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lapetitechatonne · 1 year

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Day Two: Mistaken Identity

day two of dp/dc week 2022!!! this one gets a bit dark too, if panic attacks trigger you i’d suggest skipping. as always, the ao3 tags are there for a reason! anyways, i cried while writing this one so. good luck.

ao3 link!

Kate’s Masterlist here!

in the dark all shadows look the same - 2.5k words

It was actually a nice night, Danny thought as he looked out over the Gotham City skyline. You still couldn’t see the stars, but the breeze was warm and the fog had lifted for the night. The full moon lit up the sky over the inky water of the bay as it crashed against the rocky shore.

In a different time and place, he could see himself staying in a place like this. Full of life—full of ectoplasm—and with someone else to watch over its people. Somewhere his obsession would quiet to a dull thud in the back of his head because there was someone else taking care of the criminals and terrorists. Maybe he would help the odd old lady cross the street or give a homeless kid a hot meal, but he wouldn't have to protect.

He tightened the wrap around his thigh, just trying to get the bleeding to stop knowing that in this life, he’d probably never know anything close to peace.

Rude.

“Danny,” a quiet whisper barely carried over the noisy streets.

He turned to Danielle who was sitting up against the brick wall behind her. She was doubled over in pain holding her abdomen, her blue eyes glassy and distant.

He tied off the wrap and slid back next to her, pulling her into him. He hissed as the tender bruises on his back came in contact with the jagged brick, but luckily Danielle didn’t notice. Hopefully, he could convince her into sleeping at least for a few hours before they had to move on.

They were sitting ducks up here, he knew that the church under them would confuse anything Vlad was using to follow them, but it wouldn’t last for long—he would've gone of a hospital or graveyard but it'd be too obvious.

At least they grabbed enough supplies that they didn’t have to worry about stealing from a hospital. Danny hated hospitals—the worst kind of liminal spaces in his opinion—but that didn’t mean he wanted to rob one. He knew how precious life was.

Danielle whimpered, leaning her weight onto Danny’s shoulder. She was warm, warmer than even a human should be, which wasn’t a good sign.

Danny felt the dull, ever-present panic in his ribs grow. His chest tightened and he fought back the tears trying to build up, he couldn’t do this right now. He couldn’t.

He tried to count his breaths like Jazz taught him to.

In, two, three, four. Hold, two, three four. Out, two, three, four.

His lungs hurt. So did his ribs and his legs and his back—and everything.

In, two, three, four.

He squeezed his eyes shut trying to block out the light.

Hold, two, three, four.

He just wanted to go home.

Out, two, three, four.

He just wanted to be safe.

He lost focus on his breathing as he choked over a shallow sod. His head started to spin like he was freefalling through air without anything there to catch him. His limbs tingled and suddenly he was very aware of how weak he was.

He was too weak. Too weak to tell his parents the truth, too weak to protect Danielle, too weak to fight Vlad—

Too weak too weak too weak too weak too weak—

He gasped as he felt Danielle tighten her hold on him. Her tiny hands held him with an iron clad grip.

He pulled her closer, winding his arms around her until he was clutching her like a child with a teddy bear. He could feel the rise and fall of her chest against him. Could feel her body heat against his cold. Could hear the rhythmic beating of her heart.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

He breathed in time with her heartbeat. She was here. She was alive. He would keep her safe.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The breeze chilled the tear tracks running down his cheeks. He was alive. He would be okay.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

They both would. He didn’t know how, but he had to believe that. He had to.

“I love you,” Danny felt more than heard Danielle as she muttered into his chest.

A new wave of tears pushed against his sinuses, pressure building behind his eyes.

“I love you too.” His words were garbled and broken, but Danielle seemed to understand because she just held him tighter.

He felt bad that she was comforting him—after all, how many nightmares and knee scrapes did Jazz get him through, he should be able to handle this just like she did—but she was a grounding presence in a turning world. He wasn’t sure he knew up from down right now, all he knew was he wasn’t enough.

He wasn’t strong enough. Quick enough. Brave enough,

He wasn’t. He wasn’t, he wasn’t he wasn’t hewasn’thewasn’thewasn’t—

His heart stuttered as he felt himself spiraling like an invisible hand reached deep into his chest and twisted his heart until it was upside down. His stomach pulled taught until his insides threatened to tear, bile biting at his throat.

