned Eddie not to do something stupid and hurt Steve. That warning had come way before the accusation of cheating, and now felt like Wayne had known that something like this would happen.
"What's going on, Ed. I thought you'd be out with the boys longer than this?" Wayne asked as Eddie walked in.
"I fucked up, Wayne. Really seriously fucked up, and I don't know how to make it right." Eddie pulled his hair over his face, not wanting to see the judgement he knew he would get from Wayne.
"How'd you fuck up? Is it anything to do with why you've been avoiding Steve?" Wayne questioned.
"I accused him of cheating. Gareth got in my head about it." Eddie admitted.
"Where in the hell did you get an idea like that from? Anyone with eyes could see how devoted that boy is to you. How much he loves you."
Eddie hesitated for a second, before explaining everything that had happened. Steve's trip to Chicago, how he'd planned to hang out with his cousin. Gareth seeing them out together while he was doing college visits, and assuming the worst. Gareth telling him and Jeff and Grant as soon as he got back from Chicago, as he was back before Steve. Eddie believing him because Steve wasn't there to defend himself, and because he'd assumed that Steve's cousin was a guy. Steve coming home, and Eddie trying to avoid him. Seeing Steve at the diner with Danni, and taking it all out on him. "And it's just. His face, Wayne. I've never seen him so hurt. He was trying not to cry. And it's my fault. I don't know what to do to make this right. I don't know if there's anything I can do."
"Boy, you must've got that stupid from your momma or your daddy, because you sure as shit didn't get it from me." Wayne sighed. "Right now, you apologize and make it a damn good one. He don't have to accept it or forgive you, because you accused him of something pretty big. You chose to believe your friends over Steve, and even I know that they don't like him. That they hold some grudge against him."
"I don't think I'll be able to get close to him, he's gonna have a pair of guard dogs ready for blood." Eddie replied.
"You still got to try. Apologize, make it clear, then follow his lead. If he wants to talk, let him. If he wants space, give it to him. If he dumps you, you leave him the hell alone. He deserves a good apology, and only he gets to decide if it's good enough. And you got to consider which you value more, your friendship with Gareth, Grant, and Jeff, or your relationship with Steve. Because you ain't gonna be able to have both, not in the same way as before. Now, you gotta go figure out how you're gonna fix this." Wayne gave him one last look, before turning back to his paper.
Eddie still didn't know how, but he was going to find a way to fix this.
This will be 3/4 parts long. No guarantees, but I'm hoping to have part 3 done in the next week or so! tags: @kengwisi @oh-yeah-honey @estrellami-1 @hardboiledleggs @zerokrox-blog
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tanglepelt · 11 months
Text
Run Ghost Run 9
A03 Master Prev Next
Tim talks to Danny. Jason makes progress with Danny.
The traffic light café was good as a place as any. Really Danny wasn’t picky. He didn’t know the area or what else was around.
The café took its name seriously. The entire cafe looked like someone barfed up red, yellow, and green. Tables and chairs clash against each other. The only normal part of the whole café was where you ordered. A standard corner counter. Coffee machines and flavoring on the wall. Cash register upfront.
They sectioned off the tables from where you ordered with rope barriers.
The cash register was oddly placed. Scooted at the edge on the opposite side. A special menu has plenty of room up front. It’s like they fully expected someone to grab it and run.
The colors made him think of that kid, Robin.
Right now, the café was empty. Drinks sat on the counter a few iced drinks and hot drinks in to-go cups his best guess would be mobile orders. The mug is probably a worker's drink. The café had just opened. So, it was around 6 am.
The cashier had rushed to the back to grab the till. Left him all alone up front. That was until he felt a chill.
He felt it even before the bell rang. Another contaminated. A guy with black hair and blue eyes. Just a tad taller than him. He wasn’t sure why. But the guy looked at him as if he knew him. It gave him stalker vibes.
You know that second-look type thing. Except his posture stayed the same and his head didn’t move. Either this guy is very good at concealing his emotions or Danny was being paranoid again.
Considering everything that moved seemed to set him off. The latter was more likely. At this point, he just needed to expect everyone to set off his radar.  
Danny planned to keep his order simple. No sugary concoction just an iced americano and a croissant. Nothing too awful. Honestly, who knows? It could cause gut problems. Coffee was not the best thing to be having. He didn’t care. Caffeine was essential.
He could feel the guy behind him still.
He was a weird one. Offering to pay for his items albeit forcefully. The dude came in front of him slamming a card down. Which was nice and all. This guy was just a tad bit intense. You didn’t do that back in Amity. Everyone in amity knew one another. You only bought things for friends and ppl you cared about. Not for some rando.
The guy introduced himself, Timothy Drake, call him Tim. He looked like he needed a nap, maybe a full night of sleep. His bags had bags. Getting coffee wouldn’t help that. Danny shouldn’t judge to harshly seeing as he was doing the same thing. The dude got 5 shots of espresso in a mug. The way the lady taking orders looked at him made it seem like a frequent order.
Tim kept trying to make conversation while they were waiting. Danny was hardly paying attention to him. Just enough to not be rude. He did buy his drink after all. When Danny had his drink, he had gone towards the exit. Danny stopped in his tracks to turn and face Tim. There is no way he just said he jumped out a window to get coffee.
“You… jumped out a window??? For coffee” He was not ready for what Tim had to say next
“Sneaking out of windows is my thing. Used to use them to go look for Batman and Robin.”
This guy was a whole different breed. He was essentially admitting to stalking them. How else would he know all these stories about Batman and Robin? There was no other explanation he was certainly way too old to be Robin and wasn’t the same build as Batman. Definitely a stalker.
The stories he had about them while impressive, the good in Gotham and all. It sounded like they cared a lot about Gotham. Heros themselves seemed to be attached to the government. Now he was most likely a wanted fugitive.
So that’s a no from him.
******
Jason has been doing his best to avoid his family. He’s seen the messages on the chat. There is no way he’s admitting that what happened to the replacement and Damian happened to him.  He would ignore the whole glowing green situation.
No involvement from him.
Besides nothing has happened to him since then. He doesn’t want to deal with their constant worry and attempts would surely happen to keep him in. Jason did not have to follow orders from Bruce.
The bats had been busy handling the batgirl crises to get on his case. Jason wouldn’t be surprised if they just forgot to turn their comms back on. Steph did fake her own death before.
Any situation those two got in. They could handle it. Regardless he had his own mess to handle right now. There was a new gang messing with his territory adding in the fact they’ve been using children; he’s got his work cut out for him.
Then the weird dreams of some lady in black. She always faded in and out from white to black. Jason noticed the little crown holding her veil up. One with little bats at the tips of the points. All saying a prince needed help. Without it, there would be consequences. It had been non-stop. The last few nights had been restless.
Red Hood still had to patrol despite these dreams. Make sure he didn’t lose any street credit.
He had been alerted to a kid being spit out by a shadow. Could very well be the one Duke saw. His first guess was a meta with some form of teleportation power. Potentially two working together. Worst case scenario kid got nabbed by a meta. Which just wouldn’t do.
No kids getting hurt on his turf. It’s a well-known rule. He always followed through.
Potential metas in Gotham are not great. Nothing against the superpowered. It’s just that if they are easily manipulated or misled, they would end up as pawns. That would be bad for all parties involved. Gotham likes to twist and corrupt people.
If someone got their hands on a meta kid, it could be disastrous. Depending on the control of his powers he could injure someone or reveal his powers to the wrong person. Traffickers were still out in Gotham some prepared for metas. Who’s managed to get a hold of power suppressants.
He’s cleaned the streets of the worst of them. More always just showed up. Metas and children would be best to stay away from crime alley. He’d have to handle this efficiently.
Plan was simple. Get to the alley he was last spotted. Begin to search for him. Then one of two things. Ensure the kid safely got out of Gotham or take care of a potential trafficker and get the kid out of Gotham. The unlikely chance the kid wasn’t running from something and got displaced from his family. Jason would help get them reunited.
Scouting out for the kid was easy. He noticed him from the roof. Only for the kid to whip his head right at him. The best even scrounged up his nose as if he caught a wiff of something disgusting.
