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elizabethemerald · 1 year

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DP/DC Week 2022: Mistaken Identity

AO3

Danny was tired. That wasn’t really anything new, but it still felt like just one burden too many. Danny was homeless. Danny was on the run from his parents and the GIW. Danny was desperately trying to heal from when his parents vivisected him. And on top of all that he was tired.

He hadn’t been able to really get consistent sleep since the accident. Late night ghost attacks were far too common in Amity Park for him to really get the sleep he needed. He thought for sure now that he was away from his home he would sleep better. Except Gotham was in many ways worse. There were explosions, gunshots and Rogue attacks at all hours of the night. There were the constant nightmares of feeling his parent’s hands inside his…

At least there weren’t any ghosts.

Except…

There were.

Quite a few ghosts followed him from Amity to Gotham. Cujo, of course, had tailed along, because Danny could only barely get the ghost dog to obey his orders at the best of times and they were still working on “Stay.” Ember had dropped by to check on him. “Just to make sure her ‘Babypop’ was Ok.” Even Clockwork, Fright Knight and a few of the Observants had dropped by to ensure the Ghost King was recovering a pace. For some reason, Boxy had followed him to Gotham, because “Where Phantom goes, boxes follow.” Danny couldn’t even begin to parse out that statement.

As if the Amity ghosts following Danny when he explicitly said he wanted to remain hidden wasn’t bad enough, apparently having the Ghost King in Gotham gave the local ghosts enough juice to cause even more problems if they wanted to. And Gotham had a lot of ghosts. A lot of people died with their emotions high, with things in their life left undone, or with a grudge to bear in this city.

Ghost attacks in Gotham suddenly went from zero to an all time high. If Danny didn’t get a handle on the situation soon Gotham’s daily ghost attack numbers would beat even peak Amity numbers. Danny couldn’t even do anything against the hordes of ghosts while he was healing. He had to simply watch over the city as his people caused problems for the living. Danny had even seen the Joker getting chased down the street by numerous Jokerized ghosts looking to tear him apart. He couldn’t have intervened even if he wanted to, not that he really wanted to get between the Clown, his numerous victims and their well deserved revenge.

With Danny still out of commission, while the scars on his chest healed and his organs finished regenerating, the ghosts of Gotham were left to the vigilantes of Gotham. The Bats were woefully unprepared for a sudden incursion of ghosts. Fortunately, Gotham itself, whatever ancient spirit of the city gave Gotham its perpetual gloomy and melancholy vibe, seemed to like the Flying-Fury-Brigade and the bats were safe from overshadowing and could disperse ghosts for a short time with their attacks. However, dispersing the ghosts for a few hours did nothing to stop the overwhelming number of ghosts currently in the city, and Danny knew the Spirit of Gotham wouldn’t be able to maintain that protection indefinitely without rest or assistance.

At least Danny had managed to find an abandoned Warehouse, far enough from the main centers of crime, where he felt he could actually rest for a few hours. He needed to rest. He was so tired and his body couldn’t repair itself, even with the ambient ectoplasm that now filled Gotham’s streets without rest. Except, apparently even this far off corner of the city couldn’t go undisturbed.

Just as Danny had managed to curl up under a stolen blanket in a corner office his rest was disturbed again by the sounds of crashes and thumps. Only, this time they were coming from far closer. Danny groaned as he dragged himself to his feet, his blanket, which was more hole than fabric at this point, wrapped around his shoulders like a cape.

Ancients, he hoped it wasn’t Box Ghost, even as he walked past stack after stack of long abandoned boxes and crates that filled this warehouse.

If his heart hadn’t already stopped long ago when he first stepped into the portal it would have stopped now. There standing in the warehouse he had chosen to hide in, was a large, broad shouldered man, with dark hair and a bright, orange, jumpsuit. Jack Fenton had found him.

