#Bruce Wayne x Danny Fenton

[hughmanbean]

I Want a Divorce

When Danny is, reluctantly, crowned king, he's told of a marriage contract that Pariah Dark had decided to postpone and do the ghostly equivalent of passing it to the next poor sap in royal succession. Who just so happens to be Danny.

The Contract is to one Bruce Wayne, titles including the Protector the of Night, The Bat, and Father of Many Children. Of course, Danny's not one to force some poor guy to spend the rest of his afterlife to be married to someone he doesn't even know, so he requests a divorce form for Fright Knight to draw up and deliver.

Batman, on the other hand, has been noticing a large suit of disembodied armor following him around lately.

[alltheprompts]

DC x DP #8

Danny is in his twenties and aids the police with solving crimes so that there are less ghost coming into the Infinite Realms by preventing deaths due to violent crimes. He does this by talking to past victims (If they are comfortable speaking about it) and giving ideas on how they are getting away with it ( He's seen some things working with clockwork.

GCPD contacts him and his sister (since there criminals are extremely mental and she is a leading psychologist, so two for one deal maybe and people that already know how to work together) one day to aid in stopping some of the worst criminals. The first thing they aid with is improving Arkham.

The bats start noticing a lack of criminals on the street, specifically the ones that commit the worst crime and are concerned that they may be working together to commit an even worse crime then go to Arkham to investigate. They discover that it has been majorly rehauled and that some patients are even moved out of state to more secure facilities as Arkham was not original built to contain criminally insane with a penchant for manipulating psychologists and others.

They start investigating Danny and Jazz and find out that Danny is known to be a real life Medium (they play it off like that so no one knows his alternate identity) and that he works with ghost, even some that can be seen and touched unless they don't want to be.

From this point on it can any number of routes.

[xfiddlin-fishsticsx]

Everywhere, Everything

DPxDC

Danny looked up at the door in front of him with dread and nearly considered turning back when an image flashed through his head to remind him why he was here.

He was staring down the barrel of a bulky silver gun at a faceless woman with short red hair. Her finger moved and Danny squeezed his eyes shut to avoid seeing it play out again.

After calming himself down he returned his thoughts to the door, shaky and completely ready to run at the first signs of plotting, he rings the doorbell.

After a few moments he can hear clamoring and footsteps before they stop right in front of the door, several locks click and Vlad finally opened the door to an exhausted, tense, somewhat crying Danny Fenton.

Vlad only let his surprise show for a moment before it turned to honest concern as he ushered him inside, he sat Danny down in a cozy sitting room and disappeared into what could only be the kitchen.

Vlad returned a moment later with two steaming mugs, he set one in front of Danny before standing above him and staring down.

Danny hesitantly looks up at Vlad, screwing his face up to portray his confusion. Vlad gave him that squinty, sort of pouty concern again before signing and kneeling down to look Danny in the eye.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Danny shook his head, “Not hurt. Just tired” and lost.

Vlad studied him, obviously looking for a lie, before huffing slightly and standing up again upon finding no tells that it wasn’t the truth, he moved and sat carefully next to Danny, gently setting his own mug down beside the boy’s and turning to look at him.

Danny looked back. Vlad sighed, “I’m not going to hurt you, little badger, I promise you’ll be safe here”

He spoke softly and though Danny should know better he couldn’t help but trust it. He felt his exhaustion catching up, and all of his anxiety and … slowing down and suddenly he was just tired. And sad.

He felt his chest heave and tears start slipping down his face as Vlad reached out to him.

Hesitantly the man put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him closer when Danny leaned into it. Danny sobbed against him for a while until he wore himself out and Vlad guided him to a room. He promptly passed out on the bed, tears drying slowly. He slept all night for the first time in who knows how long.

——————————

Danny woke up sore and still tired, he slowly came back to awareness and barely avoided panic as everything registered.

He slowly dragged himself out of the bed and to the bathroom to wash his face. Once he felt more awake and clean he slipped out of the room and down the hall to the stairs.

He found the kitchen and consequently Vlad in the kitchen, he only hoped the man was better at cooking than his— the Fentons as he watched him stir something on the stove.

As Danny inched further into the room Vlad caught onto his presence and slowly turned to face him with a soft smile.

Danny looked up at him owlishly as Vlad used his head to gesture Danny to the seats at the counter before returning to the pan.

Danny slunk to the counter and sat down, fiddling with his sleeves and zoning out on the nice countertops.

Soon Vlad was playing food and setting it down in front of him, slowly sliding it into his field of vision. Danny’s eyes refocused to a plate of warm food, a fried egg, hashbrowns and toast.

He slowly sat up and reached for the utensils placed with it as Vlad took a seat next to him with a similar plate and a mug of coffee.

They ate in silence and Vlad directed him to the game/tv room before he left for work.

It was nice, peaceful. Vlad told him not to worry about ghosts for a bit. It stressed Danny out to no end but he was still happy to take the break.

At some point he had made his way back to his room for a nap. It was warm and quiet and he was so so tired.

——————————

One month later

It had been a month since Danny had run to Vlad and Danny has been 18 for two weeks now which meant his parents couldn’t touch him.

Vlad had taken him (and the cops) to go get what he wanted from the Fenton house, luckily they hadn’t been home. They had been trying to reach him though, claiming they missed their son, they missed him alright, or Danny wouldn’t be nearly as whole as he is.

So now he had his things. And his life. And a guaranteed room in Vlad’s mansion and his castle in Wisconsin.

Vlad had pulled him out of school for his last semester so he could try and catch up online a little bit before graduation. Which meant he didn’t really see Sam and Tuck anymore but they met up when they could and called.

Danny and Vlad had been in Wisconsin for a few weeks now, they were both in need of a break so they left Amity, Red had it covered and Danny had been somewhat succeeding in moderating the ghosts so only smaller animals and less destructive beings slipped through without permission.

Danny took a deep breath as he finished up the last of his school work for the week, now that he has time and could work at his own pace he was excelling.

He was on track to graduate early (though he wouldn’t) and he had started taking some preliminary college courses in his free time as well, which he had a lot of.

Danny was thriving.

Vlad knocked on his door.

“Hey, we’re going to a thing this weekend, we both need to get out of the house— err castle.”

Danny snickered, he did feel cooped up though, “what’s the thing? And where?”

“We’re going whether—“ He began “no I know, just curious.”

“Ah, ok, it’s a business party of sorts, for networking and all such efforts, it will be in Chicago I think, or was it Gotham…?”

“Uhh that’s a pretty big difference in location, and an important distinction, I’m down to hit up the crown city of crime but I’d like to be prepared first thank you.” Danny chuckled

Vlad hummed before he came to his final decision, “I think it must be Chicago, I would have remembered for sure if it was Gotham, I shall check nonetheless but I’m nearly 90% certain it’s Chicago. I’ll be right back,” was the last thing Vlad declared as he turned back out of Danny’s room and left to find a device with whatever email or such he had received about it.

Danny laughed to himself at the man’s antics before he got back, he considered the idea of the event more, a rich people ‘networking’ party. Mannn that sounds like a blast he thought sarcastically.

Was he gonna have to wear a suit??

Before he could think anymore Vlad reappeared with his phone and a tablet open looking through it.

“Ah here we go,” he muttered to himself before looking back at Danny, “it’s Chicago, it’s more of a rich people event than business, and it sounds like some younger people have been invited, so maybe some kids around your age…” he trailed off as he scrolled through more, Danny just gave him a look,

“I’m not technically a kid anymore.”

“Hush…it’s formal attire, we’ll have to get you a suit, I’ll take you to my tailor and pick you something nice…there will be food and refreshments but no full meal, good that means we won’t be forced to sit at a table and eat with a bunch of people…”

He trailed off again as he kept looking through it. He hummed softly as he took in information and Danny grabbed his phone as he felt it buzz

Sammy Wammy ;3

Sam

Hey can you call rn?

Danny

Give me a minute

Vlad and I are discussing stuff

Sam

Ok cool text me when ur good!