Look like he was going to have to act. If the kid spotted him following him would yield no results. Seeing as the kid was out alone no one in sight. Approaching may just work. With the shadow report in mind, he was going to have to watch his back. I’m the chance a shadow launched itself at him. He had a bright light on him. Light makes shadows stop, who knows it could have the same properties.
The closer he got he could see the kid had just checked out as well and the closer the temperature dropped.
Only jolting when he landed in front of him. Falling straight on his butt as a reaction.
Jason was able to look him over. It was the same kid from the library. The photo did not do justice to the kid’s injuries. His eye was dark more swollen the marks on the wrist looked far worse. The sweatshirt had rolled up from the fall.
The rope burns on his wrist were red and bruised. The very edges were puffy and a deep red line through the center. Cuffs had cut into the right where the burns were. Less then a week. His eye was swollen with deep red bags underneath them. Danny if he recalls the name properly was ghostly pale.
This was done against his will. Kid fought back causing the fallout to be worse. Someone purposely bound him. Jason had no doubts. Whoever hurt the kid had done so intentionally. Barbara had relayed the ecto acts to them and how to find them.
He looked them up. Pain to find.
Read them.
They needed to go.
Everything pointed to Danny running away. Which is expected when someone has the injuries he has. Having a full bag meant he knew there was a chance it was going to happen or had outside help.
The fall he took most of set off a hidden injury. He could smell iron in the air. Somewhere the kid was bleeding. And it had to be a lot. There was no playing nice. Danny was a flight risk. Jason had to change his stance in preparation for him to flee. The brat kept playing off the injury with a simple it will heal. Yea no. He heard the kid wince.
Danny was getting medical attention and protection. If the government was after him claiming, he was un-sentient and unable to feel pain he wasn’t going back. They were fooling themselves to get away with sentencing an entire species to experimentation or eradication.
He went to grab the kid. Only for his hand to phase through him. Danny looked like he was flickering going from translucent to fully visible. A meta maybe an alien, of some kind. If he listened to the government likely an ecto entity. It tracked. The research and running were factors in favor of him being an ecto entity.
As Danny moved so did the chill. Tracking his movement was easier with that. A second attempt for the same result. Where his hand had gone through was freezing. It had to be at least 5 degrees cooler than everywhere else.
He followed until he went through a building. One after another. When he lost sight, he tried to follow the chill in the air. Only for no luck to be had.
The rest of the patrol was searching. No luck. He was about ready to text the chat. Then Dick texted.
He had eyes on him.
Only for said brat to jump off the roof.
Jason was hoping he used his powers to land in the sewers below Gotham. Now Jason should have informed the chat about the intangibility. Confirm the suspicions of him being a Meta. Given he disappeared from the ground he’s sure they know that part. The intangibility part is probably not. The running theory in the chat was teleportation. Jason didn’t buy that. The kid ran from him through the buildings and didn’t disappear in the shadows. There could be limitations on his powers making it only useable so often so he couldn’t fully dismiss it.
If he did text the chat, it's headache city. He’d get lectured for ghosting them and he didn’t want to deal with that. Then chewed out for not reporting his encounter with Danny earlier. Besides Jason wanted to get Danny first.
The others were a bit much.
So here he was out in Gotham midafternoon. It’s not like he had a day job. His plan was to stake out the area to see if he could spot him. Walking around as Jason Todd. He had a bag with a mask and a red jacket. If he ran into him, he’d try the Red Hood first. Maybe a less intense approach. Not so grabby. Mention he is a crime lord. That way the kid would at least know he had nothing positive with the government. If anything, he was a wanted man.
Jason didn’t have all the facts. Enough to know the kid had every right to be wary of anything government related. He’d end up trusting a criminal much quicker than any government official. Although loose as they were the bats and birds had connections. They could be found online. The kid is obviously trying the whole solo thing. It couldn’t last forever.
The intangibility would be a problem. Perhaps the flickering wasn’t normal. He seemed to struggle through it. His breathing had picked up. Throughout the encounter, the temperature was constant. If he went closer the temp dropped. Thermals may come in handy in a search. He’d go that route if he failed to find him. There is always the chance the kid got spooked and ditched town.
For now, walking by back alleys would be his best bet.
Jason heard it before he saw it. The sounds of a mugger demanding money from someone. Then the sounds of a body falling on the ground. The same voice that lied about being fine was now complaining about spilling his new iced americano.
Was the kid a coffee addict like the replacement?
Grabbing his mask and jacket. He walked into the alley. It was a small space. About the width of two cars. A full dumpster in the alley. Behind the kid, there was a guy in a mask unconscious. The dude got what he deserved and was drenched in coffee. He’d take care of him after he dealt with the brat. Danny himself didn’t look so good.
He was sitting on the ground against the wall. Arm positioned over his stomach. Pain is evident even with his eyes closed. Much like their first meeting. Considering Danny hadn’t noticed him. This time he stood a chance. Danny looked like he was about to pass out. Could be as easy as grabbing the child.
The kid seemed to slump. Jason got directly in front of him with no reaction. Did he pass out?
Perfect time to try just grabbing him. No reaction when he touched his shoulders. He could be seriously injured even if he didn’t see them right off the back. He’s guessing he jolted the kid wrong when getting him in position. He was met with a bite on his shoulder. It went through his jacket.
Jason is positive he heard Danny hissing as well.
“This is the worst kidnapping attempt. 0 out 10” That opened a whole new line of questions.
“You’re the one passed out in an alley next to a mugger.”
Jason could hear the disappointment in Danny’s words “That was good coffee too.”
“Gonna run the minute I put you down or just plan to go intangible again.”
The air around them got colder than it had been. His foot especially. Huh. Not just intangibility. The brat froze his boot to the ground. Not that well, if he wanted, he could just pull his foot out.
“How about you just let me down and chill out.” Dick would like this kid.
“You need medical attention” Jason had an idea “If you’d rather ill call an ambulance, they get close and ill ditch. Don’t want any run-ins with the authorities myself.”
“NO. No cops no ambulances.” There was worry laced in his voice. He could work with this.
“Cool. We can just hang out here then” Kid wasn’t going to get out without using his abilities. He hadn’t yet so it seemed less and less likely.
“I’m fine” The go-to saying.
“Three choices. Me the crime lord, the ambulance, or we can stand here indefinitely. I’m sure one of those vigilantes will show their faces.”
“a crime lord?” The voice he spoke in led Jason to believe this might just work out.
“yup” Plain and simple. It was silent for about five or so minutes when the kid finally spoke.
“Fine. I’ll go with you. No cop or those weird vigilantes”
The ice disappeared and Jason let him down. He was happy to relieve him of his bag. Little incentive to have him not run. Danny was pouting and annoyed at the situation. Complaining that he was fine. The go-to lie. That he could carry his bag and walk just fine. Then dropped like a sack of rocks. Jason may have underestimated how badly he was injured. Getting him to a safe house would be simpler at least.
Once he was back in a safe-house kid passed out on the couch. He looked him over for any major injuries. Kid's torso was wrapped completely in bandages, the wrist burn he was aware of, and only several small surface-level wounds, which he tended to. Jason wasn’t going to do anything too invasive. The brat would no doubt run if he did. Its not like he would be able to keep him in the room easily. Intangibility and all, not to mention the ice powers.
He supposed it was time to hop back in the chat.
Red Hood: kids a meta who goes intangible and has some form of ice power.
Nightwing: Where have you been?
Nightwing: How do you know
Red Hood: met him obviously.
Robin: I wish to gather the knowledge of why we turned green. He fled the previous attempt.
Red Hood: so your saying the kid on the run. Likely has a government agency after him and you guys approached as a vigilante?
Nightwing: technically
Red Robin: i said he’d run
Red Hood: Kids going to be terrified of you guys. Be real with yourselves and think for a second.
Red Hood: whose the kid going to trust? The crime lord or the vigilantes.
Red hood: don’t answer. Seeing as he’s on my couch now.
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poke-me-with-a-stick · 7 months
Text
Chapter 23 of 'Artificial Wingman!'
For the full story on AO3, click here!
Enjoy!
---
Danny didn't know what he expected to happen after his sister and Robin's older brother left, but being locked in the most intense staring contest of his (after)life was not on the list. Yet that was where he found himself, sitting on Harley's beaten up couch with a surprisingly soft throw blanket draped over his shoulders, his glacial blue eyes locked with the Silvery blue of Robin's sister.
