#Danny’s out here pulling a Bruce Wayne on Bruce own kid | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rboooks · 11 months

Text

DC X DP fic idea: Congratulations! It's Triplets!

Jason Todd can't remember half the crazy shit he did when he returned from the dead. There were a few years when his memory gaps were so significant lost he honestly forgot what year it was.

So he's not surprised he did some dumb shit where he was less weapon and more power-hungry teen.

He doesn't remember Jazz Fenton that well, but he does remember waking up next to her, making her breakfast as a thank-you for the fun night, and slipping away before she could ask too many questions. Logically he knows that leaving before she woke up was a bit of a asshole move but he hadn't cared back then.

He had thought he would never see her again.

Imagine his surprise when she enters a youth space program WE is running five years later. By this point, he had calmed most of his pit rage and had reconnected with his family. Bruce had even legally made him alive again so he's there as Brucie's second oldest.

Tim had practically shoved him as one of the heads of the program since Jason had rapidly developed the image of being the most Charity drive Wayne.

The point was to help city kids go on clear sky trips and co-work with NASA to help children who love the stars get closer to them.

Jason knew that Jazz, a woman of twenty-three, would have no reason to be present since the program was for kids ages four to twelve.

But the three dark hair blue, eye triplets that were dragging her around the booths indeed did.

By the looks of the triplets, they were five to six-year Olds.

Jason also noticed another thing about them. They were exact copies of himself and five years ago was the last time he saw Jazz before slipping away.

It wasn't possible right?

Trying not to bring attention to himself, he followed them through the event, noting every little gesture the children made. With each passing second he saw more and more of himself in them. Once the lights were dimmed for the crew to project an exploding star on the walls and ceiling, he could creep close enough and steals three hair samples.

Later he would test the DNA against his own and find himself staring at the results with slight horror.

He's a father to triplets and left their mother alone to raise them on her own. Jason needed to fix this as soon as he could.

(Danny, Dani and Dan get de-age after a misguided attempt to take the throne from Danny by a ghost whose extraordinary power was to revert people into a weaker stage and attack them. Luckily even as small children, they were able to defeat her. Unfortunately, they would have to regrow the human way to return to their ages.

Clockwork offers them a different dimension for them to age in, explaining it run crazy slow compared to thier own. One year in the other world would be a week back home.

They talk to Jazz who agrees to take emergency leave from work after faking a terrible accident with her brother, and she hopes over to Earth-slightly-to-the-left to find a house suitable for re-raising her siblings. There she realizes this is her chance to enjoy her youth too.

She has her first one-night stand.

She doesn't tell them when they hope over, and all of them go about life as simply as they can in a city as dangerous as Gotham.

They find out later that there is even a slight version of their family here though it's primarily due to someone on their dads' side of the family messing up the family tree by marrying someone different than their great-grandfather

Instead of Fentons, the versions of their family name is, Evans. Crazy.

Even more Crazy is that they return home after a week-long camping trip through a NASA-based program to find Bruce Wayne at their doorstep, a team of lawyers behind him, and Jason Todd holding flowers next to him.

He thinks he's the father of the three because that's what the DNA pulls since it's a version of them and when Jazz is so worried about collapsing the timeline and getting on Clockworks bad side she plays along.

She later finds out from a very calm Danny that Jason is not related to them. It's just that their comeback from the dead rearranged all three of their DNAs, so Jason was merely matching there. Jazz testing herself against Jason proves this to be true.

Dan and Dani? They just wanted a rich dad who showered them with gifts in an attempt to make up for missing six years of their lives.

Danny just wants Jazz to admit she's in love with Jason.

Abd Jazz? Well, she just wants to be a good guardian for them and hopes she can pretend to be Jason's baby mamma until they can hope back home.)

#dc x dp crossover #Jazz/Jason #misunderstandings #de-ages #Jazz freaks for a sec that she pulled a luke Skywalker #buts shes good #Jason is excited to be a dad

2K notes · View notes

flamingpudding · 10 months

Text

Part 9 of Ghost Kid in Gotham

>>Masterpost

<<1 Previous Next

Pit Demons aren't pets, now stop biting!

Jason sighed as he pulled into the bat cave with his bike. This was the third day in a row now that he was coming back into the Manor now and most likely stayed over again. Steph and Cass were due back from her mission today and Jason knew Alfred was preparing for the Family dinner that was going to happen either today or tomorrow.

Depending if Dick could finally gets Bruce out of his office.

It didn't really matter to Jason though. He was just here to… well he didn't know either but he knew that he was trying to keep an eye out for the little biter. Even if he had to deal with Timber being frustratingly annoying with the whole ghost cult thing.

So what if he could read what they claim to be squiggles. Not that he could prove otherwise, because all he saw was perfectly readable letters. Thankfully he had gotten Tim off his back for some time as he went to deal with something in Crime Alley.

He checked the group chat and scowled.

Apparently the entire Manor was in a state of chaos and Demon Brat was dragging Duke around the entire manor to have him use ghost vision to find the little shit. Not that it was helping since the last update was from 15 minutes ago and apparently the light path Duke had followed ran into a wall.

He looked over to the Batcomputer to find Tim going through the security footage. The other hadn't even so much spared Jason a glance so far too focused on trying to find how the kid could have disappeared from Damian's room without any of them noticing. Alfred and Demon Brat had put down the kid for a nap in Damian's room despite having a room prepared for the little biter and when Damian checked on the kid after doing his school work he found the kid gone.

"Still nothing on the kid?"

"Nothing, it's like the kid vanished into thin air. Not even the sensors in Damian's room picked anything strange up that could hint at his disappearance."

"I still have bite marks, so he definitely was not a mass hallucination."

Tim glared at Jason and the elder only shrugged. It was probably a bit to soon for that kind of joke. But his brothers weren't the only ones worried.

He wasn't even sure if Bruce knew, considering the last he heard was Dick and the old man having a 'talk' again. Dick was probably leaving the search to them for the moment to deal with whatever problem B was having right now.

"Think someone kidnapped the kid?"

"No. Aside from us, and probably the LoA, no one should know about Danny. The League taking him back wouldn't make sense. Besides why would anyone attempt to kidnap him from the Wayne Manor of all places? Gotham's Kidnappers might be dumb but not that dumb."

Jason sagely nodded in agreement. There was something tugging at the back of his mind but he couldn't explain what. It was like on the first day he had brought the little biter to the batcave. Over his shoulder he glanced into the direction his mind -no, the pit was urging him to go.

The pit had been strangely quiet and subdued ever since he met the kid. Protective of the biter at times but he despite the way Timber had annoyed and pestered him previously, he had not felt his own annoyance swing over into that uncontrollable rage.

There was a suspicion, a working theory. Something he wasn't yet willing to share with the rest of the family, despite the fact that he was sure that they had also noticed. It was a glaring fact that he was staying with them in the Manor despite Bruce being there too.

But until there was more confirmation Jason wasn't going to mention any of his suspicions, not if they could possibly endanger a little kid.

Because if he was right then the little biter was brought back way different than him and could also have some Pit controlling powers. The way his own mental Pit reacted to the boy was most likely proof but also what the other had found out so far. Lazarus water was fucking affecting the kids DNA.

It didn't help that Replacement had mentioned a suspicion that the League had most likely experimented with the kid and the Lazarus water judging by the scars they had discovered.

Someone might have deemed the kid a failure at first or the kid had escaped and somehow found his way to Jason's apartment with him probably being the closest thing to what the kid was.

Maybe the kid could sense him the way he could with his Pit. Shaking his head out of these thoughts Jason focused back at the problem at hand.

"I will check with Alfie, see if he knows any more hiding spaces kids would love to use." He patted his younger brother's shoulder only getting a grumble as answer before turning and going towards the elevators.

But before he could enter he once more glanced at the direction the pit was urging him to go. Hesitating, he looked back towards Timber and then the elevator.

"Fuck it." He muttered and decided to trust that stupid pit instinct or whatever that was, though with a threat in his stomach that once more just like the first time when they had searched through the cave to find the kid, the pit was leading him towards the Lazarus Pit.

Once he realized where he was going he stopped. "I should just fucking get Replacement or Demon Brat to check there." Muttering to himself he stared at the direction he was heading towards. When he found the little shit there before the kid had jumped him, chomping down on his arms.

The kid had only led go of him after he spat out green fucking Lazarus Water. Like what the actual fuck? Jason had pushed that experience as far out of his mind as he could but he was remembering it now again. It had been worrisome but they had chalked that up to the kids' contamination.

But now? Now that the pit in his mind was urging him to go there again? He couldn't help but think that there was more to it. Maybe his own dip in the pit had something to do with the little shits obsession with him?

Letting out a sigh he was ready to turn on his heel and get one of the others to check this area when he suddenly heard childlike laughter. "You are shitting me…"

With a scowl he marched towards the Lazarus Pit only to stop in his tracks the moment it came into view.

The little biter was sitting on the ground by the Pit as green glowing blobby orbs floated around the boy. The boy was poking them saying something, he couldn't really hear from this distance and then laughed. There was a light in his blue eyes that Jason hadn't seen before, a happiness even. It would be a really cute image of the kid playing with some green blobby orbs, if these things weren't probably some sort of dangerous Pit Demons.

Fuck what was he going to do now? If they were dangerous and he startled them the little shit could end up in real danger. So far they hadn't noticed him.

Grumbling while keeping an eye on the laughing boy, he sent a quick message into the chat telling the others little biter was in the batcave by the Lazarus pit. He knew the moment Tim saw the message he would come running, same with Demon Brat.

Despite knowing that was not a cute moment but dangerous, he snapped a picture anyway. Just for the record and to make sure he wasn't hallucinating or something. Because the kid was actually laughing, not hissing, not blankly staring, glaring or watching one of them but actually laughing like a kid his age with a shine in his eyes he hadn't seen before.

Demon Brat can thank him later for that picture, if Jason decides to share it with the others that was.

Echoing steps could be heard behind him and just like he predicted his brothers came running. The kid's laughter instantly stopped when he heard it too and his head snapped towards Jason, eyeing him warily. One of his hands was still stretched out towards one of the blobs, probably to pet it, but had stopped midway.

It was weird how the blobs were also now turning towards him and sort of looked displeased? Were these demons upset that they made the kid stop showering them in affection?

"Danyal!" Damn were they fast if they wanted to. Rushing past him their formerly youngest kneeled by his younger twins side patting the kid down and checking them over. Jason narrowed his eyes. Did Damian not notice the green glowing orbs that were all around the kid?

"So he was here the entire time?!" Timber asked the moment he coughed up, baffled. "How did we miss that?"

"Hey Replacement?" He had to ask, like come on, he couldn't be the only one seeing these green blobby orbs floating around the little biter and now the Demon Brat.

"Do you see-"

"What are these green blobs?"

Duke appeared next to them, clearly worried. Well that at least spared him having to ask that himself. From the corner of his eyes he watched how Tim blinked confused then rubbed his eyes like he was noticing them for the first time.

"Are those?"

"Small Pit Demons." Demon Brat answered them casually, waving one of them away when it got too close to his face. "They used to be around Grandfather's Lazarus Pit all the time. They seem to appear where Pits are and are harmless if you leave them be."

"Wait, you know about them?"

"Of course. They usually stay out of sight but it was not unusual to get a glimpse of them every now and then. Danyal used to point them out when we were younger. I am surprised that none of you ever noticed them before."

"Demon Brat, are you fucking kidding me? We got literally Pid Demons in the Batcave?!" They had fucking Pit Demons in the Batcave because of the Lazarus Pit and the damned brat didn't bother to tell them? What the fuck?

"Blob Ghosts! Not Demons!" The little biter piped up and Jason turned to stare at the kid not quite in disbelief but really? That was what the kid cared about, what they called these things?

"I don't fucking care what they are called. They still come for the fucking pit"

"Uhm…" Oh right all they hear from the kid is chirping or thrilling noises.

"What did Danyal call them?"

"Blob Ghosts."

"Blob Ghosts…" Before he knew it Tim was gone, nose deep in the weird ghost cult book muttering something about a connection between the Pits and that cult. Was he seriously carrying that book around everywhere now?

"Dami, can we keep-"

"No." Where were Dick and Bruce or maybe even Alfred? He did not want to act as the responsible eldest here. Helping Demon Brat sneaking various animals into the Manor to annoy Bruce was one thing but keeping fucking Pit Demons? Hell normally he would be all for it but fuck did he not want to deal with anything that came for the fucking Pits. Nope, this was not his kind of deal.

Apparently the kid didn't like his instant refusal as all he heard was a hiss in warning, followed by the simple command of "Smother him!"

His vision was swarmed with green and not the kind of green that happens when Pit Rage took over. No it was the kind where a lot of green glowing blobby orbs decide to swarm you. He swatted at them like they were flies, sometimes it worked, sometimes he noticed how his hand would go right through them without effect.

"Get the fuck away from me!"

"Danyal!" He could hear Demon Brats scowling tone but he didn't know what it was about until a second later he felt a weight hitting his chest knocking him over.

"WHAT THE FUCK?! GET FUCKING OFF ME!"

There was another hiss and a pain, he was getting familiar with, bloosemed in his right forearm and in between the green blobs he got a glimps of the little shit biting down on is arm a-fucking-gain. Though the kids eyes were blue he could still see a green flickering in them.

"Oh for the love of… Danyal! I told you to stop biting them!"

"Shouldn't we be more concerned about the Pit Demons attacking Jason?"

"Todd will be fine as I said they are harmless. Danyal, I said get off him this instant or I will tell Pennyworth to withhold your snacks."

"I feel like priorities aren't set right here…"

Despite his doubts… Duke still took a picture of the chaos to share with the others later. Dick surely would get a good laugh out of whatever this was.

763 notes · View notes

starry-bi-sky · 4 months

Text

thomas wayne au excerpts - things that could've been part of a grander fic except there's no grander fic

thomas wayne au - an au i made last year where danny is literally just. thomas wayne. his full name was Daniel Thomas Fenton and he started going by Thomas Nightingale after he was disowned. because of course. here is a link to the first post if anyone wants to see a more in depth view of the au (its also the start of me using the ‘danny fenton is not the ghost king’ au lmao

additional info: bruce is the result of a failed cloning attempt from vlad - vlad used a combination of danny's dna and an unnamed girl (Martha's) to make him to try and balance out the ectoplasm use. this resulted in a slightly liminal but otherwise completely human and stable baby boy. Bruce is, by all accounts, Danny's biological son. Danny named him Bruce

Danny was 24 when he died, he took in Bruce when he was 16. He is, so far, a single father in this au. (But if I WERE to add martha she wouldn't be sam or a DP character but rather a separate character on her own.)

Essentially they would go as:

Martha, 19: water does terrifying things to corpses

Danny, 19, half ghost: *heart eyes* really? tell me more they're morticia and gomez your honor

---- Like starlight -----

Bruce's father could light up a room. He was like a sun, his gravitational field could just pull you in, and before you knew it you'd be orbiting around him like one of his many planets.

