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too-much-tma-stuff · 1 year ago

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Neither Gone Nor Forgotten

sequel to No Body to Bury. This isn’t edited, if you find any errors feel free to let me nice, just be nice about it.

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Planning a funeral for Danny turned out both easier, and harder, then Batman had anticipated. Easier because he wasn’t deep in grief the way he had been when planning previous funerals, and harder because, well, the person the funeral was for was still around to have opinions. Not that Danny was hard to please, he seemed happy with just about everything, but he was struggling with whether he should tell his human family and friends. He really wanted to, but he was scared.

“I don’t think they’ll understand,” Danny said, his legs dangling over the edge of the tall building he and Batman were currently sitting on, holding a milkshake Bruce had bought for him. “Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all supported me while I was still only half dead and knew. I haven’t kept entirely out of the news since starting to work with you guys and I know they’re upset I abandoned them, I’ve seen it when I check on them. There’s no way they can understand how much changes when you die, I watch over them, but Ic an never go back.

“I can’t be what they want me to be, I’m not really Danny anymore at all, and they’d want me to be what I was. They’d want me to be human, and I’m just not anymore. I would want them to think I was completely dead and gone, but they’ve seen me in the news so there’s no chance of that.”

“Hm,” Batman said helpfully. “Write them a letter, I’ll make sure it’s delivered and then they can come on your terms, or not,” He suggested, he’d found writing letters to be a lot easier. “Like a will?”

Danny cocked his head to the side as he thought about that and then nodded slowly. “That’s a good idea, thanks Batman. You’re not nearly as bad at emotions as everyone says,” The young ghost said, bumping his shoulder against Bruce’s. It made the older hero smile. He wasn’t surprised to find that Phantom was gone when he turned back towards where the boy was sitting, his small smile remained as he threw out the abandoned milkshake and went on with his patrol.

It was two days later when the letter appeared on his desk, not yet folded or in an envelope which Bruce knew was permission to read it. He appreciated that because he would have had a hard time resisting the curiosity even if it was already sealed.

Dear Sam, Jazz, and Tucker

First of all, I want to say I’m sorry. I loved you all and I didn’t run away, I didn’t want to leave you. It was the GIW, remember when I said I was a ‘who’s who of who can’t catch ghosts’? I guess I underestimated at least one of them because they finally got me. Of course it was Phantom they were trying to kill, but is anyone surprised that they failed? It was Danny who they ended up killing, and now I can’t go back.

I didn’t realize what a big difference there would be between being half dead and all dead, a little humanity goes a long way I guess. Don’t worry I’m not going to become Dan, but I can’t be Danny anymore either, just Phantom left now and while I still love you and watch over you as I am, it’s not like I can just ‘live my life’ anymore. It hurts too much to try and pretend to be alive now, and ghosts are creatures of instinct, I can’t go against the natural order of life and death and come back to you, no matter how much I love you or how much you miss me.

Batman and some of the other heroes have offered to arrange a funeral for Danny, this time there’s actually a corpse to bury after all. I won’t be there, but it’s important for both the living and the dead that the dead have a grave, a place to grieve lost life. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, if it’s too hard or you’re too mad at me still. But if you do come or ever visit I’ll feel you there and it’ll make me happy, and maybe it’ll be some closure for you? I never meant to hurt you.

I’ll still be around to protect you, I’ll protect everyone I can. That’s been my obsession since the start hasn’t it? And Jazz don’t you start, ghost’s obsessions are what keeps us here and in one piece, I don’t need therapy. And I guess that’s the heart of it isn’t it? I’m not human anymore, and I can’t pretend to be, and we wouldn’t understand each other anymore. Not really. Ghosts don’t change much though so I’ll always love you and when you die maybe we can be friends again, if you can forgive me for this.

Forever young and yours,

Phantom

Batman read the letter and sat quietly with it for a few long minutes, thinking about it and also questioning some parts, like who Dan was. It was sad of course, but it was sweet too, and he didn’t think that Phantom’s friends would be nearly as upset with him as he thought they would be. Finally he sighed and folded it up, finding a envelope and address it to Danny’s sister since she seemed like the best one to make sure they were all there when it was opened and read. He put it in the folder to be sent out and then leaned against his desk.

“Are you really not going to come?” He asked the empty room, and after waiting for a moment wasn’t surprised when Danny stepped out from nowhere. He’d started to get a sense of when Phantom was there, untouchable and unseen.

“No, I’ll be there, but only the way spirits usually are. I won’t be there physically, just in spirit,” He said, smiling at his own pun. Batman chuckled a little and nodded.

“I understand why you don’t want them to know that, I won’t let on,” He assured. “I think you’ve done the right thing letting them know.”

Danny nodded and then vanished again, this time out through the window, properly leaving the office and Batman alone again.

Batman had the discussion with the rest of the Justice League without Phantom present so they could avoid accidental offense. Not everyone would come, not everyone could come, Batman banned a few of the more literal heroes who would not understand why they were having a funeral when Phantom was still here, even though he had actually died. But a decent amount did come, and Batman had a feeling that the ones Phantom would care about most was Bruce himself, and Diana, who was coming.

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When the day of the funeral came Batman and Diana stood outside the little chapel to welcome people. They weren’t technically family of course, apparently Diana was distantly through an ancestor of hers and adoption, and Bruce thought of himself as a paternal figure to Danny, besides they’d been here early setting everything up. The nice coffin was already at the front of the room, closed since it was empty with while lilies placed on top and decorating the little building along with some roses and candles.

He wasn’t particularly surprised when the first person who showed up was Danny’s big sister Jasmine Fenton driving Danny’s two friends. His parents weren’t there but Phantom had mentioned it might not be a good idea for them to come because they would probably be disruptive. Both Jazz and Tucker’s eyes were rimmed red like they’d been crying and Sam’s jaw had a stubborn set to it like clenching it was the only thing keeping her lips from trembling.

They reached the steps, Batman nodded to them and Diana gave them a sad smile. Jazz looked through the open doors, her breath hitching. “Is he in there?” She asked, pointing to the coffin.

Batman shook his head, voice soft and rough as he responded. “Phantom said he’d bring the body later, Less chance for something to go wrong and… I don’t know if it would hurt him, but I think it’s easy to see why he’d be protective of it.”

Jazz’s lip trembled and she took a deep breath, behind her Sam had wrapped an arm around Tucker who had started to cry again, turning to hide against her shoulder. “When you see him again tell him we’re not mad at him, please?” Sam said, her voice hard with repressed emotions, it almost sounded angry but there was a subtle difference.

“He’s right that we can’t understand everything,” Jazz said, biting her lip for a moment before continuing. “But after something like this he needs space, and we won’t rush him. If he needs to start a new life, we get it, everything must remind him of trauma right now, but if he ever wants to get back in touch with us. Well, I’ll love him forever too. But also tell him that he should have been more careful in that letter he wrote if any of us had been feeling suicidal his comment about being friends again after death might have been the last push we needed over the metaphorical edge-”

She was taking a deep breath to continue her lecture when Sam wrapped her other arm around Jazz’ shoulder and pulled her away. “Well we’re not, it’s fine, let’s go sit down before Tucker collapses from dehydration from all these tears.”

“I’m not going to collapse! I’m not even crying that much!” Tucker insisted, his voice audibly wet.

Batman and Diane kept their faces straight while Sam dragged them all into the little building and to seats in the front row. Then Batman’s lips twitched up in a slight smile and Diana gave a weak laugh. “I knew they wouldn’t be as angry with Phantom as he feared,” Batman said, trying to keep his amusement under control.

“What a precocious girl, a big sister through and through,” Diana agreed and sniffled a little, it seemed their grief had gotten to her a little. He understood.

Slowly more people filtered in, just other heroes now, and one young woman called Val. Sam said to let her in even though there was clearly tension there, the heroes didn’t ask.

The scheduled time of the funeral Diana and Batman went inside, closing the door after them and, since Danny hadn’t wanted a priest so Batman started to make his way to the front to start things off.

“We’re here today in remembrance of Danny Phantom, a brave young man lost to soon in the line of duty. He never should have had to join the fight so young,” Batman stumbled a little when he saw Jason slip in at the back of the chapel. He had sort of though Jason wasn’t coming, but there he was, dressed in his Red Hood get up, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Batman could tell that he was on edge, but he was here, and it would make Danny happy. He took a deep breath and carried on with his planned remarks.

When he was done he stepped down off the little podium and Jazz stepped up, pulling some queue cards out of her pocket, taking a deep breath and launching into a planned speech. She was a good public speaker, she managed to keep it together through her speech but her words were clearly very heartfelt.

It went well, a few more people spoke, by the end Batman was actually having a hard time keeping his feeling under control, he maybe should have came as Bruce Wayne so he could have cried. He kept it under control though and eventually it was time to bring the coffin out to the prepared grave. They hadn’t fully planned who would carry it because they hadn’t known if Danny’s friends and sister were going to come, but now that they were here of course they were invited to help carry the coffin.

Batman and Diana took the majority of the weight of course, but all three of them took the offer to help carry the coffin the prepared grave. They lowered it in and Superman placed the specially made vault over top that would protect Danny’s body from, well, the usual stuff super heroes had to deal with, bodies being stolen for experimentation, attempted cloning’s, resurrection but wrong, all that jazz.

Jasmin through in the first handful of dirt, then Sam, then Tucker and then the heroes joined in. When the grave started to be filled properly a lot of the heroes started to wander away, Batman approached Jason who was hanging back.