She was completely silent as she watched him, and Danny couldn't shake the feeling of being analyzed. Every twitch, every odd hitch in his already slow breathing, seemed like it had been noticed and filed away in some sort of filing cabinet in her head. Yet, strangely, the teen didn't feel threatened. Yeah, her intense attention was a bit uncomfortable, but it didn't feel malicious at all. Unlike Vlad or his parents, who examined every step he took and every move he made like he was some impossible enigma they were trying to dissect, her attention felt more... curious than anything else. That was probably the only thing that kept Danny from turning invisible.
"Soooo," He drawled, drawing the word out as finally broke eye contact, turning to look at a point just over her shoulder. There was an odd spot on the wall, a patch that looked like water damage. "I, um. I don't think we've been properly introduced to each other." Blinking, he tore his eyes away from the spot on the wall, but still couldn't bring himself to meet her probing gaze a second time. That bit of hair that hung just shy of her eyebrow was a good spot to look, though. It felt less like he was talking to the wall, at least. 'Ancients, why do I feel so nervous? She's just a person!' The teen scolded himself mentally. "I'm Danny."
Across from him, the girl chuckled. "Hello. I'm Cass." She signed to him, Spelling out her name before using a little gesture and pointing to herself. "It's nice to meet you finally, face to face." Face to face? What did she mean- Oh, right. She was at the Grocery Store, that one day he and Robin had been out hunting down the ingredients for the cure. The cure, which was currently sitting in his bag, resting just a few feet away on the coffee table.
Before his thoughts could spiral down that path, Cass tapped on the table infront of him. Blinking, he shot her bashful smirk, his face flushing slightly in embarrassment. "Sorry, got lost in though for a minute." He apologized.
She merely smiled back, signing a quick, "its alright," back at him. When the teen lapsed back into silence, she made a little humming noise before signing a question. "Do you have any hobbies?"
"Uhh... I know a lot about space?" He offered hesitantly, not quite sure what she was wanting. Obviously she was trying to make small talk, but the halfa didn't know she wanted to hear more about him, or if she was attempting to turn it into a conversation about her interests. Or maybe he was just overthinking it, his brain running twice as fast as it usually did, now that it had regained most of its normal function from whatever drug was in his system.
'Yeah, I'm definitely overthinking it.' The teen just barely avoided grimacing at his internal monologue.
"Oh, yes. Robin told us about that." Cass signed to him, pulling him from his thoughts again. "He sent me a picture from the Planetarium."
"Huh?" Danny voiced dumbly, his mind going blank for a second as she pulled up a picture on her phone. The image was a bit distorted, a green and blue film warring on the screen. But he could clearly make out the image underneath all the odd coloring. An image of himself, eyes dilated and hair floating in an odd way, as if it was caught in a current. The most obvious thing in the picture however, was clearly glowing frecles that adorned his face, casting an eerie blue and green glow over his cheeks and chin, making the way his eyes reflected the flash all the more noticable.
Danny could feel the blood rushing to his face as he covered his reddening cheeks with his palms. Closing his eyes, he groaned lowley to himself, ignoring the near silent chuckles that spilled from Cass. "I didn't know he took a picture. I didn't even see him take out his phone!" he whined, groaning again as Cass's laughter grew slightly louder.
When he finally brought his hands down, she smiled apologetically at him. "Don't feel bad," she told him. "Robin is really good at doing things stealthily."
Danny gave her a ruthful grin, nodding. "That makes sense, what with the vigilante thing." Sighing, he leaned back into the couch, tugging the blanket wrapped around him until it rested comfortably over his legs. "I can be pretty stealthy too, but that's mainly because of..." he trailed off, just realising that maybe it wasn't the best idea to go around boasting about being half ghost.
"Powers?" Cass signed, finishing his sentence for him. He nodded, figuring it was a bit to late to censor himself now. She made an "ah," noise, mimicking zipping her lips.
"Thanks," he murmured, appreciating her gesture. They both slipped back into silence, though it wasn't as awkward as before. The peaceful quiet was broken by the shattering of some ceramic object, followed by a disappointed moan. They both looked towards the source of the noise to see Robin stalk out of the kitchen with a plate of fruits, glaring at the blond that followed him.
"That was one of my favorite plates!" She pouted, looking mournfully at the few shards she carried with her.
"If you cared for it so much, then perhaps you shouldn't have thrown it." Robin retorted, settling down in his seat next to Danny. The teen carefully set the place down on the table infront of the teen, gesturing towards it when he only gazed at the bunch of grapes and fruit slices curiously. "Eat. You are far too skinny and light."
Danny huffed at the boy, still too tired to argue much, before popping one of the grapes into his mouth. "My weight didn't seem such an issue before. What changed?" He asked, letting his head drop until it rested just above Robin's shoulder.
"What changed was waking up with your boney elbow pressed into my stomach." The teen reached up and pulled Danny's head down the rest of the way. "I could tell you were a bit underweight before, when I carried you, but your clothing has been a bit.... baggy, up until this point, so I had no idea just how thin you actually were."
Noticing that Danny had stopped eating, Robin grabbed an apple slice from the plate and held it to he mouth, not bothering to speak until Danny bit into it. "As long as you are in my care, I intend to feed you as much as possible. Pennyworth would be disappointed in me otherwise." The teen sniffed, grabbing another grape and handing it to the ravenette.
Danny snorted, chewing the fruit and swallowing before he attempted to respond. "I've always been on the skinneir side, so it's not that big of a deal, y'know?" He said in an attempt to placate the teen.
It didn't work, if the frown on Robin's face was anything to go by. "Well," he tilted his head in an almost challenging manner, "I suppose that is just something that we will have to remedy." He didn't give Danny a chance to respond, practically shoving another apple slice into Danny's mouth when he went to protest. He huffed at the teen, chewing the slice obediently.
Beside them, Cass let out a giggle. Danny merely huffed again, deciding to focus on the fruit instead of acknowledging her amusement. Robin didn't appear bothered by her laughter, instead humming pleasantly as he picked another slice up from the plate, a pear this time.
Part of Danny felt annoyed at being hand fed like this, but another part practically purred at the attention and care the teen was giving him. The halfa ignored them both, still not all there mentally at the moment. It most certianly wasn't because he couldn't tell if it was his ghost half or his human half that yearned for the moment to never stop. Not at all.
Sadly for whichever half that was, the moment seemed to end once Danny had cleared the plate, only leaving behind the sticky residue from the cut fruits on it's ceramic surface. Having watched him (and helped him) finish off the plate, Robin shot him a slightly smug yet oddly warm smile as he stood to take the plate back the the kitchen. Once again leaving him alone with Cass.
The woman snickered silently as Danny shifted, obviously sensing his embarrassment with what had just occured. Before he could say anything, (what was he supposed to say after that?), Cass was signing at him again. "You two are adorable together," her grin widened as Danny felt blood flood his face. Groaning, the halfa let his head fall back against the couch, closing his eyes, as if that would help him escape the situation.
'Jazz, stop flirting with the Hood guy and get over here,' the teen desperatly thought. 'I don't know how much more teasing and coddling I can take.' Knowing his sister, the teen knew he would learn what his tollerance level for embarrassment would be. And after all his humiliation at school, he knew that it would be a while before they hit the bar.
- - -
By the time Jazz finally pulled up in the Speeder, Danny was contemplating just letting his intangibility wash over him. The only thing that stopped him from actually doing it was the knowledge that Jazz would never let him live it down. And that she would definalty tell Sam and Tucker. So it was safe to say he was very, very happy to hear the familiar hum and rumble of the interdiminsional hover car.
Honestly, it wasn't that bad, all things considered. The light ribbing that he got from Cass and Harley was embarrassing for sure, but it was all lighthearted. Much different from the snide remarks and mocking tones of the A-listers. It was nice, in a way, more like the way he and his friends picked on each other.
That didn't make him any less excited when he heard the firm, heavy knock on the front door before Jazz strides in, followed closely by a raven haired man with a white streak through his hair. Danny couldn't help but stare at him, tilting his head as a questioning chrip slipped from him.