He's seen it in action before, in the rare moments Thomas Wayne would allow him to accompany him to the socialite events he went to; the fundraisers; the charities. Bruce, as tall as his father's waist, would cling to his leg and watch as people drifted towards him and his star-blinding smile.

It's fitting that his father's favorite thing in the world were stars, he fit right in with them.

As an adult, Bruce has tried copious amount of times to mimic him. To try and capture a fraction of that light, that charm, in his own act - but here's the thing. Thomas Wayne wasn't made of starlight only in front of the cameras, he was made of starlight outside of it as well.

(So when older socialites laugh and tell him he's so much like his father, Bruce just thinks they are liars. They've only ever seen the Thomas Wayne his father showed them, Bruce is nothing like his father.)

In the manor, whatever room he stepped into seemed to brighten, and maybe it was just Bruce's own child-memory fuzzing it to raise his father onto a pedestal, but he stands by it. His father was a solar system, his very own galaxy. Bruce was just the lucky planet that was close enough to orbit him.

--------- arrival time ------

Ancients, ancients, what the fuck convinced Danny to ever go to Gotham of all places? Crime Capitol of the world? He's not sure, but he's been wandering around the country for the last few months, swapping between flying late at night as Phantom, and taking the busses and trains when he had the money, and was too exhausted to fly.

And of course, what convinced him to come here with his kid no less, who was just at the cusp of turning a year old? Whose curiosity of the world was growing greater by the day? Who wanted to look around and explore, and was growing tired of being held at all hours of the day by his father.

But he was going to be held, at least for as long as they were in Gotham for. He didn't trust the stuff on the sidewalks, and he didn't trust the people walking on it. Bruce was tiny, and Danny would lose his mind if he lost him in a crowd.

In his arms, Bruce whined and wriggled, pushing at his shoulders in the signature way he did when he wanted to be let down. Danny tightened his hold, and adjusted his place on his hip.

"I know, bumblebee." Danny muttered, resting his chin on Bruce's small head. His hair was still thin, but it was dark and soft, and tickled his throat a little. "But not yet, I need to find somewhere for us to stay first."

He needed to find somewhere for them to stay, permanently. He couldn't keep living like this, and he couldn't let Bruce grow up like this either. Constantly moving, homeless, unsure of when he was going to eat next? It wasn't good for him. But he needed to find a city he liked, and after that? He wasn't sure. Where did he start?

But Bruce doesn't like his answer, he whines at him, louder, and his wriggling increases. He wants down, he wants to move. They were in a new place again, he wanted to explore. He's too little to fully understand what his dad's saying. "Dada." He said, his voice thick with the accent of a child first learning to speak.

"I know," Danny repeats, stressing the word as his eyes flitted about. There was a park nearby -- maybe he and Bruce could stop there for a bit. Bruce could move around, and Danny could figure out his next move.

It was getting dark, he didn't want to be out in Gotham when it was dark. Shuffling, he moved the inside of his jacket to wrap around Bruce better. It was getting cold, too. Last winter with Bruce had been hellish - Bruce's liminality meant that Danny's immunity to the cold hadn't been passed down to him. Danny had spent all winter terrified that Bruce was going to get sick and die. He didn't want to go through that stress again, especially now that Bruce would be moving.

He hoped they could find new living arrangements soon.

---- dniwer eht klolc - clockwork's conversation ---

Laughing quietly as Bruce ran out of the room, Danny turned his attention back to the mirror, his fingers curled around the knot of his tie. They'd been planning this outing for weeks since the movie was first announced, and Danny wasn't going to let anything ruin tonight.

Humming under his breath, his hands fell from his tie and he steps back. They were leaving in half an hour, at best, but experience from the last six years has taught Danny that he wants to be ready before then.

In his reflection, the clock behind him stops ticking, and a wave of nothing washes over him, a subtle shift he's gotten used to that was the sensation of time stopping. Ticking, soft and coming from all four sides of the room, filled his ears.

Danny's smile drops. And behind him, Clockwork swirled into existence like a blackhole reversing its pull. "Don't go out tonight, Thomas." He says, his voice stern.

That wasn't happening.

He reaches up to push back a loose strand of hair out of his face. "Does something happen to Bruce, Clockwork?" He asks, his voice deceptively calm. That would be the only reason he would postpone tonight. If it endangered Bruce, then he would just have to break the news to him that they'd have to go tomorrow.

In the reflection, Clockwork's lips thinned, pressing together tersely. He looked tense, the grip on his staff was tight, tighter than Danny's seen it before in recent years. And it worried him a little.

Clockwork is silent for a few seconds, hesitant, before he finally speaks. "No, Bruce will be fine." He says, and uncharacteristic of him, he shuffles, "But--"

Ah, good then. Danny's smile returns briefly across his face. Then it could be something Danny can handle. "But nothing then, Clockwork." He says, interrupting the Ancient firmly. He leans back slightly to look over himself again in the mirror, before going to undo his tie. He's changed his mind about it.

"Boo has been looking forward to our movie all week, I'm not crushing his hopes by changing my mind last minute." In just a few seconds the tie was off his neck and tossed onto bed behind him. And Danny was reaching over the dresser beside him to grab a pearl necklace, he normally didn't wear it, it belonged to Mrs. Wayne and he inherited it after she and Mr. Wayne passed away last year. It wouldn't hurt to wear it for a special occasion like this.

Clockwork's lips tightened, and his shoulders tensed up. "Thomas," He says lowly, "Please."

...Clockwork never said please. Danny's never heard him say please in the last ten years he's known him. This... must have been pretty serious -- but, his core tugged at him. He couldn't cancel without finding the reason why. Bruce was so important to him, Danny couldn't break his heart with this without learning why. He wouldn't allow it, and neither would his core.

He hooks the necklace around his neck and turns to face Clockwork, frowning deeply. "Does something happen tonight?" If he knew the reason -- he just needed to know the reason.

Clockwork stares at him, and something that Danny can't catch appears across his face. "...I cannot tell you." He says after a long moment, his voice quiet.

That... is not the answer Danny wants. He won't cancel.

He frowns. "If something happens tonight..." He says slowly -- Clockwork said that Bruce is unharmed. That must mean Danny was able to handle it. He allows himself to smile reassuringly, and he steps forward to clap a hand on Clockwork's shoulder. "Then I will handle it, alright? I promise."

He gets no response back. Clockwork's expression unreadable as he nods silently - Danny's anxiety curls in his gut. He's being so unlike himself. But he shakes Clockwork's shoulder gently and steps around him, leaving the room.

After a minute, he feels time return to normal.

#dpxdc #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dpxdc crossover #dp crossover #dpdc #danny fenton is not the ghost king #dc x dp #dp dc #dp dc crossover #dc x dp crossover #danny is thomas wayne au #danny calling bruce 'bumblebee' >>>>>#he adores his kid man. absolutely loves him. he'd give him the world on a silver platter if he even so much asked.#dont have many tag thoughts for this au unfortunately. its pr straight forward considering danny is going to die when bruce is eight #left the movie they went to see pr ambiguous since mark of zorro came out in 1940 #only thought of it now that danny wore the pearls as i was writing this. just for the extra reference to canon #single dad danny #martha and danny would fall in love with each other via hyperfixations. they'd be engaged by the time they died.#their wedding would be in a month - little bruce was gonna be ringbearer at his dad's wedding :) and he'd already be calling Martha mom #danny: CW said bruce was unharmed tonight so everything will be fine :) i will handle it.#danny: dies and becomes a whalefall - and thus incapable of returning as a ghost to watch over bruce #yeah clockwork meant physically unharmed. he was in pain while talking to danny - his boy was gonna die tonight and he was never gonna see #him again bc danny wasnt coming back as a ghost.

243 notes · View notes

umbrellacam · 1 year

Text

Reading A Lonely Place of Dying is so interesting in so many ways, but the question I'm still rotating in my mind is about Dick, and specifically why he ends up smiling and soft-advocating for Tim to be Bruce's Robin, after he had his morality crisis over young heroes with Jason's death.

So when he finds out about Jason's death, Dick feels guilty over giving Jason his Robin costume and not being there when he died:

New Teen Titans #55

To the extent that, later in the same issue, he unilaterally fires 15-year-old Danny Chase from the Titans, over Donna and Kory's objections, citing what happened to Jason. He even expresses doubt over his own young age when he became Robin, wondering whether that was a mistake:

New Teen Titans #55

However, when Dick visits Bruce in Gotham to both express his condolences over Jason's death and also confront him over not telling Dick about it, he explicitly rejects Bruce's implication of blame:

New Teen Titans #55

And later, when the Gargoyle is mentally torturing him over his past failures to the Titans, to Bruce, and Jason, Dick breaks through his self-blame issues and firmly asserts that there was nothing he could have done to prevent Jason's death.

Secret Origins (Vol. 2) #3

But understanding his lack of blame logically isn't the same as being totally past it, as it's part of Dick's larger cycle of guilt, as he acknowledges to his therapist:

The New Titans #57

So how does Dick get from here, still wrestling with guilt and feeling ambivalent about the idea of young heroes as a whole, to the end of A Lonely Place of Dying, where he smiles and basically urges Bruce to give Tim a chance to become Robin?

Like, yes, Dick then spends the entirety of Batman: Year Three worried about Bruce's tenuous mental state after Jason's death, reaching out to him in the midst of Batman's reckless, violent spiral, trying to both express care and to call his mentor and hero back to his foundations of crime-fighting through careful detective work, not through brutality - and getting rejected by Bruce over and over. Even while being proud of Dick's methods and the hero he's grown into, Bruce just can't seem to pull himself out of his own morass of self-destruction. Dick eventually has to leave him to it, though he clearly hasn't stopped worrying about Bruce by the start of ALPoD.

Yes, Tim impresses Dick multiple times over the course of ALPoD. First at the circus with his reflexes and his quick thinking (apparently almost as much as he irritates and baffles Dick with his stubborn evasiveness and pushy presumption, lol this total gremlin). Then at Wayne Manor when Tim goes through his deduction of Batman's and Robin's identities, although this one is more an implication through Dick's decision to show Tim the Cave immediately afterward, and Alfred's words to Tim.

Batman #441

And yet Alfred's sentiment here is immediately contradicted when Tim insistently pushes the Robin costume at Dick, and Dick gets pissed off, saying that, "When Jason died, he took Robin with him. And no matter how much anybody may want it - you can't bring back the dead."

The New Titans #61

How does Dick go from this to accepting Tim as the new potential Robin all of two issues later!! This boy's emotions are so mixed up, lol.

I feel like while Dick is clearly angered by Tim's presumptions, kind of baffled and creeped-out by the sort of parasocial fixation Tim has on both Bruce/Batman and Dick/Robin, below the surface he's also genuinely absorbing Tim's driving love and care for them both. Like, he's way too ticked off to show it or even think of it consciously at the moment - and it's hard to process!! despite that day at Haly's Circus tying them together a decade ago, this kid is a rando, it's out of nowhere, it's wild to be confronted with!! - but on some level he has to be touched by Tim's care and passion for their legacy. He wouldn't make his heel-turn later and smile at Tim so approvingly otherwise.

Like, Dick wants Bruce to have a partner that cares for him that much, that forces him to care for himself in a way that he clearly hasn't been since Jason's death. And Dick is both afraid and aware that he can't fill that role anymore - that he can try to stand beside Batman as Nightwing and support him that way, but he can't stand behind Bruce in his protective shadow again, can't cramp himself back into Robin.

So even as Dick is making line-faces at this bizarre kid pushing himself at them, talking about Jason and Dick and Bruce and what Batman needs like he knows better than Dick, UGH… Dick is also considering… is maybe moved a bit by that star-bright conviction and overflowing love in the face of all the doubts that seem to plague both Bruce and Dick lately… is maybe hoping, seeing a possible light in the dark. Not on a conscious level, perhaps, but it's maybe churning below the surface with everything else Dick is thinking about.

Anyway, Dick still tracks Batman down and tries being a supportive partner as Nightwing, even going "I'm here. Always," when Batman finally brings himself to admit that he needs help. Only to IMMEDIATELY run face-first into Bruce's control issues and post-Jason-disregarding-orders trauma - "You're not with the Titans now. If you want to be with me, you follow my orders. Now do as I say." (The New Titans #61) Oof, instant I'm-NIGHTWING-not-ROBIN friction, but Dick swallows it for now.

Then Two-Face blows up a building on top of both of them, and Tim (and Alfred!) have to rescue them both. By the time that they've been dug out, Alfred and Dick are both praising Tim's potential to a very baffled and alarmed, verging on angry, Batman lol. Dick and Alfred then grin at each other while young Tim struggles against his intimidation and argues the tremendously (and understandably!) reluctant Batman to a standstill.

Batman #442

As they drive away afterward (Bruce, Dick and Tim in the Batmobile to track down Two-Face - using the tracker Tim planted on him, good job Timmy!! - and Alfred toward home in a separate car), we get the following thought-bubbles:

Bruce: Even if he's right, I don't want another partner. Dick: Bruce, for once, think with your heart, not with cold logic. Tim: He doesn't want me, but he hasn't said no. So just do your best… Alfred: …One way or another, the rest will take care of itself.

Batman #442

"Think with your heart, not with cold logic" - so does Dick's line here mean that this is what he himself is doing at this point? Setting aside his logic, his fears and reservations about young heroes, about Jason's death, about putting another young boy in the Robin costume - because Tim joining them, maybe becoming Bruce's new partner, feels right? Because everything that Tim has shown of himself so far means the kid deserves a chance, at least? Because Bruce's caution after Jason's death would mean that he'll make sure to 'do it right this time'? Because Tim's passion and conviction could be what Batman needs, and - maybe as much if not more than that - could be something that deserves to be nurtured into something great, despite Dick's own (and Bruce's) fears?

Because Dick has to be wrestling with and at least quelling (if not fully letting go of) his fears about the risks to young heroes in these issues, it doesn't make sense for him to be okay with Tim as Robin otherwise. And it can't all be about what use Tim could be to Bruce - the leash he could put on Batman's out of control behavior. That's far too selfish and manipulative as a sole motive for Dick Grayson; especially after Jason, he wouldn't encourage a kid to jump into the meat-grinder of vigilantism solely to save Bruce or preserve the legacy of Batman & Robin.

I feel like Dick has to also be seeing something in Tim here, his potential, his determination, the good that he can and wants desperately to do, that Dick has to respect, has to think deserves a shot. When Alfred goes, "The boy should be a politician!" and Dick replies, "He'd do more good with Bruce," (Batman #442; panels above), it does feel like he's thinking of the difference Tim himself could make in the world. Dick has to be remembering why he himself could not be put off from the vigilante life when he was even younger than Tim, why Jason also went out there and did his best every night. To help people, in a way that mattered.

Anyway, Tim also puts in a good showing when they confront Two-Face, despite giving Bruce a near heart-attack over this strange unfamiliar boy wearing his son's uniform when Tim briefly appears to have been crushed - only for him to have saved himself and warned Batman and Nightwing of danger through his quick thinking.