He didn’t know how much longer he could do this.

“Danny!” He felt more than heard her panic, her hands digging into his tender skin.

Focus. He had to focus.

He fought through his cloudy vision, looking down at Danielle. Her eyes were wide with fear, focused on a singular point over his shoulder. Danny twisted around to follow her gaze, it wasn’t like her to get—

Oh no. No, no, no, nonononononono—

The moonlight lit up a dark silhouette, with two distinct points at the top.

Vlad found them. He found them.

He couldn’t breathe. Every hair on his body stood up and he scrambled to push Danielle behind him. The ectoplasm in his chest jumped to life, mixing with the sudden rush of adrenaline.

But he was still too weak from their last fight to properly fight. Danielle was barely keeping her body together—the best he could hope for was letting her get away, get help.

Get someone who could be enough.

“Danny,” she gripped his arm and back, voice cracking over desperate sobs, “what do we do?”

Danny let the green fill his eyes, he couldn’t transform but he could try and look as menacing as possible.

The figure moved closer and Danny scrambled back. As much as he wanted to fight, every inch of his body was begging him to flee, to run away and never look back. But he couldn’t leave Danielle. And he was too weak to hide the both of them.

Never enough, always too weak. Can’t do anything right, can’t protect anyone. What a waste of an afterlife.

His vision blurred at the edges, green light reflecting in the tears running down his face. He would protect her. He had to protect her. Even if it killed him.

“When I tell you to,” he whispered, his voice catching on almost every syllable, “run. Just run.”

She sobbed, holding his hoodie tighter, “No, I won’t leave you. I won’t—you can’t ask me to—”

“Promise me, Danielle,” he continued to inch backward as the shadow moved slowly stalking them, “Please. Just—please.” He needed her to be safe. Then he could die here in peace, knowing that the last few moments of his life were spent doing something good.

That he wasn’t a complete waste of life.

“I won’t leave you,” she said because a the end of the day she was too much like him, “not now, not ever. Please don’t ask me to.”

Danny felt his heart drop. So that was that. They would both die here.

That didn’t mean Danny was going to make it easy for the bastard. He would go down bleeding and biting because he wouldn’t die quietly.

He would die like a Fenton. Yelling and cursing and punching until he faded from existence. He hoped his parents would be proud. Jazz would be proud.

The shadow disappeared, leaping into the air and landing in a big black mass before them, still obscured by the darkness. His heart pounded in his chest as he dig his feet into the concrete beneath him. He pushed down the bile and the tears and the worries.

He raised his fist staring defiantly into the black void.

“You can’t have her. You can’t have either of us,” his voice was shaky but his conviction never wavered.

He let his fists glow green, pulling on the ectoplasm deep inside of him. This fight would take every ounce of power he had—and then more.

So he pushed every bit of his being into his glowing hands and shot at the figure. It was weak—just like him—but he couldn’t focus on that. Not now. Not when everything hinged on him pressing on.

He fired again. And again. And again.

Each bolt was weaker than the last, and the figure moved so quickly that Danny couldn’t even be sure he was hitting it. But he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t waiver.

His head was spinning, high-pitched ringing echoing in his ears, but he fired anyways. He tried to focus his vision but it kept going in and out like a bad radio frequency. The shadows morphed together and he couldn’t tell if it was because they were moving or because his vision was going black.

He took a deep breath but it wasn’t enough. It was like someone sucked all the oxygen out of his body, leaving him heavy and tingly all over.

Another bolt and his knees gave out underneath him. He crumbled to the ground, trying to hold himself up on all fours but his arms were too tired. They buckled, leaving him panting on the cold concrete, just trying to salvage enough energy to stay awake.

“Danny!" Danielle shouted, but it was echoey. Distant. Like she was a million miles away.

He twisted on the ground, trying to push himself up only to fall over again. In his shaky vision, he could see Danielle standing in front of him, her arms out. Protecting him.

Like he was supposed to be protecting her.

No, no no no no nonono.

She should be running away. She should leave him there, save herself—but he knew she never would.