Danny

Will Do! <33

He quickly texted Sam back as Vlad started talking again

“I just got a flight set up, the gala is on Saturday evening but our flight is Friday morning, we’ll get there and have some extra time to recover before hand… the hotel is provided with the invite so it’s easy and close, I already put in for our room so all we have to do is check in on Friday when we get there…”

He hummed as he looked over what Danny assumed to be either a checklist or just notes, “you should start packing either tonight or tomorrow, I’ll call my tailor and we can go in tomorrow so start thinking about what you want, I’ll help you with that in a moment, I have some thoughts on color and style to suggest but ultimately Jacie will help tomorrow as well…we’ll get shoes and accessories then as well so for now…”

He looked through the list again, a slight furrow in his eyebrows as he went through what they needed to do in the next two days before the trip

“Hum, I think those are the biggest points, I’m not too concerned about your manners or anything, just be you and the rich people can suck it if they’re miffed,” Danny sputtered, “you know you’re a rich person too right? You fit right in with all those gala folks…”

Vlad turned a look on him, “that doesn’t mean I have to like them, or like myself for that matter, I despise these events becuase of the image I am forced to portray, you, my young, vulnerable Danny, have no image to your name yet, that means you have complete freedom this weekend, I’d prefer you be respectful and not drag my name but if you do something foolish I will not hesitate to verbally disown you in the face of the situation.”

Danny laughed again, it felt good, had he not been laughing before? “Honestly that’s fair, I won’t do anything stupid though, I’d rather not have a bunch of pissed off rich people on my ass.”

Vlad nodded approvingly before double checking the list, “ah do you have your work done for the week yet?”

“Yep, just finished up before you came in”

“Even your prep work for the college classes?”

“Yep!”

Vlad studied him for a moment, before smiling and nodding, “good, keep that up and you’ll get somewhere with it, I want better for you Danny, you deserve to get further than I ever did, and further away from those bast—“

His eyes glowed a bit as he cut himself off with a snarl, Danny gave him a sad look, he appreciated the anger, honestly, it was nice having someone aside from Sam or Tuck getting angry on his behalf, it was even better having Vlad do it and still stay in control so easily, Danny had stopped getting angry after meeting Dan, the fear of what he might become worse than any rage he felt.

Even though he knew deep down it couldn’t happen again already, he was here with Vlad and he had yet to feel bad enough to ask for half of him to be removed (like a coward) besides, Danny’s Vlad would never agree to such a thing, in fact Danny had made him swear he wouldn’t ever let Danny do that, and he had promised, even though he was confused.

Vlad walked around his bed to pat his shoulder and Danny initiated a loose hug, he appreciated that too, Vlad let him initiate everything and he respected his boundaries so well too. It was nice having someone who acknowledged that he didn’t always want to talk or be touched.

Vlad had made a lot of progress towards redemption in the last couple of years, even more so in the last month, Danny was proud of him, and thankful for the dedication to be better for him

———————

Another snippet! This one I already have a couple more chapters written for and a very clear storyline set out, this will be a full fic! This is like half of the first chapter which is posted in full on my Ao3 (linked above!) the fic is linked below!

It’s a spirit Halloween fic in which Bruce and Danny become infamous business “rivals” when they’re actually making out in bathrooms and closets bts

Secret relationship and fake rivals, strangers to lovers to strangers back to lovers again. They meet before bruce leaves to train and again when he returns and Danny opens up shop…

[disillusioneddanny]

Meet the Waynes

Bruce Wayne was a quiet boy. Of course, he was. At eight years old he had lost the most important people in his life. Had been forced to grow up far faster than he had ever expected to at such a young age. It was a difficult thing for the little boy to come to terms with and while Alfred was wonderful and was certainly doing his best to raise his young ward, Bruce Wayne often found himself wondering if he would ever have a chance of a family again, something he highly doubted would happen. Bruce was an only child, as were his parents. His grandparents both maternal and paternal had died long before Bruce had ever been born. Alfred himself did not have any other living family members. 

It seemed that the two were alone. No more family for either of them. And for the most part, Bruce was okay with it. Yes, he missed the way his mother would wrap him up in a tight hug and kiss all over his face leaving behind remnants of her usual dark red lipstick across his cheeks. And he missed the way that his father would throw him high in the air, catch him once more, and call him chum as he asked about his day. 

Alfred did neither of those things. 

Alfred was kind and caring and he gave Bruce wonderful hugs and he cooked Bruce delicious meals but it wasn’t the same. He wasn’t sure that Alfred knew how to be a dad but he was trying his best. The scary thing, though, was that this was it for Bruce. He would never have a family again, he would be alone. Alfred was already old, there was no way he would be able to live forever. 

Bruce once thought that the adults in his life were immortal. Two bullets quickly ruined that dream for the eight-year-old boy. And now he found himself riddled with anxiety for the day that he would also lose Alfred, the only family left in his life. And that thought hurt. It hurt far more than Bruce had ever imagined. He had never even imagined something as scary and as painful as losing his parents and then it had happened and he had lost it all.

What was worse was that Alfred was trying, he was and Bruce knew that the butler was trying his best. But it wasn’t the same. He wasn’t Bruce’s dad and he never would be! And he had told the butler as such, had screamed it in his face after a nightmare, after bright flashes and the thundering sound of gunshots woke him from a dead sleep. It had left him sweaty and scared and angry. He was so angry his little boy couldn’t handle it any longer and when Alfred had tried to hug him, Bruce had run, had shouted mean words that he had almost immediately regretted. But it was too late, he couldn’t take back his words and he couldn’t fix his now completely broken family. 

It had led him to run to his favorite hiding space, a place where no one would find him. 

It was what led the eight-year-old boy to the current situation before him. Here he stood in the attic of the manor staring at a bright green swirling circle that seemed to be one with the north wall. 

Ever the curious boy, he found himself walking towards it cautiously. A small, sure hand pressed against the green swirls and let out a gasp as his hand pushed through it. He let out a small grunt as his little body fell through before he could stop himself. 

The boy tumbled through the portal and landed on his knees in another room. It looked almost like the attic that he had just been in only, only it had been completely and totally made over! The room had been entirely renovated, the walls painted a soft gray color. Work desks lined the walls with all kinds of trinkets. Behind him stood a large metal circle that was plastered to the wall, the green swirling mass gone completely. 

“Oh no,” he whispered, scurrying to his feet as he pressed his hands against the smooth wall. “Oh no, oh no, oh no,” he chanted out. 

Anxiety filled his bones and veins, his heart started to thud in his chest as he hit his tiny little fists against the wall. Bruce let out a sob as he hit at the wall. He didn’t know where he was, he didn’t know what had happened. Not only that but he had run away from Alfred, and had tried to hide from the man who had done nothing but love Bruce. Who was trying his best when no one else was. Who was trying to just take care of the most selfish little boy in the world.

He couldn’t believe he had done this. 

Couldn’t believe he had run away and fallen through a strange portal. 

“Demon Brat, what the hell are you doing up here? I’m pretty sure Dad banned you after last time,” a voice said and Bruce spun around to find a teenager staring down at him in annoyance. The boy’s face fell as he took in Bruce and let out a soft curse. “Oh shit. Oh fuck don’t tell me you came out of that portal.”

Bruce nodded his head slowly, still staring up at the teenager, his heart racing in his chest. 

“Shit,” he groaned. “You have no clue how long I’ve been waiting for the chance to go through that portal!”

“Um, why?” Bruce asked hesitantly. “Can’t you just reopen it? I need to go home.”

“Shit,” the guy said again, running his hand across his face in annoyance. “No, I can’t open it! I’ve been planning this for weeks, kid!”

Bruce watched as the teenager let out a huff and tapped his foot in thought. Bruce took it as a moment to take in his surroundings and the teenager in front of him. He was tall, insanely tall, and built like the army men that Mother had bought him once a few years ago. He had large muscles up and down his arms and legs and looked like he could crush Bruce’s skull with one hand. He had dark black hair and a single white stripe right up the front. 