* * *

Bruce was tired. That wasn’t really anything new, but this was almost to a whole new level. On top of running a multinational corporation, assisting with JLA missions, and protecting Gotham from his regular Rogues gallery, his city had some become infested with ghosts. Which were apparently real. And a real problem.

He had tried to reach out to Justice League Dark, but Constantine had taken one look around the streets of Gotham, declared them all “properly fucked,” then opened a portal to somewhere that stank of sulfur and promptly disappeared. Batman had taken a single moment to allow himself a long, world-weary sigh, before he got back to work.

If he wasn’t going to be able to get magical help with their problem, maybe technology would do. Barbara and Tim had spent hours trawling the internet, cracking bizarre morphing firewalls and verifying ludicrous claims before eventually finding the Fentonworks website. Barbara had sounded like she wanted to pull her hair out when she described the archaic design for the site, but the Doctor’s Fenton seemed to have weapons and tools that could be used to counter the ghostly threat.

For some reason, that none of Bats could determine, they were kept safe from the Ghosts that now inhabited Gotham. They had all felt the ghosts try to enter their bodies, yet they had all felt the ghosts get repelled by some unknown force. They had personally seen that no one else in Gotham seemed to share that same immunity, cops, goons, civilians and rogues alike had all been possessed and controlled by the ghosts, yet Batman and his family were safe.

That sort of unexplainable defense would never sit well with Batman. He needed something tangible, something he could see, touch and modify himself before he was happy. So when Oracle and Red Robin had managed to find Fentonworks he was all but ready to jump on the opportunity even if they turned out to be a hoax. Just as Wayne Tech had subsidized gas masks to counter Joker Gas and Fear Toxin, he would buy up the Fenton’s entire supply to keep his citizens safe.

Oracle digging deeper into the Fenton files stayed his hand. The Fentons apparently had a considerable amount of data and research on the Ghosts. Except even a cursory glance at their papers showed them to be wildly biased against what they termed “ecto-entities.” Even in their brief experience with ghosts each of the Bats could clearly see that they were thinking and feeling beings. They had some small success with talking ghosts down from attacks on civilians that showed them to be capable of rational thought and empathy.

Batman decided that the only safe option was to acquire some of the Fentonworks products secretly and see if they could be reconstructed by Wayne Tech. So Oracle had purchased a small number of items, a jumpsuit, the Fenton Peeler and a thermos? Robin had much to say about the inanity of their naming conventions and product designs. The order was shipped through a number of shell companies and across the country to ensure no one knew that Bruce Wayne was interested in Ghost hunting equipment.

The shipment had finally arrived, after a few delays and a few extra reroutes to throw off any trackers, in a warehouse far away from the crime centers of the city. Bruce would be able to sort through the supplies in safety, before handing them off to Tim to try and take apart or modify.

He found the protective jumpsuit to be too tight to be able to wear over his armor as Batman, so he shed the outer layers in order to wear the orange hazmat suit. The color really was horrifically bright. He couldn’t imagine any of his rogues, or any of his children for that matter seeing him something so bright. He was just about to reach for the Peeler when he heard a sharp breath from behind him.

Batman whirled, reaching automatically for a utility belt that wasn’t there, to find a child behind him. The boy couldn’t be older than Tim, maybe 16 at most, with dark hair and blue eyes. Eyes that were wide with panic and fear. If he had been wearing his cowl he could understand why the child seemed to be so afraid of him, but he was merely wearing the orange jumpsuit.

The boy immediately started sobbing, terrified tears rushing down his face, as he stumbled backwards, tripping over a ratty blanket as he went. He fell hard and Batman swore he heard something pop over the sound of the boy’s tears. He took a step forward in concern and the boy immediately threw himself further back, cowering with his arms crossed over his head to ward off any blows.

“Please dad! It’s me. It’s Danny! Please, I’m alive, Dad, I’m alive.” Bruce was thrown by the boy, no, Danny’s words. “Dad, please don’t hurt me, I’m alive, I’m Danny, please dad, please.”