“Please stay,” He murmured to his estranged son, seeing Jason’s shoulders tense, his arms were still crossed defensively. “Phantom will be bringing his body one most of the people clear out and he’d really like to meet you. If you don’t mind, he just died, and it’s been hard on him, I think meeting you would be a comfort.” He watched with bated breath as Jason’s fingers twitched and tightened on his own arms before he nodded. Bruce breathed a subtle sigh of relief and nodded, turning back towards the grave.

Once the grave was filled and basically everyone else had either left or gone back to the little chapel to socialize, Danny finally arrived. He faded into view, seemingly almost shy, watching them both closely for their reaction. Bruce understood why, he had to carefully school his expression when he saw the state that Danny’s body was in. It wasn’t that he was dead obviously, ashen and limp, passed the stage of rigger it seemed, it was the visible injuries. He was littered with cuts and bruises, there were stull cuffs around his ankles and wrists which had clearly burned into his skin. The wound that had killed him was, well, it looked like an autopsy had been done, his chest was fully open, but Batman knew it had been done while he was still alive. It was horrific.

Batman managed to keep himself under control though his breathing sped up, Hood’s mask completely hid his face but he rocked back like he’d been struck. Danny hesitated, licked his lips a little and stepped forward.

“I can’t touch the cuffs, but I don’t want too bury him with them still on. Will you take them off for me? They shouldn’t burn you,” Danny asked Bruce.

He was about to say yes when Jason cut in, “I’m better at picking locks then him, I’ll do it.” He practically growled, stalking forward and pulling his lock picking kit out of one of the pockets on his suit. “Who did this to him,- You?” He asked softly as Danny knelt, cradling his own corps close to his chest, letting Jason kneel in front of him and take one of the limp arms to start on the cuffs. Jason hissed when he touched it, it burned a little but he breathed through it and started to pick the lock.

“It was the GIW, the ghost investigation ward. I killed the ones who did it, and the justice league helped me disband the rest of the organization and overturn the laws that enabled it,” Danny responded, his green eyes locked unblinkingly on Jason, watching him as he watched Jason work on the locks.

“Good, I’m glad their dead. That must have felt good,” He chuckled vindictively.

“I am too, but I’m more glad they won’t get to hurt anyone else. They might have gone for you if they were still able.”

“Me? Why?” Jason asked, his fingers twitching, he cursed softly when the lock pick slipped, he grumbled and started again.

“Because you died before didn’t you? The cuffs burn you because you’re not… completely alive anymore I won’t ask anything about it, I know that’s private but if you ever want to talk about it, or if you need help with the… side affects, I’d be happy to help you,” Phantom offered softly. Jason only hummed in response, he needed to process and consider that.

When the final cuff fell to the ground Danny took a deep breath and curled around himself, resting his forehead against his body’s hair. From the way his shoulders were shaking they could tell he was crying, Jason rested a hand on Danny’s shoulder, just being there for him until Phantom was ready and finally sunk into the ground. He was down there for a long time before he surfaced again, flying over to hug batman, burrowing against his chest a little while Batman patted his back gently, Jason standing by awkwardly.

“Thank you so much for doing this, and thank you both so much for coming. This really means so much to me.”

“Of course kid,” Jason said, reaching out to ruffle the boy’s soft white hair.

Batman nodded, giving Danny a gentle squeeze, “No one deserves to be forgotten.”

Tag list: @kikkobara @phlebocuffs @spikethecrazycat @spookytragedyshark @thatonegaybitch68 @stargazer-luna @fangirlnerd001 @seraphinedemort @yjfk @rosieparker1856 @battlebunnyteardropsinthesun and thank you too @your-local-idiot-savant for giving me feedback on some parts

#Danny Phantom #Jason todd #batman #wonderwoman #jazz fenton #sam manson #tucker foley #Danny 'crashes his own funeral' fenton #full dead AU #dc x dp #dc #Danny gets a funeral #I have an extra little bit of the doctors Fenton crashing the funeral that I cut out #I'll probably post it separately #danny fenton #Danny got vivisected

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goblinhoursinsomniaramblings · 21 days ago

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@grimdarling69 hey heres the thing i talked about

(AU of the above writers crack treated seriously danny as damian au)

I Know Those Eyes prologue

“We need to go faster.”

Lex only barely refrained from rolling his eyes.

“I’m going as fast as I can, little badger.”

“... if you’re making a stable portal. I don’t believe it should be stable.”

Ah. Attention: caught.

“You think someone will find it.”

“No. I know someone will find it. I’m not-”

The boy cut himself off, but he heard the full message loud and clear:

I’m not ready.

In that respect, Lex had been lucky. He didn’t have anyone he wanted to return to, save the two cores he had (rightfully, apparently) entrusted to Damian. Damian, however, clearly planned to reintegrate his two selves. Troublesome, but he was sure he would have time to address that once they’d dealt with more time-sensitive concerns.

“Alright. What do you suggest?”

“There’s exactly one design that cut corners and still worked, afterwards. We can rig it to fail after one use.”

Lex smirked.

“Fail safely, or fail catastrophically?”

And Damian–Daniel–did not disappoint in his response.

***

Whatever Luthor had been trying to do, he had taken it to his grave.

At least they had learned why Damian–high concentrations of the radiation unique to Lazarus water had been found at the…blast site. Clearly, Luthor had thought Ra’s Al’Ghul’s grandson had some knowledge of the inner workings of the substance, and Damian, their brave, dearly missed Damian, had decided to fake his death to keep his family out of range of his…sacrifice.

Maybe one day, Bruce could make peace with that. Forget the size of the damage from the explosion. Stop thinking about the mere minutes they had missed Damian by.

One day.

A funeral, a mourning period, one year stretching into another, until it was four years later, and though he always kept Damian close to his heart, his son no longer haunted him.

Until the day he did.

#dc x dp #au of an au #misunderstandings #vlad as lex #danny as damian #de aged ellie #de aged dan #i honestly dont mind if people dont like this is mostly for me #and my dramatic reveal lovin ass #lin writes #<- block this if you aint here for that

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bajablasterrr · 2 years ago

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Who You Gonna Call?

Chapter 1: Something Strange DC x DP Fic based off this post

Warnings: Major Character Death, Strong Language, Depictions of Violence

Rating: Mature

Author’s Note: For those who have been waiting for forever I apologize for how long it took me to crank out this one chapter this is my first time writing a Fic so any constructive criticism helps, also thank you soo much for the support ❤️. Update On Chapter 2 of “Who You Gonna Call?” It’s knots done jut need to finish a few final touches should be posted by Friday of Next Week

When you think about it, peace will never be the outcome. Not for him, not anymore.

Not while his Parents lay dead at his feet, not while his sister sobbed helplessly; never again will Danny Fenton ever know a peaceful life.

But he’s okay with that; he’s come to terms with how things stood and knew there wasn’t much left to figure out besides where he will go now.

He never thought he’d have to plan a life without his parents, never suspected that this family vacation would be the last.

Nor did he expect his sister to go from “Annoying Older Sibling.” To “My Only Living Family Member.” in less than a day.

This was inevitable with his line of work, but he never expected his life to be this crazy, at least not so soon.

For him, being half ghost used to feel like a gift, something he could use to help the people he cared about the most. Now it was a curse, a cancerous infection slowly seeping into everything he held close.

Because of his “gift.” everyone and everything he knew was gone, replaced by this empty confusing nothingness, all their hopes and dreams for him nothing more than lost memories.

His parents were gone, taken from him in some brutal twist of fate by some psychopathic clown they call “The Joker.” to be completely honest, Danny was feeling anger beyond rational thought every time he thought about him.

And the worst part about this was that everything everything that happened was all a ploy, some sort of elaborate trick to lure Batman to his hideout, and The Fenton’s were nothing more than pawns in The Joker’s scheme to kill him.

Not only did he kill his parents, but he did it with a smile as he made Danny watch, laughing at his suffering until he got what he wanted.

Danny was taken to the police station and asked to state what he experienced while begging held hostage by the Joker, but all he could do was stare blankly at the wall.

As he got interviewed by the police, news anchors, and other journalists, all he could think about was how he everyone down. His frustration was building up under the surface, and he felt sick.

“How could I let this happen.” he thought.

His mind raced, his fingers felt numb, his chest heaved as if something was blocking his airway, and he felt like everything around him was closing in. The walls began to spin, and he could feel his throat closing up, tears welling in his eyes.

Jazz noticed his strange behaviour and tried her best to get him to calm him down, but the panic had already set in.

They were alone, he let this happen, and there was nothing he could do to fix this. Nothing at all

Dozens of forced statements later, Danny was drained.

Despite being the “Hero.” he was, he couldn’t help but feel so incredibly useless. They kept asking him the same questions repeatedly until the words melted into nothingness, his brain felt like swiss cheese, and he thought he would pass out at any second.

Jazz had to handle all of the legal proceedings, taking her parent’s estate, medical bills, funeral expenses, and everything else; She was overwhelmed, to say the least.

She had no idea what to do once they were done with the police, they had nowhere to go, and beyond that, they had nobody to help them.

Her head was swimming, and for a split second, she broke; Danny noticed his sister sobbing and went in to hug her.

“I’m sorry this happened, Jazz, really I am. I wish I could trade my life for theirs; I would,” he said, tears streaming down his face.

“Hey, I know this everything is so crazy, but don’t blame yourself for what happened. There’s nothing more you could’ve done, okay?” she replied, rubbing his head to soothe him.

“but I let everyone down. I’m the reason they’re dead; if I don’t do something to avenge them, then-” he said rapidly, beginning to panic again.