Afterward, Alfred and Dick both advocate for Tim, so Dick is clearly pulling for Tim to be given a chance. Dick's smile here, my heart.

Batman #442

I still wish they'd been a little more explicit with the turn of Dick's mindset here, but at the same time I guess it's pretty effective as show-not-tell!

All in all, I feel like ALPoD was very effective storytelling, well done Marv, hugely enjoyable read, and I can't wait to read more.

371 notes · View notes

ailithnight · 1 year

Text

A few notes:

I originally planned to have this one have a couple of povs like the first, but then u got carried away writing feral Danny so, just Tim today.

I hope to get the next one out sometime this weekend cause it's harder to write when I have work.

Also, everyone thank @cursedzucchini for writing the comment that gave me the executive function to take these words out of my brain and put them in my phone. Reading that there was someone out there checking the tag for updates every day really motivated me.

Now, without further ado

Chapter 1

A King in Arkham

Chapter 2

Tim sighs, rubbing his temples and attempting to will away the sleep deprivation headache currently pounding on the inside of his skull. Pushing 80 hours awake, the last 38 of which have been spent combing backwards through any and all Arkham documents pertaining to one Daniel James Fenton.

He moved his hands away from his head, placing them on the fresh cup of coffee that had materialized while he was massaging, giving a cursory "Thanks" the retreating body. Normally, Alfred would have cut Tim off from caffeine yesterday. But it seems even the old butler was keen on something being found to justify pulling the kid out of Arkham.

Or maybe that was Jason fueling Tim's addiction. Man had been hovering since Batman called him back at the last break out. At least Dick had been able to reason better with the most volatile of the Wayne siblings.

"Picking him up and running won't do either of you any favors, Little Wing. It'll just put him and Hood on wanted posters. If you want him to have any shot at a life out here, you gotta let Bruce take it through the proper channels."

That had at least prevented Jason from snapping on anyone immediately, though he had seen fit to warn everyone that of they didn't have something by the next break out, he'd be doing it his way.

Which is why Tim had spent the last day and a half poring over every medical record, therapy session, schedule, action report, and discipline slip Arkham had on file that even mentioned Patient 26B.

Meanwhile, Oracle had her hands full trying to find any background information on the young ward. A task which itself was proving challenging because the place the kid came from seemed to have no digital presence at all. None. Not a Facebook or Twitter or MySpace pinging from the area. Not an email address or YouTube account. Not a single god damned website. Not even a .gov! Hell, the only reason they knew the city's name is because it was listed in the CPS paperwork from Chicago.

In other places, small towns and communities in the middle of nowhere, this wouldn't really raise any red flags. But Amity Park was not actually a nowhere town. It certainly wasn't a Gotham or Metropolis. But it was big enough to have formed a conurbation with the nearby city of Elmerton. Which had a perfectly normal digital presence. So Amity Park's lack of digital presence screamed Communications Blackout. A frighteningly strong one to still be giving Oracle the run around almost 2 days later.

Once Tim was finished reviewing Arkham reports, then the 3 weeks of documents from Daniel's stay in Chicago, he'd probably offer to help her. Though she might tell him to go the fuck to sleep instead.

For now. Tim was nearing the beginning of the kid's Arkham stay and; on top of not yet finding any clues as to why the kid was in Arkham, nor anything that could possibly exonerate him; the kid just made no damn sense!

His therapy sessions were all the same dead end.

The therapist would ask he he was feeling. The kid would apparently shrug, or sometimes mumble something the therapists could never quite catch.

They'd ask the standard suicide questions. "Any thoughts of wishing you could go to sleep and not wake up?"

A shrug.

"Any thoughts of wanting to take your own life or wishing someone would take it for you?"

Vehenement refusal bordering on a panic attack.

Move on to the hurting people questions.

"Any thoughts of wanting to harm other people?"

"No." According to the doctors, his tone here is immediate, calm, confident. Truthful. If the Arkham psyches are to be believed.

"Any thoughts of wanting to harm yourself?"

"No." Slower, quieter, meeker. Noted as a clear lie, citing the injuries as evidence.

"Then why do you, Danny?"

"I don't."

"Then where did your injuries come from."

"The ghosts," said with a sigh

At this point, it seems Daniel shuts down. He says nothing else for the rest of the session. Shows no outward response as the therapist tries to convince him there are no ghosts and Daniel must be giving himself those injuries.

2 and a half months. Daily therapy sessions. And every single one is the exact same script. The only differences are some minor notes as Daniel is passed around between therapists as they all inevitably get frustrated talking to the emotionless block of ice.

Outside of the therapy sessions and medical reports documenting the frankly horrifying amount of injuries Danny accumulates, there's not much in his file. He follows all instructions to the letter; never causes trouble for guards or other inmates; and every single locks malfunction, he has afterward been found lying on his bed in his cell staring at the ceiling. If he was somewhere else when the malfunction happened, security footage catches him walking there himself. If he was already in his cell, footage keeps him there the whole time.

Tim sighs again, clicking out of the medical report detailing the nasty bruise that had appeared on the kid's lower left back, then opens up the next file up without reading the name fully expecting it to be another tedious therapy session report.

Instead, he finds a discipline slip with the relevant security clip embedded at the top. The first frame is of the cafeteria. Daniel is sitting alone at a table in the top right. Tim's breath catches in his throat as he recognizes the demented clown in the center of the frame. Hastily, he plays the clip.

There is no sound but Joker appears to say something to the room. Daniel is suddenly standing, whipped around to face the clown. The Joker turns towards him. Daniel tenses. The Joker tenses.

In the next second, Daniel is on the Joker. He's kicking, scratching, biting. Absolutely feral as he just reigns fury upon the most feared and hated rogue in all of Gotham. Surrounding inmates are fleeing to the sides of the room as the Joker seemingly tries to get away from the kid, only succeeding in moving the "fight" around the room. It's hardly a fight. More like a vicious, brutal assault. Inmates cheer as blood appears on the floor. Guards move in, pulling the feral 15 year old off of the Joker; who stays down, potentially unconscious. 2 guards go to help the one currently attempting to restrain Daniel. 6 more converge on the Joker, blocking him from view. As soon as he can no longer see the Joker, Daniel seems to go limp in the guards hands. Then he tenses again, though not struggling. Tim just catches the beginning stages of what seems to be a panic attack before the clip ends.

Tim stares dumbfounded at the screen for several moments. When he snaps out of it enough to actually read the incident report, it is a basic transcription of what Tim just witnessed with confirmation that Daniel had a panic attack immediately after. The report also notes that other than the panic attack, Daniel seemed to sustain no harm. He was disciplined with 3 days without cafeteria privileges, so his meals were brought to his cell, and 3 days without Crafts room privileges.

A note at the bottom of the report reads "To prevent further incidents, Patient 26B and the Joker are no longer permitted to be in the same room or yard."

This makes Tim click out of the discipline slip -without closing it, just moving it to a different section of the batcomputer's massive screen- and scan the rest of the files. There are 2 more. One from a week prior and one from Daniel's first dat at Arkham. He opens both, placing them at points on the screen so that all 3 are visible.

The one from the week prior shows the Crafts Room. Danny is again in an upper corner. Time plays it. The door opens. Joker walks in. Seems to look at Daniel, then rushes him. Daniel looks up before the Joker makes it half way across the room, then in the next second meets him there. Another feral fight only broken up by the guards when the Joker stops moving. Again, Danny goes limp as soon as the Joker is out of sight. The rest of the report confirming a panic attack but no injuries. 2 days lost privileges.

The report from Daniel's first day again shows the cafeteria. This time, Daniel is center frame. Joker comes up behind him. Daniel tenses but doesn't turn yet. Joker seems to be saying g something, then laughs. Daniel hunches in on himself, seeming to mumble a response. Whatever he said makes the Joker laugh harder. Then he leans down over Daniel's shoulder, talking. Daniel seems frozen for not even half a second before he suddenly pushes himself out of his seat, straight in to the Joker, twisting as he goes to begin the attack. Since it's obviously the first time, the rest of the cafeteria freezes. No one reacts for a solid 6 seconds. Then guards are moving in, hauling the teenager away. The Joker stands unsteadily then takes a knee. He has to be led limping out of the room. Guards struggle to restrain Daniel until the Joker is gone, whereafter Daniel goes boneless, then begins panicking. Report confirms panic attack and no injuries. 1 day lost privileges.

Tim stares at the batcomputer for several minutes, trying very hard to process what he has just learned. His brain feels like soup. He rubs his eyes, looks at his coffee, grabs a comm to put in his ear. His voice is strained as he speaks.

Anyone nearby who can come to the cave for a minute?

Jason responds instantly.

Upstairs. Find something?

I don't... know. I just. Someone come confirm I didn't just hallucinate what I just watched and read.

Red Robin? What did you find?

Not saying until someone else can confirm it.

Red Robin

On my way down.

"What the actual fuck?"

#Tagslist will go in a reblog cause there are #a lot #Dp x DC #A King in Arkham #I'm sure everyone wants to see Red Hood swoop in #And whisk Danny away #I promise we'll get there soon #Next chapter if I don't get careies away again #But for now #I simply could not resist giving Danny clown trauma and making him feral about it #Enjoy!#Mentions of suicide #Mentions of self harm

749 notes · View notes

puppetmaster13u · 5 months

Note

@f4nd0m-fun here (I hope they allow us to ask with secondary blogs soon)

Just how wild do you like your Batfam cryptids? I've got ideas for days.

One is a wing fic where all the bats essentially end up half demon. Thomas and Martha make a deal with Alfred to help fix the city and clean up the curses and everything, and. Alfred asks for 'the souls of your descendants' at the point, not caring much for humanity but hoping to get ahead of those pesky demons in his soul collection (so and so said he has Constantine's soul but that's only a piece! What about a bunch of souls that have been tainted by the spirit of a city that has never had reason to hope? Now those are some rare and dark souls).

The Waynes were hoping he'd take their souls instead but he refuses (maybe they're too full of hope or something) but, over time, he grows attached and ends up giving Bruce a shard of his power, allowing him to transform into a demonic winged form based on an animal for his protection after his parents die. When he's young the form is a snowy owl, but once he come back and became Batman his wings have changed. Each of the babies is the same way. As Robin, they gain their baby wings, but, once they move to a new name, their wings evolve.

'The Demon's Head' isn't just a fancy title, the Al'ghul's are demon descended, so Damien is at least a quarter demon even at the beginning, but Alfred's power can't be passed genetically like they thought, so he was born grounded. In this, he shows up sooner, Talkia asking Jason to take Damien with him to his father since she knows her father will kill him for being wingless.

Tim, poor baby. He couldn't fly as Robin because his wings were a shattered mimicry of Jason's Robin wings. He felt like he was in the shadow of the previous Robin, making the 'replacement' nickname sting even more, but, eventually, he grows into the wings of a cardinal and learns to fly.

I'm not sure if Alfred marks Barbara as his person, but if not, maybe he regrets not doing so, thinking that she might not have ended up paralyzed if he'd given her power. But also she's not really considered a 'Wayne descendant' life the kids Bruce adopted, so he'd have to directly make the deal with her. Maybe he does this with Stephanie when she comes along, still thinking about how Barbara might've been better off with a deal. Also, he keeps trying to hold off on gathering their souls because he's grown attached. I figure he'd probably end up wanting to turn them into proper demons too tho when they eventually die but, for now, until the city has been restored (if it ever will be), the Batfam is essentially immortal, and Alfred might be pulling some strings so no one realizes the Waynes are as well. As a side note, I debated Alfred x Lady Gotham for this story.

Then I had a dpxdc version of this where the wings were still demonic in origin but basically Scarecrow and Bruce are many many family lines removed cousins from an ancestor who was siblings with Jack Nightingale. On top of that, Danny had wings but they got charred when he was electrocuted. This one also has Clock x Pariah and they have wings due to something to do with ghosts, Danny gets a cloak made out of their feathers while his ghost side slowly grows its own wings (but he'll never have wings as a living again).

-----

Sorry for the long send, I got a bit carried away, but if you want I can dig up my AU again and share what I have for the wings at least, not sure what else I've got written down.

#colony of bats AU

Honestly I love both of these ideas, but what if they were say, combined.

Alfred gifts Bruce a shard of his power- everyone knows the Waynes have wings, even if in most cases too small to fly. But the wings are feathered, usually bright and flashy for the men who inherit the trait.

Which means they're very identifiable. But like you said, Alfred gets (ugh) attached to this little mortal. He's practically raised him and honestly thinks it's adorable watching him manipulate the other richfolk at galas into thinking he's such a "polite young man." Bruce is practically his baby!

So he gifts him a bit of his blood (which we know via Constantine can extend ones lifespan including giving them a bit of healing) and an itty bitty piece of his own power. Just enough for Bruce to be able to willingly call upon it. Just enough for him to disappear into shadows. Just enough for his eyes to gain a hint of an unholy glow. Just enough for a hint of claws. Just enough for feathered wings to shift into jagged mimicries of his own.

You know what could be an interesting thing? The wings are Realms in origin. We know the FentonNightingales separated into the Fentons and Nightingales some time after Jack, so whose to say that the Nightingales didn't get into magic. Perhaps they were given a gift to thank them after a bit of protection or assistance. And the infinite realms are well, infinite. It attaches to all worlds, including say the more demonic ones. But whose to say none of the Fentons made a deal or three in the generations following. They were witch hunters after all, perhaps they need something to keep up with the "traitors" of their bloodline.

Perhaps a deal which resulted in those matching wings.

Now, how could they find out their relation with the Fentons? While there could be the adoption route, what if instead it was right after Danny's accident.

He died screaming, visibly got electrocuted, his wings are torched, there's no way they're not taking him to the hospital. Which means things like blood tests, maybe even a donated organ or two because someone doesn't get blasted with that much electricity without consequences.

Which, it's the batfamily, they definitely have alarms set up for any sort of family pings for both themselves and their rogues. Just in case.

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

Also had no idea where to put it but if this includes demons and ghosts feeding on fear, or emotions in general, then Scarecrow could be instinctively attempting to feed and grow his wings. Also he deserves raven or rook wings. Maybe a jay's if you wanna go for color.

Oh my gosh, even if Alfred and Gotham don't get together, they definitely have tea together and spar. They're definitely co-parenting either platonically or romantically, it doesn't matter this is their specialist lil boy. Who then brings even more of the specialist lil ones ever!

God I love the implications of Clockwork and Pariah creating a cloak of wings for a ghostling for them to use as their feathers slowly grow back. Love what that implies for the culture of the ghost zone. Love the idea of it maybe having an influence on Danny's wings in ghost form since a ghost's appearance is influenced by their image about themself.