Bruce reached for him, but Danny cringed away from his hand. In that moment he could see Danny squinting at him past tear-filled and tired eyes. His terrified eyes were only focusing on the orange of the suit. Bruce leaned back and zipped the suit down and pulled it off his shoulders as fast as he could.

“Danny, I’m not going to hurt you.” Bruce called softly, trying to keep his voice calm and comforting like he had used with his own sons. “You’re safe, Danny. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Danny looked up at him, past his own tears.

“You promise? Dad, you promise?”

“Of course, Danny. I promise. You’re safe.”

Suddenly, Bruce’s arms were full of sobbing teenager as the boy flung himself at him. Bruce immediately held him tightly, one hand going to his hair as he held Danny tight to his chest. He could only barely contain his own grief at the fear Danny had been experiencing.

After several minutes of crying Danny started to pull back away from him.

“Dad, I was so scared, I-” He wiped his eyes as he looked at Bruce. Then wiped them again. Then his eyes widened in renewed fear that Bruce hurried to try and alleviate.

“I’m sorry, I’m not your father.” Bruce kept his voice gentle. “But I meant my promise. You’re safe, Danny. I’ll protect you.”

Danny started to shy away, but winced and a hand went to his chest. Bruce’s eyes widened as blood spots appeared on his shirt. Bruce grabbed him immediately and held him close as he stood.

“We need to get you to a hos-”

“No hospitals.” Danny whispered. “They’ll kill me if they find me.”

Bruce ground his teeth. This child who was injured, clearly exhausted and scared out of his mind was afraid to go to a hospital. He nodded then pulled his cowl over his head one handed as he carried Danny to the Batmobile. The Batcave was the best place for Danny to get medical care and the Batmobile was the fastest way to get there.

“Oracle, I have an injured child.” Batman growled into his coms as he buckled Danny into the passenger seat. “Clear a route to the Cave and inform Agent A and Dr. T that they have a patient incoming.”

“Understood Batman.” Oracle’s voice came through his ear piece.

Batman studiously ignored his other children asking if he was bringing them another sibling. Just because he was already filling out the mental adoption papers for the traumatized teen, didn’t mean he had to dignify them with a response. In the passenger seat, Danny eventually gave into the exhaustion from the day and fell asleep as the Batmobile roared toward the Batcave, and his future home.

TAGS: @starkcravingmad, @blacksea21090, @rainybyday

#Danny Phantom #batman #dp x dc #dp/dc week 2022 #mistaken identity #let me know what you think #and please reblog!

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elizabethemerald · 1 year

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DP/DC Imbalanced Light

AO3

Duke was one of the first back to the Batcave when the message came through that Bruce was bringing in an injured child. He was quickly joined by the rest of the family. Most injured parties were brought straight to a hospital, no matter their age, so the entire Bat clan were curious about what made this case stand out. A potential new sibling was an all hands on deck sort of event.

Cass and Steph joined next, Dick was picking up Dr. Thompkins, Tim had been coordinating the Bats from the Cave so was already there. Jason and Damian would probably join later, they had been further out when the call came in but Duke doubted even the two angriest members of the family would miss out on the excitement.

Everyone currently in the cave gathered close when the Batmobile roared into the cave. Though they easily parted to allow Alfred through to Bruce’s side. The two of them pulled a young boy out of the side seat of the Batmobile. Duke grimaced behind his helmet. The kid may be the same age as Tim, or thereabouts, but he still looked far worse for wear. There was blood coating the front of his shirt and he looked far too small, like he hadn’t been eating properly.

With a gasp the boy in Bruce’s arms was jostled awake. He tried to squirm out of his hold, but Bruce managed to keep him in hand. Eventually the boy’s wild eyes settled on the Batfam and seemed to calm. He reached a shaky, blood covered hand out to the group as Bruce carried him toward the medical room in the Batcave.