Three things happened at that moment. Harley and Cass looked at him, both a bit confused and surprised at the most definatly not normal noise he made. Damian glanced between him and the man, seemingly unsure of what to say. Jazz, the most liminal person in the room, opened her mouth, probably to answer his unvoiced question. And, perhaps the most surprising of all, the man seemed to freeze in place.
Danny watched the man's eyes widened, taking on a slightly green tint as he met the teen's gaze. "What-" before Danny could ask the man anything, he seemed to swallow hard, his throat working as if there was a physical blockage. A croaking, whistle-like sound resounded from him, catching the attention of everyone else in the room. The man's face scrunched slightly, almost like he didnt' know what he was doing. Coughing a bit, he cleared his throat, and... Chrrup?
Danny blinked. That was... not what he was expecting. He chirped back, not really sure what else to do in this situation. The man mimicked his chirp, the dazed look slowly leaving his eyes and being replaced by a look of confusion. "What the fuck was that?" He asked, his voice shaking slightly.
Danny didn't answer him, instead turning his gaze to his sister. "How the heck did you find a liminal in less than two hours?" He asked, half exasperated and half dumbfounded.
Jazz returned his look of confusion with one of her own. "You couldn't tell he was liminal?" She asked, not bothering to answer his question.
"What the hell is a liminal anyways?" Harley piped up, her gaze switching between the three ghost-adjacent people in the room.
It was Robin who answered her. "I would assume that a liminal is someone more in tune with the dead than a normal person." He turned to look at Danny. "Is that right?"
"Uh, yeah. Basically, a liminal is a person that has been around ambient ectoplasm enough for it to change them. Usually, it makes them a bit more ghost like, whether it be physical changes like fangs or eyeshine, or the development of weak ghost powers like intangibility or enhanced empathy." Danny turned away from his staring contest with his sister to look at Robin as he explained. "My sister and my friends are a bit more liminal than others, and it's not exactly rare to meet someone who is at least a little liminal." He turned to the man once more, this time stretching his senses out.
Almost immediately the teen was assaulted by the bitter taste of rage. His face contorted at the unpleasant acidic flavor it left behind. Under the thick layer of rage, there was the slightly tangy taste of confusion, along with the slight lemon-like taste of fear. He was about to pull back when another taste hit him. The teen had to physically restrain himslef from full body flinching away from the man at the soured-milk and rot that overpowered everything else.
"Jeeze!" Danny smacked him lips, trying to get the perceived taste out of his mouth. "What cesspool have you been hanging around?" He asked the man.
"Danny!" He sister scolded, reaching over to cuff his head. He ducked, her fingers barley brushing his unruly hair.
"What?" He asked, glaring at her childishly.
"You can't just ask people that! Its rude!" She chided, returning his glare with one of her own.
"Trust me, Jazz. If you could sense what I just sensed, you would be asking the same question." He leaned away from her, just in case she tried to cuff him again. "Whatever ecto he was exposed to is bad. Like, not changing the filter in forty years bad. Dude needs a spa day badly." He shot the man another glance with a low, "No offense," before meeting his sister's stare again.
"None... taken?" He looked between the siblings, trying to digest the info given. "Wait, so I'm a liminal-whatever, what does that even mean? And what the heck is ectoplasm?" He turned to Robin, looking incredibly lost.
"I mean, I just explained what Liminals are. It just means you've been hanging out around death-ooze for long enough to get some freaky ghost abilities, but without the being dead part." Danny broke off his staring contest finally, giving the man his full attention. "And ectoplasm is a green, glowy, kinda radioactive substance that comes from the afterlife. It can leak into the mortal realm sometimes through natural portals, but it usually gets absorbed pretty fast. Whatever you've been hanging around is a prime example of why chores are so important in my house. Congealed ectoplasm left out to sit, or mixed with anything besides fresh ecto is not the safest thing. Especially for mortals. Even in ghosts, it can have some really adverse reactions. Wouldn't surprise me if you're experiencing some of the side effects of it."
The room fell silent after that, half of the room thinking about how eerily close that description was to the Lazerus Waters. Though, it would explain some things, if it was true.
Everyone was startled out of their thoughts by Jazz clapping loudly. "Okay! As fun as whatever that was, is. I believe we have more important things to be doing?" She gave everyone in the room a pointed look before turning back to her brother. "Danny, the Liminal guy is Jason. He said he has somewhere that we can hide out with the Speeder while you recover and work on the Portal gun."
"Sweet, really?" Danny looked over to the man, Jason, and went to smile before he paused. "Wait..." he narrowed his eyes at the man, eyeing him suspiciously. "How do we know he isn't some wacked out fruitloop? And what happened to that Red Hood guy you left with? Where did he go?"
Jason's face scrunched up at the fruitloop comment, a denial on his lips, but Jazz beat him to it. "Danny!" She scolded him again. "First off, he isn't some wacked out fruitloop, have a little faith in me. And second, are you seriously that dense?" Danny blinked at her, a small look of afrontment on his face that Robin fought not to laugh at.
"Hey! I'm not dense!" He protested.
She merely raised an eyebrow at him, sending a pointed glance at Jason before going back to him. "Do you really not know who this is?" She asked, amusement coloring her tone.
Danny turned his attention back to Jason, staring at him intently. Now that he was focusing on him, he did seem vaguely familiar. But he hasn't met people in this universe, so if Jazz expected him to know who Jason was, then he had to have met him one already, right? If that was the case, then the only people he has met here would be Robin's brothers. He wasnt Dick, too tall and buff, not to kention he would be sporting a bruise from that punch, so that would leave...
"Wait, Redhood?!?"
"About fuckin' time!"
---
(I know there are probably some Grammer and/or spelling mistakes, but it's okay because I tried my best!)
For the amazing person who made the prompt for this story, as well as the lovely people who follow along!
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45 notes · View notes
tumbling-darkling · 3 years
Text
Midnight Hang-Outs
This is a small crossover between Danny Phantom and DC! (Specifically Danny and Harley Quinn!) Following the prompts from Day 11 and 12 - Midnight and Scars (more of mentioned than revolving around it) Harley might be slightly ooc because I don’t read a lot of DC comics but maybe consider it more of like AU Harley Quinn. Mother hen. She feeds the vigilantes of Gotham on slow nights.
Harley glanced over to the boy sitting next to her on the rooftop of the Gotham Bank, she had been planning to break into it to draw out some fun with any nearby vigilantes but instead she had spotted the scrawniest looking glowing teen she’d ever seen. Well he was the only glowing teen she’d ever seen, but the poor kid was struggling against some freak in a white suit.
He had already devoured about 10 of the breakfast sandwiches she bought from a nearby 24 hour fast food joint, she couldn’t remember the name but her pal, Jeremy, always worked late shifts and gave her most of the grease filled wraps for free. Which she got a total of 20 and was beginning to worry that it wasn’t enough for this endless void. She thought she could calculate this kind of thing better based on Batsy’s kids, then again none of them had powers. That must be the factor throwing her off.
She glanced over him again, taking in his features for probably the hundredth time since she spotted him. White hair that gently wisped around his face like he was constantly underwater, pale blue-green skin with neon green freckles that sparkled like stars in the night, toxic green eyes that matched the freckles, flecks of blue hidden within the irises that shone in the right light. He hand pointed ears and little baby fangs, and his suit itself reminded her of the superheroes she’s faced before, but the material seemed all wrong when she got a closer look. It wasn’t spandex, or that thick armour like fibre that Batsy likes to use. She didn’t know what it was made out of. That flaming looking D was enough to hint at a superhero gig, like Superman and that ‘S’ on his chest. She didn’t care that it was supposed to be a symbol for hope, his name was Superman and that thing was an S, end of conversation.
The kid had taken off those gloves in order to eat, she didn’t blame him though, eating with gloves on was weird, and those white gloves would stain like a motherfucker. What caught her attention about it was the scars. Little one littered this kid's hands, and then there was a ligament scar coating his left hand. It was the brightest of all the scars, glowing slightly a wicked green as if he was still being electrocuted.
She turned her gaze back to the streets below, “So, what are you doing out this late?” She asked, avoiding sensitive topics like the scar. “It has to be way past midnight at this point.”
The kid glanced over to her, then shrugged, “had to chase Boxy all the way out here, the dude flies fast for a ghost obsessed in boxes.”