#ask answered #batman au #batman #dc #dcu #dcxdp #dpxdc #cryptid batman #cryptid batfam #normally I don't really like demon aus #but this is honestly really interesting in implications #I am honestly here for this and am very interested #Would the batfam also get wings (that is feathered ones)#What is Constantine's reaction to Batman #Does it ping similar to a half-demon or something else #Does he just think it's a Gotham thing since like 3+ portals to hell have been opened there #I honestly don't think Alfred would let Jason die #Like demon blood is actually kinda OP in the DC world #We've seen Constantine stabbed through the center (like practically split in half hotdog style) and heal pretty freakin easy #Okay but wings #like wing ideas #Jack has condor wings (very big & also death implications)#Danny deserves lil dove wings as bby before they're scorched #They deserve to be similar to galaxy when grown back #White flecks from Clockwork & the darker bits from Pariah with hints of his own colors swirling together #Jazz has either a finch's wings or cockatoos #OH #Bruce has nicobar pigeon wings #Closest living relative of the dodo #And it is Gorgeous

120 notes · View notes

samgirl98 · 1 year

Text

Operators Are Standing By 1/1

Sequel to this

Danny pouted as his parents sped up to Wayne Manor in the Fenton Speeder.

He hadn’t planned on meeting his biological family anytime soon. Still, after they kept barging randomly into his house, school, during patrol…in the bathroom while he was showering at one point, he decided it’d be easier to meet with them at an allotted time.

It doesn’t mean he had to like it. He was sacrificing his Spring Vacation for this.

At least, this time around, his bio mother wouldn’t be there. (She’s the one that barged in while he was showering.)

Ancients, why did he have to be related to such fruit loops? He finally got rid of one to end up with eight new ones.

It didn’t help that he found out his bio mom is an assassin that comes from a cult that worships a deathless fruit loop (who is also Danny’s grandfather), his bio dad is a furry that fights criminals at night, and the rest of his adoptive siblings and twin brother put on spandex to fight criminals, too.

At least he knows where his heroic tendencies come from.

The only normal person in the family seemed to be Alfred.

Danny sighed. Why was he surprised? His adopted family were ghost hunters; he could die on command and fought ghosts to protect his town. Of course, his birth family was also gonna be weird.

“Okay, sweetie, we’re here. Now, remember, if you want to come home, call us, and we’ll fly here in the Fenton Speeder to pick you up. We love you, hun.”

“Thanks, mom.”

Danny exited the speeder and watched his parents fly away, leaving him behind with his luggage. One suitcase for the week he was staying in the Manor of Insanity.

As Alfred opened the door and welcomed him inside, Danny couldn’t help but feel he had forgotten something.

____

“Is this important,” Bruce asked, irritated.

His Justice League communicator had gone off, and if he had to deal with one of his co-workers doing something stupid again instead of getting to know his newest son, well, he’d take his glare up to 1000%.

“Sorry to bother you, Bats,” Constantine said without sounding sorry, “But it’s an all-hands-on-deck situation. There’s an asteroid made of Kryptonite heading this way, and we can’t think of any way to stop it except summoning the Ghost King. We need a tie-breaker since some of us decided to vote against it.”

Well, at least it was for something important.

____

“I’m so sorry, Danny. As soon as I deal with this emergency, I’ll be back to get to know you,” Bruce apologized as he put on his Batsuit. At least the Batcave looked cool.

“It’s fine,” Danny reassured the man, “Go save the world. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

Bruce nodded, got into some tube, and disappeared in a flash of light.

Well, he might as well see how the ectoshots were helping Jason.

____

“Your summoning is very important to us. Operators are standing by. Thank you for your patience.”

The cheery voice had been on repeat for the last two hours.

Bruce could be having dinner with his kids right now (even Jason was there.) Instead, he was stuck waiting for a Ghost King that was not answering. If Bruce didn’t have an image to maintain, he would be pulling his hair out.

“…Thank you for your patience.”

“Is there any way we could speed this along,” Diana asked, “That asteroid is going to land in less than 24 hours.”

How had they missed such a big thing hurtling toward the Earth in the first place? If they had caught it sooner, they could’ve devised some other plan instead of trying to summon the King of the Dead.

“Your summoning is very important to us…”

“There’s a more…forceful way to summon him, but I don’t think it would help getting him on our side.”

Bruce was a patient man. He had to be. Right now, though, he wanted to go home.

“Do it; the Earth can’t wait.”

____

Danny had been having fun with the Wayne kids. He had the best dinner he had ever had, got to have a pun off with Dick (to the horror of the rest of the siblings.), and even got to spar with them.

(Danny got to bond with his twin over weapons.)

At the moment, they were in the media room and were playing video games. Danny was starting to bond with his adopted siblings when he felt a tug in his chest.

One moment he was kicking ass in Mario Kart. The next, he was standing in front of a bunch of people in colorful costumes. Danny was wearing his Ghost King regalia.

(The Justice League saw a creature with too many rows of teeth, white hair flowing in the air, a crown of ice, and a body with too-long limbs.)

“Oh, come on, I was just about to beat them,” he whined.

A blond guy wearing a trench coat stepped out, “Your majesty, we called you here today to ask a favor. I am willing to give you my soul in exchange—”

“Yeah, let me stop you right there,” Danny said, “First of all, I don’t deal in souls. I’m the King of Ghosts; eventually, everyone ends up in my domain. Secondly, even if I did, I can tell you’ve already sold your soul a shit ton of times, you whore. Thirdly, I am very busy. Didn’t you hear the operator?”

“Your majesty, an asteroid is about to hit Earth. If the Earth is destroyed, so is the Infinite Realms. Isn’t there anything we can give you so you can destroy it,” British Trench Coat Dude asked.

“Wait, are we in space,” Danny asked as he looked out a window. He could see Earth from the window, “That is so cool.”

He turned to the dude, ignoring everyone else, “Let me come up here and stare at the Earth once a week, and you have a deal.”

“Deal,” he said without missing a beat.

“Constantine,” freaking Superman yelled, “You can’t promise to let an unknown come to our hidden base!”

“Oh, really, boy scout, because last I checked, you can’t hit this asteroid, so bugger off!”

“Great! Deal made? Let me get in more comfortable attire.”

Danny got into his Danny Phantom form. He heard a choking behind him and then his name, “Danny?!”

Danny turned to look at Batman. Aw, that’s what he forgot.

____

After Danny got rid of the asteroid, Bruce decided it was important to interrogate him in front of his coworkers.

(How did Danny forget Batman was part of the Justice League?)

“So the Ghost King is your kid. You sure know how to raise them, Batsy,” sad trench coat guy said.

Bruce ignored him.

“How could you forget to tell me you’re the Ghost King?”

“How could you forget I could enter the Ghost Zone to ask the Ghost King for help?” Danny countered.

There was silence between one of the Green Lanterns started laughing. They quieted when Bruce glared at him.

“Look, it’s not like I did it on purpose. When I got to the manor, I checked my checklist but hadn’t even put it down. Sometimes even I forget I’m the Ghost King,” he defended himself while crossing his arms.

“How did this even happen?”

“Evil Ghost King sucked my town into another dimension. I beat him in one-on-one combat, and the king is decided through right of conquest. Once I beat him, I was next in line, and here I am,” he said while finishing his explanation with jazz hands.

“That explains nothing,” Batman said, sounding a bit hysterical.

Danny rolled his eyes; he didn’t know how to make it clearer.

“Okay, but I still get to come up once a week, right?”

____

Everybody in the manor was frantic after Danny disappeared. They had tried getting hold of Bruce, but he hadn’t answered.

It wasn’t until Bruce showed up with Danny in the Batcave did everyone calm down.

Bruce ignored the questions from his other children and sat heavily on the chair by the Batcomputer. The man looked a bit broken.

“What happened to him,” Jason asked.

“Oh, he found out I’m the Ghost King.”

The bats in the cave screeched as everyone yelled, “YOU’RE THE WHAT?!”

@kokoroluna @nerdypaintbrush @thegatorsgoose @memecow1 @andaspoonfulofangst-whoops @colornotes23 @theamazingfox @spectralstardustandphantomnights @alcorbearson @talafairy @hnymp @ironicvixen @dangnoodles @satoshy12 @suppengott @skulld3mort-1fan @kuraichi @stargazing-bookwyrm

#dc x dp #dp x dc #dc x dp fan fic #dc x dp fill

324 notes · View notes

elizabethemerald · 1 year

Text

A Shade Darker than Red: Part 6

Jason was exploring the Infinite Realms when he felt something pull at him. Danny had trained him in enough of the common ghost skills that he would be safe exploring on his own. Apparently he, as a brand new ghost and Danny’s trainee, fell under the aegis of Danny’s crown. Few ghosts would seriously attack him and he was now skilled enough that any of the playful bouts with the other ghosts could go either way. He was obviously still not as skilled as the ghosts who had centuries to train, and was nowhere close to Danny’s own level, (a fact that irked him to no end).

When he first felt the tug, stubborn and insistent pulling on something inside him, he carefully looked around like he had been taught by Danny. The situational awareness he had been previously been trained in was next to useless in the endless green sea of the Realms. He was about to dismiss the strange feeling when he couldn’t find any source to the possible threat.

Then the tug began to burn. He screamed in pain and fear as something yanked on his core. Danny said the ghost’s core was everything to them, brain and heart and soul in one, and something was pulling on his fit to pull it from his body. He screamed for Danny, screamed into the ectoplasm of the Zone, just like he did when he first formed. And just like when he first formed, Danny answered. The King of All Ghosts bent the very Infinite Realms themselves to fly to Jason’s side.

Danny wrapped him in his impossibly large and powerful aura, surrounded him as the pull became too strong to resist and took the pull upon himself. Jason sighed in relief as the burning in his core eased. He could now focus enough to feel the emotions behind the pull. There was grief and muted rage and grief and sorrow and grief and grief and grief and…

A crackling tear opened in the Realms surrounding them and they both slipped through, invisible and silent to hover in the light of the sun over a large crowd. For a moment Jason felt like he was drowning in the grief of the people below him before he could focus on what was happening. He and Danny had emerged in the air above a funeral. His funeral.

The day of Jason’s funeral, his second funeral, was a bright and sunny one. Dick felt it was a betrayal. The weather of Gotham, normally so gloomy and dark, was bright when it should have been in mourning just like him.

There was a lot of debate among his remaining siblings about what to do with Jason’s body. After his first death, Jason had been buried on the grounds of Wayne Manor next to Thomas and Martha. Bruce thought it was fitting that his son was buried next to his parents. However once Jason came back, the manor was never really his home again. He had never felt welcomed there, no matter how much his siblings and Alfred had tried. Even though Bruce was currently staying on the Watchtower they didn’t want to risk it.

Eventually they decided on a small plot in an abandoned lot in Crime Alley. That was where Jason was born, where he lived, and where he died. They would lay him to rest there. Tim handled the purchase of the lot, which was long overgrown and the locals treated it almost as a park. Seemed like the perfect place to lay him to rest.

They had expected it to be just a private affair, only siblings and Alfred. Except apparently word got out that not only was Jason getting buried, but that Jason was also the Red Hood. Hood’s lieutenants came along with some of the working girls from the Alley. The kids Jason had saved or protected filled out most of the rest of the seats. Really it was a packed house. All here to grieve Jason and acknowledge his impact on their lives.

There were no capes present. The family were dressed in their civilian attire. Roy and Kori were patrolling the rest of Gotham and would come to pay their own respects later. The Justice League not only hadn’t been invited, they had been explicitly banned from the funeral and the city. Any reporters that tried to enter the lot were forcibly removed by members of Hood’s gang.

Dick, Tim, Cass and Steph were the pallbearers of Jason’s second coffin. Damian wanted to take part but he was too short, so he and Duke formed an honor guard on either side of the coffin. They choose a simple pinewood box, rather than the more expensive modern coffins. Jason had managed to dig himself out of the grave once, if he had to do it again they wanted to make it easier. There was also a bevy of sensors to detect movement and an emergency beacon, just in case. Damian had even slipped one of his favorite daggers into the coffin so Jason could use it to dig himself out if he needed to.

The family sans Bruce stood around the grave to say their piece.

Dick sobbed as he told Jason how much he loved him, and how he was sorry he hadn’t been there for him. He tossed his flower onto the coffin.

Cass signed her farewell. Saying simply that she loved him. Would always love him and that he was her brother. She set her flower onto the coffin.

Tim’s farewell was given in a monotone as he tried to reign in his wild emotions. He apologized for taking Jason’s spot the first time. He gave his own forgiveness for Jason’s attempts on his life. He had to turn away and press his face to Dick’s shoulder after he put his flower on his coffin.

Duke called Jason a brother, a friend and a fighter till the end. He said the hole Jason had left was one that could never be filled. He set his flower on the grave and held Steph while she cried.

Barbara told her favorite story of Jason, from a time when she was Batgirl and he was Robin, though she kept her real meaning hidden in metaphor. She tossed her flower on his coffin and pulled Dick’s hand to her shoulder.

Damian sounded furious as he set his flower on Jason’s coffin. His hands shook with suppressed rage, the boy unable to give voice to his grief in any way other than anger. He promised Jason that he would continue to protect Crime Alley in his stead.

Steph’s voice cracked and broke as she cried through her farewell. She said that Jason was like a brother to her, that she missed the way he cooked and their pranking wars. She dropped her flower from on the coffin then had to grab Cass in a tight hug, hiding her face from the gathered audience.

Alfred was the last of the family to say his farewell. He placed his flower with the same precision and elegance he brought to every part of his life. If his hands shook when he pulled it back, then no one mentioned it. He gave his apologies and a soft farewell of, “May his memory be a blessing.”

The family stepped back, standing to the side to allow the other mourners to step forward, but they were hardly the last to say their goodbyes to Jason. All manner of people from Crime Alley came up to the grave with Jason’s coffin laying in it. Old grannies from corner stores that Hood had protected, thugs and gangsters of every persuasion who had worked for former crime lord stepped forward and gave their respects, prostitutes who had worked the street corners under his watchful eye sobbed as they spoke, and children he had saved from kidnappers came forward, some not even understanding what they were doing but they still laid flowers on the coffin.

Some of those who said their farewells came up to the family, some offered hugs, handshakes, or just a quiet hand on their shoulders. Some of the grannies offered food for the family, saying they were always welcome. Some of the kids offered drawings that drew fresh tears from everyone present.

Eventually the crowd tapered down and drew back. Jason’s coffin was almost completely covered in a pile of flowers. An entire neighborhood united behind one family over the death of one man. If there was ever a greater testament to the impact Jason had made on the lives of those around him, Dick hadn’t seen it.

As most of the crowd left the lot one of Hood’s lieutenants pulled Dick aside, a hand on his shoulder. Dick wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to someone who was part of Jason’s criminal empire, but from what the man said over the coffin, Dick had to assume the two were close.

“Do you know who did this to him?” The man asked.

Dick weighed his response, it was an incredibly inappropriate question to ask at a funeral, but he knew the criminal underworld of Gotham worked on a different wavelength than the rest of the city. In the end his fury at Bruce won out.

“The Bat.”

The man’s face soured and he growled.