“Signal? Wait, I need to talk to Signal! Signal!” The boy desperately cried, trying once again to fight his way out of Bruce’s hold.

Duke was honestly surprised that the kid was calling for him. Signal was hardly the best known of Gotham’s heroes and he felt like most kids were either interested in talking to one of the Robins considering they were usually closest in age, or to Nightwing because Dick was friendly. However with a kid clearly in distress Signal followed as Bruce carried the kid into the medical room.

“I need to talk to Signal.” The kid was telling Bruce, trying to push Alfred’s hands away from him.

“Danny, please-”

“No! I have to talk to him! I have to talk to him alone!”

Alfred looked carefully at the kid, Danny apparently, then stepped back.

“Please make the conversation quick. You are still in need of medical care, Master Daniel.”

“It’s Danny, and fine.”

Alfred and Bruce stepped out and the glass door of the medical room closed behind them. Duke however had eyes only for the kid in front of him. Danny was obviously in pain. He kept one hand pressed tightly to his chest, and a grimace on his face. There were also several scars that ran up his neck, the worst of which was the Litchenberg figures that crept up his neck and scattered across one side of his face, even going through one of his eyes. To Duke’s Ghost Vision the scars seemed to glow and pulse, as if still remembering the electricity that had caused them.

Danny looked at him desperately, fear marring his face as he nervously glanced towards where Bruce and Alfred had stepped out before meeting his gaze again. Duke wasn’t sure what he needed, but wanted to get this conversation over with before Dick arrived with Dr. Thompkins. She didn’t appreciate being kept waiting when she had a patient.

“So, your name is Danny right?” Duke asked.

“The forums say you’re a meta.” Danny asked instead of answering. His voice came out quiet and low as if he were telling a secret. “Is that true?”

Duke put out his hand, and created a small firework display across his palm with his photokinesis. It was the same trick he did when he ran into small scared children as Signal. Just something light and silly to break the tension and it did seem to bring Danny’s focus off his injuries.

“Yes, I’m a meta.”

“Everyone knows Batman hates metas.” Danny said, glancing nervously at the door again, his voice dropping further into a whisper. “Does he hate you? Are you forced to help him? Does he… do experiments on you?”

Duke let his hand drop out of sight of Danny as he lay on the bed in the med bay. He clenched his hand into a tight fist. Dammit Bruce. You and your stupid rules. He could see that Danny was clearly just about out of his mind with fear and just as obviously had some bad experiences that were weighing on him. Duke needed to calm him down enough for Alfred and Leslie to take of him and quickly. He took a deep breath and kept his voice soft as he started speaking.

“Batman doesn’t hate metas. He doesn’t like other heroes like Superman coming into Gotham when they don’t know how this city works. Many of our rogues are simply humans with mental illness. Even most of the goons are just poor people who are desperate for work. They don’t need some super powered demi-god smacking them down. And he’s eased up on that a lot recently.” Duke took a moment to gather his thoughts. He could hear Dick’s car driving into the cave and knew that Leslie Thompkins had arrived. “Batman has been nothing but kind to me since my parents died. He’s trained me to help protect the city I grew up in. He may not be perfect, but he won’t hurt you, and I won’t let him if he tries.”

Danny nodded a few times, his eyes downcast, as if trying to convince himself of something before he finally looked back up at Duke.

“I’m- I’m sort of like you.” Danny whispered. “I’m like a meta.”

The words seemed like they were physically painful for Danny to say, and considering how tightly most metas held onto the secret of their powers that wasn’t too surprising. Duke didn’t have the time to puzzle out what exactly “like a meta” meant as opposed to just being a meta, but he knew at least he could provide Danny with some comfort.

“Well, Danny, one meta to another, I promise you Batman won’t hurt you because of your power. While you’re here you’re safe.” Duke looked up as a knock sounded at the door to the med bay. He could see Leslie and Alfred standing on the other side of the glass door. “Agent A has helped me a lot when I’ve been injured and Dr. T has cared for a lot of people, including metas that have come through her clinic. You’ll be safe with them. May I let them in?”