Bruce had to hold back a giggle as it reminded him of a skunk. But he was still young, definitely a teenager, maybe eighteen or nineteen from what Bruce could tell. 

“What are we going to do? I need to go home,” Bruce finally said as it seemed that the teenager still hadn’t come up with an idea. 

The teenager stared at him for a moment and Bruce could practically see the cogs in his brain moving slowly as he tried to come up with a solution. “What we’re not going to do is tell my dads. They’ll ground me for life if they find out I let someone in through a portal. And we’re going to find Tim. Because if anyone in this manor knows how to open the portal it’s him!”

Bruce pursed his lips and nodded his head once. “Then we need to find him fast. My,” he stopped for a moment. What was Alfred to him? He wasn’t his dad, he was more than just a butler. “My guardian will be worried,” he finally decided, staring up at the teenager. 

“I understand. We’ll get Tim and we’ll fix this as fast as possible, got it?” He said before grabbing Bruce’s hand and dragging him out of the attic. Bruce found himself staring in wonder as they hurried down the steps and took in everything around him. 

He was still in Wayne Manor, that much was for sure. But everything was so different. There were so many pictures on the walls and they had all been painted so many different colors. 

It wasn’t the same as his manor. It looked lived in now. 

Maybe he was in an alternate reality! Maybe this was like Narnia. Only instead of going through a wardrobe to a magical land. He fell through a portal to an alternate reality! It had his heart feeling a little happy that the old manor looked so nice and pretty and lived in when his was so plain and sad. It had him wondering if Alfred would let him paint the walls in their manor. 

Maybe a little color would bring a little life to the place that Bruce called home. 

They hurried down a hallway until the teenager barged into a bedroom door and threw a finger at another teenage boy, this one Bruce assumed was named Tim. 

“You! I need your brain!” The older teenager shouted. “I screwed up.”

“Jason? What did you do now?” Tim asked and Bruce watched as the teenager climbed out of a large fluffy chair and set his laptop to the side when he let out a loud gasp as his eyes landed on Bruce. “Is that Bruce?” He squeaked out. 

“Bruce?” Jason said before he looked down at the little boy at his side. “Bruce!”

Bruce frowned and nodded his head. “Bruce Wayne. Do-do you know me?” He asked quietly, eyeing the two teenage boys suspiciously.  Tim gave him a kind smile. “In a way,” he said softly. “We know you when you’re a lot older.” He looked up at Jason and frowned. “Wanna tell me how you kidnapped a–how old are you Bruce?”

“Eight,” he said, playing with his fingers nervously as he watched both of the boys’ faces pale. 

“H-how are your parents?” Jason asked, his voice nervous and slightly high-pitched. 

“Dead,” Bruce said simply, still not understanding what was happening. He was starting to wonder if he would ever understand what was going on.

“I see,” Tim said before he looked up at Jason.  “Why was the portal set to that time, Jason?”

Jason blanched, getting even paler. Bruce was genuinely starting to worry that the teenager was going to keel over soon. “You know how people constantly debate about whether it would be morally wrong to go back in time and kill baby Hitler?”

Tim narrowed his eyes. “I don’t like where this is going.”

“I was going to do the same to baby Joker,” he said slowly and Tim slapped his hand against his head. “Jesus Christ.”

“It’s fine! I didn’t do it, Bruce came through the portal before I was able to go through. I went to grab my helmet and when I came back he was there and the portal closed.”

“How did you even get the portal open in the first place?” Tim demanded, throwing his arms out. Bruce flinched slightly at the raised voice and the teenager cast him an apologetic smile. 

“I may have distracted Dad so he left it unattended while he was doing maintenance on it and used that as the opportunity to key in the coordinates. I figured I’d go in, get the job done, Dad would notice eventually that I was gone and he’d come and find me and bring me back!”

“So you were just going to casually change the timeline and think everything would be okay?” Tim asked, now pinching the bridge of his nose. Bruce looked between the two teenagers as they started arguing with one another and let out a sigh. They weren’t going to be of any help for him. He spun on his heel and marched out of the room. He needed to find a competent adult. 

Someone who could actually help him get back home before he gave Alfred a heart attack. Sure Alfred wasn’t his father and he never would replace Bruce’s father. But he was nice, and he tucked Bruce in at night and kissed his forehead. And he made Bruce hot chocolate when he had nightmares and he held Bruce’s hand when Alfred was dusting just so that Bruce wouldn’t feel alone. He wasn’t Bruce’s father but he loved him just as much and he was all Bruce had. He had to get back home.

He marched down the halls, taking in more pictures and paintings that covered the walls. It felt so homey and safe here, unlike anything Bruce had seen. He didn’t know who owned the manor now but they had truly made it feel like a home and Bruce found himself almost jealous. 

Bruce turned the corner and made his way to the purple sitting room and stopped when he found a young man hanging by his knees from the chandelier. 

“Hi Baby Bat!” The man called, waving his hand at Bruce. The eight-year-old frowned and looked at him. 

“Why did you call me that? I hate bats,” he said, screwing his nose up in disgust. The man let out a laugh before he carefully flipped from the chandelier and looked down at Bruce. He tilted his head to the side for a moment before he froze. He looked at Bruce for a moment before he turned his head to look at the large painting that hung over the fireplace. Bruce followed his gaze to find the family portrait from his world still hanging there. It was a portrait of Bruce sitting on his mother’s lap with Father standing behind her with his hand on Mother’s shoulder. 

The man looked back at Bruce and let out a breath. “Bruce?”

“Yes, do you know me? Jason and Tim knew me too but then they started fighting because Jason wanted to kill someone named Joker and so I left. I just want to go home,” Bruce rushed out, staring up at Dick with big, wide eyes, his heart still racing in his chest. Everything here was so strange and different and his picture was on the wall and these guys all knew him but no one was explaining anything to him. 

The man let out an incredulous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. “That sounds about right for Jason and Tim,” he said before he held his hand out. “Come on, we can find my dad and he can fix this.”

“Jason and Tim didn’t want their dad to know,” Bruce said, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. “I don’t want them to get in trouble. I just want to go home, Alfred is going to be worried if he can’t find me and we had a fight. I yelled at him,” he said. 

“And do not worry, Master Bruce, I forgave you as soon as you did,” a familiar voice said and Bruce spun on his heel to stare up at his butler. Or at least, he thought he was the butler. Alfred was so much older than Bruce last saw him. His hair was completely gone and his face bore deep wrinkles but a small smile still played on his lips. Bruce called it his secret smile because it always meant that he knew something Bruce didn’t.

“Alfred?” He gasped out and the old butler nodded his head. 

“Yes, Master Bruce,” he said before opening his arms just as Bruce collided with his waist, wrapping his arms around him tight. “I see you ran into Master Dick,” he said, rubbing Bruce’s back softly. 

“He said he would help me get home. He said his Dad would help. I just wanna go home.”

Alfred kneeled down in front of him. “We will send you home shortly, Master Bruce. But, if I recall correctly, we had an argument because you said you would never have a family again. Is that correct?” He asked, tilting his head to the side. Beside him, Dick let out a muffled squeak. 

Bruce nodded. “I-I know but I was wrong. You’re my family and I don’t want to lose you,” he said, his eyes welled up in tears. Alfred wiped a gloved thumb along Bruce’s cheek, drying up the single tear that had streamed down carefully. 

“And you never will. But, I believe it is nearly dinner time and I believe that you will be very happy to see what will await us. Now, take Master Dick’s hand and he will lead you to the dining room. I will bring in supper shortly,”

Bruce nodded and took Dick’s hand who let out a sweet coo. He swept Bruce up into his arms and settled him on his waist as Alfred made his way back to the kitchens. 

“I don’t understand,” Bruce said with a sniff, looping his arms around Dick’s shoulders. “Why is Alfred here? Why is my painting here?”

Dick gave him a small smile. “Don’t worry kiddo, my dads are going to explain everything to you soon. I think you’re going to be really happy when you see,” he said softly just as two sets of footsteps pounded through the hall and Tim and Jason turned the corner, harried looks on their faces. 