“If any of those capes show their faces in Crime Alley, we’ll fill them full of lead for you.”

That wasn’t what Dick wanted. That wasn’t what Jason would have wanted he hoped. In his hurry to correct the misimpression he let his mouth run ahead of his brain for a moment.

“We didn’t want this to happen.”

Even as his voice cracked on the words, he wished he could pull them back. The man’s eyebrows rose and Dick could watch the calculating look on his face as he turned and examined the rest of the family in turn. Dick was about to panic as the man turned back to him.

“Don’t you worry none, Red Hood cared for you, even if he didn’t always say it. We’ll keep the Alley running just like he would have wanted it.” He hesitated for a moment longer. “I can’t believe the Bat finally crossed his line. Who would have thought that Batman would kill Red Hood?”

Jason needed to leave. He needed to go.

He had cried in Danny’s arms as each of his siblings said their farewells. He had cried as the flowers on his coffin had piled higher and higher, each person there remembering and mourning him in their own way. Danny had held him, swathed in his aura, keeping them silent, invisible and intangible throughout the proceedings.

But now he needed to leave.

Batman had killed him. Bruce had killed him.

Like a flash the memories of his second death rushed through him.

He remembered tailing Bruce to an Alley, aiming to question him on what he was doing in his turf. Bruce had triggered something that took out his coms, then led him into a nearby building. They talked, Bruce told him that his criminal activities were too much, that he would have to take him into Arkham. They fought. Bruce kept punching long after Jason was beaten.

Jason never would have thought that Bruce would have finally crossed his own line and murder him. Bruce, who had refused to kill the Joker, no matter how many lives he had taken, no matter that he had taken his own son from him, had decided that Jason was human enough to be worth saving. He wasn’t human enough to count against Bruce’s rule.

Danny pulled the two of them back into the Infinite Realms as Jason hyperventilated even though he no longer needed to breathe. He couldn’t hear more than the ringing in his ears, though he could see Danny’s lips moving. Danny surrounded himself in a green, protective bubble, and kept mouthing something.

“Let it out. Let it out Jason.”

Jason threw his head back and wailed. He put his grief, his rage, his betrayal into the wail, every ounce of power he could behind it. He wailed and wailed, the very ectoplasm in the air around them shivering and quaking in the face of his grief. Danny stood, safe behind his shield and watched as he wailed and watched as the wail died on his lips. And Danny was there again, wrapping him up tight in a full body hug, allowing Jason to rest in the safety of his overwhelmingly powerful aura. Darkness crept into his vision, before he finally passed out.

#dp x dc #jason todd #a shade darker than red #danny fenton #batfam #dick grayson #cassandra cain #damian wayne #i sobbed writing this #so take care of yourselves

201 notes · View notes

duskyashe · 1 year

Text

NaNoWriMo Day #19

[masterlist] [part one]

=============‹«⟨←·•·→⟩»›=============

There are some things, Alfred thought amused, that transcend even death. Bruce was far from the first Wayne to have a slight adoption problem, and his sons won't be the last. Though, he mused as he prepared the tea, this might just be the first time a Wayne has ever adopted a member of the living from beyond the grave. It's certainly the first time one has ever adopted the ghost king.

There was a sudden cry of, "Brucie! There you are!" Followed by a sharp yelp of, "Who the fu—udge are you!" Nice save, master Jason, Alfred thought with a smirk. He gathered everything together to the sounds of overlapping voices, and counted down in his head as he neared the room. 3, 2, 1— "Everyone, calm down! Young man, could you please explain who you are and what you're doing here?" —Right on time, as always, master Bruce. Alfred opened the door just in time to see the wide grin on master Danny's face and catch his eye with a small smile and a nod.

"Master Bruce, I know I raised you better than that, surely you recognize your little brother?" Ahhh, the simple joy of watching an entire family of world class detectives "blue screen", as master Tim would say. Each and every one of them were trying to figure out how this teenager could be Bruce's younger brother, when they all knew what had happened to the elder's parents, and all of them were drawing the wrong conclusions. Alfred hadn't had to fight this hard not to grin since his adoptive son was pulling his hair out because master Richard was swinging from the chandelier. Last week.

"Since when did you adopt a kid?!" "Aww, Alfie, are we not enough for you?" "Now I know where B gets it from..." "Father, I had not realized Pennyworth was behind your serial adoption habits. You are forgiven."

Apparently, master Danny didn't have the same fortitude as Alfred, as he began laughing shortly after the accusations started flying. Alfred let his smile grow more fond at the sound. Thomas and Martha had shared their suspicions about master Danny's home life, and while he could see some of what they meant, it was heartening to know it wasn't as bad as he'd feared.

"No, no, goodness, no, Alfred didn't adopt me! Though," master Danny said, laughing eyes catching his own, "I'm sure if he got to me, first, he would have. No, mom and dad weren't able to make it legal on this side of things, so I don't have the name, but the family ties are just as strong. I am Bruce's little brother, and I am adopted, but the adoption was a little more," here, master Danny changed forms and started floating, "spiritual than normal."

In the silence that followed that proclamation, Alfred heard the whisper of a woman's laugh and a man's chuckle drift past his ears. A soft, "That's my boy," breezed through the air between Alfred and master Danny, causing the young man to brighten and Alfred to chuckle. Oh yes, master Bruce may have been too young to remember, but Thomas and Martha both had wicked senses of humor. The two of them had probably coached master Danny on exactly what to say, what to do, and how. Now, we just have to calm them down long enough to explain everything, he thought with a wry grin. Not the hardest thing I've done, that was most certainly raising master Bruce in the first place.

=============‹«⟨←·•·→⟩»›=============

TADA! I finally had a prompt to continue this storyline with! Of course, it's not the longest I've written, but I've also been dealing with a headache most of the day. Again (⁠-⁠_⁠-⁠;⁠) buuuuut, knowing I can pop something of this quality out in just less than an hour, while dealing with a headache, is definitely something worth knowing, don't you think? (⁠^⁠～⁠^⁠;⁠)⁠ゞ yeaaaahhh, I'm trying to not make this a thing...

But! I hope this at least answered a few questions about how Alfred knew about Danny lol if I get around to part three, we'll get some more clarification, but for now, I hope this will do (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)

@chaoticmistake and @ectoplasm024 both asked to be tagged if/when I wrote more, so here you go!

Have a good morning/day/night!

#danny phantom #batman #dc x dp #dp x dc #fanfic #dp crossover #dp au #fanfiction #nanowrimo 2022 #NaNoWriMo Day 19 #dp/dc week 2022 #aren't headaches just the best?#sorry this isn't longer #i had plans but i can barely think these tags through 😅#chaos gremlin Danny meet (controlled) chaos enabler Alfred #i love Alfred he's the best #he's also an interesting man with an interesting past from my understanding #in this fic it's dialed up a notch lol

319 notes · View notes

channajen · 1 year

Text

Chapter Six of "Fly Like a Bat" is now posted!

Summary: Batman and Red Hood have a -discussion- about Danny at the Watchtower. Then, Danny shares a bit about himself. Later, at Wayne Manor, there is bonding.

Teaser below cut:

Bruce glanced towards the boy and then at Jason. “Danny originally appeared as a teenager, approximately the same age as you were when you were…gone. If you were cloned at that time, then it means he was artificially aged to some degree.”

Jason’s voice wavered a bit. “That was only seven years ago! Why did he look like a teen before he got shot and then change?”

“Perhaps the concentrated Lazarus water in those weapons reverted Danny’s body to its actual age, instead of its enhanced age. Or it is possible that the weapon reverted Danny to a state in which he was the most stable.”

“You have got to be fucking kidding me! That kid can’t be more than four or five now!” Jason started pacing again, this time he was moving faster and shaking his head.

Batman clamped down on his emotions. If he did not keep tight control, things would get…messy. “His mind has likely been affected by the changes to his biology. We’ll need to keep that in mind when we have him scanned for trackers, mental traps, mind control, and any other threats.”

“Danny is NOT a threat!”

“You can’t know that. Just his presence here is proof that Ra’s is up to something. We need to find out what.”

“And you’re going to do that how? By rummaging through a little boy’s head?” Jason was spitting mad now.

“He was a teen up until a short while ago.”

Jason wanted to punch Bruce right in the fucking cowl. “You don’t know what that weapon did to his mind. I cannot believe you would let someone go mucking around in a child’s brain—especially one that has just been through hell!”

“J’onn is very skilled at what he does. I do not believe it will cause any difficulties for the boy.”

“You don’t believe…” Jason mocked his father, then he scoffed. “Who gave you permission to make decisions for the kid anyway? I should have more say-so than you.”

Bruce sighed and pinched his nose through the cowl. “Hood, this is neither the time nor the place. Can we just table this discussion for now?”

“I think it should definitely be on the discussion table now. If his age-loss is irreversible, then he is going to need a guardian…”

“I am aware.”

“Oh, let me guess…Brucie Wayne is going to adopt another lost soul?”

“Would it be so horrible to have him as your brother instead of having him as your son?”

The thought brought tears to Jason’s eyes. He pulled off his hood and wiped his face on his sleeve. He wanted to look his father in the eyes when he answered. “Yes. Yes, it would. You don’t understand. I gave up my life for the opportunity to connect with my blood mother, and you don’t think I’d do the same for my own son??”

#danny phantom #batman #dp x dc #jason todd #justice league #wayne family adventures #bruce wayne is a good father #protective jason todd #de aged danny

81 notes · View notes

elithemiar-blog · 2 years

Text

I’ve had an idea of how to connect Sam and/or Tucker to Bruce. It’s implementing it that’s a bit of a problem.

My first thought was Sam actually being a child of Bruce, however due to Grandma Ida, that dropped. But maybe Ida dyed her hair like Sam. Her parents are blonde, or she just happened to get black hair from Grandma Ida. Sam wears contacts, not sure if that’s a common HC within DP, but I’m going with it.

There were a couple of other thoughts, like the Masons pulled a Bruce, and adopted Sam. They still love her like their own, but they want a respectful princess out of her, instead of the rebellion that they got.

Maybe Bruce Wayne is Sam’s pseudo-uncle. I’m unsure of timeline wise, but maybe Dick and Jason vaguely remember her when she was a sweet innocent little girl, maybe Tim met her for a short time (a bit of a shock, when they meet again).

So, Jeremy and Pamela are tired of Sam rebelling, and sending her to Bruce Wayne, hoping her pseudo-uncle will help. Like Danny isn’t the only one having problems with curfew and homework, she doesn’t get caught as much, considering that Danny can usually get them home in time of their own curfews.

(FW: A very long post. Not kidding, got a little out of hand. Oops.)

The ghosts have gotten worse, and truly the primary defense is a couple of teenagers. Sam has been researching some kind of mystery that has the normal rouges more powerful than before, which has caused her grades to drop and even longer nights of her not coming home on time.

Anyway, for a short while (1-3months [summer?]) Sam is sent to live with the Wayne’s as a way to sort out her rebellion. Through-out the entire time she’s trying to figure out the reason behind the ghosts’ power increase. Still, despite being all the way from Amity Park, she’s still part of Team Phantom, and she has her mind set on figuring it out. This decision also makes a bad impression on the Wayne family.

Everything is going great until the power increase isn’t limited to Amity, but everywhere, including Gotham. And all she has brought with her is a thermos and a basic ecto-blaster (not like Gotham is Amity, but better safe than sorry).

That’s really all I had going through my head for Sam. Her plant power from Undergrowth’s corruption may have been spotted by one of the family. Maybe the ecto-weapons got picked up from another. Like each member of the family figures out something from Sam, but it never really gets put together until Sam comes forward.

Sam knows the Wayne family is in some way connected to the Batclan, she’s just not entirely sure on how. She’s trying to make sure that the batfam don’t find out about Amity through the Wayne family.

---

Tucker was a little more difficult to figure out. First thought, relation to Duke, but then that was a stretch (as in less coincidence, and more natural relation [does that make sense?]). Instead, he’s got family working WE, so he gets more WE tech, and maybe that helps him code better for the ghost tech. A certain component is necessary for Danny working on his parent’s inventions, and so he’s gotta make an honest trade. Just a visit. The component necessary is still under testing and isn’t quite up for public sale.

When Tucker does end up visiting his relative, both of them get caught by Tim before the component can leave the tower. Thanks to Tucker improving it in some fashion, Tim approves taking it to his friend, he just really wants to know what the invention is.

---

My brain stopped here for a moment, and then the thought of the trio reuniting in Gotham hit hard.

Maybe a convention, not a ghost convention, maybe a space convention, which gives Danny an opportunity. They should hit Gotham anyway since Amity is too off and getting a weaker ecto-input as a baseline may help figure out the mystery. Which a space convention can be the alibi that Danny needs to use. Jazz goes with to watch out for her little brother, and since they keep contact with Sam and Tucker who are already in Gotham, they bring more weapons. Thinking ahead, Danny does bring the invention that used the component, so Tucker can show Tim.

Not sure where to go from here. As for the mystery, maybe it’s just a section of time. Like every thousand years or so, there’s an increase in power for the dead/undead, that takes a few months to resettle. It’s not a major thing. For some of the ghosts of Gotham, they just get a little too much for the vigilantes can handle without the appropriate technologies.

Other cities aren’t as bad, Gotham is just covered in death, that some ghosts just got a little extra.

Either Team Phantom gets away with what they need to do, without the Batfam’s knowledge, or they absolutely shatter their secret. Danny’s secret was actually the very first thing they figured out, he ain’t so sneaky as he thinks. The situation with Amity Park on the other hand...

#dp x dc #dc x dp #sam manson #tucker foley #batfam #batpham #except sam instead of danny #idea got out of hand #use any of this or take apart to your hearts desire

180 notes · View notes

avaritia-apotheosis · 3 years

Text

Phantom Children Ch. 8

What's this? An update! Massive thanks to my betas for helping me get through this chapter <3

In Which: A few answers are given to the family and Danny is rudely awoken

[Side note: If you wanna know the general ages of the batfam, its listed in the AO3 version. I also talk about katanas in the end notes ^-^]

AO3 | Prologue | 7 | [ 8 ] | 9 DAMIAN INFORMED TODD—and Drake when he arrived on his bike sometime later on—that the boy whose face is plastered across the monitor was neither a picture of himself nor of Father.

Drake took one glance at the monitor and sighed, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose. “Just when I thought this day was getting better.”

“What, did that café on 5th finally let customers supersize their drink?”

“God that would be the dream, wouldn’t it?” Drake sighed wistfully. “Nah, but I did get a lead on where some of that stolen Cadmus tech might’ve ended up. I was gonna spend the night following up on it, but I guess we have to deal with,” he gestured to the monitor, “whatever this is.”

Todd leaned against the edge of the computer, arms crossed over the red bat insignia on his chest. “What are we dealing with this time, brat? A clone? An alternate universe counterpart? Magic shenanigans?”

Maybe. Perhaps. All of those were perfectly valid conclusions for the enigma that was Daniel James Fenton. (Why Fenton and not al Ghul? Or even Wayne?)