Danny took just a moment longer to think about it before he nodded.

“Will you stay with me?” His words sounded so pained and scared that Duke couldn't help but agree immediately.

He opened the door for Alfred and Leslie, then turned his back to remove his helmet and apply a paper surgical mask. He scrubbed his hands just as the other two did before rejoining Danny at the bedside. Once the door was closed and the older two were getting ready, Duke addressed Danny.

“Is there anything about your physiology that would be different from a non meta?” He said the words loud enough to clue in the other two. Danny nodded and gripped the rails on the patient bed tightly in fear.

“My core temperature, heart rate and respiration rate are lower than a standard human’s.” He recited the words like he had rehearsed them many times. “My blood is considered a hazard and needs to be destroyed, preferably by incineration.”

“Is your blood radioactive?” Thompkins asked, her experience helping other metas would be invaluable with helping Danny.

“Radioactive?” Danny seemed confused by the question for a moment before shaking his head. “No, it’s uh, corrosive I think? Jazz didn't mention radioactivity when she gave me the script to memorize.”

Leslie carefully cut Danny free of his blood soaked hoodie and shirt. Duke again had to clench his hand into a fist at the sight of a Y shaped incision that spanned Danny’s entire torso. Like an autopsy. Or vivisection. The cut had been messily stitched and stapled closed, but Danny had clearly popped a few stitches when he panicked after seeing Bruce. Surrounding the largest injury were numerous scars. Small burns, stab wounds, the Litchenberg figures continued across his torso and several precise cuts that could only be the result of deliberate torture or experimentation.

Alfred raised his eyebrow, but didn’t comment as the two of them set to work examining the injuries. Leslie’s lips pressed into a thin line and she also kept her comments to herself. Danny seemed grateful for their reticence. Duke knew he had seen a lot of the worst of the worst during his time as a vigilante in Gotham, but this still pushed it to another level. Danny was as scarred as any of the Robins except for Jason.

The two healers worked quickly cleaning and dressing each of the wounds, though the largest still needed more work. The lights over head flickered with each deep breath Danny took as they cared for his injuries. Duke used his powers to keep the lights steady for their work.

“Master Danny, we will need to remove the old stitching and staples to properly close and stitch your largest injury.” Alfred said. “We can apply an IV to let you sleep through the procedure.”

Danny was already shaking his head.

“Doesn��t work on me.” He hissed out past his gritted teeth.

“We have meta-strength-”

“Doesn’t work on me.” Danny shook his head again. “Even the strongest painkillers and anesthetics burn off almost immediately.”

“You have an enhanced metabolism?” Leslie asked.

Danny shrugged, then pressed his head back against the pillow. “I was awake when mom did this to me, I can handle you fixing it awake too.”

He refused to look at anyone else in the room even as looks of fury and rage crossed each of their faces. He reached out blindly and Duke took his hand to hold. Leslie and Alfred grimaced but nodded. If they didn’t want Danny to bleed out they needed to fix the slap-dash stitches and staples.

Danny didn’t scream while they worked and while he gripped Duke’s hand tightly, he clearly wasn’t using even a portion of his full strength. The metal of the bed frame squeaked and whined in protest as he gripped it hard enough to leave a handprint in the metal.

Whatever Danny’s ability was combined with his own Ghost vision to create disturbing images flash around Danny’s body, like an after image on a dark night. Neither Alfred nor Leslie reacted, so it was clear Duke was the only person who could see them. Each lingered in his eyes for a moment before fading to nothingness before being replaced by the next.

He saw two people, one a woman and the other man with a build similar to Bruce’s leaning over Danny’s body, blades in their hands and macabre smiles etched into their faces. He saw a flaming crown burning in the air over Danny’s head. He saw two teens Danny’s age and someone only slightly older trying to lift and carry Danny while obviously fighting with someone.