“Enough, no more vengeance, no more self-blame. You’re just a kid. Nobody should’ve put that responsibility on you-.” she tried to explain, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

“That doesn’t matter anymore, Jazz. I’m not a kid anymore; I think I need to go for a walk and clear my head,” he said, pushing her off his and heading towards the door.

Jazz called out for him, but he was gone before she could get a word out.

As he walked the streets of Gotham City, he felt angry; at the world and at himself; he even felt anger towards his parents for suggesting this stupid trip. He wanted nothing more than to change the way things are right now, be somewhere different, and do something right for once.

He didn’t know what to do with himself; he walked around aimlessly for what felt like hours, looking for something, anything to do. He needed someone save; he wanted something to fight, anything in the world that would take his mind off things for a second.

all of a sudden, a blue mist leaves his mouth

“Finally.” he thought to himself

He changed into his ghost form quickly, and he waited. The tension in the air is thick, and he slowly looks around, hoping to see whatever is watching him.

“Don’t you know this place isn’t safe after dark?”

Danny looked around, trying to see where the voice came from,

“If I were you, I’d just turn around and head back home.”

“And why should I listen to you, wise and powerful shadow man?” Danny replied sarcastically

suddenly, he saw something jump from the fire escape down to the ground in front of him. He didn’t expect him to make that fall, let alone get up that easily.

He stood there frozen as the figure approached him, wearing a red helmet, a leather jacket, black pants, and a shirt with a red bat.

“I’ve heard of you before; you’re Red Hood, right?” Danny asked nonchalantly, trying to cut the tension of the situation

“In the flesh, and you’re that ghost kid “Phantom.” right?” he replied as he stepped closer to Danny, cornering him into a wall.

“Uh, Yep, in the flesh.” He said with a nervous chuckle

Danny was terrified; after the last couple of days he’s had, he didn’t want to take any chances with any more of the heroes or villains in Gotham.

Red Hood had him backed to a wall, his hand on the right side of Danny’s face.

“What’s your deal anyways, ghost boy? You want to run around being a vigilante, too?” he said, leaning in.

“I-I’ve been a vigilante since the 9th grade,” he stuttered. “And for the record, I don’t need your permission to do anything, so why would you expect me to ask for it?.”

“Because if you don’t, I get to kick your ass and have you arrested for breaking curfew.” He replied

Danny chucked, “finally.”, he thought, “a reason to punch someone in the face.”

“respectfully, I’d like to see you try,” he said, cockiness radiating from his voice.

“fine, it is your funeral.”

@blackrabbitt3t @nedwec @blackstar-gazer @baykitthings @real-danny-phantom @hungrymentor @the-lokes @dizzydreamerzzz @phantom-phrases @sheep567 @lenoryt13 @theauthorandtheartist

@phantomskeep @arc-777 @dreamingasters @betinaplayingwriter @zeldomnyo @jaguarthecat @the-gay-florist @reinluna @gabrielandjackthenephilim @icepopstar5105us @skulld3mort-1fan

@batbootie @that-random-fangirl@cyber-geist@dat1angel@undead-essence@distractedducky@oddessy@dreamingasters@jarlyd@

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disillusioneddanny · 2 years ago

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Okay okay DPXDC idea!!!

Danny has been acting strange for weeks. Damian, being the attentive and loving boyfriend that he is has decided that it’s up to him to find out what’s wrong with the half ghost. For weeks he spends his time stalking his boyfriend, taking him as best as he can when he can. When he isn’t following Danny behind his back, Damian is doing everything to spoil his boyfriend and make sure that he’s happy.

It’s not working tho! He doesn’t know what he’s doing wrong. Usually he’s an amazing boyfriend but no matter what he does, it just seems as though the ghost king is restless. Danny isn’t sleeping, he’s floating through the halls of their house at all hours of the night. It’s as though the halfa is looking for something. But what? What the hell is Danny looking for? Why isn’t he happy?

One night on patrol, Damian mentions it to his brothers, not sure what else he could do to take care of his boyfriend. He’s usually so good at this. Why isn’t it working?

“His death day is coming up, right?” Todd questions.

“Yes. It will have been ten years since his accident. We have already made plans for what we are going to do to commemorate the event. Why?”

“When it’s my death day I always like to go to my gravestone. I know I’m not there anymore. But it soothes the pits and I dunno the weeks before my death day I get restless.”

“We’ve been together for five years now, Todd. He has never behaved like this in his death day before.”

“I don’t fucking know dude. Maybe since it’s the ten year anniversary it’s striking something in him. Does he have a grave he can visit?”

“No. He never fully died. And he was never buried.”

“Why don’t we hold him a funeral and give him a grave?”

So that’s what the BatFam does! They decide to hold a funeral on Danny’s death day. It’s really more like a memorial service and it’s pretty morbid. But the grin on Danny’s face as his friends and family all take the time to tell their favorite Danny stories makes Damian feel as though he’s the best boyfriend in the world. Manson and Foley both give tear jerking speeches about the day Danny died and how it had hurt them. But that they had also were so proud of the halfa and how far he had come since then.

After the eulogies Damian’s brothers all decide to throw Danny into a casket and bury him, just so the guy can get the full experience. Danny finds it absolutely hilarious and also cathartic as hell. Danny floats out of the casket to find a headstone with his birthday and death day on it. He immediately bursts into tears and pulled Damian into his arms.

“I didn’t realize how empty I felt for so long,” he whispered, face pressed against Damian’s chest. “As fucked up and morbid as this was, it was what I needed. No one ever grieved my death except me. My parents didn’t even grieve, they just wanted to experiment on me.”

“Danny, I grieve your death every single day,” Damian said, running fingers through his beloveds hair. “Every day I think about what you missed out on in life, I grieve the childhood that you lost. I grieve the parents who disowned you. I know for a fact that Manson and Foley grieved, you heard their speeches. Watching you die did a number on them and is something that still effects them. Just remember, though, you are still here and with us.”

Danny pulled back and kisses Damian, effectively embarrassing his boyfriend in front of his friends and family. The vigilante absolutely hated any kind of public displays of affection. “Thank you.”

Every death day after that, Danny and Damian find themselves in the cemetery in front of his gravestone. After a few years, Danny finally finds the courage to tell Damian the full story of how he died. Damian had a rough idea but no one had ever mentioned the full story as to how it happened. It may be fucked up and morbid, but the peace that Danny feels is more important to Damian than any kind of discomfort that he would ever feel.

#Damian Wayne x Danny Fenton #Damian Wayne #danny fenton #danny phantom #batfam #batpham #batman #dc x dp au #dp x dc crossover #Popswriting #popwrites #dis writes #diswrites #pop writes

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gray--abyss · 6 months ago

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I wanted to figure out a likely timeline of Dan/Phantom/Whatever-his-name-is's spiral into evil, for writing him and stuff.

CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of suicide and themes of suicide starts below cut.

1. nasty patty incident

2. danny is grieving, but hopes for at least his parents to come back- after all, they had unfinished research, an obsession and thirst for knowledge. his justifications for how Sam, Tucker, and his sister would come back are flimsy, and he knows it. He can't stand the pitying looks from his former tormenters. His aunt, Alicia- not a gentle woman, but doing her best- comes out from the country to supervise him.

3. End of month 1: the funeral. Danny starts to grow more outwardly volatile, instead of directing his despair inward. He exchanges contact information with Vlad, and the two enter an uneasy truce as they enter closer contact.

4. After 6 months, he tries to tell Alicia about the half ghost thing, and she doesn't take it badly- but she admits that she doesn't know how to help with that. Danny isn't sure what he's been expecting, but it's not what he wants. He can't stand to be in Amity Park anymore, and asks Vlad and Alicia if he can move in with him. they both agree, and he moves in with Vlad.

5. month 7: Danny is miserable at this new school, in this new, empty house. He feels like a ghost here more than he ever has before. the fear and hatred he harbors towards Vlad has only amplified with the closer proximity, and the mans security measures certainly don't help. His hatred for himself grows, being too weak to save his family, too weak to tough things out in Amity while waiting for his family.

Content warnings apply below. I promise it's not All doom and gloom, but given it's Phantom... there's a lot of it.

6. Month 8: Danny decides that if his family doesn't come back, he will commit a kind of suicide, removing his ghost half, then his ghost half removing and dispatching Vlad's ghost half. He decides that 2 against 1 will be the best method, and that's where the idea of fusing with Vlad's ghost half comes in. After all, if either of them can kill their combined ghost, that'll be safer for everyone. One last "heroic" act. He just has to trick Vlad.

7. Month 10: Danny gives up, and executes on the plan. He's sick of wasting time being sad. Phantom doesn't want to die, and successfully kills Danny, and fails to kill Vlad. He doesn't realize Vlad didn't die in that explosion.

8. After the rush of revenge, Phantom feels really weird about it. It was only fair, Danny was going to kill him, but he realizes he didn't think through what it'd be like living as part Vlad. But hey- he doesn't have to juggle school, politics, or feigning humanity anymore. He can go keep an eye on his home now, and figure out how to spend his afterlife! He gets in contact with Alicia, letting her know a less... scary version of his suicide, and that he's going to be hanging around in Amity Park again. (... He still hasn't really given up on someone coming back.)

9. When he finally gets back to FentonWorks, he's furious to find his former schoolmates partying in his house, and nearly attacks them, but calms down just enough to only yell at them. He doesn't care about keeping things secret anymore, and lets the secret slip. He doesn't miss how their treatment of Phantom changes. He can almost accept this not-as-pitiful respect.