Damian, too, was a genetic experiment; a ‘test tube baby’ as Drake put it at times. Damian was born for greatness, created to be perfect. The perfect soldier. The perfect assassin. The perfect heir. Was this boy—Daniel—like him as well?

A failed one, then. Perhaps the precursor to Damian’s own existence. But that would not explain why the boy was allowed to exist for so long. His grandfather demanded perfection, especially from those of his own blood. If the boy was a failure, he would have been eliminated immediately, not sent to live with some eccentric scientists in the Midwest.

Damian was not naïve enough to think that his mother and grandfather did not keep secrets from him. On the contrary, he expected it. The League of Shadows dealt in secrets as often as it did in death. Certain information was worth its weight in gold, whether it was given or buried away.

But he could not help the sharp pang in his chest. A lightning strike, quick and electrifying at the notion that they kept secrets about their family from him.

His father’s face flashed in his mind. The shock turned into a slow, dawning horror. That flicker of light, of recognition, as he scrutinized the contents of the flash drive and cross-referenced it with a public database.

And grief.

Damian recognized the grief.

Alfred, too, nearly dropped his tray of fresh-baked cookies when he stepped in front of the monitor. His usual unflappable demeanor was momentarily broken at his father’s whispered “Sixteen years. Alfred— he’s sixteen years old.”

His father knew of the boy. He was allowed to know of Daniel when he was not allowed to know about Damian.

------

Grayson returned to the cave with a distinct lack of energy in his step. His mask dangled off the tips of his fingers, chin angled downwards and covered largely by his hand. For a split second, their eyes met. Grayson shifted his gaze away, scratching the back of his neck. Father told him, then. Damian wondered how much Father revealed to his favorite son.

Damian clucked his tongue and buried himself deeper into the chair, arms crossed and pointedly looking away. If it was not for his accursed ankle, he’d have headed out to the training ring to take his frustrations out on the dummies.

“Oh, thank god you’re here, Dickface. Damian’s completely out of it.”

Damian shot him a look. “Shut up, Todd.”

“Leave him alone, Jay. Is Tim back yet?”

Drake emerged from the changing room in a dark green shirt, a fresh cup of coffee in hand. He took one long sip before exhaling. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“O-kay…” He pressed his hands together, mouth thinned into a grim line. “Uh, hey Tim, glad to see you back safe. Bruce is coming down soon to explain some things.” He let out a deep sigh, carding a hand through his hair. “This kind of thing would probably be better with the girls around, but I—god, I don’t know.”

Todd raised an eyebrow. “Don’t know whether to call Steph and Cass in Hong Kong, or don’t know what’s going on?”

“Yes.”

------

When Father arrived, Pennyworth following dutifully behind him, it was with an aching slowness in his gait. His steps measured and precise, preternaturally quiet as he made his way to stand by Damian’s chair. Damian sat up straighter, shoulders squared and back an inch away from the backrest. The rest, even Todd, stood at attention; an ingrained habit among Robins and an amusing instinct even among the senior heroes of the Justice League when it came to facing the Batman.

His father kept a steady hand on Damian’s shoulder, and Damian, shamefully, leaned into the touch; his head inclined towards his father’s hand so much so that he could feel the ends of his hair being pushed up slightly as he brushed against his father’s forearm.

He spoke with his usual monotone, as if he was heading a Justice League meeting as opposed to unveiling the secrets surrounding that boy. He brought forward the few photos they obtained from the flash drive. “A few weeks ago, we were alerted of suspicious movement from the League of Shadows in Amity Park, Illinois. Their objectives are, as of now, unclear, though it appears to be tied to the death of Amity Park resident, Daniel Fenton.”

One photo was a standard ID picture people get for their driver’s license, the lighting deliberately horrible so that any attempt to look decent would always end in failure. Another photo was a little better; a candid scene of him chatting with two others his age, a Caucasian girl in gothic-style clothes and an African-American holding a sleek, but still very outdated PDA. His blue eyes crinkled at the corners, hand reaching up to his face to stifle a laugh. There were other photos like this, some candid, others posed. At the forefront of each, a boy that looked too much like his father, too much like Damian.

His father glanced at the photos. He shut his eyes and when he opened them again, he fixed them on some distant stalactite in the Cave. “Around six months ago, Daniel was pronounced dead in a vehicular accident. A body was present, but according to police reports, he was identified via his driver’s license as opposed to any kind of DNA profiling.” He leaned over Damian’s chair to pull up a profile of Masters. “Our source—Vladimir Masters, mayor of Amity and a friend of the Fenton family—indicated his belief that Daniel is actually alive. I am inclined to agree.”

“He’s your son, isn’t he,” Drake said, more of a statement than a question.

Father gave a curt nod. “I cannot say for certain until I can perform a DNA test, but I highly suspect that to be the case.”

“First the demon spawn, now this. Great.” Todd made a hand motion towards the screen. “You know, Bruce, not knowing you have a kid once might be a coincidence, but twice? How do you do that?”

“As of three hours ago, I was still under the impression that my son never made it to term.”

“What?”

“Over sixteen years ago I was involved in a mission that put Ra’s and I on the same side. During that time, Talia and I entered a relationship that resulted in a pregnancy. Though initially ecstatic, she eventually led me to believe she miscarried the child and pushed me away. For what ends, I do not know, but trust me Jason, if I knew—” He paused, the hand that was not on Damian’s shoulder curled into a tight fist.

Father pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why she hid it from me then doesn’t matter. Why Talia wants him back now is important. Judging from Daniel’s records, he was adopted into the Fenton family as an infant and has since lived a seemingly normal life as a civilian. His adoptive parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton, are brilliant scientists and engineers focused on the field of paranormal studies. Eccentricities aside, they have zero connections to the League of Assassins or any other concerning parties.”

“So why now?” Dick asked, shifting his concerned gaze from Bruce to the static picture of Danny’s tired smile. “Why, after all this time, decide that now would be the best time to recover him?”

------

Danny’s experienced plenty of rude awakenings before, but waking up at the ass-crack of dawn to avoid his kidnapper-slash-assassin-slash-biological-mom launching a surprise attack takes the fucking cake. He can’t believe he’s saying this, but thank god for all those late night ghost attacks that conditioned him to be a light sleeper. And, of course, the League’s insistence that everyone be in optimal condition regardless of how little sleep you actually got.

Danny kicked Talia off of him, ripping his blanket away before scrambling to his feet. Seriously, if the universe decided to spontaneously give him powers again, he’d really like an upgrade to his ghost senses, please and thank you. Something that works on humans and not just ghosts. Like spidey-senses. He’d really, really like some spidey-senses.

“Your reaction times have improved considerably,” Talia said.

He eyed the katana sheathed beside his bedroll. “Thanks. Who could have guessed that constantly challenging someone to a spar in the unholy hours of morning would make them paranoid to sleep too much? Really, how am I supposed to grow taller at this rate? ” If he could just get it--

She smiled, taking a step forward. “Prepare yourself.”

“Heh.” Danny stepped further away from Talia, keeping his back to the mouth of the cave. One hand stretched in front of him and the other, coated in a green light, was kept hidden behind his back. “Am I actually gonna get some answers today?”

“Let us make it interesting. Last 10 minutes against me and I shall tell you more about your brother.” Talia twirled her blade. “If you happen to draw blood, you may ask any one thing of me.”

“Anything?”

“Within reason.”

His face caught between a grimace and a smile. He’d rather be sleeping right now, but if he had to be awake, then he’d better make the most of it. “Deal.”

Talia’s smile dropped. She veered her body to the right, barely dodging the streak of bright green that whizzed from behind her. The ectoplasmic energy that surrounded the katana bled away as the handle connected with Danny’s outstretched hand.

She quickly glanced back at Danny’s bedding. Beside it lay an empty sheath. “You have telekinesis?”

He shrugged. “It comes and goes.” Yeah, no way was Danny gonna admit that seven-out-of-ten-times he forgot that he had telekinesis. Besides, that shit was hard to do when he wasn’t Phantom.

“A surprise attack from behind is a sound strategy, Daniel. Though it’ll take a lot more than that to harm me.”

Danny pointed to the side of his cheek. “Are you sure about that?”

Talia frowned. She reached up to her face. Her fingers brushed against her cheek and came away with a thin streak of blood.

Danny grinned, pointing his blade at his opponent. “First blood goes to me.”

------

Fact: most fights don’t last long. An average street fight could last anywhere between 25 to 40 seconds, and sword fights rarely last over a minute. Like Talia said, the goal of a fight was to end it with as few injuries to oneself as possible. Humans, even the most skilled ones, can rarely last long in a fight. Prolonged combat is suicide; it makes you tired, makes your muscles heavy. It’s nothing like what Hollywood would have you believe.

Even with Danny’s own enhanced stamina and Talia holding back, he couldn’t last a full ten-minute spar. If Talia didn’t finish him within twenty-five seconds, then he’d fall by his own human limitations.

But the goal wasn’t to spar continuously for ten minutes.

He only had to last that long.

Danny sprinted out of the cave. The sun barely peeked out of the horizon, a thin line of deep orange breaking apart the wide expanse of blue-black sky above. He couldn’t see shit; great news since that meant there’s a good chance Talia couldn’t either, but that doesn’t fix the fact that he can’t see.

Nearly stumbling on the ice, Danny veered to the left. The edges of the lake stopped at towering rocks twice Danny’s height, leaving little room for cover. Though if he remembered correctly, there should be a few crevices here and there to hide in.

“You’ll have to be faster than that, Daniel.”

Shit—

Danny stopped. He brought his sword up to parry Talia’s strike and twisted away, putting distance between them.

Well, so much for just avoiding her for 10 minutes.

He adjusted his grip, keeping his sword steady and eyes trained on Talia as they circled each other. Danny lunged with an overhead strike. Talia used one hand to block the downswing by gripping his wrists. She thrust her sword forward, the tip harshly poking Danny’s abdomen.

“Less than three minutes.” Talia let his wrist go, Danny’s arms slumping to his sides.

He sighed as he sheathed his sword. “Damn, I thought I’d last longer than that.”

“You made a good effort,” Talia assured him. “Putting as much distance between us at the beginning was a good strategy. You recognized the win conditions immediately and attempted a battle of attrition.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “I am very proud of you habibi, especially as you managed to draw first blood.”

A warmth grew in Danny’s stomach at the words, heating his cheeks. Sheepishly, he scratched the back of his head. “I wasn’t entirely sure that would work, honestly.”

“It was clever; half a second later and you might have even killed me. You are an al Ghul through and through” She brushed his hair out of his face. “What would you like as your prize, then?”

Danny’s heart clenched. He frowned, dropping his arm to his side. If I was such an al Ghul, then why didn’t you keep me? The question lodged itself in his throat, stifling his thoughts. It was something he’d been wondering for a while, actually, in the moments of solitude he had at the compound. Talia, during their training, would always remark at his potential. How talented he was, how adaptable he was, how much greater he would have been if he had been trained at a younger age.

Well then, why wasn’t he? Why did she give him up?

But each time he tried to ask, his tongue would turn to lead and the moment would pass, the question still left unsaid and simmering at the back of his mind. A Pandora’s Box that held none of the world’s evil but all of Danny’s possible shortcomings.

He could ask the question now.

He could.

He didn’t.

“Why did you take me?”

Talia tilted her head. “It is because you’re my son.”

“No. Not that. It has to be something more than that. You had sixteen years to come back for me—or, hell, you could have just never left me.” His breath hitched, fingers mussing his hair and hiding his eyes. “Why else did you take me?”

“It is true that there was more than one reason why we decided to retrieve you from Amity Park. One of which is because you are my son and an heir of the Demon’s Head.” Talia stilled. The dark skies of dawn made it impossible for him to read her. “The second reason was to protect you.”

“You kidnapped me…to protect me?”

“Knowledge of the ghosts of Amity have spread through the more insidious parts of the world. There are many out there who would pay exorbitant fees to study one of you or to use you.”

Use him? What did she mean by—

Oh.

Ghosts—Amity Park’s brand of ghosts—were a new element that the world had to contend with. Amity Park might have a crime rate of zero but that wasn’t the case everywhere else. Theft, assault, murder; the world was rampant with crimes and criminals clawing their way to the very top. Having ghosts, even ones with the most basic powerset, would be a huge advantage.

“There’s no way that would work,” Danny insisted. “Most ghosts just want to be left alone, and the ones that want to wreak havoc would never work with humans. The only reason they even work with halfas like me at times is because they still consider us as ghosts.”

“If my sources are to be believed, ghosts might not even get a choice.”

Danny’s blood curdled in his veins.

No.

Someone’s found a way to control ghosts.

#danny phantom #batman #danny phantom x batman crossover #dp fic #phantom children.txt

65 notes · View notes

timberwolf-wwe-marvel · 2 years

Text

A new family

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

Summary: The Guys in White get blocked by Timberwolf, but after revealing their latest hostage Timberwolf has an ultimatum. Hand over the Fentons, save the girl, or watch her die; Timberwolf makes his own choice. (In other words, Mama bear may be scary, but not even she can take down an angry Papa Timberwolf.)

The plan is simple for Timberwolf, knockout the GIW for authorities to corral them, then help Phantom with the natural portal. So when he disarms to guards with strike discs, he expects to be done by one, yet fate always messes with him. Operative Kyle and Operative Owen wore the same attire; Timberwolf moves to grab his batons, “Ah-ah, don't you want to meet someone?” The truck behind them opens to reveal a cylinder tube; Danellie Phantom, or Ellie. She barely looks up at him; lower-ranked operatives step up behind him.

“Why do you have her,” a scoff is thrown his way, “That thing’s not a her, their an it.” Operative Kyle snaps, pulling out a funky-looking gun, “This bad boy was designed by the Fentons; it can send ghosts back to the Ghost Zone, but where’s the fun in that.” Timberwolf noticed how the girl shrinks at the sight of the gun; Operative Kyle aims at a nearby oak tree, it disintegrates when hit. “You forget one Johnathan Kyle,” Timberwolf throws a pellet at the spot; a massive tree grows in its place. A similar pellet is thrown at the cylinder; Timberwolf uses the batons to knockout the agents behind him.

A quick sprint results in both operatives on their backs, groaning in pain. He easily removes the reinforcements, noting the sloppiness from the fear inside them. During this time, Ellie gains her power back finally bust through. “Tell me!” She follows the voice, spotting Timberwolf, baton to the throat of an un-named agent, “I don't know, I swear.”

“Liar! Tell me why you’re boss wants the Fenton kids now, or find an outstanding lawyer.” Timberwolf snarls, the baton is ablaze with green energy, the agent whimpers, “They want to perform the same experiment that gave Phantom his powers!” The agent faints; Timberwolf lets them splat on the ground, “You’re okay now.” Ellie walks forward, stumbling slightly; Timberwolf catches her after she trips.