“Dick! Have you seen-”

The words died on Jason’s lips as Dick turned around, Bruce still in his arms as he gave the two teenagers a look of complete annoyance. “Alfred said supper is almost ready. We should get going,” he said simply as he started towards the dining room. Tim and Jason let out soft whimpers as they followed behind, heads bowed in shame. 

Dick pushed open the doors to the dining room and grinned. 

“Hey everyone! We have a guest for dinner,” he said as Bruce looked around in shock. The large table was the same as the one in his manor, but this one was full of people. Sitting on one side were two boys and a girl. One boy, a teenager was staring at him in surprise, his jaw practically on the floor. Beside him was a teenage girl who was beaming at them, her eyes bright and happy. And the last was a boy who looked like he was Bruce’s twin, he wondered if this was the boy that Jason called Demon Brat and that Dick called Baby Bat. They looked practically identical except for their skin tones and eye color. He stared at Bruce like he was a ghost. 

On the end of the table sat two adults who were both staring at Bruce in surprise. One man was tall and thin with salt and pepper hair and pretty blue eyes. He was pretty and something in Bruce’s stomach fluttered when he looked at him. And next to him was Bruce’s dad. 

But– but not? He didn’t look exactly like Bruce’s father but the resemblance was close. It was the same black hair and blue eyes as Thomas Wayne but the smile was Martha’s and he was smiling at Bruce the same way Mother once smiled at him. 

“And who do we have here?” The pretty man with salt and pepper hair asked. 

“I-I’m Bruce. I fell through a portal and I just wanna go home,” he stammered out, still staring at the two men in absolute wonder. 

“It was Jason! Jason did it and he tried to make me his accomplice!” Tim rushed out before letting out a yelp as Jason punched him in the arm. “Ow!”

“Fuckin’ snitch,” Jason muttered only for the grown-ups to all say “Language” in amused tones. 

The man who looked like Bruce’s dad stood up and came towards him as Dick set him on the ground. The man kneeled down in front of Bruce and gave him a soft smile. 

“Hi Bruce, my name is Bruce,” he said softly and Bruce swore his heart stopped beating. The older Bruce let out a quiet laugh as he cupped the younger Bruce’s face in his hand. “I know, it’s crazy, huh? But I’m you in about thirty years.”

“R-really?” he whispered, looking around at all the people staring down at him before he looked back at Bruce. “Who’s all this?”

“This is our family,” he said and he gave Bruce a soft smile. “I know, we never thought we’d get another one after Mother and Father died. But we do. We meet Danny and he becomes a pain in our side but for some reason, we fall in love with him and after a bunch of back and forth and running away from each other because we’re both scared about not having a family, we finally get married. And then we have so many kids that we adopt and we love and take care of. And we laugh and play and have so much fun.”

“We get married?” Bruce asked, looking over at the pretty man who was now walking towards them. He held out his hand for Bruce and gave him a small smile. 

“I’m Danny,” he said quietly and Bruce gulped as he took his hand. 

“Pretty,” he whispered, staring up at Danny with starry eyes. Danny laughed and shook his head. 

“You’re the pretty one, B. Always have been,” he said before he gave Bruce a serious look. “Now, I’m going to tell you some really important advice for the future.”

Bruce tilted his head as Older Bruce just gave his husband an amused smile. “What is it?”

Danny grinned. “I am always right. Got it, B? Always.”

Bruce looked back at older Bruce who just laughed. “He is,” he agreed, smiling down at younger Bruce. “Now, how about you get dinner with us and then Danny will take you home? Okay? And just be patient. You’ll meet Danny when you’re sixteen and he’s going to change everything. Got it?”

“Got it,” he said and let Bruce carry him over to a chair right next to Danny as Alfred came out and served dinner.

Dinner went well, Bruce thought. His kids were all funny and very nice. He got to watch as Danny and Older Bruce scolded Jason for trying to change the timeline and for sneaking into Danny’s lab. Danny was a scientist who was studying time travel and the multiverse which was why he had the portal in the attic. Everyone was banned from the attic, including Bruce! Apparently, Danny didn’t trust any of them with his experiments which was so crazy to Bruce but he understood. 

And his kids all told Bruce stories about growing up with Bruce and talking about how Bruce was a good dad. They said he made mistakes sometimes but he always, always fixed them and they were all so welcoming. Bruce had felt a warmth in his tummy the entire time he ate with them as Danny and Bruce asked him questions about home even though Bruce knew everything that happened already!

He even gave Little Bruce advice on how to apologize to Alfred and explained that even though Alfred wasn’t their dad he was like a dad to them and that it was okay. He even said that sometimes when he was really sad he called Alfred his dad and promised Bruce that it was okay. That he wasn’t replacing Father by calling Alfred his new dad. 

And Older Bruce couldn’t be wrong, could he? He had been alive for so much longer than Little Bruce and he knew him better than anyone. And even older Alfred promised him that it would be okay and that he wouldn’t be freaked out if Bruce called him dad. That he was honored he got to take care of Bruce and be his second dad. 

All too soon, it was over though. And Danny was carrying Bruce up to the attic as he said his goodbyes to the family. To his family. 

“I don’t wanna go,” Bruce whispered to Danny as they stood in the attic. 

Danny gave him a kind smile. “Sure you do,” he said softly. “If you don’t go, then you won’t get to find me and if you don’t find me, we can’t build this family together.”

“But it’s so quiet. I love Alfred, but it’s different it–”

“I know,” Danny whispered, cupping Bruce’s face in his hands. “But think about it this way. For the next eight years, you’re going to grow up, you’re going to get to know Alfred better and you’re going to be friends with so many people and then one day you’re going to meet me and we’ll be instant best friends. In fact, I even kinda annoy you sometimes because I talk so much. But you like it and we go to the skatepark together and go to school together. And then I go off to college and you decide to take a trip around the world to get to understand yourself better. And when you’re twenty-two, you come back to Gotham. And then we go on a few dates and you get scared and run away sometimes or I get scared and run away but we always come back to each other. And at some point you adopt Dick and I come over and you’re really embarrassed because there’s this little boy sleeping on the couch and you tell me “i don’t know if having kids together is too soon, but do you want to raise him with me.” And I laugh because you’re so crazy and but so loving and I kiss you. And we raise Dick together and then we get married,” Danny said and his smile is wide and his eyes are bright and Bruce wants it. He wants it so bad he could cry. 

“And then we get Jason and then Tim and Cass and Damian show up and then Duke and our family becomes complete. And we have a family together,” Danny whispers. “But none of that can happen unless you go home. So go home, apologize to Alfred, and I’ll see you soon. Got it?”

Bruce sniffed once but nodded his head in agreement. Danny smiled and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. “The portal is ready to go,” he said quietly. 

“I’m going to be the best husband ever, I promise,” Bruce told him and Danny let out a soft laugh. 

“You are, without a doubt, the best husband in the world,” Danny said before Bruce made his way through the portal and let out a breath as he stood in the attic. He pressed a hand to his cheek and smiled to himself. He was going to have the best family ever. But first, he had to apologize to Alfred and then they could build their family together. 

[glow-worms-are-believers]

In the name of love (and gossip) dc x dp

The day had been going normally. Tim had been having breakfast with Cass when Bruce walked in bleary-eyed with a grunt in greeting as he went for the coffee machine. He and Damian has stayed out later than usual yesterday night, as a concession for the fact they couldn't patrol due to tonight's charity gala. Damian was currently staying with Jon, and would be sleeping at the Kent's for a sleepover night.

"Mr. Fenton will be in attendance for tonight's gala," Alfred said as he walked into the kitchen.

Bruce look up so quick, Tim swore he heard his neck crack. "Danny's coming?"

"Indeed, Master Bruce."

"Cat Grant is still on the guest list?"

"Yes, sir," Alfred answered dutifully.

"Perfect," Bruce said as he let a smile stretch across his face before he stood up. "I have some errands to run, I'll see you tonight," he said as he swept outside of the room.

Tim frowned at the strange behaviour before he turned towards Cass who just shrugged and went back to her breakfast.