10. For the next 3 months (at 1 year 1 month post incident), he tries to protect Amity Park. He causes more property damage than before. He notes and tries to ignore his increased aggression, but after he actually injures Valerie, the only person left that he "trusts", he panics, and drops her off at the hospital. Enough is enough, and at a town hall meeting that he doesn't attend, they decide to bring in the feds to deal with the local phantom.

11. Upon FentonWorks being raided, he's furious. He's been protecting these people, and for what? This isn't fair! Phantom kills a few of the GIW, before making a declaration to the whole of town with a souped up megaphone he stole from the GIW: If they don't want his help, then he'll be what they think he is- just an another evil Phantom.

12. In the next 2 months, he causes mass chaos, but fails to cause much damage to GIW and the government. He's just one ghost, after all. He retreats into the ghost zone, and convinces Skulker to take him on as an apprentice. He does have fun hunting and fighting ghosts, after all, and it can help him hone and perfect techniques.

13. for the next 3 1/2 years (4 years 9 months post incident), Phantom almost entirely lives in the ghost zone, only traveling to the world of the living for special occasions. He's figured out how he wants to look by year 2 post incident- basically an idealized version of how he would've wanted to look as an adult. He sets out on his list of revenge, targeting ghosts and enemies that he feels have personally wronged him.

14. To graduate from his apprenticeship, he and Skulker have a hunt-off. Obviously, Phantom wins, and graduates. The hunt lasts 3 months. (5 years post incident)

15. This isn't to say Phantom had no social afterlife... with ghosts he was previously allied or friends with, he tried to keep those relationships. Wulf isn't about what he's up to, and distances himself to an acquaintance. Phantom parties with Dorathea, allies himself with Fright Knight, actually befriends Klemper for when he just needs a chill hangout, convinces Poindexter to help him in researching ghost stuff, and helps Bones babysit Youngblood, just for examples of relationships he has with canon ghosts. He's a combination of two very social and dramatic ghosts, so he's honestly kind of goofy when he's not being actively menacing.

16. He does not acknowledge the not-being-able-to-be-seen-by-adults thing that Youngblood has going on, deciding that he must be an adult at this point, and the fact that he can see Youngblood is a Fully Ghost thing. Youngblood thinks it's a bit he's doing and plays along- it is Not a fully Ghost Thing

17. He does some trial runs on attacking security companies and billionaires in the month before the next Incident Anniversary.

18. On the 5 year anniversary of the Nasty Patty Incident, Phantom launches a successful attack on the GIW, destroying their facilities. He begins razing USA government agencies and offices, because genuinely, they have been such a pain for him. He doesn't attack postal offices or bus systems. When other countries allied with the USA try to attack Phantom, he starts targeting them as well.

19. Something that... basically everyone but Phantom himself notices, is that the only average-people civilians he targets are people in Amity Park.

20. At year 6, the USA as we know it is gone- people still live there, the only places actually uninhabitable being former military bases, and a 50 mile radius around Amity Park. Phantom starts making a concerted, focused effort to attack Amity Park, starting an arms race between him and Valerie.

21. It's unnerving for Valerie to see how little he's changed, even with a shiny new coat of evil paint and an adult-ish appearance. She can't help but think it looks an awful lot like a superhero that Danny used to like.

22. At year 9, he decides that he's done all he's wanted, and that Valerie will be strong enough to kill him- so he plans one last fight with her- either he'll win, and be uncontested in strength... Or he'll lose, setting the balances of justice right once again. He's excited to see how strong she's gotten. ... Despite all he says, he hopes she'll win, and he'll get a "happy" ending, even if it isn't his.

#danny phantom #danny phantom headcanons #dan phantom #valerie gray #suicide ideation mention #suicide ideation #suicide

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elizabethemerald · 2 months ago

Text

Summon the Cat: Part 7

Master Post

The sky over Gotham rumbled and cracked with thunder and lightning. For once the city wasn’t suffering under a deluge, only an electric storm that made the buildings shake with each wave of thunder. The weather couldn’t be more appropriate, because today was the day of Danny’s funeral.

Selina had spent a month planning every detail with Danny, Jazz and the Sirens. Danny had started sobbing when he realized that she had been serious about the offer of a grave. At first she thought she had messed up somehow, but it took getting back home to the Chateau (what they had taken to calling the former Drake Manor), and some comforting time with Jazz to realize that she had done exactly the right thing.

Jazz revealed that she had her own shrine for her dead brother, carefully hidden in her closet. She hadn’t dared to have anything larger when she was still in Amity when doing so could reveal Danny’s truth to the Fentons, and she had kept up the secret once they moved, uncertain how Selina and the Sirens would react to the shrine.

Danny was a ghost. As much as he was also alive, he had also died in a truly horrific manner. His life and his death deserved to be remembered. Once he was able to speak without sobbing, Danny confessed that he had felt ungrounded after his death until Jazz had found out and made her shrine. Sam and Tucker were great friends, but they just hadn’t been mature enough to realize what he needed, and he didn’t have the words to ask.

Jazz had a personal theory that while every ghost and spirit in the Realms wanted to be remembered and mourned in some way, it took a significant effort for any of them to actually request it. Sort of like speaking about their own death, speaking about their memorial and was too painful for them.

Selina had asked if she could see Jazz’s shrine, though she feared that would be too private. Danny however also wanted to see the shrine she had made for him, so Jazz had called her girlfriends over to provide some comfort, then grabbed the shrine and brought it out. The shrine was an old cigar box that still smelled of tobacco. Jazz had painted the outside black, and covered the top in stars.

Danny immediately pointed out that the star positions weren’t correct, but when Jazz started to huff about completely unreasonable expectations, Danny laughed and grabbed her tight in a hug.

“The stars are close enough that I can see how hard you tried.” Danny said with a bright smile. Jazz blushed, but smiled and hugged him back.

When Selina opened the lid of the cigar box a light clicked on and a small star projector started turning like a ballerina in a music box. Danny and Jazz were fully crying now as more stars were projected onto the lid of the box. Inside there was a pair of candles and a small plate for offerings. Surrounding the plate were different things that represented Danny to Jazz. Calipers and a drawing compass to show his skill with engineering, a Stomle Family figurine in a ghost costume for his ghost half, and a couple of astronaut figures for his space obsession. There was even a little handmade thief mask with little cat ears, that showed she was still working on and actively adding things to the shrine.

Cass and Steph cooed over the shrine and the work and thought Jazz had clearly put into the little box, but they could both see just how much this meant to not just their girlfriend, but also to Danny as he gently picked up each piece and turned it around to look at it, before just as gently returning it to its home. He examined each and every piece with all the care of an archeologist with a newly uncovered ancient civilization.

Selina had promised to spend just as much time planning Danny’s grave. He deserved to have his grave be perfect for him, and she needed to be the one to provide it for him. She couldn’t have her kids relying only on each other, not when she was there and could help. So she had spent long hours with Danny and Jazz, talking about every conceivable detail he could want.

After she had come up with a good plan for his grave, surprisingly her first stop was Wayne Manor. She didn’t bother driving over, or breaking in through a window like she would normally do. Instead she marched up to the front gates. Alfred, the gent, of course let her in immediately and had the door open as she approached. Bruce was there almost as quick, his scowl as permanently carved onto his face as a name on a tombstone.

“You. Me. Your office. Now.” Selina snapped at him before marching past.

Bruce followed close, like he was afraid she would attack someone. She sneered, she had plenty of access to every one of his birds when they spent nights over at the Chateau. She could already tell that today was going to be an exercise in patience. Or she would end up fighting Bruce in a knock down, drag out brawl. Selina waited for Bruce to follow her into his office, his eyes narrowed as he checked her for any behavior he considered out of the ordinary.

“Alright, Bruce. Test me for mind control. In fact, go through every test for mind control.” Selina demanded.

“Selina-”

“No! You test me right now.” Selina snapped. “Danny is our son. You’re right, he is a paranormal being. He died because of his last guardian’s negligence.” She could see the pain on his face, but he needed the reality check. “But just because he died doesn’t mean he’s manipulating me. What it does mean is that he needs extra care to be happy. Care we can give him as his parents.”

She could hear some of the birds creeping outside his office door. Probably Tim and Damian. Despite the contentious start to their relationship, those two were similar in so many ways. Including nosiness.

“Danny died. He died far away from us, far away from any protection we could provide. But he’s still here! He still is able to have a relationship with us. But part of him being half dead is that he needs a grave so his spirit half feels anchored. I’m going to give him the best grave he could ever ask for, and you are going to be there. Our boy has already suffered under one set of neglectful and abusive parents, he doesn’t need another. When we have his funeral he deserves to have his father there for him. Now, let’s head down and you can test me for mind control to prove to your paranoid ass that he can be trusted.”

Selina turned and marched for the grandfather clock on the wall, but Bruce hesitated to follow. She turned back to face him, and it took all of her self control to keep from diving across the desk to strangle the life out of him. How dare he look guilty now? She could almost see the offer to spare her the checks forming on his lips.

“No you don’t.” She snapped. “You’ve had months, literally months to pull your head out of your ass. Months to see for yourself just how much our son loves those around him. At any point you could have actually looked at the evidence in front of your eyes and seen that he isn’t some malicious entity. That time has passed. Now you are going to perform every test to check for mind control. And if I feel you are holding back, I’ll call Tim and have him go through the rest of the tests. You lost out on your chance to hold back. Now we do it on my terms.”