“There’s a natural portal not too far from here; I’m sure you get more energy from that.” Ellie lets the man hold her close; she feels safe, almost like she’s with Danny. She hears the man talking but thinks nothing of it. “Get some sleep; you’ll feel better when you get some fresh ectoplasm in your system.” Ellie takes his word, resting herself against his chest.

Timberwolf glances down; Ellie has long since fallen asleep, leaving the man with his thoughts. “Timberwolf, we’re close. Did anything happen,” he looks at the young girl, “You’ll see for yourself,” he replies. A bright flash next to him startles him, looking to see Ellie in human form; his heart swells. “Hey, we, Dani,” Phantom is staring at his young clone; Timberwolf removes his helmet, “The Guys in White had her.

I took care of them.” Daniel says the young male sits beside the girl, gently pulling her into his lap. “You’ll have to carry her through the Zone, but she’ll get her energy back.” Danny looks up at the man. If Timberwolf giving the Guys in White a beatdown was anything to go by; then he’s excellent.

“Walker, help me tie up these agents, Phantom, get Ellie into the Zone.”

Time skip

Wolfden, 15:37

Ellie is flying around the Wolfden, clocking in at around 37 mph, half the speed of Phantom, which is 74 mph. Timberwolf is filing a new report, with Jazz looking over his shoulder. “So, who’s the Timberwolf’s employer, someone I may know?” Daniel doesn’t answer, but instead, he holds up a letter, “From Wayne Industries, the man himself wants to meet up, and kids are allowed,” “As long as they don't use their powers.” Daniel nods with a smile; he’s looking forward to this, “Mine and his parents are good friends; I met Bruce when we were barely old enough to walk.”

The older phantom takes the letter, reading through it, “Business deal, what kind of business deal?” “The professional kind, but you three can join me, but no powers.” Finishing the report, he stands up, “Kids, it’s time to go shopping; we have a banquet to attend in five days.” All four exit the Wolfden; Daniel hangs up the suit, letting it charge. “Are you guys meeting in the middle, or,” “No, we’re heading straight to Gotham.”

Batcave

Time 21:30

Bruce smiles, looking at the blueprints Wolfcorp Eco Labs sent two weeks ago; he had caught Poison Ivy as Batman trying to steal them. Sun panels line the establishment's roof, allowing the building to charge with the energy. Poison Ivy was surprised to learn it was a greenhouse layout; even Bruce was stunned. If he does one thing, he doesn’t wear the most expensive items known to man. He gives half his paycheck to charity; most of it heads to the charity funds in Gotham.

#Danny Phantom #OC #jazz fenton #GIW #dp walker #dp bullet #bruce wayne

11 notes · View notes

danny-chase · 3 years

Note

Big Brother instinct, Dick and either Cass, Gar, Danny Chase, Steph, Kara, Rose, or anyone else u want

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Batman (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Batgirl (Comics) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Dick Grayson & Cassandra Cain, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne Characters: Dick Grayson, Cassandra Cain, Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Dick grayson centric, Fire, Burns, hair styling, Ice Cream, Hurt/Comfort, Late Nights, Fluff and Angst, Batfamily (DCU), Batfamily (DCU) Feels, Batfamily Dynamics (DCU), Missions Gone Wrong, Good Sibling Dick Grayson, Cassandra Cain is bad at feelings, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Feelings Series: Part 11 of Bad Things Happen Bingo Summary:

Dick talks with Cass after a mission doesn't go as planned.

Fic under cut

“Argh!” Dick snaps back to attention as Bruce’s angry grunt rattles through the cave. The few bats still in for the night stir, their wings rustling in the distance. An avalanche of papers fly off of Bruce’s desk, and his grizzled form slumps forward, hands firmly planted on the table. His shoulders sag under some unknown strain; as if he’s carrying the weight of the sky.

“Hmm.” Dick blinks back another wave of exhaustion, he’s not working on a case – but Bruce is – and company always makes working more fun. Besides, Bruce is on a time limit and Alfred can’t stop him from escaping his room. So. Here he is. He took an oath - it’s his job to help.

Dick’s eleven and Bruce’s a pillar of reassurance – a precariously stacked pile of rocks constantly on the verge of crumbling. He has no idea how to pick up the pieces. No idea how to seal the cracks. “Bruce?” He mumbles, swinging his legs off his spinny chair. Bruce doesn’t look up, his mouth drawn in a tight line. The ghost of tears well in his eyes. Not good.

Dick scoots off the chair, lightheaded for a moment. He shakes the stars out of his eyes, nodding back and forth, up and down, like Bruce does when he’s sleepy. It’s late. He has school tomorrow. Not that it matters. Bruce will let him skip if he asks the right way. He jogs in place for a few seconds, readying himself, warming up his muscles.

There’s not much he can do to help, but he can at least put on a little show. He runs forward launching into a cartwheel, picking up the papers as he goes – Bruce likes his tricks, sometimes they even make him laugh, sometimes –

Bruce snags his ankle out of the air, his quick reflexes saving Dick from crashing into the edge of a counter. He finds himself hanging, the world stuck upside down as his hands dangle inches from the floor. “Thanks.” He looks up at Bruce’s weary face.

A yawn escapes his lips, and the corners of Bruce’s mouth twitch. “I’m going to have to child-proof the cave at this rate.” He tries for humor but it falls flat, his hearts not in it all.

He stares up, sticking his tongue out. Bruce’s frown doesn’t fade. “Are you okay?” He asks. Bruce’s hands fumble, and Dick swings dangerously low to the floor before he’s recovered. Not willing to take the chance again, he curls up, grabbing Bruce’s forearms and pulls himself up through his arms, settling himself on sturdy shoulders.

Bruce drops his feet. “I’m fine. Why would ask that?” He sounds almost hurt and Dick’s too tired to figure out why.

He slides down easily, Bruce gently deposits him on the floor. “You looked sad.” A yawn leaves his mouth without permission, he stumbles slightly, and a hand clamps down on his shoulder. He reaches back up, and Bruce throws him up against his shoulder, wrapping him in a hug.

Dick yawns contently, his eyelids fluttering without his permission, as Bruce starts walking towards the stairs. “I’m sorry…” The arm around his back pulls him a bit tighter. “I’m just not enough.” A shaking hand combs through his hair and Dick squeezes back because he doesn’t know what to say.

Bruce grunts as he takes a step up the stairs. “Sleep on it?” Dick suggests, resting his eyes for just a moment.

“Mmhmm. It’s bedtime.” Dick’s half asleep by the time they reach the top. He’s not sure he hears Bruce whisper, “You’re a great kid, chum.”

It took Dick years before he really understood the feeling. And even more years before he made the connection that that was how Bruce had felt on late nights spent scouring for clues that just didn’t seem to exist, having worked for days straight on three hours of sleep, and watching Gotham send all of it up in flames setting you back months on an investigation.

He’s learned there’s nights it’s impossible to save everyone – hell, he’s seen Clark get his ass kicked, and Clark’s damn near close to god. Dick would know – the Titans have fought their namesake. But the Titans have fought humans and lost despite half their members being godlike, and besides that most days now he’s alone. It doesn’t matter how hard he tries, how much he plans, how prepared he is; sometimes things just go to hell and a handbasket and there’s nothing he can physically do to prevent it.

Most of the time, he’s fine with that. It’s fine he has limits. Logically, he knows he can’t be expected to everything. Logically, he knows it’s a waste of time to worry about it. Logically, he knows it’s okay to take a night off, watch a nature documentary, invite a friend over, stay in and spend the night simply existing.

But it feels like he could be doing more – should be doing more. He feels that restlessness overtake him, and springs to his feet “Bruce I-”

Bruce gives him his patented bat-glare from where he’s sitting, looking up from a familiar pile of papers. Once it would have intimidated him into sitting back down. Now he just returns it with a patented one of his own. “-I think I’ll suit up and head out for the night, Tim could probably use some back up with-”

“Dick.” There’s this exasperated tone that Bruce can only ever seem to muster when saying his name. He pauses for a just a second, his eyes flickering down to Bruce’s clenched fists and tight shoulders. “Let me handle it.” It comes out as an order, but reading between the lines, it’s a plea.

Bruce would never admit it out loud, worry practically bleeds out of the man. Guilt gnaws on the inside of his chest, though, he’s not sure what it’s even from; the guilt of making Bruce worry or the guilt of being a useless sack of broken and bruised ribs while people need Nightwing’s help. Being benched sucks, but he knows enough to compromise. “Let me run the comms? Babs could use a night off.” She sleeps less than him and Bruce knows it.

The gray streaks in Bruce’s hair stand out all the more as he lets out a bone deep sigh. Dick rolls his eyes – he doesn’t get to do this right now. “You literally let me go out last night I don’t understand why-”

“Last night was an emergency. I didn’t have a choice.” His frown widens, his face etched in an eternal look of pain, mixed with disproval. “Two nights ago… you almost…” His mouth seals itself shut, unspoken words hanging in the air between them. It’s Bruce that breaks the gaze first. “Run the comms, don’t overexert yourself. It should be a quiet night…” He stands, hesitates before walking off “And get to bed early.”

Dick bites back a laugh, Bruce hasn’t talked to him like that since he was thirteen. “Alright.” He resists the urge to poke fun, and follows Bruce through the passage behind the grandfather clock.

“So Ives was talking about the Pirates of the Caribbean movie with me the other day, and we might go see it this weekend if I have the time. Gee- I can’t remember the last time I saw movie in theaters or even really hung out with him.” Tim’s endless chatter helps him stay awake in the dimly lit cave. His throbbing ribs help too, maybe he shouldn’t have tried doing push-ups. “Dad and Dana want to drop me off, but Ives has a car now, though dad’s still worried cuz of the time some wacko tried to stop us at a traffic light.”

Dick hums, a smile creeping its way up his face. “I can drop you off if it’s an issue.”

“Really?! That’d be awesome, you could stay for the movie if you wanted to, but I don’t know if you’d like it, I mean are pirates really your thing? I always figured you’d be more into Vikings or probably aliens actually, or something like-” A red light flashes on the screen, and Dick snaps to attention.

“Hold that thought.” Tim’s chatter ceases immediately as Dick furiously types on the terminal. He punches into the main line. “Batgirl how fast can you get to the corner of 16th and Murphy’s Ave, there’s a building on fire and you’re the only one anywhere near the Upper East Side.” A 911 operator calms down a hysterical woman in his left ear, Cass asking direction in the right.

He pulls up a map. “I-I can’t find a way out!” The woman shrieks. “I don’t know what happened, I was sleeping and-” she breaks off into raspy hacks.

“Go straight, turn right after three blocks down.” Dick winces, as the lady continues chocking on smoke. “C’mon Cass. Get there.” He mutters off the line. He eyes his cycle sitting idly in the bay – he’s twenty minutes out; Cass needs backup. He opens up another line. “Batman I need you to follow Batgirl, what’s your eta?”

Bruce grunts back, he hears thudding over the line. “Fifteen minutes.” The woman screams in his other ear, he yanks the earbud out as a massive bang nearly blows out his eardrum. Picking it back up, he can’t hear the woman anymore, only the roar of flames and falling debris.

“Shit.” He pulls up video from a street camera. “Shit.” The building’s collapsing in on itself. “Permission to call the league?” He clicks through to their line of communications, his finger hovering over the button.

“Here.” Cass scrambles into view, bursting through a window. Shit.

Bruce learned his limits long ago. Dick’s finally settling into his. Cass? They simply don’t register on her radar. The buildings coming down in mere minutes; she’s going to get killed.

“What’s the situation?” Bruce yells in his ear.

“Batgirl get out of there!” He screams at Cass. She’s going to die – the building’s not stable, and he’s the one that sent her there. “Make it five minutes – the building’s coming down.” He yells to Bruce. “Batgirl!” He watches a few windows blow out. A firetruck careens down the street.

“Permission granted.” Bruce huffs and Dick can’t click the button fast enough.

A couple more windows blow out, and the building seems to lean to the side. Finally he sees Cass climb back out a window, holding a couple kids in her arms as she leaps to the ground. “BATGIRL GET THEM CLEAR!” His heart pounds in his throat as she runs forwards, the building groaning behind her, crumbling to the side. Chaos erupts, chunks of flaming debris cascading from the top of the building, as the second floor merges with the first.

Dick blinks, his mouth dry. “There’s more people-” he can’t hear Cass over the ensuing cacophony as he watches the building topple to the ground. “NO!” He faintly hears her scream as the screen erupts in static.

Dick slams his fists on the desk. His chest constricts painfully. “Nightwing. Report.” Bruce’s steady voice reminds him to breathe. His chest spasms. Shit. “Nightwing!” Bruce demands as he tries to catch his breath.

“Building collapsed.” He manages to get out. “One sec.” He takes a few deep breaths, leaning back in the chair for support. “Batgirl report.” He’s greeted with silence. “Batgirl, please, if you’re there I need you to respond.”

“I…” Cass trials off. Dick sighs in relief. “I’m sorry.” The line cuts off. Well. Shit.

“Nightwing! I’m headed to the location.” Bruce squawks. Dick sighs.

“It’s going to be a long night. Search and rescue, I’ll call in backup.” Shit. So much for an early bedtime.

“Hey.” Someone shakes his shoulder. He makes a grab for their wrist and misses, his mind processing where the hell he is. He blinks a few times.

“Cass?” Her hair’s plastered to the side of her head and she’s covered in soot. Nicks, rips, and tears decorate her costume. Dick wipes his eyes as the ashy smell of smoke overwhelms his senses. Cass takes a few steps back, heading towards the locker room. “Wait.” He had something to say to her, his mind racing to catch up.

She hops up onto a counter. His mind shuffles through the events earlier in the night. “Bruce sent you back?” Cass nods glumly. The rescue efforts weren’t going well when he dozed off. The JLA sent in everyone they could spare; there’s nothing they can do anymore. Not that Bruce won’t try.

Cass’s lips are sealed. There’s a haunting expression in her eyes, her shoulders slump forward, her hands firmly plant themselves on the counter for support.

And his friends think he’s too much like Bruce.

“Hey.” He starts. She gives him a weary look, tears welling in her eyes. Well, maybe not exactly like Bruce. “Look, I’m sorry I put you in that position.” Cass shakes her head. “Sometimes things like this happen. I should have-”

“Stop.” Cass pulls her feet up on the counter, getting dust everywhere. “I should have been faster.” She swallows, refusing to let the tears spill over. “My fault.”

Dick watches as she glides off the counter, yanking off her gloves and dropping them on the floor. Burn marks dot her hands and the edges of her hair are singed. “You did everything you could.” She hesitates, before taking a step towards the showers.

“Not enough.” She mutters before storming off, leaving a trail of soot in her wake.

He stands up. “Cass.” The lock snaps shut with a click as she slips into the bathroom. Leaving Dick in an empty cave once more.

By the time he returns downstairs, Cass is already out of the shower, looking displeased. “You took my clothes.” She notes unhappily, a pale pink towel tucked tightly around her shoulders.