"Who's Danny?" Tim asked Alfred as he stood up to get himself another cup of coffee.

"Mr. Fenton and Master Bruce were quite close when they were younger. The media went so far as to call them childhood sweethearts," Alfred started as he swapped out the espresso pod Tim had gotten out of the pantry for a decaf one, which had the teen pouting. "When Master Bruce disappeared for his 'backpacking trip through Europe', Mr. Fenton became distressed and made quite a fuss, going so far as offering a reward for information. Eventually, Mr. Fenton acquired a daughter and mostly retired from the public eye." Alfred paused before letting the corner of his lip curl up ever so slightly. "Still, when Master Bruce returned, there was apparently a very explosive and very public confrontation between the two of them. I am told it involved a good amount of tears and shouting."

"Tears?" Tim asked incredulously. Were they talking about the same emotionally-repressed man?

"Just so," Alfred answered with a nod. "They met up a few times since, but it has been a long time since Mr. Fenton was in town. I imagine tonight's gala will be very interesting."

This was disappointingly boring, Tim thought to himself as he sat by the drinks table. Everything had gone as usual, with schmoozing left and right while Bruce charmed the pants off the Gotham elite. Tim sighed. He didn't even have Dick to joke with, since he was on a mission off-planet. Just as he was considering calling Steph to allay his mounting boredom, a hush fell onto the ballroom. All heads turned towards the entrance, where Tim could see a man looking to be in his early-to-mid-thirties walking in with a young woman who bore him a striking resemblance. Both of them were quite attractive and looking very dapper in their obviously high-quality clothes but that didn't justify the crowd's reaction.

In the ensuing silence their arrival had caused, Bruce's greeting of "Danny," seemed very loud. The answering, "Bruce," was just as loud and the two exchanged a charged look and a nod before they both turned away from one another in concert.

Sound gradually came back to its previous level, but now Tim was intrigued. He grabbed a few hors-d'oeuvres and shoved them on a plate as he swerved between guests until he could get up to the balconies, for a better vantage point.

This was the batkids' favourite hideouts during galas, as it was great for making fun of some particularly snobbish guests. Tonight, it would serve for spying on the mysterious Danny.

As the night progressed, Tim noticed both Danny and Bruce giving each other longing looks when the other wasn't looking. On one occasion, Bruce even left a sentence unfinished as he caught sight of Danny, before he shook himself out of it and apologized. His conversation partners just looked at each other with gazes charged with meaning as they brushed off the apology.

At some point, Tim noticed Danny excusing himself from the conversation before he walked out of the ballroom. A moment later, Bruce did the same and followed him out. Tim polished off the last of the appetizer before getting himself back down.

He walked out cautiously, looking around for the two men when he heard voices coming from one of the smaller adjacent hallways. As he crept closer, he chanced a look around the corner to see Bruce and Danny talking to each other. He walked in closer to get a better view, only to quickly duck out of view when Bruce looked in his direction.

As Tim walked back further into the hidden nook, he had to stop himself from shrieking when he came into contact with a body.

"Yo," whispered who Tim now recognized as Ellie, Danny's daughter holding a cup of the punch and looking very relaxed.

"Hi?" Tim whispered back still trying to calm down his beating heart. "What are you doing her-"

"Shhh," she interrupted him, as she looked towards the two men. "They're getting to the good part."

Tim followed her lead and turned his attention back towards the two men.

"... I just wonder sometimes, what could've been," Danny looked into the distance wistfully, before he turned back towards Bruce, longing in his eyes.

"It's not too late," Bruce said passionately as he took the other man's hands. "We can still try again."

"No, Bruce." Danny took his hands away reluctantly, as if the very action was painful. "We're no longer the people we used to be." Then, he smiled, aching and fragile before continuing. "We have different lives now, there's no use clinging to the past."

"Danny please," said Bruce as he raised his hand to cup the other man's cheek tenderly. With a wretched sigh, Danny's resistance seemed to break as he let himself nuzzle into the larger man's palm, looking as if he couldn't help himself from seeking its warmth.

"Well, I'm up," Ellie breathed out before downing her cup. "Wish me luck!" she said as she walked off before Tim could get a chance to hold her back.

"Dad!" she called out loudly, as if completely oblivious to the atmosphere.

Danny tore himself away from Bruce's grasp guiltily as he turned towards his rapidly approaching daughter.

"Ellie," Danny said as he visibly collected himself. "What are you doing here?"

"The party was boring so I went to find you." She pouted. Then, as if just noticing the man, she exclaimed, "Mr. Wayne! We didn't have the chance to talk earlier, it's been so long!"

"Hello, Ellie," Bruce answered back warmly, despite looking still a little raw around the edges. "You've grown a lot since I last saw you."

"Well, I sure hope so," Ellie said jokingly. "It's been what, five years?"

"Yes, it has," Bruce answered, but he was looking at Danny who was doing his best to avoid Bruce's pleading gaze.

"If you're tired of the party already, why don't we go home early?" Danny suggested studiously avoiding the other man's eye.

"Really? We can go?" Ellie asked hopefully.

"Yes, sweetie," Danny said as he ruffled his daughter's head playfully.

"Dad! My hair!" she whined, as she patted it back in place. "Alright, give me a minute to get my bag, then we can go."

With that she started turning away before she stopped herself and turned back towards Bruce. "You should come visit us sometime, Mr. Wayne! Dad wouldn't say it but he misses you." With that, she turned with a twirl of fabric and started walking towards the ballroom. Danny ran a hand through his hair as he sighed.

"You missed me?" Bruce asked, one part teasing and one part hopeful.

"You know I have," Danny looked up at the taller man, sounding defeated yet fond.

"I missed you too," Bruce breathed out as he brought his face closer and closer, until their lips were almost brushing-

"Mr. Wayne!" A voice came from the ballroom.

The spell broke and once again, the two men separated.

"I have to go," Danny mumbled as he took the chance to extirpate himself and start back in the same direction his daughter had gone.

"Danny, wait!" Bruce got out. "Could I really come visit you?" he stuttered out breathlessly.

Danny stopped, but didn't turn around as he answered in a voice clearly rough with emotions. "You'll always be welcome, Bruce. You know that." And then, he walked away.

Bruce kept his eyes glued onto Danny's departing back, until the other man's figure was swallowed in the crowd and disappeared. The sigh he let out was full of melancholy, but when he looked up again, his gaze was determinate. A beat later, he followed Danny into the ballroom.

Tim stayed where he was for a moment, just contemplating everything, before he started to move, but before he could come out of hiding, there was a movement in front of him. Freezing in place, he looked on as Cat Grant came out of what seemed to be her very own hiding spot. She looked around for any witness before she too snuck back towards the ballroom. Tim let his head hit the wall behind him.

What the hell had just happened.

[minnesota-fats]

In the fic I’m writing (not Bird Buddies)

Dick, a 12 year old baby sneaking out of the manor before he knew Bruce was Batman.

Danny, watching the baby: where do you think your going?

Dick: I’m gonna go murder my parents murderer!

Danny: ok, perfect family bonding time. Let’s go!

Dick: wait, really?

Later Bruce catches the two before they even make it down town. (He is just mad that Danny was called Dad before him)

[garbagewith-a-cherryontop]

"Woah dude. You look like shit."

Some fanart of @starry-bi-sky 's blood blossom prompt and fic. Featuring a bat-notyet-dad and the personification of childhood trauma. The fic is called "Late at night, when the nightingale sings".

Imagine thinking your life is bad, and then a dying child waltzes over and bleeds on you.

[stars-obsession-pit]

Danny’s mostly gotten the hang of portals by now. Sure, it’s not perfect, but he’s pretty accurate for the most part. So when he was super tired after another late night ghost battle, he decided to just portal home instead of flying back.

And he screwed it up.

Instead of coming out into the lab at home, he landed in the workspace of an alternate universe version of his dad.