She spent the next several hours having 37 tests performed that checked for all manner of mind altering or controlling substances. She was checked for nanobots, hypnotism, possession, if she was clone, if she was on drugs or alcohol, even if she was pregnant, which was for some reason on Bruce’s list. He didn’t even have the guts to perform them all himself. Fortunately Tim and Damian had followed them down to the Batcave and had followed through on the rest, going through the full ungodly battery of tests.

Each negative on the tests was put up on the big screen of the Bat computer. Tim seemed to share in Selina’s pettiness and ensured that each test was logged in her file, and the results broadcast to the other bats and birds. During the tests, Selina made Bruce’s role explicitly clear.

“For Danny’s funeral, you will be there in a nice, civilian suit. Talk to Dick if you can’t figure it out, he’s close with Danny and knows how to dress.” Tim’s snort at her words was not unappreciated, but Dick was the best of the birds at talking back to Bruce despite his poor fashion sense. Sometimes a situation needed someone equally as bullheaded. “I swear by all that is holy, if I see even a glimpse of a pointy eared cowl, the entire world will know Bruce Wayne is Batman within the week.”

Bruce startled, but Selina spoke over him, not allowing him a chance to try and scold her like a child.

“It’s a contingency plan. Just like you always do for your coworkers. I no longer trust you to act like you should have, so I’m taking things into my own claws. It’s far past time you started acting like a father for at least one of your kids, rather than a paranoid general.”

She could see just how struck he was by her words. Bruce’s greatest strengths and greatest weaknesses went hand in hand. He was dedicated, driven and never caught flat footed. But that also meant that he was blind to the needs of those around him, absent from their lives and paranoid to the point of pushing people away. Danny deserved better. He would get better even if she had to claw and drag Bruce all the way across the line.

Once Bruce’s participation and attire were properly established, Selina focused on the other things she would need for Danny’s grave. She and Jazz picked out a coffin even if it would usually sit empty. Harley was invaluable as she helped the whole family talk through the trauma and pain of burying someone they loved.

Pamela offered the biggest boon for the grave, a place for it to rest.

Danny wanted his grave to be somewhere that meant something to him, but also somewhere that was safe. If someone tampered with his grave after he connected with it, he could fly into a rage, or lose control of his obsessions. He might have wanted it to be on the grounds of Wayne Manor, but he had no connection to what should have been his home, thanks to Bruce’s pigheadedness. The Chateau was nice and while the former Drake Manor would be his home for the next few years until he graduated, it wasn’t his haunt yet.

Ivy had offered to have his grave placed within the corner of Robinson park that she had taken over as her Lair. The city and the bats were more than willing to let her have the park for her space as long as it kept her from taking her anger out on the city. None of the other criminals would dare risk her ire by attacking something so deep in her realm, surrounded by her greatest weapons. She offered to protect the grave and keep it safe from anyone Danny didn’t specifically allow to visit it.

Danny had been so overjoyed that he had picked his Aunty Pamela up and flew around the room with her. Harley wasn’t just going to sit by and watch her girlfriend have all the fun, so she immediately jumped onto Danny’s back, who didn’t even seem to notice the added weight. The three of them completed a few circuits of the room before Selina’s son was able to calm himself enough to return them to the ground.

So on that stormy day the entire family made their way through the jungle Pamela had grown in the park towards where Danny’s resting place would be. The entire extended Bat family was there, Cass and Steph were arm in arm with Jazz who hadn’t stopped crying all morning. Jason, Dick and Tim, were walking around Bruce, who had worn a new designer suit, rather than his bat suit. Selina was certain the boys were prepared to throw down with Bruce if he tried any of his previous bullshit. Duke and Damian walked as an honor guard on either side of Danny, who also had a new suit. Selina followed right behind them with Pam and Harles there to support her.

When they arrived at Danny’s resting spot, he gave a small nod to the rest of the family, a tight hug to Jazz, a softer hug to Selina and allowed her to attempt to straighten his hair one more time. Then he laid down in the open coffin. Jason looked like he was about to pass out, but Dick was there to keep an eye on him.

Jazz stepped up Danny’s coffin and placed one of the figurines from her shrine in his hands. One by one the family stepped up to place some memento of their time together, and Danny’s life in the coffin with him.

Ivy closed the lid with her vines, and the nearby plants pushed the dirt over the closed coffin. Jazz’s sobs had grown loud, and her girlfriend’s held her as her grief almost seemed to shake her apart. Selina sang softly, joined by Damian’s gentle tenor, and to her surprise, Bruce’s deep bass. It was a song of mourning, a song of joy, a lullaby, a rousing march, everything that Danny had come to represent in her life.

Bruce had come through on the headstone in a way that only a Wayne could. The stone had hundreds of holes drilled through it at different angles, so each day at noon it would project a constellation onto the ground, a different constellation depending on the season. On it was written the words Jazz and Selina had agreed to.

Born Alan Thomas Wayne

Died Daniel Jackson Fenton

Buried Danny Thomas Kyle

Brother and Son

Hero and Protector

May the Stars ever watch over where he rests

Selina’s song ended and air itself seemed to grieve, before the jungle around them was filled with numerous ghosts. All of the ghosts that were Danny’s sometimes enemies, sometimes friends, surrounded them. A deep, vibrating wail built up with the combined grief, joy, and respect of the surrounding ghosts. Jazz joined the wail, a heartbreaking cry tearing its way out of her as she threw her head back and gave voice to all of the emotions she had been forced to hide ever since she had found out her brother had died.

The last of the wail trailed off and the ghosts fell silent, and the family felt a weight settle onto the clearing around Danny’s grave. The sky above lit up with dozens of crackling bolts of lightning and the heavens themselves opened and the rain poured down, immediately soaking everyone but the ghosts. Danny Fenton was dead and buried.

Like a breath of fresh air, Danny rose again through the dirt of his grave, his ghost form shining in the darkened air around them. There was grief on his face, but also joy, and love. The entire clearing resonated with his love and devotion to those around him.

The family other than Bruce hurried back to the Chateau. Selina didn’t want Bruce spoiling Danny and Jazz’s safe space, and someone needed to go out to protect the city. The rest of the family and the ghosts who had attended the funeral celebrated Danny’s life and everything he had accomplished since his death.

The party grew increasingly raucous as the night progressed, with some of the older members of the family breaking out drinks, while the younger members enjoyed snacks lovingly provided by Alfred. The ghosts enjoyed sharing stories of their best fight with Phantom, while the bats shared their encounters with Cheshire. Jazz wiped her tears and shared embarrassing stories from when Danny was younger, stories that Selina cherished, knowing that she had missed all these milestones.

Danny Fenton was dead, and finally after too long of fighting, and years of neglect and abuse at the hands of the people who should have been his guardians, he was buried. But Danny Kyle was still at least half alive. He still had a life to live ahead of him. And to Selina, Jazz and Danny himself. That made all the difference.

#selina kyle #summon the cat #danny fenton #jazz fenton #the bat family

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mommahughes19-23 · 4 months ago

Text

baby boy - B.M

@ryleeee.montour : Thank you florida and the Panthers organization for hosting us for the past 3 1/2 years and the opportunity to see my best friend and the love of my life hoist his first cup! 💖🐱🐈‍⬛🏆

tagged : @montour

location : florida bby

matthew_tkachuk : gonna miss the both of ya, just means we gotta party harder this off season before you guys leave!🥳🥳🥳🥳

↪ ryleeee.montour : you act like im not ur sister and youre never going to see us again.....

flapanthers : Thank you for 3 1/2 seasons with us! Once a cup champ always a cup champ!🏆🏆

daynamastro : NOOOOOOOOOOO. NO NO NO NO NO NO!❌❌❌❌❌

gustavforsling : I cant believe Monty isn't gonna be on the bench with me next season. 😞😞😞😞

ryanlomberg : im gonna miss you and monty! Thank you both for one of the best seasons! 🫶🏻

↪ ryleeee.montour : Ryan, thank you! You and Marissa have been everything to us!!! You will kill it in Calgary! 🥰🥰🥰

↪ montour : My brother, its been a great run with you and the boys, and fuck it we are leaving as champs!😎😝

lundell_anton : this is just wrong. MONTY SHOULD STAYYY😡

carterverhaeghe : who's gonna man the grill at chuckys now?? 😭

↪ ryleeee.montour : I guess you big boy, ill buy you an apron before we leave.

sbennet_93 : thats my best friend omg no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

barkovsasha : you will always be my little brandy boo

tygagen : for the record I was always your biggest fan @ryleeee.montour

evanr17 : im prepping the funeral preparations for you and Brandon, would you like to be buried together or separate?

↪ ryleeee.montour : Evan baby, good bye.

emiliekulikova : youre my best best friend, love you both the most! Please come back and visit anytime you want!!!!!😭😞🥰

ellie_connell : GIRL NOOOOOOOO, you cannot leave me with your brother like this!!! PLEASE🙏🏻🙏🏻

samsonreinhart : Brandon, youre a sexy man - Reino

vt9191 : we shall miss you

marissalomberg : NOOOOOOOO, YOU BETTER MAKE TRIPS UP TO SEE US !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

slorentz16 : MONTY! MONTY! MONTY!

nickcousins27 : YOU BETTER REP THAT SHIRT EVEN IF WE ARENT TEAMMATES ANYMMORE !!!!!☹️💖😡

alligadjovich : NO NO NO NO NO, TAKE BRANDON NOT RYLEE!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE LEAVE RYLEE.