They were too much alike. Now he would get the both of them killed.

He reached out to her, too weak to form words. But she stood in front of him, as stubborn as only a Fenton could be.

He didn’t want it to end like this. Not when there was so much for her to live for—for him to live for.

He’d never graduate. Never move in with Sam and Tucker like they promised, never see Jazz graduate Harvard, never take a road trip with Danielle. There was so much he’d never do. He’d never see.

His heart ached as he realized how much he wanted to live. How much he wanted both of them to live.

His eyes fluttered shut, unable to keep them open as he prayed to anyone—anything—that would listen.

He just wanted to live.

That was his last thought as the world around him was consumed by darkness.

Danielle had lived long enough to see the true evils of the world. Her father trying to kill her, the homelessness, the poverty, the hurt that thrived in every place that she visited.

But she’d also seen hope. She watched broken people heal, watched the poor lift each other up, seen the kindness that lived in the hearts of people. She’d seen enough to know she wanted to see more. To be someone’s light when they needed it most.

She stood in front of Danny, protecting him with her body, and even though she knew he’d never forgive himself she had to do this. The world needed him. It needed a hero like him.

Not some abomination like her.

“Leave him alone!” she yelled into the shadows. She didn’t have any real power, but maybe Vlad would accept her in his place. Maybe she could convince him that Danny was too valuable to die, that he should just kill her instead.

It was what he wanted after all. Without Danny in the way maybe—just maybe—he would be safe.

“Just—just take me,” she stumbled over sobs, trying to seem as courageous as she could—but she wasn't very good at that— “I’m the one you want. Kill me. Just me.” She whispered the last part, but she knew he would hear.

The large mass moved towards them, and she knew this was it.

She sobbed openly—because she wasn’t as fearless as Danny, she couldn’t face down death like he could. She closed her eyes, arms still out wide waiting for the inevitable. She just prayed he’d only take her. That his obsession with Maddie and Danny was enough to spare him.

The figure blocked out the little bit of light Danielle could see through her closed eyes. He was right in front of her.

She whimpered and all she wanted was to pull into herself. But she stood strong. Like Danny would. Like he had done for her. She hated that it was such a waste of effort, all those times he saved her from the brink. Maybe it would have been easier for all of them if he just let her die the first time.

But that wasn’t who Danny was. And she loved him for that. She loved him so much.

She hoped he knew that. Because she’d never get to tell him again.

But she could do this for him.

She flinched as a hand touched her shoulder. She expected it to grasp her tightly and pull her away from Danny. Maybe it would be filled with unbearable electricity or scalding flames.

But it didn’t do any of that. It just sat gently on her shoulder, like it was trying to reassure her. Trying to calm her.

But that didn’t make sense. Vlad’s touches, even his kind ones, were never gentle.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” the voice was unnaturally deep, but there was a softness around the edges.

It could be a trick. A sick and twisted way to make her feel safe before ripping out her heart.

She took a deep breath, still trembling, and dared to open her eyes.

Through the darkness and the tears, it was hard to see, but the figure in front of her wasn’t ghostly at all. There was no glow, no piercing red eyes, only white slits where the eyes should be.

It was a mask. A cape. A costume.

It was Batman.

She actually laughed, watery and broken, seeing his face. Or mask. Or whatever.

It wasn’t Vlad. It wasn’t Vlad. They were okay. They were safe.

At least for the moment.

“I thought. We thought—” she wasn’t sure what to say as she lowered her arms and whipped the tears off her cheeks.

“You thought I was someone else?”

Danielle just nodded, feeling the blood rush to her head. She was so tired and dizzy and she hurt all over.

“Why don’t we get you somewhere safe, and then you can tell me about it?” he asked, and Danielle felt her lip tremble.

Not for a moment did she think he would want to help them, would care. But here he was, crouching in front of her offering them safety.

Danielle nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

There really was kindness in the world. Even in the most unlikely places.

#angst #tw for panic attacks #danny's having a rough time #based on the idea that vlad and batman's shadows look the same #i cried while writing this #the ending line gets me every time #dp/dc week 2022 #mistaken identity #dpxdc #danny phantom #dani phantom #batman

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