He didn’t immediately notice though. Sure, the T-rex statue is new, but it honestly might not be the weirdest thing he’s ever seen his parents work on. Plus, again, he’s exhausted. He doesn’t have the energy to deal with that right now. In fact, he was so out of it that he didn’t even bother to fully fly to his bedroom, just collapsing onto the first couch he found and immediately going to sleep.

…

Alfred frowned down at the boy he’d found sleeping on the couch. He knew the faces of all Bruce’s kids, and this wasn’t any of them.

Maybe he’d just brought in another one and forgot to tell him. The boy certainly fit the mold.

He sighed and shook his head fondly. He’d bring it to Bruce up in the morning. For now, he just laid a blanked over the sleeping figure. The boy looked like he needed his rest.

[nightingale-prompts]

Lazarus What?!

Phantom pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to take in what he was just told.

"Explain it one more time. I need to know if I got this right." He said his frustration mounted.

They were standing at the edge of the Lazarus pit. The Ghost hero had been searching for wells formed from ectoplasm on this planet.

"We-" Superman spoke first.

"YOU SAW A BIG FUCKING POOL OF OTHERWORLDY GOO AND DECIDED TO SWIM IN IT?!" Phantom exploded.

"Well, it does heal and revive people," Flash said hidden behind Wonder Woman.

"Well that makes it perfectly safe and healthy for you doesn't it," Danny said sarcastically. "It's not safe at all! You people are just tossing corpses into this thing and think it's a miracle that people come out alive! This stuff is a waste pit made from the leakage from my realm!"

"Waste? Like as in-" Clark's face gritted in disgust.

"Not like human waste but still waste. Our bodies take in new ectoplasm and the old tainted stuff flows out. Like a fish breaths with it's gills. The old material tends to collect in different spots like a dump of toxic waste. And you people are bathing in the used materials." Phantom explained.

"And why is it so dangerous." Batman finally spoke up after considering the information.

Phantom sighed.

"The reason why the goop is bad is because it's tainted. As in it has remnants of the ghosts that expel it. When you dump the corpse of a freshly dead person in the goop it melds with the person giving them the ability to persist beyond death and linking them back to their soul. That sounds good, but the soul is now infected with the random assortment of attributes of the ghosts that are in the goop. It won't do much to you though. Barely affecting you in any negative way. Now if you keep putting bodies in the goop you create a big problem as the ectoplasm is invected with the freshly dead's issues. If someone evil, vengeful, or unbalanced is put in the waters parts of them will stay behind. Constantly using the ectoplasm will cause someone to go insane as it corrupts them. If someone dies painfully enough, it will also persist in the ecto and create a revenant. Like an avenging super soldier hellbent on revenge so their soul can rest. The ectoplasm will also become less potent over time, and eventually, the only thing that can come out is zombies." Phantom tried his best to spell everything out like everyone present were idiots.

"That explains many things." Batman said pinching the bridge of his nose.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN! ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU ALREADY DID THAT?!" Phantom was turning red now.

[alltheprompts]

Danny Phantom x DC Prompt #7

Danny after entering the portal continues aging until his powers stabilize in his 20s. After that point, he stops aging and become significantly harder to kill as his body has reached an equilibrium. He lives out his life with his friends and family until they all pass away. He gently watches over their family bloodlines while occasionally establishing a life for himself in the world.

One day Danny falls in love with a man and they live together. Danny has never felt so at peace before. He goes to the ghost zone and asks about it to find out that a ghost is most at peace with their soulmate (a rare occurrence and find). He tells everything to his lover and they live the rest of his lives life together. Only to be separated at death and his love doesn't become a ghost.

Years later Danny finds his love reincarnated again and they fall in love again. Only for Danny to lose him to a violent crime. Still his love doesn't become a ghost and reincarnated. The love keeps reincarnating and Danny keeps meeting him. Until finally in the newest life, his love is a superhero (one of the Bats) and when they meet Danny they decide to investigate. The more they investigate and discover Danny's past, the more they remember past lives. Once it becomes fully revealed to them, they hunt Danny down crying and kiss him. Danny having only just met his soulmate is both understandably consider and very pleased.

After so many centuries, they finally find a way for the shouldn't to be immortal without resulting in bad methods or something that can threaten their health and live happily ever after.

[raynewolferune]

DC x DP Prompt: Bruce is bad at emoting but at least ghosts are empathic (too bad bat kids are not)

Was reading Twincognito on AO3 when I stumbled across this gem again:

~

" “Danny, Tim. I was just…checking in. Is everything alright?” Curse his inability to make meaningful conversation when it wasn’t a life or death situation.

They glanced at each other and shrugged.

Then Danny hauled himself out of the bed and walked over to Bruce.

Bruce tried not to let too much excitement show on his face. "

~

Now I really want to read a story where Bruce adopts Danny post Meta trafficking and is being his usual emotionally constipated self. His kids keep getting mad at him because he's treating their new meta brother who was trafficked poorly (generally being stilted in conversation with him, walking away hurriedly mid-conversation, avoiding Danny when he's feeling really awkward, etc). They think Bruce is discriminating against Danny for being a civilian, meta, dealer's pick, but really it's just Bruce being horribly socially awkward. Danny knows this because of ghost empathy and find the whole thing hilarious. The whole thing comes to a head with the Bat Kids staging an intervention in the Bat Cave.

[trianglegoddess]

Feral McGee™

It starts with the Joker. 

His goons picked up Tim Drake. Not specifically because it was Tim Drake, he just so happened to be in the Joker’s neighborhood, and we'll, he can't pass up that opportunity now can he? 

Except Tim Drake is watching, along with the rest of Gotham, at the Batcomputer. He’s nursing a broken foot and has been put on monitor duty until he's cleared for field work again. 

The guy looks enough like him, though. Black hair, blue eyes, and bags under his eyes for days. He's also got the same lean sort of build like he does. 

It happens like this. 

The Joker is doing his monologue thing where he explains whatever twisted game he's come up with this time. He takes up the majority of the screen, so nobody can see Not-Tim behind him, not until the big reveal. Then he covers the screen again, getting up close and personal, before stepping back. In those quick few seconds, Not-Tim is no longer sitting there tied to the chair. 

Someone off camera lets the Joker know, and he whirls around, confused as the rest of Gotham. 

And then Not-Tim comes in with the steel chair. 

Or, well, a crowbar, but the reference holds up. 

He takes out one of Joker’s knees before punching him in the face. The Joker drops like a bag of stones, out cold. 

Then he looks towards the camera. 

“Hey there. I'm not really sure where I am, but also if he was after Tim Drake, he got the wrong guy. I'm not him, I'm just some dude. Anyway, I'll just-yep-” he carefully steps over the unconscious Joker, gives the camera a little wave, and then leaves. 

Batman and Nightwing enter shortly after, with the Joker and his goons out cold and tied up. The knots were complicated enough where, in the end, the police resorted to cutting the ties off of them so they could be properly cuffed and taken to Arkham. 

“A constrictor knot,” Batman tells Nightwing as they watch the villain be taken away. “Often used by sailors to temporarily tie things together to keep something in a bag, or to hold something to glue it back together.”

“Huh,” Nightwing says, scratching the back of his head. “Go figure.”

—

The next time it happens, it’s the Riddler. 

He’s laughing, giving his riddles to the Bats and recording himself to all of Gotham while his victim, one of the Wayne brats, hangs over a vat of something. From a distance, he looks like Tim Drake, or maybe a lankier Dick Grayson. And he’s not the only victim, they’re all scattered across the city, but he thought an important figure such as a Wayne should be under the Riddler’s direct supervision while he enacts his schemes. 

While the Riddler cackles and plots and waves his cane around, in the background all of Gotham can see the figure escape. Several Gothamites recognize him as the kid from before, who clocked the Joker. They all watch with bated breath as he sort of wiggles his way out of the ropes holding him up. Once he’s free, he climbs the rope and gets himself down safely. 

Gotham holds their breath as the kid casually walks up to the Riddler, who’s mid-rant. He politely taps him on the shoulder, and as the Riddler is turning around, the kid clocks him just as brutally as he had the Joker. He’s down with one punch. 