↪ montour : yeah... not happening she's mine.

mackie.samo : Brotherrrrr, always sad to see a teammate go, wishing you the BEST of luck in Seattle!🫶🏻🙏🏻

tiatuomola : hey Siri, play in the arms of the angel...

nikomikk : NOT MY MONTY BOY GIVE HIM BACKKKKKKKKKKKKK

tarasenko.yana : you better visit us and the boys ANY TIME YOU GET A CHANCE!!

montour : I love you so so so much my baby! Home is wherever we are together! Thank you to the guys and Panthers for everything you've done for us!💖🏆🐱

smillaalwin : I miss you alreadyyyyy

ninaacousins : NO, not nicks #1 fan! come backkkkkkk

eetuluostarinen : I would like to say personally I object to this and any future changes made to our perfect Stanley cup team🙂‍↔️😞

zozeleny : OUR TAILGATE PLANNER IS LEAVING????? WHAT THE HECKKKKKK

aaronekblad5 : montyyyy boy, once a cat always a cat, youre never going to be a true kraken

christinalrodrigues : omg the kids are so sad uncle monty and aunt rywee are leaving! I expect post cards!

↪ ryleeee.montour : girl your husband is apparently planning us a funeral please, you cant get rid of the Montours that easy. PLUS everyone forgets B and I are here till September

emmasulonen : I would like to protest this immediately.

danielaforsling : im sorry but I just cannot support this move. you belong here

↪ ryleeee.montour : Danni babes DONT YOU GUILT ME

kevinstenlund : brothers from other mothers for life

jessjewell : always will be my little wag

jgadjovich : crushed the twins won't have you two around growing up as much as they could. All the best in Seattle 🏆🫶🏻

tammymontour : My baby will be a star no matter where he goes

erinmarklee : MY BOYFRIENDS BOYFRIEND AND MY WIFE ARE LEAVING ME FOR EVER!

↪ ryleeee.montour : thats a bit dramatic but also true.

A.N: MAY I JUST SAY THIS OUT OF ALLLLLLL OF THE TRADES GOING ON BRANDON IS ONE OF THE TRADES THAT ABSOLUTLEY KILLED ME..... MONTY BABY AND LOMBERG MY SMOLL KING ARE AND ALWAYS WILL BE CATS TO ME.

jessjewell = Sam Reinhart

danielaforsling = Gustav Forsling

ninacousins = Nick Cousins

tarasenko.yana = Vladamir Tarasenko

alligadjovich = Jonah Gadjovich

marissalomberg = Ryan Lomberg

emiliekulikova = Dimitri Kulikov

daynamastro = Aaron Ekblad

tiiatuomola = Eetu Luostarinen

emmasulonen = Niko Mikkola

tygagen = Alexander Barkov

ellie_connell = Matthew Tkachuk

smillaalwin = Tobias Bjornfot

zozeleny = Sam Bennett

erinmarklee = Stevie Lorentz

TAGGED : @noahkahansorangejuice @skylershines @quinnylouhughesx43

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hearts-hunger · 2 years ago

Text

four weddings and a funeral — part two

Read on AO3 | Masterlist | Series Playlist ♫

⮡ part one

Series Summary:You and Danny haven’t spoken in years. When the two of you stumble upon a week of weddings, funerals, and the hotel rooms in between, will fate rekindle your friendship or put the old flames out altogether?

Chapter Summary: Seeing him at a funeral was strange enough. Running into him again at a wedding the next day... no, you don't believe in fate. Do you?

Pairings: Danny Wagner x Reader | Genres: friends to lovers, slow burn, fluff, mutual pining | Word Count: 4.2k | Chapter Warnings: drinking, one (1) icky coworker

A/N: Two chapters in two days? On my blog? More likely than you think, apparently. This chapter is 99% fluff, I'm not sorry. I hope you like it! ♡

Danny didn’t text you again that night, and you didn’t see a text from him when you woke up the next morning. You reminded yourself that he was busy and he’d done you the courtesy of telling you he would be, but it didn’t stop you from catastrophizing and thinking that his interest in meeting again was all some sort of elaborate joke he was playing on you. You didn’t think he would do that, but then again, what did you really know of him now?

You hadn’t said so, embarrassingly willing to change your plans at a moment's notice, but you had a busy few days ahead of you too. The day after the funeral, one of your coworkers was getting married; the next day, you’d been invited to your cousin’s destination wedding in North Carolina. If you were honest with yourself, you knew you would have skipped both weddings to be with Danny, but you decided to go ahead with your plans until you heard from him. What sort of self-respecting woman would you be if you waited around the house for a man to text you back, even if he was the prettiest man you’d ever laid eyes on?

Still, you couldn’t help yourself; you put on Anthem of the Peaceful Army as you got ready for your coworker's wedding, paying special attention to the drums in each song.

When you felt you were sufficiently dolled up in your floral green tea dress, you took one last glance in the mirror and headed out. It was a morning wedding with a brunch reception afterwards, and you figured you’d probably take your leave after congratulating the happy couple and having a mimosa or two.

At the church, you were ushered into an aisle near the back on the bride’s side. The old wooden pew creaked with every movement, and muted voices filled up the quiet of the stone building.

“Well. Fancy seeing you here, sunshine.”

You whirled around and found yourself greeted by Danny’s familiar, heart-tilting smile.

“What are you doing here?” you demanded in a whisper. You tried not to get too distracted by his half-up, half-down hairstyle that gave him a very sweet look in his smart tweed blazer.

“You want me to leave?” he teased.

“No, I...” You followed him with your gaze as he came to sit with you, feeling a blush rise to your face as you felt his warmth and became aware of just how broad he was next to you.

“You’re not stalking me, are you?” you said, only half joking.

He smiled. “Maybe you’re stalking me.” He fiddled with the wedding program. “Who gets married at ten in the morning?”

You agreed that it was a little early for your tastes, especially while you were on school break, but you were too busy figuring out how you could have coincidentally run into him twice in as many days at the weirdest possible events.

“Are you here for the bride or the groom?” you asked.

“The groom. I knew him in high school before he moved here.”

“You mean to tell me that a guy you knew in high school is getting married to one of my coworkers?” you asked.

Danny grinned. “Small world, isn’t it?”

It was crazy. It was unbelievable. It was... fate, maybe, just like he’d said yesterday.

You shook your head, clearing it of that particular fanciful thought.

He leaned back, propping his ankle on his knee, stretching his arm out behind you on the back of the pew. You pressed a surreptitious hand to your cheek, feeling a red-hot blush at his closeness, his arm bracketing you against him, his knee brushing yours. Against your better judgment, you felt a kind of schoolgirl thrill at his display.

“Shouldn’t you be sitting on the groom’s side?” you asked. The groom and his party were getting set up at the front of the church, each of them dapper to the man.

“I don’t think so,” Danny said seriously. “Somebody else might sit next to you, and then I’d have to punch his lights out, and then I’d get us both kicked out of your coworker’s wedding. You’d never live that one down.”

You laughed, covering your mouth with your hand to try and keep quiet. Danny only smiled at you.

“Are you staying for the reception?” he asked.

“I think so,” you said. “It’s supposed to be brunch, and there’s very little that could get me to pass up free brunch.”

He hummed in agreement. “Wise lady.”

He handed you the program when you held your hand out for it. “Did you bring my jacket?”

“Why would I have brought your jacket, Danny?” you asked with a smile. “I would have thought it more likely to get killed by a meteor on the way here than to see you at this wedding.”

He laughed. “Where do you come up with this stuff, sunshine?”

You liked that you’d made him laugh, perhaps a bit too much. You bit your lip and tried to tear your gaze away from his smile.

Thankfully, everyone’s attention was pulled to the back of the church when the pianist started to play. You stood, Danny steadying you with a gentlemanly hand to your arm.

“Oh, she looks beautiful,” you said in a hushed voice when you saw the bride coming down the aisle. You’d never seen your fellow teacher look so lovely and so radiant.

Danny nudged you gently. “Look at him.”

You turned to see the groom, and you couldn’t help but smile when you saw how happy and very near tears he was at seeing his bride.

“He loves her,” Danny said quietly, and his voice was warm with affection. “It’s plain as day on his face. That’s the look of his best and longest love.”

You looked up at Danny, endeared and wondering at such a plainly romantic thought from a man.

“What do you know about best and longest loves?” you asked.

He smiled over at you. “I don’t know, sunshine. What do you know about them?”

You looked away then, too drawn to him for your own good. Something in you didn’t want him to know that the idea of a best and longest love was completely foreign to you, something you’d long since given up on having.

When the bride joined the groom at the front, the pastor asked the congregation to join in singing a hymn. There was only one hymnal in your pew, and Danny stooped a little and looked over your shoulder so you could share.

Morning has broken, the first verse read, like the first morning.

“Isn’t this... a Cat Stevens song?” you asked quietly, feeling a little foolish for thinking so.

Danny chuckled, his breath warm against your skin.

“It was originally a hymn,” he said. “But yes, you’re correct. Cat Stevens did cover it on his album Teaser and the Firecat.”

You turned to meet his eyes and found he was closer than you’d thought. Your noses bumped together, and he scrunched his in a playful wince.

“Sorry,” you whispered, trying not to giggle while everybody else was singing.

He smiled. “That’s okay,” he whispered back.

Both of you looked back to the hymnal, and you were determined to focus on singing like everybody else. How hard could it be?

Danny started to sing, and you were helpless not to look back at him, drawn to his voice like a flower opening to the sun. Every note was beautiful, smooth and warm like maple syrup and twice as sweet. You felt something ache in your chest as you listened to him and watched his expression.