Harley glanced back over, noticing the kid now had finished the last of the sandwiches as he looked in the bag for more, shoving the garbage into it once he confirmed there was nothing left, “Boxy? Was that the freak in white?”
The kid shook his head, “nah, that was a government agent. G.I.W, or the Guys in White. Must’ve followed me, cornered me after I was already exhausted from chasing Boxy all over town. Boxy is the Box Ghost, blue ghost dude in overalls, fairly harmless but he can be a pain in the ass when he wants to be.”
“Want me to blow the rest of those agents up for you?” Harley asked, leaning closer while flashing a sinister grin.
The kid jerked back, “no! No it’s fine, just caught me off guard! I can handle them just fine, you don’t need to blow anyone up!” He squeaked out quickly, wildly waving his hands around. Harley couldn’t help but grin at the display, he reminded her a lot of Batsy’s kids. Energetic, good hearts (most of the time), think they can handle the world.
“So are you one of Batsy’s kids? Harley voiced her thoughts.
The kid blinked owlishly at her, “Batsy’s… you mean Batman? The Batman?”
Harley shrugged, “yeah, Batsy. He has quite a lot of them so I like to try and stay updated when he gets a new kid. You almost fit the bill, young teen, dark past, though the powers would be new.”
“How do you know I have a dark past?”
“Well, you said you were a ghost, right? Meaning you died and judging by your age, died before you even finished high school. I’d call that a dark past,” she kept out the lingering question of how he died, that wasn’t something you exactly ask someone when you first meet them. “So you aren’t one of Batsy’s kids?”
The kid shook his head, “nope,” he popped the p, “never even met the dark knight before. I barely visit Gotham, well anywhere if I can help it, I try to keep my problems in my home turf.”
“I see, you know what, I should’ve known better. Batsy would never let his kids run around this late anyway,” she hummed. “I did once see him chew a Robin out for fighting crime past his curfew, it got me arrested for sticking around to watch but boy was it worth it!” She laughed. She was surprised that Batman hadn’t gotten to this kid yet, anyhow. He didn’t always stick around Gotham ever since he joined that hero club, but that just meant that this dude had even more of a chance to find this kid. Must be dumb luck or something.
“Batman puts curfews on his sidekicks?” The kid asked, mouth agape.
“Well duh, the guy is all about the well-being of his kids. He has a no killing rule but he gets close to breaking it when one of his kids gets almost killed. He keeps them well fed, makes sure they sleep, I know because I can hear him from across rooftops at times and I fight enough of his kids to notice they aren’t skin and bones like you.”
The kid looked down at his ungloved hands, and she noticed him tracing the pattern of the ligament scar lightly with his other hand. His expression changed as he seemed to run through a series of thoughts before he spoke again, “why did you help me?” He asked, not looking up to meet her eyes, “you are a villain, right? You fight Batman and Robin, and other superheroes too if they face you. You know I’m not a villain, you said so yourself. So why help me? Wouldn’t it be better to just let a vigilante kid get knocked off so you don’t have to deal with him in future crimes?”
Harley felt her heart shatter, who the fuck hurt this kid like this? “I’m not some heartless bitch,” she said in a matter of fact tone, “you and all the teen sidekicks or vigilantes out there are still fucking kids. I have morals, and some villains don’t have the same morals as me, but seeing you getting kicked around by some freak in an alley where no one could see you? That kind of shit rubs me the wrong way. I fight teen heroes from time to time because I know they can handle it, they can fight back and I myself won’t stoop so low as to kill them if I manage to get in a few lucky hits.” She lightly nudged his shoulder, “and it’s not like you’ve personally wronged me or anything. I felt like being nice, helping out. You seem like a good kid, so why not help you out? Maybe one day I can call a favour and you can distract Bats while I kidnap the president?” She joked.
The kid looked up suddenly, sending his hair in rippling waves as he was giving her a wide eyed and the most worried look imaginable. She couldn’t help but let out another laugh, “I’m joking!” She clarified. “But I think we could have some pretty interesting game nights with Ivy. Not illegal game night, more like Uno or something. Maybe just a little gambling.”
The kid relaxed again, “well… uh… thanks. For helping me. And the food. And talking,” he rubbed the back of his neck, looking up at the sky.
“No problem, be sure to come visit again. Hey, maybe I can even introduce you to Bats at some point! Make a big show and pretend you are a villain and then BAM! Just kidding he’s just a glowing vigilante I helped out once!” She stood up, stretching her arms a little, “be sure to take it easy on your way to your home by the way, maybe take a nap or something on the way there.”
The kid nodded with a smile and stood up with her, then paused as shock filled his eyes and he spun quickly towards Harley, “Wait- how do you know I sleep-?”
Harley laughed, “well, I don’t think ghosts normally eat, so I’m assuming you sleep too,” she offered a soft smile, “just take it easy, and hey, if you ever find yourself in trouble.” Harley then pulled out a business card she usually kept for shits and giggles, handing over the poorly designed card to the kid, “know that you have a friend in Gotham who’s ready to help. And who knows how to get Batsy’s attention the fastest.” She winked.
The kid took the card, a confused grin tugging at his lips, “thanks. Hey, uh. I go by Phantom. Since I never really introduced myself.”
“Well Phantom, nice to meet you,” Harley grinned back.
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mrvdocks · 3 years
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Summary: Steve gets some closure. You and Nancy get a big surprise.
A/N: well, well, well, here we are. One chapter away from the finale. I hope you guys enjoy it. :) 
Two weeks. You’d been gone for two weeks. 
At first, he thought you just needed some time to cool off, so he waited. And waited.
And waited.
When you didn’t return after the third day, that’s when he started to panic. He’d called Robin, only to be met with an earful of how you were too good for him and that he needed to make a reassessment of his life. He knew that. 
The days started to feel long and lonely. Mickey was there sure, but he was starting to miss your presence. Your loud and annoying laughter didn’t fill his ears when he would watch your favorite shows. He wished you’d come out of the room at times and yell at him for using your luxurious things. 
He’d broken the foot tub. He didn’t know how, but he’d broken it and he wasn’t nearly as knowledgeable about fixing things as much as you were. 
Just when he was cleaning up his mess for the day, there was a knock on the door. He froze.
His heartbeat suddenly started to shake and rattle against his rib cage. There was an uneasy feeling in his stomach. One where you know you’ve done something wrong and tried to put it off and now have to face it. 
He exhales slowly, dropping what he’s doing and preparing himself for the worst. Maybe you’d push past him or call him names or take Mickey. He thinks taking Mickey would be worse. He didn’t like being alone with his thoughts and God knows he couldn’t charm anyone else to spend time with him lately. 
He opens the door in a swift motion, ready to say the usual “I’m sorry” but is met with someone he did not ever expect to see in the area.
Don Harrington. And company.
He’s in a grey suit jacket and jeans and sensible shoes, all things Steve hadn’t seen in a long time. Next to Don are two kids, the same kids that he hadn’t seen since he’d left Hawkins.
“Stranger! Stranger!” They yell in unison, pointing at Steve. 
“Guys! It’s okay, it’s just Steve, remember?” Don laughs charmingly, bringing his hands onto the boys’ shoulders and rubbing them to calm them down.
“Dad?” Steve asks, completely wide-eyed.
The kids push past Steve and begin their scream-a-thon again. Steve is too struck by his father standing in front of him to even care that they’re probably making a mess inside. 
“Hey son,” Don shoves his hands into his suit jacket. “Got a minute?”
Steve sighs. 
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Steve reaches for the water basin to give his dad water and almost hides his opened bottle of alcohol but in a small thought, offers it to his dad. Don refuses it, saying he’s watching his figure. Steve scoffs to himself, just a few years earlier his dad would’ve loved a cup, or at least the whole thing.
“What are you doing here, Dad?” Steve asks, pouring the water. 
Don’s fingers tapped against the wooden table in drum-like motions. “Can’t a father visit his son with his future step-brothers? I’m worried about you, kid, you haven’t responded to any of my calls.”
Steve stops pouring. “Let’s not do this, alright?”
Don’s brows furrow. “Do what?”
Steve shoves the basin to the side. “Don’t pretend like you want to be there for me now. You had all that time then, why now?”
Don shuts his eyes. 
“Steve, I’m sorry. Really, I am. Listen, I know I wasn’t the greatest -”
“You were a grade-A asshole who ruined our family.”