Frozen fractals appeared in the afterimages, growing with each after image into twisting and writhing tentacles. This was the most painful part of the operation as the two healers worked to pull out a staple that had gone through his skin into his sternum. Danny arched his back, his breathing coming in slow pants. When he opened his eyes they glowed like Jason’s did. Danny’s ears grew pointed and where he was biting his lip to keep from screaming his fangs grew long and pointed. Finally Danny couldn’t take any more and blacked out fully, his eyes rolling back into his head.

For a short time the afterimages still burned their way into Duke’s vision. The fractal tentacles continued to writhe before fading. A man appeared before Duke, looking down at Danny’s body in distress. He was wearing a long, hooded cloak. In the next flash he was suddenly an old man, looking beaten and worn by the passage of time. Then he was suddenly a young child, younger even than Damian, staring down at Danny with that same distress clear on his face. Finally the man returned to his original age and looked up to meet Duke’s eyes. His head tilted to the side in curiosity before he glanced down at a pocket watch that was hanging from his cloak and gave it a firm nod and disappeared.

The last of the flickering images slowly vanished as well, Alfred and Leslie still not noticing them at all, as the two of them finished their work and settled a blanket over Danny’s heavily bandaged torso. Duke patted Danny’s limp hand with his own before he left the med bay. The rest of the Bat fam were gathered around, but Duke made his way straight to Bruce. As he went Cass came and put a supportive hand on his shoulder. He wondered idly what his body language was telling her that had her reaching out at this moment.

“You need to do some serious PR work on Batman’s views of metas.” Duke said shortly to Bruce. He didn’t really care what his mentor’s motivations were, they needed to change and they needed to let the public know.

“The kid’s a meta?” Jason asked, leaning forward.

Duke nodded, still not taking his eyes off Bruce.

“I don’t know what he thought you would do to him, either run him off or cut him open.” Duke hesitated as he examined the momentary grief that appeared in Bruce’s eyes. “Again. Cut him open again. Someone vivisected him.”

A sharp noise sounded as something snapped in Jason’s hands. Red Hood had green light blazing in his eyes as Dick immediately moved to grab his shoulder, whether to comfort him or to hold him back, Duke didn’t know. Bruce leaned forward, his face once again stoic.

“What are your thoughts on his abilities?” He asked.

If Duke wasn't so suddenly exhausted he would either roll his eyes or join Jason in trying to tear Bruce a new one. Of course when he’s distressed he falls back on old, bad habits. Examining threats and planning counter plans.

“Alfred and Leslie know enough about him to care for him for now. You can ask about the rest of his powers once he’s up and about.” Duke said. He wasn’t going to reveal Danny’s clearly hard fought secrets. “The one thing I will say is that while we can expect him to be fragile, we cannot treat him with kid gloves. Danny’s got more scars than anyone I’ve ever seen who isn’t a bat. He’s clearly a fighter and deserves to be treated like one.”

Duke turned away. He needed to be done. He needed to just shut his brain off for a little.

“I’m taking the next couple of days off patrol. Can someone cover for me?”

He was half afraid that someone would accuse him of trying to cheat his way into the spot of best brother for their new potential sibling. Instead Stephanie and Dick immediately volunteered to help cover some of the daylight patrols.

Duke walked away, calling the shadows of the cave to him. With a family half raised or trained by ninjas they were all used to using the shadows and darkness to their advantage. But none of them could command the shadows and make the darkness answer their call like Duke could. The darkness of the cave swallowed him, hiding him completely from sight as he searched for some place to sit and think about everything he had just seen. Everything that Danny must have gone through.

@starkcravingmad, @blacksea21090, @rainybyday

#Danny Phantom #batman #duke thomas #mistaken identity #team phantom researched Gotham before Danny left to hide and recover there #they determined that Signal would be someone safe to possibly reach out as long Danny could pretend he was a meta not a ghost #let me know what you think #and please reblog!

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