He didn’t take his eyes off the hymnal. “Sing with me, sunshine.”

You thought you might be able to hear your heart break if you listened close enough.

“Okay,” you said, very soft.

His mouth tipped up in a gentle smile when you started to sing, and he skillfully eased his voice up until he was singing harmony with you. For a moment, there was nobody else in the world but you two, and there was nothing else you’d rather do than sing with him.

Then, before you were ready, the song came to an end. You and Danny sat together, closer to each other than you needed to be, and you tried to keep your attention on the ceremony.

“Sunny.”

You looked over at the whispered nickname. Your breath caught in your chest at the sight of him; rosy light from the stained glass window shone all around him, shades of pink and blue and gold dancing in his curls and catching in his eyes.

He pressed a small piece of paper into your hand, one of those pew cards people filled out to get in touch with the church.

I like your dress, it read in his slightly messy handwriting. It’s very pretty.

You blushed, not quite able to meet his eyes. You mouthed a thank you.

He smiled and nudged you a little, wanting you to write him back. He handed you the golf pencil he’d taken from the back of the pew.

Thank you, you wrote back. I think you look rather dapper.

He read it and gave an amused roll of his eyes. He scrawled another message back to you.

Thank you - I didn’t mean to guilt you into complimenting me, LOL. I just wanted you to be my pen pal.

You breathed a laugh and drew a smiley face next to his note. Then, tell me a good Cat Stevens song.

He nodded sagely and took the pencil back from you.

The boy with a moon and star on his head, he wrote. That's a great one.

You drew a stick figure with a moon and star on its forehead. Danny drew another stick figure holding hands with yours, this one with the swirly hair usually indicative of a girl.

You pointed to the one he’d drawn, then to him, then to you. With his long, pretty curls, who could tell whether he’d meant it to be him or you?

He smiled. He drew big cartoony muscles on the boy with the moon and star on his head, and it made you laugh.

You didn’t know how long you’d expected the ceremony to be, but it felt no longer than a few minutes with Danny beside you scrawling notes to amuse you. He flipped the paper over and drew something with more focus than a doodle needed, the tip of his tongue held between his teeth; you barely heard the vows being exchanged at the front of the church, so intent were you on simply looking at the boy next to you.

He showed you his drawing when he was done: it was the stick figure couple in three scenes, one with a coffin in the background, one with champagne flutes in hand, one with both of them shrugging and a giant question mark looming in the background.

You drew the girl giving a jacket back to the boy. Danny smiled and drew the boy with a thumbs up.

When the bride and groom were pronounced man and wife, you and Danny stood as they came down the aisle hand in hand. You saw Danny slip the paper into his inside jacket pocket, close to his heart, and you tried not to overthink it very much.

“Shall we get some brunch?” he asked, offering you his arm as the rest of the guests started to file out.

You felt a little bashful as you looped your arm with his. “We shall, my good sir.”

The reception was a short walk away in the old, beautifully preserved hall adjacent to the church. Danny found a table for the two of you and excused himself to get mimosas for both of you, clinking his glass against yours when he returned.

“To the happy couple,” he said. “May they live in a beautiful stick house and have lots of stick figure children.”

You laughed, feeling as bubbly as the champagne in your drink.

You and Danny talked as the rest of the guests milled around during the cocktail hour, and you joined in the toast when the bride and groom came in from taking pictures. You both went straight for the waffle bar when brunch started, like-minded in the swirls of whipped cream on both your plates.

“We’re going for blueberries, of course,” he said, reaching across you to get to the fruit.

“Blueberries?” you protested. You reached across his arm. “No way. Raspberries are the obvious answer here.”

“Just try some with your waffle,” he said, spooning some blueberries onto your plate. “Trust me.”

“Fine,” you said, giving him a scoop of raspberries. “Trust me, too.”

“You’re a handful, you know that?” he teased.

You hummed in agreement. “A handful of raspberries, maybe.”

He grinned, and you decided that if given the chance, you’d probably, unfortunately, enjoy spending the rest of your life making him smile like that.

Back at your table, you both grudgingly agreed that the other’s choice in fruit wasn’t so bad. Every so often, one of Danny’s old friends or one of your coworkers would come over and say hello; you told each other the details of your relationships with each person as they left your table.

“That’s Mrs. Kline,” you said, leaning close to Danny to keep from being overheard as the second grade teacher walked off. “She’s a basket case.”

Danny almost choked on his coffee. He recovered with slightly strained laughter.

“You don’t pull your punches, do you, sunny?”

You smirked. “I’m right, though. Work one day with her and you’ll agree with me.”

You were about to tell him one of your more entertaining stories about Mrs. Kline when you caught sight of someone coming towards you with eager, undivided focus.

“Oh, shit,” you whispered. “Uh, Danny? I need you to be my boyfriend.”

“Okay,” he agreed easily. You would have blushed if you hadn’t been dreading the arrival of your awful coworker so much, trying to think of how to make the interaction as quick and painless as possible.

“Scott!” you said, unable to help the way you pitched your voice up to sound more feminine and cheerful. Danny glanced at you with a bemused frown, but he caught on when Scott came up to your table.

“I’m glad to see you’re here,” Scott said, all but ignoring Danny in favor of looking at you with an avid interest. “I’ve been wanting to spend some time together outside of school.”

Danny put his arm over the back of your chair. “You two work together, is that right?” he asked.

Scott seemed surprised that Danny had spoken.

“That’s right,” he said. “We work closely together.”

You cringed inwardly. “Scott’s the technical aide in the office,” you explained.

“I keep everything running smoothly around there,” Scott said importantly.

Danny gave him a cool smile. “I’m sure you do.”

Scott gave Danny a look of poorly concealed disdain.

“And who are you?” he asked. “You’re not a new hire, are you?”

“Oh, no,” Danny assured him. You almost wished he’d tell Scott he was a world-famous, fabulously wealthy rockstar, but you knew he was too humble even in a situation like this to do so.

“Well, I’d love to talk to her for a while,” Scott said, obviously dismissing Danny and speaking about you like you had no choice in the matter. “Work things, you know.”

Danny gave your shoulder a gentle squeeze, assuring you he wasn’t going to leave. You hadn’t worried he would leave you at the mercy of your arrogant coworker, but the reassurance was a welcome comfort all the same.

“You’re on spring break, aren’t you?” Danny asked, pointed but just polite enough to leave Scott fuming. “Gotta be nice to have a week or so where you don't have to worry about work stuff, right?”

“I suppose,” he ground out.

Danny smiled. “Great.” He looked to you. “You wanted to get some pictures under the flower arch, right, honey?”

You managed a feeble smile and tried to play along. “I did. Thank you for remembering.”

Danny stood and offered you a hand up.

“Good talking to you, Scott,” he said, effectively cutting off any further conversation and letting you go ahead of him to make your escape outside. You glanced over your shoulder to see Scott looking stunned that anyone had dared to interrupt the time he felt he was owed with you, but you were grounded with the touch of Danny’s hand at the small of your back.

“Come on, sunshine,” he said.

He led you outside to where a beautiful flower arch had been set up for picture-taking. You breathed a sigh of relief to be free of Scott and turned to thank Danny for his help.

“I’m sorry if I handled that stupidly,” Danny said, before you’d even had the chance to start speaking. The cool, confident mask he’d worn when talking to Scott was now gentled by concern and remorse.

“I didn’t mean to take over and talk for you,” he said. “I was just trying to help, but maybe I made it worse.”

You softened and came closer to him.

“I was glad you talked to him for me,” you admitted. “I wouldn’t have known what to say. I always end up being more polite and agreeable than I ought to be with him, even when he gets pushy.”

The breeze pushed a lock of hair across your face; he reached and gently tucked it behind your ear.

“You shouldn’t let him or anybody else treat you like that,” he said. “But I understand that it might be intimidating to stand up to him. I’m sorry he’s disrespectful to you.”

You gave him a weak smile. “Thank you. And thank you for your help. You’re a very good actor.”

He smiled. “The best acting comes from the heart, you know.”

You felt your cheeks warm. “So I’ve heard.”

Pulling your phone out of your bag, you turned towards the flower arch. “We might as well get some pictures while we’re out here, don’t you think?”

“Sure, sunny.”

You gestured for him to stand in front of it and pulled up your camera.

Danny’s brow raised. “Me?”

You smiled. “Yes, you. Surely you’re familiar with getting your picture taken, mister big-time.”

He gave you a dry smile and went to stand in front of the arch like you directed. His expression relaxed into a handsome smile as he stood with the ease of someone who was, in fact, very comfortable in front of a camera.

“You like doing photoshoots, don’t you?” you teased. It was a great picture, Danny all dressed up in front of the gorgeous arch of peach roses and silver dollar eucalyptus. “I feel like some rock stars do and some don’t, and you’re one of the ones who do.”

He shrugged, a telling smile tipping the corner of his mouth. “Maybe.”

You couldn’t exactly blame him; if you were as photogenic as Danny, you’d probably like getting your picture taken too.

“Do another pose,” you said. “Let’s get a good one for the secret instagram you post all your dorky pictures on.”

He didn’t have the chance to deliver a witty comeback before he buried his face against the crook of his arm and sneezed once, twice, three times.

“‘Scuse me,” he said when he’d recovered, his voice a little hoarse.

“Bless you,” you said. “Times three. That’s not a very good pose, though.”

He chuckled. “No, probably not.” He stepped out from under the arch and came to your side again.