Dick watches water drip down from her hair, pattering on the floor. The trail leading back to the bathroom is now mixed with water and soot. Alfred’s going to be pissed. “I took your costume.” He clarifies. “And I brought you clothes.” He gestures towards the open door.

Cass scowls, planting her feet defiantly. “I’m going out.” She reaches out a hand. Dick shrugs – there’s no way she can find where he hid her filthy suit before they get a chance to wash it.

It’s all too familiar, reading the lines across her brow, watching her shoulders slump when she stills, and scanning red rimmed eyes. “What are you going to do like that?” He points out, Cass angrily storming towards him. “You’re tired, you’ll just end up being in the way.�� He dodges left as a fist flies past his face. “You would have hit if I wasn’t right.” She’s faster than him on his best days.

She glares at him with pursed lips, staring before turning on her heel and storming off towards the bathroom. The door slams behind her, triggering the rustling of far away wings.

Dick sighs – he hopes he wasn’t this temperamental when he lived with Bruce. “Come up to the kitchen when you’re done, I need your help with something.” The lie rolls easily off his tongue, though he feels a twinge of guilt as Cass groans behind closed doors.

Cass’s eyes widen as she enters the room. Dick offers a smile as she edges closer to the table. He tosses a spoon, she snags it out of the air. “Dig in.” There’s a carton of chocolate ice cream – double chocolate chunk brownie sundae with hot fudge and chocolate sprinkles to be precise – and tons of candy. It’s not stuff Bruce keeps around, but Dick’s has a stash at Tim’s house reserved for movie nights. He’ll restock later.

Cass vigorously stabs the ice cream with her spoon, a smile dancing across her face as she takes a few bites. She pauses, sticking the spoon back in the cartoon, looking up with a confused expression. “Why?” She’s wearing fluffy pajama bottoms, fuzzy socks, and an old worn college sweatshirt that’s frayed at the hems. Dick can almost pretend he’s back, talking to Donna after she broke up with Roy their sophomore year of high school.

She’s watching Dick carefully. He hums casually. “You had a rough night.” This is what the Titans always did. She shrugs.

“Things happen.” She shovels a few more bites into her mouth. “I want to go out.” It’s hard for Dick to find her tough and grizzled when she’s guzzling gummi worms, kicking her feet back and forth on the stool.

“Consider this a reason to stay in.” She gives him a sideways glance. “You did as much as you can, that’s enough.” Cass looks pointedly at her ice cream, not hesitating before diving back into it.

“Spar with me?” She licks a skittle before sticking it in her mouth.

Dick snorts. “If I don’t have a heart attack, I think Bruce would.” She snaps up to attention, grabbing his wrist and quickly finding his pulse point. “I’m fine, Cass.” Her hands are freezing. He places one of his on top of hers. “If you weren’t there I wouldn’t have been.” He says quietly, catching her eye. “Thank you.” She pulls back as if burned, quickly busying herself with the candy. He waits a moment before adding, “I think those kids you saved are grateful too.”

Cass throws a bag of M&M’s at him, he’s a second too slow and it pelts him in the face. “Noted.” He grins. “Uh, also, I’m going to have to do something with your hair.”

“What.”

“Cass, hold still.” She immediately stops squirming under his hands. “Thanks.” She hums back, tucked under an old blanket that never seems to leave the back of the couch. Bruce still isn’t here, but Tim checked in after his stakeout, and headed home a half an hour ago. He snips away another lock of burnt hair, tossing it into a trash can next to him.

He rests his forearms on the back of the sofa, contemplating which section of her hair to start with next. “You find one you like yet?” He asks, peeking over her shoulder at the images of hairstyles.

“Uhh.” She scrolls a bit more. “I don’t care.” She tosses the phone up to the top of the couch.

“Mmm.” He didn’t expect much else. Donna texted him a picture earlier to copy – something easy to pull back but still stylish. He attacks the next section, carefully brushing out the tangles, starting bottom to the top. He’s oddly grateful for all those times he did Donna and Kory’s hair.

‘Practice for when Bruce finally adopts a girl.’ They used to tease. ‘You’ll have a real sister, and if his track record holds she’ll have black hair and blue eyes.’ He’s never lived the irony down. Though, Cass’s eyes are a beautiful warm brown, so Donna and Kory can take that.

“You know.” He keeps his tone light. “Most hairdressers and their clients talk.” Cass remains set in stony silence. “Though I guess most people go to a salon to get their hair cut.” He just visits Joey. “Some people say it’s like free therapy.”

“You talk a lot.” Cass notes. He pulls up doodle jump on his phone and passes it back to her. She plays a couple rounds before the phone’s placed back beside him.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He already knows the answer, but still asks all the same.

“No.” Bruce never wanted to either. Barbara used to talk to him… before he left for the Titans and took years to look back. Though he likes to dream otherwise, he knows there’ll come a day when Tim won’t want to talk to him anymore either.

It doesn’t get any easier being shut out. “That’s alright. If you change your mind I’m here.” He grabs the shears, snipping away another dead end.

“Thanks.”

“Dick.” A hiss awakes him, light following soon after. He squints, turning away to bury his face in a cushion. “Where’s Cassandra?”

He turns, eyes snapping open as he quickly scans the sofa. The blanket hangs off the edge, Cass nowhere to be seen. One of her custom batarangs sticks out of his armchair’s armrest, a few inches from his hand. “She must have found her costume.” He notes, glancing towards the pajamas crumpled in the doorway. His eyes meet Bruce’s as he lets out a tired sigh.

His hair’s dripping, fresh from a shower, and it’s singed at the edges. Dick nods towards the sheers on the coffee table. “Tomorrow.” Bruce decides, crossing the room, picking up the blanket as he goes. Dick pushes down the footrest, slowly rising to his feet. His ribs twinge at every move, in hindsight, falling asleep hanging off the side of an armchair wasn’t his best idea. Bruce hovers closer than normal, watching carefully, worry lines set in concern. “Bed.”

Dick’s too tired to argue. “Bed.” He agrees. And though Bruce doesn’t carry him, he accompanies him up the stairs.

#bad things happen bingo #dick grayson #cassandra cain #batfam #batfamily #nightwing #batgirl #my writing #sorry i've had this request for like 2 months but you know what we made it eventually 💀😅#thanks for the request anon!#i couldn't resist doing Cass but shout out to you remembering Danny Chase exists like dang iconic

13 notes · View notes

wonderlandleighleigh · 4 years

Note

TimKon or anything from the Tuna Melt-verse, which is fantastic, by the way.

Thank you!!! Here’s some unfinished Tuna Melt Fic. Maybe one day it’ll get done. It’s called “His Day in Court.” The Joker origin referenced is lifted from Batman: Streets of Gotham.

“Mister President.”

Bartlet looks up from his desk and grins, before getting to his feet slowly. “Judge Walters.”

As they shake hands, Jed marvels, not for the first time, at just how tall, and just how green Jennifer Walters is. She’s a beautiful woman.

She’s just…

Well, she’s She-Hulk.

Well, she used to be She-Hulk.

Now she’s a United States federal judge.

Like Mendoza, getting Jenn appointed as a federal judge had been a nightmare. She’s green, she’s huge.

She’s hardcore leftwing.

“Please, have a seat,” he offers, gesturing towards the couches and chairs.

Jenn nods, and does, settling into one of the chairs carefully, always hyper-aware of her own body and its impact on the world around her.

“I assume you know why I’ve asked you here,” he says, settling onto the couch next to her, clasping his hands in his lap.

“I have a pretty good idea,” Jenn smirks, leaning back a little. “The Joker case?”

Bartlet nods. “The Joker case. The prosecution is putting everything together, and I’ve been informed you’ve been chosen to preside.”

Jenn doesn’t say anything for a long moment, watching the president carefully before speaking up. “Permission to speak my mind?”

“Of course.”

“This whole trial is bullshit,” she says.

“It’s the law.”

“It’s bull. Look, I believe in our justice system when it works the way it’s supposed to, but jesus, this isn’t a case of innocent until proven guilty, this is a case of the defendant boasting in a public forum about the very fact that he is guilty. He’s killed thousands of people. He’s maimed and mentally and emotionally scarred more. Why put the survivors and the families of the dead through this? And how the hell are we supposed to choose a grand jury? An enormous percentage of people in this country, and just about everybody on the East Coast has been affected, in some way, shape or form by the Joker.”

“So you think we throw United States law out the window and just kill him?” Jed asks, lifting his eyebrows. “You don’t think that might look bad to the rest of the country? That they’ll start pointing fingers at whoever the hell, and asking why those people haven’t been offed too?”

“I think the Joker is different,” Jenn says. “I think he’s this country’s modern day boogieman, and I don’t think he deserves a traditional trial. And anyways, it’s not out of the question that the Joker could die...other ways.”

“Jennifer.”

“Don’t you have the Red Hood on speed dial?” she asks, lifting an eyebrow. “Didn’t I hear that somewhere?”

“Like that kid hasn’t been through enough,” Jed grumbles. “The last time somebody tried to take out the Joker because they thought it was the right thing, it ended in an office full of dead FBI agents and an attack on this White House. We do this the right way.”

“The right way would have been lethal injection at Arkham twenty years ago,” she tells him. “Everything beyond that is just us cleaning up decades-old messes.”

“Jennifer, are you saying we should find a different judge to preside over this case?” Jed asks, looking at her seriously. “Because what you’re telling me is that you cannot possibly be fair-”

“I’m telling you there is no fair,” she interrupts him. “Mister President, the Joker has eschewed legal council. He’s defending himself, which means he will run around my courtroom like the damn lunatic he is before he gets bored and attempts to massacre everyone in it.”

Bartlet closes his eyes and takes a breath before opening them again. “Jenn, all we can do is prepare for the worst. But we don’t have any other choice.”

*****

“It starts tomorrow, you know.”

“Hm?”

“The Joker trial,” Danny clarifies.

Maggie nods as she steps past him and back into her cube. “And you’re pissed.”

“A little.”

“Because you’re not the one writing about it,” Maggie goes on. “Because there’s no way to be impartial when you thought he was gonna kill you.”

“There’s not an impartial journalist in the world when it comes to this maniac,” Danny points out.

Maggie sits and looks up at him. “You can still go to the trial you know. Take a few days off. Head up to New York. You could even write an independent piece and farm it out to the Atlantic or whatever.”

Danny shakes his head. “Not worth feeling that angry. How are you doing with all of this?”

“I...have to be fine,” she says, blowing out a breath. “So I’m fine.”

“What are you working on? Anything good?”

“Well…”

He frowns, tilting his head. “What?”

“I...it’s just...how does somebody like the Joker, become the Joker?” Maggie asks. “What drives a person so far over off the deep end that they become...that?”

“Does it matter?”

“Doesn’t it?”

“So you’re looking into who the Joker really is,” Danny surmises.

“I have some leads,” she admits. “The problem is that he’s killed so many people, it’s hard to figure out what was personal and what was just...his version of a good time.”

“But you’ve got a hunch.”

Maggie nods, looking troubled. “I have a hunch.”

“Well?”

She blows out a breath. “About five years ago, Joker cornered an aging Mob Boss named Guzzo.”

“That guy was no joke,” Danny comments, pulling up a chair and taking a seat. “My mentor did a write-up about him back in the day. The stuff he did was almost as bad as the Joker. This was a few years ago, right?”

“Right. So...Joker corners him on amusement mile and sics a pack of hungry hyenas on the guy,” Maggie says. “All that’s left are a few teeth, which is how they identified him. What’s confusing is that if you look at the interviews done of the for-hire goons back then, Joker and Guzzo didn’t know each other. And if you look at the way the city was split up before Guzzo died, Joker’s usual territory was as far away from Guzzo’s as he could get.”

“Like he might have been avoiding the guy.”

“Maybe…”

“You think there’s a connection?” Danny asks. “Joker kills Guzzo for revenge?”

“I think Guzzo hurt a lot of people over multiple decades,” Maggie tells him. “What if one of the people he hurt was Joker, before he was Joker?”

“So you think Joker’s got a sob story.”

“I think he was once something resembling a person,” Maggie corrects him. “And if you wanna take down a monster, you show the world its weak spots.”

*****

“Maybe you should come home for a few days.”

Jason closes his eyes as he listens to his older brother over the phone.

“All anybody is gonna be talking about down there is the trial,” Dick goes on. “Or hey! We could take a roadtrip! Load up the car with snacks and sodas and get outta town for a while.”

“Dick.”

“I don’t want you to be alone,” Dick admits.

“I’m not.”

“Fine. I don’t want you to be so far away from me that I can’t be there for you,” Dick adds. “And neither does Bruce.”

“Is he testifying?” Jason asks.

“Yeah,” Dicik confirms. “He’s showing up in full bat-gear and he’s testifying.”

“That’s nuts,” Jason points out. “This whole -”

“I know.”

“Fucking - why can’t I just kill him?”

“Because it won’t help you,” Dick says sadly. “Little Wing, just because the monster is gone, doesn’t mean the nightmare never happened.”

Jason goes quiet. “I wanna go to the trial.”

“Jay-”

“I wanna go. At least to the first one.”

Dick sighs sadly. “The last thing I want is for this to be the thing that breaks you. You’ve been doing so well...the job, and the girlfriend...you looked so happy at that wedding we all went to. What if going to that trial just sets you back.”

“What if he hurts somebody?” Jason asks. “What if he takes down an entire courthouse full of people?”

“Then it won’t be your fault,” Dick says gently.

“One of us should be there every day of that trial,” Jason argues.

“Maybe. But it shouldn’t be you.”

“The hell it shouldn’t!”

“Jay,” Dick says firmly, but worriedly. “Look, with what he did to Babs...I have a good excuse to be at the trial every day. I’ll go. I promise. But you need to stay home.”

“You don’t get to-”

“Jay.”

Jason goes silent, and Dick can hear deep, heavy breaths.

“I’ll be there every day,” he says. “I promise you, Little Wing. I’ll go every day. Whatever happens, I’ll be there to help stop it.”

*****

“You’ve reached the office of Jason Todd, Wayne Technologies Liaison to the White House. I will be out of the office until the end of the month. You can reach my fill-in, Luke Fox at the following number…”

*****

“He took the entire month off?” Leo asks, staring at Luke Fox, utterly bewildered.

“He did,” Luke nods.

“To do what?” Leo snaps.

“Not go crazy,” Luke says simply. “This Joker thing has him fifty shades of fucked up, Leo.”

“The DoD hate you more than they hate him,” Leo points out, relaxing a little.

Luke chuckles and shrugs. “I know it freaks those old farts out to have to deal with a black man who is younger, smarter and more attractive. That’s what makes it fun for me.”

Leo sighs but grins wryly. “It’s gonna be a helluva month.”

“Oh it definitely is,” Luke smirks back. “You want lunch? My treat?”

"It’s hard to say no to that.”

#The Tuna Melt-Verse #fic #au #Jason Todd #Maggie Rogers #OFC #West Wing Crossover #Anonymous

13 notes · View notes