Don doesn’t fight with his son. He knows his sins. But that’s what he’s here for, atonement.
“Did I make some harsh decisions for you to toughen up? Yes. Did I make your mother and you lose trust in me? Yes, but I’m here now Steve. I didn’t leave. I could’ve but I didn’t.”
“So all of this,” he gestures to Don and the kids, “suddenly just makes up for all the bullshit you’ve given me? Do you know how many times I heard mom crying in the middle of the night? All those times she pretended like those business trips you took were actually for business? Hell, do you even remember what happened when I left?”
“Yes, I do.” Don nods, closing his eyes again in uneasy remembrance. 
It would be better if the past was just forgotten.
“I know you’re angry at me. You have every right to be, but I did say I wanted to bury the hatchet. Everything I did is in the past now, your mother and I - you know, we moved on. She found someone and I did too. I think it’s only fair that you do as well. And I see you have.” 
Steve tenses up a little at the latter half of Don’s sentence. He did, didn’t he?
“Yeah. Maybe not, Dad.” Steve avoids his father’s eyes and fiddles with things on the counter.
Don catches on. “Why?”
Exasperated, Steve stops what he’s doing. 
“What happened? You made this girl sound like she was your soulmate tenfold!” 
“Maybe soulmates don’t exist, Dad. Maybe not for me anyway.” Steve plops himself down in front of his dad, clutching the mug of water to sober himself up more.
Don frowns. “What happened?”
Steve hesitates. He’s never bared his feelings to his dad since he left. And even then, it was all just dry replies and sarcasm and bitterness. But maybe it’s the alcohol talking or the fact that his dad really does seem like he’s changed. 
“I screwed it up. I just let myself get in my head and I - I pushed her away.”
Don places a comforting hand atop his son’s own. Steve recoils at first but settles. His father had never been too affectionate, no, that was his mother’s job. It felt off.
But it also felt a little more comfortable, honest. Like there wasn’t a hint of being affectionate for the sake of hiding some grand affair. 
“Steve, you’d tell me the truth if I asked you right?”
“I guess.”
“Do you hate Mary?”
“What? No. No.”
“Then why are you so mad about us?”
“I’m not mad, Dad. I just - when you and mom split, it messed me up. I didn’t want to be like you guys. I just wanted to find the one and hang onto her forever. And now I’m completely alone, so. And you’re just moving onto your next family.”
“Steve, I’m sorry that your mother and I splitting up hurt you so much. I’d be nothing if I hadn’t met her and I also wouldn’t have you. But kiddo, as long as your mother and I are alive, you’ll never be alone. Including your girlfriend. It's not too late to fix things."
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“Thanks for letting me crash here, Nancy. I promise I’ll be out of your hair soon.” You say, fixing up your couch bed. 
Nancy waves your concern away. 
“Don’t even worry about it, it’s nice having company. Plus it gets kind of lonely at night.” She says, setting the white timer on and setting it down on the counter. 
“You cooking something?”
“No….just trying to time something.” She says vaguely. You don’t read too much into it for now.
Nancy smiles warmly instead, passing you a thick fleece blanket from the other couch. Jonathan was off doing a piece on the Northern Lights somewhere in Alaska. When Nancy had first revealed to him that you were staying with her until things settled, he had a few choice words for Steve.
You felt odd, having turned Steve’s friends somewhat against him. Nancy reassured you that this was familiar territory. They knew how Steve was. This is how she had remembered him in Hawkins during that honeymoon period they were in. 
“Do you miss him?” Nancy asks, settling into the blanket with you and putting the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table. She was about to play the movie you two had debated on for a solid three minutes.
You shrugged as you fiddled with the chipped nail polish on your fingers. “I love him, Nance. But if I can’t convince him that nothing’s going on, then what’s the point?”
You sigh as you close your eyes and try to imagine when the last time you saw Steve happy was. You think the day in California was the best day of your life. He was like a little kid again, running around the boardwalk and trying to impress you with the “test your strength” games. The sunset perfectly illuminated him when you laid on the cooling sand, a single curl falling loose on his forehead from his quiffed hair.
“I don’t think you should let this deter you. Maybe Steve’s just scared. I mean why wouldn’t he? He’s had a fear of unfaithfulness forever. His parents, his friends, me and Jonathan. To him, there’s always been someone better.”
“I know.” You frown. “But, and excuse the cliche, when I’m with him - it’s like nobody else matters. If I was still with Danny the second I moved in with Steve and Robin, I think I would’ve been in trouble.”
Nancy’s brows perk up, intrigued. “How so?”
“I’ve been in love with Steve since the day I moved in. I promised myself I wouldn’t move on so fast after Danny but, I messed up that day.”
Nancy smiles at the sweet thought.
You shake your head in thought. “I don’t know. Maybe I wasn’t his type after all.”
“Oh please, you’re definitely his type. Smart, tough, independent AND you have the balls to call him out on his bull? You’re his dream girl!”
You blush at the compliment. “Thanks, Nance.”
“You’re very welcome. Now, let’s riff on this romcom and throw popcorn when things get too cheesy.” 
The movie goes on for half an hour, the bottom of the tv set covered in popcorn bits and kernels. You and Nancy laugh hysterically and boo at the cheesy romantic scenes whenever they pop up. When the timer goes off Nancy glances over her shoulder and stands, giving you the half-empty bowl of popcorn.
“I’ll be back.” She says, going to the upstairs bathroom.
“Alright, but don’t take too long. I think Tom Hanks gets naked in the next scene.”
“I won’t.” She chuckles and disappears.  
You take a handful of popcorn in your hand and dump it in the hood of your sweater, bobbing for it in an attempt to stay distracted. 
Five minutes pass and Nancy hasn’t returned. You glance at the time on the tape player. It’s only so long that you can bear to stare at Tom Hanks’ eyes before he loses his charm. 
“Nancy?” You call out, hearing shifting from upstairs. No response though.
You count to three, getting up and letting pieces of popcorn fall to the ground. 
“Naaancy.” You step onto the stairs carefully, grabbing onto the wooden railing. 
Still no answer. You huff and resolve to go up the stairs.
“Nancy if this is your idea of a prank, just know it’s not great! I don’t get scared easily!” 
You make it all the way to the top and glance down both ends of the hallway. You see a light on at the end of the hallway on the left, the door left ajar just enough to see the shower. You approach with caution, hoping not to catch Nancy in an unflattering position. 
“Nancy?” You call again, now at the front of the bathroom door. You can hear sniffles like someone’s crying. Your brows furrow.
“Nancy?” You swing the bathroom door open slowly, meeting a crying Nancy on the floor next to the toilet. 
“Hey,” Your voice lowers an octave and becomes soft. “You okay?”
You kneel down to her level and put a hand on her back, rubbing in circles. 
She shakes her head, revealing a white stick in her hand. Your eyes widen when you realize what it is. 
“These aren’t real right? These are joke tests?”
Nancy looks up at you in teary puppy dog eyes. 
“I don’t know,” she hiccups. “I don’t know what to do. I was hoping it was a false alarm.”
Trying to make her feel better, you grab one of the untouched sticks and sit on the top of the toilet. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll pee on one too, and then we can see if it’s a false positive okay?”
“Okay.” She murmurs softly, chin now resting on her knees as she cowers against the shower door. 
“Have you and Jonathan talked about this kind of stuff?” You ask, shimmying your sweats down.
She shrugs and looks to the side. “It’s too early. He’s just so focused on his career and I just got this job….it’s in the plans...just - not right now.”
You cock your head to the side with a sympathetic look.
“Hey. It’s all going to work out fine alright? You don’t have to tell him yet. We can figure it out. I’ll help you.”
Nancy sniffles and dabs at her teary eyes. She nods.  
You both wait for the test results after a few minutes. You try to make her feel better with some small talk but you can tell the results weigh heavily on her mind. You grab the stick when enough time has passed, eager to make her feel better until you take a look at it.
“See? Nothing to be worried about.” You reassure her, waving the stick a few inches away from her face.
Nancy does a double-take. Her mouth formed an “O”. 
“What?” Your grin falls. “Two lines means not pregnant right?” 
She stands quickly, balancing herself on the edge of the sink. “Two lines is….pregnant.”
Your heart drops. 
“Please say you’re joking.”