They think he’s going to say another sort of awkward goodbye, but instead he pats the Riddler down until he finds a piece of paper tucked into the inside pocket of his jacket. 

“Right,” the kid says, looking at the list. There’s a lot more static overlay now, and several wonder if it’s damage to the cameras. “Uh, the Clocktower, the Docks, and-” he squints at the page for a moment-”Mama Nacaroni’s? What the fuck is that? Anyway, uh. See you later, I guess. Oh! And we’re at the Gotham Arena. Have fun with him, I guess.”

The kid tosses the paper off to the side before the camera cuts to black. 

Just like last time, everyone is out cold and tied up. The Riddler himself is sporting a pretty bad shiner, but well deserved nonetheless. 

“Stop it,” Red Hood tells him. Batman just looks at him, and though Hood can’t see the top half of his face, he can tell that his eyebrow is raised. “You know exactly what I mean, B. Put the adoption papers away.”

“Hn.”

—

After that, it sorta becomes a game. The rogues of Gotham are no longer after a Wayne, or after anybody who holds any kind of social status like usual. They’re all going after this one kid, all determined to be the one to hold him. And each one is televised. 

Mr. Freeze freezes him in a block of ice, but due to the cameras glitching out, nobody can really see how he got free. They do, however, see the kid suplex Mr. Freeze. It should seem impossible, given his lanky figure, but he evidently has more muscle than he’s originally let on. 

Two-Face gets a hold of him, using chains and some power-dampening cuffs just on the off-chance that he’s a meta. They all watch as the kid leans down, pulls a bobby pin out of his hair, and picks the locks on his cuffs. One punch, and Two-Face is down. 

Gothamites are going wild for the kid. They’ve dubbed him Feral McGee™ (an online poll, of course), because every time he goes in for the punch he gets this feral look in his eyes. Also, just the fact that he casually goes up to these rogues and takes them out with all the casualness of doing something incredibly mundane? Incredible. The Gothamites are eating it up. However, despite the video evidence, nobody has been able to properly identify the kid. They know he has black hair and bright eyes, but any time he gets near a camera, it’s like there’s this weird, sort of warped quality the camera takes on. It doesn’t usually calm down until the fight is done-as one sided as they usually are-before he awkwardly skedaddles away.  

He gets kidnapped by the Penguin, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy (though that was more just a friendly chat than anything), Mad Hatter, and the Riddler again. 

And then the Joker escapes. 

It’s no surprise as to who he’s going to go after. 

Due to one too many careless goons, they manage to find their way to the Joker’s hideout pretty quickly. This time, it’s all Bats on deck, and they all hide away in the rafters as Feral McGee™ is hung over a vat of acid. His whole body is tied up, hardly a single inch of exposed skin to be seen except for the neck up. 

They watch the goons, they watch the Joker, and they watch Feral McGee™. 

The Joker is monologuing, practically begging the bats to come find him before the timer runs out. When it does, the kid gets dumped into the vat of acid. 

Despite these stakes, the kid seems to be only mildly annoyed. 

“Fuck this, I have homework I still need to finish,” they hear him say. 

They all watch, amazed and confused, as the kid starts gnawing through the ropes. Human teeth shouldn’t be able to do that so easily, but one bit after the other, and soon enough the kid’s got himself freed enough to just climb up the rest of the rope. When he’s at the top of the crane holding him up, Batman lets down a rope and pulls the kid up and out of danger. 

“Oh, cool, you’re all here,” the kid says casually, as if meeting the entire Bat Clan is just a normal Tuesday. And then he pulls out a notepad and pen and hands it to Red Hood. 

“Can I get an autograph? You’re dope as fuck, dude.”

Red Hood has to look away and hide his face in his arms for a few moments to not give away their location with his laughter before signing. And then, one by one, the others do as well. They pass along the kid’s notebook with shit-eating grins and barely contained snickers despite the fact that the Joker is still right below them. Even Batman signs it, after his children don’t stop hounding him about it. 

In their distraction, they didn’t see the kid sneak away. He’s far away from them now, nearly right over the Joker. Danny waits, though, until the Joker has turned around as the timer almost runs out. They watch as he snickers at Joker’s flabbergasted look. The Joker comically looks back and forth and under objects the kid obviously isn’t under. However, before he can do or say anything else, the kid drops from the rafters and right on top of the Joker. He crumples to the ground, unconscious. The kid, however, just brushes the dust off of himself. Despite the fall he took, there isn’t a scratch on him. 

When the bats join him, they give his notepad back to him, barely able to contain their laughter at the absurdity of it all. The kid, too, joins in the camaraderie, laughing and joking along with them as Batman secures the Joker. 

“Okay, okay, but I gotta ask, dude,” Red Hood says at one point, looking at the kid. “How do you keep getting kidnapped?”

The kid just shrugs. “I get distracted easily. And I’m sleep deprived, so you know. Social awareness is kind of at an all time low right now.”

“Why are you sleep deprived?” Nightwing asks, barely hidden concern in his voice. 

 “Finals are kinda kicking my ass right now. Especially this dumb English homework I have. You guys wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

“Oh, lucky for you,” Red Hood says, wrapping an arm around the kid’s shoulders as he walks them out of the warehouse, “I happen to know a lot about English. So, it is Shakespeare?”

“Yeah, Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

As they walk off, Batman calmly watches, though the rest of the bats can see his jaw twitching. Nightwing comes up behind him, clapping a hand on his shoulder. 

“If you don’t adopt him, I will.”

“Hn.”

[charlietheepicwriter7]

The Joker was apprehended, sitting on the ground as Batman guarded him, but the kid--"Bruce Wayne's newest ward, how tragic! Hehehe!"--was nowhere to be found. Nightwing and Red Hood desperate searched the warehouse until a shuffling noise grabbed their attention.

A kid, black haired just like the kid in the Joker's broadcast, crawling out of a pile of boxes. "Is it over?" the boy asked quietly.

Nightwing guided him to the only exit, unfortunately walking past the boy's own kidnapper. "Yeah, kid. It's over. Come on-"

Like a shot, the boy rushed the Joker and kicked him right in the balls.

The Joker wheezed like a dying squeaky toy. Red Hood froze. Nightwing immediately snatched the boy up by the armpits, but all that did was give the boy the height to attack again, punting Joker in the jaw. The clown went down and cracked his head on the floor. He did not get back up.

There was a moment of silence before Red Hood roared with laughter, his helmet distorting the sound.

[starry-bi-sky]

I am loudly pushing the batdad agenda i am loudly pushing the— DPxDC Prompt

“Woah. You look like shit."

Granted, that’s probably not the first thing Danny should be saying to the guy that just bit the curb, but in his defense; he’s not running on 100% right now either.

The man -- tall, towering, and broader than Danny is tall -- whips around on his heel, black frayed cape flaring out impressively. Danny would've whistled in appreciation, but he takes the time instead to wipe the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing the blood running from his nose across his cheek.

"Sorry." He blinks widely, not even flinching as the man with the horns zeroes in on him. "That was rude of me. I have a really bad brain-to-mouth filter; Sam says its what always gets me into trouble."

And she's not wrong either, per say. His smart mouth is what landed him in this situation -- with blood blossom extract running through his veins and cannibalizing the ectoplasm in his bloodstream. Thanks Vlad.

The man grunts at him; a short, curt "hm" that shouldn't make Danny smile, but he does because he's somewhat delirious and probably concussed. The man keeps some kind of distance, sinking towards the shadows of Gotham's alleyway like he dares to melt right into it.

If it's supposed to scare Danny, it doesn't work. Danny's never been afraid of the dark; he's always been able to hide himself in it. He blinks slowly at the mass of shadows.

"You look hurt." The shadows says, blurring together around the edges. Danny squints, and licks his lips to get the blood dripping down his chin off. Ugh, he hates the taste of blood.

"I am." He says, "My godfather poisoned me. M'dying." The agony of the blood blossom eating him from the inside out looped back around to numbing a while ago, so all he feels is half-awake and dazed.