“No, it says it right here, look.” She hands you the paper from the box and on it clear as day, two lines equal pregnant.
You drop the stick onto the sink and start to hyperventilate. Nancy abandons the paper and wraps an arm around you.
“Are you? Are you - pregnant too?”
“No! No, I can’t be. I - I haven’t had sex since like Halloween week!”
Nancy gives you a knowing look. Your face falls. 
“I’m too young to be pregnant!” You exclaim.
“What?” 
“Nothing, brain fart.” 
You rush out the bathroom door and downstairs to the kitchen where she keeps the home phone. You dial Robin’s number as fast as you can and tap your feet impatiently as you hear the line trilling.
“Come on, pick up.” You whisper.
Nancy rushes downstairs to stand in the doorway, clutching the manual and listening.
“Hello?” Robin’s voice alleviates some of your panic.
“Hold on I’m putting you on speaker.” You say, letting Nancy get a better listen.
“What? What’s going on? Did Steve apologize yet?”
You exhale shakily. “No, no he didn’t, I - um, I have something to tell you.”
You can hear Robin set down whatever she was holding as you capture her full attention. “What is it? You’re scaring me.”
“There’s no easy way to say this….but…I think, I’m pregnant.”
“You’re what?! Shut up!” Robin screeches. “Kali! Get in here!”
“What happened?” You hear Kali’s voice a split second later.
“Say what you just said again!” Robin commands.
“Kali, I think I’m pregnant.”
“You’re what?!?!” She gasps.
“I know!” You clap your hands over your face in shame and silently scream into them.
“Oh my god, what have you done? To like - the world?!” Robin cuts in. 
“Robin…” Kali scolds.
“I’m sorry!”
“Oh god, what do I do?” You question the speakerphone.
“That kid is going to come out with a full head of hair and try to flirt with the nurse the second it’s born.” Robin bursts into a fit of laughter. 
“Not funny, Robin!” You glare at the phone, trying to remain calm.
“Well, now you have to tell him!” Kali says.
“No, I don’t! You saw how well things went over a coffee machine, imagine a kid!” 
“You have to! What if this is what he needs to stop acting like a kid?” Robin tries to reason. “He was always good with kids in high school and part of the reason is that those were his only friends!”
You cringe, remembering those stories. 
“If losing his best friend wasn’t enough for him to stop acting like an idiot, what makes you think throwing a kid into the mix would?”
“I dunno. But Kali’s right. You have to tell him. Otherwise what happens when you start showing and the worst thing he can think is you’re getting fat?”
You scoff. 
“Maybe they’re right,” Nancy chimes in. “I mean, how long are you going to go without talking to him? You have to make up at some point.” 
You groan in frustration, raking your hands through your hair. 
“I really hate that I consider you guys my moral compass. I truly do.” 
Having responsible friends really was a pain sometimes. 
The phone line rings and blares red as another call was coming through. 
“That must be Jonathan.” Nancy guesses.
“Robin hold on, Jonathan might be on the line.” 
“Oh good, I want to know what he thinks of all this.”
Nancy puts Robin on hold and picks up the phone from the receiver. 
“Hello? Hold on, hold on, what’s going on?” 
You can hear whoever’s calling speaking fast. 
“No, she’s not here.” She lies.
You take a break from your panic attack to try and listen to the frantic voice on the other end. It’s all too fast for you to understand.
“You’re where? Slow down!” Nancy asks, glancing at you now and pointing to the phone. 
“It’s Steve.” She mouths.
You freeze. 
“Okay! Okay! I’ll let her know if I see her.” She hangs up and presses the button to get Robin back.
“What’s the sitch?” 
“He said something about a dog.” 
“Mickey?” Your voice grows concerned. 
“I guess? He just said that something was wrong and he went to take him to the animal hospital.”
Your stomach dropped to your ass. You rushed over to the front door and put on your shoes as fast as you could. 
“Did he say which one?” You ask, borrowing one of Jonathan’s coats. There was no way you were going out there in just sweats and a henley. 
“Ummm I don’t know, I think the one on West and 61st street.” 
“That’s where I work!” You exclaim. “You don’t have a car?”
Nancy shakes her head. “Jonathan’s the one who drives.”
“What about you Robin?” 
“No can do, me and Kali have a meeting but keep me posted! Good luck!”
“Screw it I’ll take a cab.” You say goodbye to Nancy and rush out the door and brave the cold. 
You whistle down a cab and hop in. “Murray’s Animal Hospital, please. And step on it!”
“Wait, (Y/N)? Is that you?” A familiar voice asks you.
The driver turns around, revealing himself to be…..speak of the devil, Danny. 
“Danny? Oh for fuck’s sake.” You sigh and rub at your temples.
“Hey!” He says in a lighthearted tone. “Long time no see.”
“Danny, I will literally pay you extra to shut up and drive like hell alright?” 
Danny does as he’s told and hauls ass. You grab a hold of the bar on top of your head for each swerve and crazed turn he does that earns him a honk of the horn from other cars and nearly sends you flying out of your seat.
Two messy car ride minutes later and you rush out of the taxi as soon as he parks outside the entrance to the animal hospital. 
“Hey!”
“Give me a minute!” You flip him off and ignore him as you try not to think of the worst-case scenario happening with Mickey.
You must look like a lunatic to the girl sitting at your desk with wild hair and an overall messy appearance. You try your best to fix yourself up.
“Where is he? Where’s Mickey?” You ask frantically.
“Who?” Your replacement sitting at your desk asks.
“A black dog! He came in with someone, big hair? Big head?”
She gets the gist and points to the right and down the hallway. You take deep breaths as you will yourself to put on a brave face. 
Steve’s sitting on a chair with his face in his hands. He looks up when he hears the patterning of your footsteps against the sheet vinyl flooring. He gets up quickly, nearly knocking the chair over.
“H-Hey.” He says nervously, hand on his arm. 
Come on, you can do this. You can do this.
“Hey.” You breathe. 
He’s taking you in from top to bottom. It’s the first time he’s seen you since Halloween night. 
“I missed you.”
“What happened?” 
You both say in unison.
Your mouth falls agape as you take in his confession. Fortunately, he pretends like your question took more priority. 
“I don’t know. One second my stepbrothers are playing with him, the next he’s choking on some toy they brought.”
“What was so important that you couldn’t keep an eye on him? I knew it. I knew I should’ve come back for him.” 
You didn’t mean for it to sound so harsh but the situation was starting to make you realize something. Say you did have this kid, would it even survive for a month? 
“My dad came to visit.” He stares down at the tips of his shoes, shoving his hands into his pockets. The same way he did last time you saw him. 
“Oh.” You let out. Well, this changes things.
“What did he want?”
“He wanted to fix things.”
“Did it work?”
He shrugs. “Having that talk with him, it made me realize something.”
Your breath gets caught in your throat. “What is it?”
“Hey, you coming or not? The meter’s running.” Danny’s voice comes to interrupt a peaceful conversation.
“Danny.” Steve acknowledges.
“Hey,” Danny replies, eyeing him. “Stan, right?”
“It’s actually Steve.” He corrects.
Danny laughs it off. “Okay man.”
You squeeze your eyes shut as you know this situation just took a turn. You grab a handful of bills from your pocket and shove them into his chest. 
“Fuck off.” You command.
Danny takes his wad of money and leaves. 
Things fall silent again as Steve clears his throat. 
“So….Danny huh?”
“Oh shut up, I needed a ride. I didn’t know he was the one driving the damn cab.” 
“Does he know about me?” 
“No. Yes. I don’t know. I figure the whole sleeping with my sister thing cancels out if he sees me with someone else.”
Steve nods, confused. 
Beat.
“Can I...can I tell you something?” Steve asks, getting closer and closer to you. You feel butterflies when he does.
“Please don’t make a big speech.”
“It’s not a big speech. It’s a medium - medium speech.”
“Okay….”
“You were right. You were completely and totally right about me. I am an asshole. And you were right about these weddings. I didn’t know what I was looking for. I would get in my head about all these things that the perfect person should or shouldn’t be. And I’ve been thinking. A lot. Being alone in that apartment made me realize something.” 
“That you’re lonely and afraid of commitment?” 