"Hey," Danny stumbles forward towards the man, a bloodied hand reaching out to him. "You-- you're a hero, right? You're not attacking me; which is more than I can say for most costumed people I've met." Maybe it's a poor bar to judge someone at, but he's already established that Danny's not in his right mind.

The man makes no change in expression, but Danny realizes blearily that it's hard to tell with the shadows on his face. He stays still long enough for Danny to latch onto the cape -- stretchy, but almost soft under his fingers.

He looks up blearily into the whites of the man's eyes. "Can you help me? I don't-- I don't wanna die." Again. He doesn't wanna die again. He blinks slow and lizard-like. "I mean- I'll probably get to see mom and dad again, but I told them I'd at least try and make it to adulthood."

There's a clatter down the street, and Danny's ghost sense chills up his spine and leaves a bitter, ashy taste in his mouth. He immediately knows who it belongs to even before the deceptively gentle; "Daniel?" echoes down the way.

"Daniel? Quit your games, badger, Gotham is dangerous for children."

Danny's mouth pulls back, and blood spills against his tongue. "Please." He rasps, and grabs onto the shadow's cape with both hands. "Please. He's going to kill me. Please--"

"Daniel? Is that you?"

His lips part, dragging in air to plead with the darkness again. He doesn't need to, the whites of his eyes narrow, and the cape whirls around him before Danny can blink. Soon swaddled in shadows, the Night lifts him up, and steals him away.

[noisilyscreechingsong]

Damian is de-aged to a baby and lost in Gotham. A magic user hit him with some kind of spell. His legs don’t work as well and he has trouble walking. That’s when a man appears and squats down with a tilt of his head.

“Yea, you are definitely not supposed to be out here, little guy.”

Damian glares at the man, early twenties, stubble along his jaw, ragged clothes, and dark bags under his eyes.

The man turns his head to look at the brick wall.

“Are you sure?”

And now he was talking to a wall. Curses. Of course he would be found by a crazy person.

The man suddenly hangs his head with a deep sigh. He regains himself quickly and stands. Moving closer to put his hands under Damian arms to lift him to perch on his hip.

Damian squirms to get down but refuses to make a sound. The last time he opened his mouth like this it was a pathetic baby sound. He couldn’t let this man see him like this.

“Looks like you’re coming home with me, little guy. I can tell you’ve got some spirit in you. Good, you’ll need it.”

Not ominous at all.

Damian stays with the man, mostly because he couldn’t physically drive a car, but also because he was almost always with him. The man would talk to air at the most random times. Obviously a schizophrenic. But Damian had to admit this man, Danny he comes to find out through a neighbor baby talking at him, has been genuinely trying to take care of him and take care of him well. Well, to the best of his abilities anyway. 

He feeds him organic purées that don’t taste half bad, except the carrots, that one was unacceptable. Danny cleans him regularly despite his crappy apartment and makes sure he is dressed appropriately for the weather. He makes an effort to take him out to the park to play in the sandbox or just walk around discovering ‘new’ things.

Damian doesn’t need a parent, he outgrew the concept when he was five and technically he already had one, but he could tell Danny would make an excellent father. Some mistakes can be overlooked compared to the effort he was putting in.

The only concerning thing was the talking to thin air. It took Damian an embarrassing amount of time to figure out the reason Danny was visiting all these random people and the graveyard. (Sometimes he will set Damian down to ‘play’ in the grass at the cemetery. It was quite odd.)

He was talking to ghosts. It wasn’t thin air or imaginary friends, no it was actually dead people. The reason Damian actually believes this is for two reasons.

One, Danny shows true results. Damian observes closely whenever they visit a ‘client’ and Danny always has accurate information despite never looking up or researching anything going in.

Two, he never calls himself a medium or psychic. He doesn’t boast about his ability to see ghosts. He does what he does to help the ghosts move on to the other side. Closure is what Danny always says. Closure for the family and the victim. In Gotham, there are a lot of victims.

Damian adjusts to his new life with Danny. It’s been five months and he’s getting used to being small and vulnerable. He’s allowed to be messy and whiny and childish. Danny never scolds him like Mother did. The man has never hit him or raised his voice at him and never expects anything from him. He encourages his progression to speak and walk, but doesn’t expect the best out of him.

It’s… nice. A good break if anything.

They are at the park when one of the bats spot him and pauses. Danny is blowing bubbles into the air and Damian tries to pop as many as he can. It’s a silly game with no clear rules, but Damian finds it entertaining nonetheless.

“Hi there! Is he yours?”

Dick Grayson wears a bright smile, but Damian can see the tightness around his eyes.

“Huh? Oh, yea, this is Damian,” Danny answers.

He had written it with the wooden blocks Danny had given him one week in. Danny took one look at the name on the ground, laughed loudly and ran with it.

“Do you mind if I say hi? He’s so cute.”

Danny looks puzzled by the request but ends up shrugging his shoulders, not seeing a problem with letting a stranger get close to Damian. (Damian knew Danny’s intense eyes were watching Dick’s every move. He was very protective like that.)

“Sure.”

Dick squats down to search Damian’s green eyes. Damian stares back just as intensely.

“Hey there, Damian. My name is Dick.”

Damian gives him a flat look at Dick’s terrible introduction.

“Grayson.”

Although with his little baby teeth not fully in it sounds more like ‘way-shah’.

Relief flashes across Dick’s face and he gives Damian a reassuring smile. It’s not as reassuring at he thinks it is. It promises to bring him home and restore him to his original age. Damian doesn’t know if that’s what he wants anymore.

Dick stands and gives Danny some imaginary excuse to leave quickly. Damian watches him go and so does Danny.

“Funny guy, huh Dami?”

Damian doesn’t respond and Danny notices his change in mood.

“Come here, little guy.”

He knows what Danny is going to do and willingly goes. He is pulled up into the man’s lap and held between two surprisingly muscular arms. Danny’s hugs are nice and warm. They aren’t too tight like Dick’s nor are they stiff like Bruce’s. He never thought he could enjoy human contact, but Danny has been showing him things about himself he didn’t ever know. Turns out he does like hugs and playing airplane and when Danny runs his fingers through his hair when he’s really sleepy.

“Let’s go home a little early today, huh? I’ll make spaghetti and you can be as messy as you want,” Danny promises.

Damian hums. Yes, that sounds nice.

That night Batman comes in through the window. Damian is waiting.

“Damian,” Batman whispers.

“Bah-mun.”

The flat, unamused stare is what gives him away.

Batman lets out a breath silently and reaches into the crib Danny had gotten him.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Batman jerks into action, twisting to face Danny who had appeared suddenly. The door behind him is still closed.

Batman stays quiet, silently studying the man before him dressed in pajama pants and a worn t-shirt.

Danny tilts his head as he does the same. Damian has never seen the man so serious. He silently worries for the man. He didn’t want him getting hurt to unnecessarily protecting him from his father.

“I’d have to break your arm if you tried to do what it looks like you’re doing.”

Danny says it so plainly. So simple.

Batman straightens.

“He isn’t yours.”

He doesn’t say Damian is his. He doesn’t claim him as his own. Just that Danny shouldn’t have him.

Damian silently agrees because technically he’s right. He doesn’t deserve Danny. He can’t keep playing house like he’s an actual baby. But Damian is also selfish and over the last few months has been taught that it’s okay to ask for things he wants even if it’s not inherently beneficial. The stuffed dog he sleeps with every night is proof of that.

So Damian says nothing.

“He is now,” Danny answers simply like there was no other answer to such a statement.

“He needs to go back to where he belongs.”

“Over my dead body,” is the immediate response.

They stare each other down until Danny scoffs.

“Don’t think I’m not petty enough to fight you, Batman. I’ll fight anyone who wants to take him from me. Damian is mine.”

When Batman tries to forcibly take him, he ends up with a concussion, a blood nose, and two broken arms. Red Robin finds him in a dumpster the next morning.

The story continues with Damian learning how to be a child his age, Danny protecting him and doting on his brilliant son, and the Batfam’s frequent failed attempts to kidnap Damian back to them.