He chuckles. “No. You’re not there to insult me or make fun of me when I come home from work. You’re not there to tell me how much of an idiot I look in the groomsmen photos or how my speech was shitty. You’re not even there with me and Mickey.”
He’s starting to tear up, his eyes get blurry and watery and he has to wipe discreetly at them. It was time to confront his demons and make it up to you. Being alone was just a taste of what would become of him if he didn’t swallow his pride.
“And I know the only reason you’re not there is because I hurt you. I hurt the one person who never deserved it. And I pushed you away because I’m stupid and I’m selfish and fuck me for being too late but I love you! I love you.”
You felt your lip quivering with each little detail he added about his epiphany. But the straw that broke the camel’s back was the declaration of love.
“Y-You love me?” Your voice cracks.
“Of course.” He breathes out, hands reaching for yours to take reassuringly. 
“Steve...I really….I have to tell you something.”
“Please don’t say you and Danny are back together.” 
“No...no it’s not that,” you try to work up the courage to tell him. “I’m....I think - I’m pregnant.”
Steve steps back for a moment. He feels the shock settle in. He lets out a surprised gasp as he takes both his hands and folds them behind his head. 
“You’re what?”
81 notes · View notes
Note
Intimacy prompts!!! Sharing a dessert and/or accidentally falling asleep together for John/Robin PRETTY PLEASE!!!
I couldn’t resist doing them both! Thanks for the ask, these two could use all the softness after what I’ve put them through this month!
Sharing Dessert
"This is delicious," Robin says, cutting himself off another forkful of cake.
"I told you once you've had a Tres Leches Cake you're never gonna want any other kind," John says with a grin. "Move over, fae food."
Robin chuckles, then raises an eyebrow when John reaches over with his own fork, knocks the piece of cake off Robin's fork, and quickly steals it for himself.
"Your Momma made enough to feed an army, you could have gotten your own piece," He says with a grin, cutting off another slice and sticking it into his mouth before John can get it.
"No, no, see, the fun of dessert is trying to steal it from the rest of your family," John says.
Robin's eyes go wide and John is slightly afraid he's going to actually make him choke on the bite he just took.
"You know you're family to me." John's made a point to tell Robin that often. But every time they're in a new setting it's as if Robin needs to be reminded. He's trained himself to shrink back, to avoid associating himself with people, as if he's some kind of contaminant. Like he thinks John will be ashamed to be seen with him.
John can see why he'd feel like that here. After all, Robin knows the truth about Amarillo now, and he could clearly tell that the Stokers were a bit skeptical of him at first. But they've quickly warmed up to him, and John figures this is just...the icing on the cake so to speak. Reminding Robin that he does belong.
He takes a forkful of cake absentmindedly, but the only thing he brings to his mouth is the tines of the silverware.
He looks over at Robin, who's smirking with his mouth full.
"Just testing your reflexes, old man."
"Oh, it's ON, Tinkerbell."
Accidentally falling asleep together 
John knows every creak and groan of the old farmhouse boards. So he knows when the sound is more than the wind or the old wood settling.
"Door's open," He says quietly, and the old crystal knob catches the moonlight, scattering it across the wall, as it turns. Robin steps inside, John's faded blue sweatshirt pulled over his t-shirt and sweatpants, bare feet scuffing the boards.
"I..." He trails off, suddenly staring down at his feet.
"You don't gotta explain, sleeping in a new place is always tough." John pats the bed next to him. "This house ain't alive like the Rowan, but I like to think it's got some personality. But the way it talks can take some getting used to."
Robin nods, sitting down on the edge of the bed but looking at the walls rather than John.
"I knew you were a theater nerd, but..." Robin chuckles softly. "You never took these down?"
"Hey, they're the closest thing this theater nerd ever got to having a trophy up someplace." John grins. "These are all the plays that I was in."
"Seriously?" Robin glances around.
"Oh, yeah." John taps the framed one of 'Grease' hanging over the bed. "See, whole cast signed this one." His own signature scrawl is right there on top of the picture of the car. "I was Danny."
"You were who?" Robin asks.
"You've never seen Grease, have you?" John asks, then points to the poster. "Danny's the male lead." He clears his throat. "I'll probably butcher the song but...I think I can still do a pretty good 'Greased Lighting'. And 'You Are the One I Want'..."
He sings quietly, so he doesn't wake the house, but Robin settles into his side comfortably, and by the time John's done trying to manage both parts of 'You Are the One I Want', he's leaning over entirely in a way John can't imagine is comfortable.
"Here, hold on." John slides down a little and pulls Robin over until his head is resting on John's stomach, the way all the siblings used to lay on Dad when they slept outside on the porch under the stars on hot summer nights.
Robin settles in, one hand tucked up next to his chin, his hair falling down in his face and fanning out across John's chest. John runs his fingers through it, feeling Robin's breathing slowly match to his own and then slow as Robin drifts off to sleep.
He doesn't know when he falls asleep himself, but he wakes up to sunlight on his face and Robin still snuggled warmly into his side.
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Black cat au stuff 4
1. Black cat introduces himself by saying, "I'm Black Cat, but you'll soon know me as the one that got away!"
2. Joker did something to anger Danny so he decided to humiliate the clown. How you may ask? Pies. Lots and lots of pies. Hes invisible when he does it so no one actually knows its him doing it but the Joker hasn't been able to get through one monolog or do even a single dramatic entrance since all this began.
Jason is loving it.
3. Danny started visiting Arkam as Black Cat and casually chatting and befriending the people he liked. I say "visiting" but no one is really sure how he keeps getting in or out, and he doesn't obey the visiting hours policy, but he brings snacks and keeps the patients calm. It's almost like he has a comforting aura about him. Strange.
4. Danny knows Red Robin is amazing with computers but so is he. He essentially used a combo of ghost magic and coding to make a sort of digital boobie trap against anyone who tried to get into his devices/obtain his information.
Danny isn't sure how Red Robin and Oracle had done it, but they managed to set off the trap not only on thier own devices but onto every device in Gotham which was hilarious because it left Danny laugh-crying on the floor of his flower shop as the entire city of Gotham got Rick Rolled. They even got the radio towers! How???!
The scene repeated a few days later and Dannys actually impressed that they made it worse somehow as the new song he selected (The english/Metal cover of Caramelldansen) blasted now in Gotham, the Titans Tower, the Watchtower, and Mt. Justice for three whole hours before they managed to turn it off.
5. Danny loves giving the Batfam gummy worms to snack on. He even found a nice vegan brand for Damian since he's vegetarian.
6. Danny buys these dumb realistic fangs and shows them off to Nightwing and Robin saying, "Careful, I bite!"
Nightwing laughs while Robin turns an interesting shade of red. Unfortunately for him, Alley Cat noticed and upon seeing the smirk on her face he knew that she knew.
Alley proceeds to flop between taking delight in placing Robin and Black Cat in awkward crush situations and being a wingwoman.
Catwoman watches all of it through Alley and Black's cameras like a prime soap opera.
7. Might be related to 6 but Damian/Robin keeps finding new and perfectly excusable ways to hold Danny/Black Cat. Like, start up bridal style. At some point Danny got so used to Robin and Damian picking him up and will just chill in thier arms until it becomes awkward or bird boy is forced to put him down.
8. The cats are always careful to avoid anyone with a sensitivity to the supernatural after this one psychic lady started screaming in terror when she saw/sensed him.
Imagine his and Zatannas mutual horror upon meeting! Danny just blurts out he's cursed as a cover up for being a super powerful undead eldrich creature
Robin: What?!
The batfam: What?!
Zatanna: *internally screaming cause what could possibly leave a curse like that*
Danny: ...oh ancients, what have I done.
9. Dani falls in love with this show called Moster High cause the characters are "like her" and Danny is just happy she has role models until she forces him to watch it and now they sing the intro song together often. Danny is a good big brother.
10. Cass just starts randomly referring to Kitty as her brother-in-law and everyone in the Justice Leage is confused- especially when they're told its the baby of the family whos engaged.
Kitty is brought to The Watchtower for whatever reason you can come up with and Cass explains they have a prank going on where they convinced the Justice Leage that he and Robin were engaged and asked him to play along.
Kitty, being a little chaos gremlin, agreed and playfully flirted with Damian all day. It was the goodbye kiss at the end that made Robin decide he owed Cass big time.
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