“You okay?” you asked, noticing his eyes were a little glassy.

He hummed in agreement. “The roses,” he said. “No big deal.”

“Danny!” you scolded. “You should have said something! I wouldn’t have tortured you by making you take pictures under a gigantic bunch of roses if I’d known you were deathly allergic to them.”

He smiled, already starting to look better now that he was a few paces away from the arch.

“You’re awfully dramatic, sunshine. You know that, right?”

You waved him off. “Fine,” you said airily. “Keel over dead if you want.”

He took your phone from you. “Go. Your turn.”

You stood in front of the arch and fluffed out the bell of your dress. “So, you’re saying I shouldn’t bring you roses as a thank you for letting me borrow your jacket?”

“You mean for letting you steal my jacket?” he teased. “No, you shouldn’t get me roses. Not unless you’ve got some Benadryl hidden in that dress of yours.”

You laughed, and he took a picture right as you did. “Keep laughing like that, sunny.”

“Keep amusing me, Daniel,” you said tartly.

He grinned as he took another picture. “Actually, I take it back. I like this sassy look. You’re like a scary flower goddess or something.”

You couldn’t help but laugh again. “That’s the most interesting compliment I think I’ve ever gotten, Danny.”

“My pleasure,” he said. He took a few last pictures. “Here. Come see if you like them.”

You stood on your tiptoes and hung on his arm to see. “Oh, those are wonderful. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said sweetly. “Though I admit, it’s not very hard to take a good picture when what you’re photographing is so lovely.”

Your smile was wry. “I bet you say that to all the ladies.”

“Only for you,” he said. He traced an x over his heart. “Cross my heart, sunshine.”

You enjoyed the breezy spring day for a little while longer before you went back inside, getting to your seats again just in time to see the bride and groom share a donut from their tiered donut “cake”. You got one for you and Danny to share too, and you spent way too long fantasizing about kissing the sugar off his fingertips.

“So, sunshine.” Danny cradled his coffee cup in one big hand. “I have a proposition for you.”

You waggled your brows. “Oh, is that so?”

He laughed. “Not that kind of proposition,” he corrected. “A proposition about our coffee date.”

Despite the fun you’d had with him today, you still felt the tiniest sting of embarrassment at the reminder that you’d asked him out and not gotten a wholehearted “yes”.

“Did we decide we were having a coffee date?” you asked, trying for nonchalance.

His smile was gentle and a little apologetic.

“I know I didn’t give you the answer you wanted,” he said. “It wasn’t the answer I wanted, either.”

He leaned his elbows on the table. “This wedding was one of the things I was trying to cram in this week,” he said. “And I would have invited you, but I was worried you might have thought it was weird to have a date at a wedding. Luckily, you were here anyway, and we did have a date at a wedding, and you still want to go out with me again. Maybe.”

You smiled. “Maybe.”

He grinned back. “So, if that’s the case, I’d like to propose another wedding date this week.”

No way, you thought. “Is it tomorrow?” There was no way you could both unknowingly be invited to the same wedding again.

He shook his head. “It’s the day after,” he said, and you were a little relieved to know the two of you hadn’t stumbled into a glitch in the matrix.

“Why?” he asked. “Are you only free tomorrow?”

You laughed a little. “No, I actually have another wedding too. I’m flying out tonight.”

You met his eyes, an insane idea occurring to you. He watched your face with a growing smile.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I have kind of a crazy idea,” you said.

He nodded. “Hit me.”

“Well...” You toyed with the handle of your coffee cup. You wanted to invite him, but airfare wouldn’t be cheap the day of.

“It might be expensive,” you admitted.

“That’s not a problem,” he said. He pinked a little. “I mean, I’m not trying to be crass or arrogant, but... you don’t have to be worried about that.”

You found his bashfulness endearing, even if the thought of how much money he made had your head spinning a little.

“Well, in that case,” you said, trying to play it cool and not let on how much you wanted him to come, “I’d like to invite you to be my plus one for this wedding tomorrow. If... if you’d like to come.”

He beamed.

“I’d love to,” he said sincerely. “If you’ll come to the other wedding the day after as my plus one.”

“My flight back from the first wedding isn’t until the afternoon,” you warned.

He considered that. “The second wedding starts at 6:30,” he said. “And it’s about half an hour from here. When does your flight land?”

“Three,” you said.

He shrugged. “Up to you. I’m game if you are.”

You couldn’t believe you were even considering this. Yesterday morning, you'd been worried that most of your spring break would be spent being home alone; now, here you were, about to agree to a whirlwind couple of days of weddings, late-night partying, and Danny.

You gave him a helpless smile. “Okay.”

He grinned. “Yeah? You want to do this?”

Oh, but with his contagious excitement and that beaming smile, it was far too easy to say yes to him.

“Yeah,” you agreed. “Let’s do this.”

Read part three!

danny taglist: @tearsofbri @busybeingtrash @myway-late @gotavansleep @gretavanbri

fic taglist: @mydarlingdanny @streamsofstardust

gvf taglist: @malany-gvf @spark-my-nature

@gvfrry @ohhey1293 @the-chaotic-cow @mountain-in-springtime @xserenax-13 @stardustjtk @brooke-gvf @weightofdreams-gvf @jakeydoesit @gretasmokerising @hayley1623 @doodle417 @finestoflines @brokenbellz @bowievanfleet @s0livagant @strugglingtodoshit @s-u-t @kay-jordan @gretavanfleas @jakeyboiiiiiii @gretavansteph @gretavanbitches @myownparadise96 @luverleaver @weightofdreamz @greatervanfleet @maedesculpaeusoubi @jakekiszkasbestie @pineapple-photographer @baguettejuliette @alexxavicry @levi-wants-ur-bones @carlybubs @cowboysamkiszka @dannyandthekiszkas @jordierama @slutforsteve @starshine-wagner

sorry if tumblr didn’t tag you — it’s stupid sometimes. but i’m real thankful for you, sweet peaches! and if you’re a new bestie and would like to be added to my taglist, check out the form right here!

#danny wagner x reader #danny wagner fluff #danny wagner fanfiction #greta van fleet fluff #gvf fanfiction #gvf fluff #danny wagner #greta van fleet #maddie writes stuff!#four weddings and a funeral fic

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bluejaysandblackbats · 17 days ago

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One in the Chamber

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, Titans, Justice League

Summary: AU where Jason dies under different circumstances, changing Bruce's life forever.

Chapters: 3/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Roy Harper, Barbara Gordon, Grant Emerson, Eddie Bloomberg, Danny Chase

Relationship(s): TBA

Additional Tags: Jason Todd Dies, Bruce Wayne Hallucinates, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson Have a Complicated Relationship, Bruce Wayne's POV

Chapter Three: Van

While picking out Jason’s suit for his funeral, Dick sat on the floor staring at the corner of the room behind the door. “Jason usually disappeared around this time of day,” I whispered. Dick didn’t answer. “I could never figure out where he—. I hate unsolved mysteries.” I set his favorite green suit on his bed, deciding against the black suit I imagined him in. He’d only look dead in black. I wanted to be able to imagine him as alive in his casket. I wanted to pretend he was asleep in his favorite suit, bored to tears at an event. I found all sorts of things in the pockets of the other suits before I decided on that one. I think he’d become obsessed with remembering and recording things. I found recording devices and cameras and flash drives in the pockets of all his suits, but he’d explained that to me time and time again. The incident destroyed his short-term memory, and he was obsessed with documenting everything. It was all heavily encrypted, though.

Dick leaned forward on all fours, crawling toward the space behind the door. “He hit the wall right here,” Dick mumbled. I shut my eyes, trying to force the memory out of my head. It was too late by that time. I’d almost managed to forget that horrible incident.

It was Valentine’s Day, and I held a gala in the ballroom that afternoon. Jason didn’t seem like himself. He slumped over the table, sipping water and waving off anyone who tried to speak to him. Even on his worst days, he was friendly and sociable with strangers. I wanted to talk to him, but I was distracted by a woman suggesting we put money into adding another wing to Gotham General. When I had a chance to look up, Jason was gone. I glanced at Dick, and he nodded.

He called me a few minutes later, but he wasn’t the one talking. Jason sounded different. “I have to s—. I have to talk to Van… Van. Van… I need to gggg—. Hmph, ” Jason half-shouted on the line. I rushed upstairs to Jason’s room.

He’d vomited in the stairwell, and Dick stood in the room, his hands up in a surrender position. “Jason, I don’t know who Van is… But I want to help you find them,” Dick whispered, “I promise. I’ll do whatever I can to—.” Jason wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

I stepped inside without Jason noticing, and I shut the door to keep him inside. I was worried that he’d run. “No… I need—. I nnnn—. You don’t understand. I need to see Van,” Jason replied as he held a letter opener toward Dick, but I stepped too close and Jason turned the letter opener on himself. He faltered and staggered to his right. “Please.” Jason whimpered as he tripped over his feet and hit his head against the wall.

When we got to the hospital, the doctor told us he suffered from something called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. A blood clot in the brain. He was lucky. It could’ve been much worse. It could’ve killed him. The fall could’ve killed him. He’d cheated death twice. Twice.

“Bruce,” Dick whispered, pulling me back to the present. His eyes stayed trained on the little bit of blood on the baseboard. “Did you ever find out who Van was?”

“I don’t know… Jason never did tell me who she—.” I saw something glitter in his eyes, and I wanted to say no. My first thought was to slow down and rest in the confusion and despair, but Jason appeared to me again.

“It’s no worse than what you plan on doing… And how long has it been since you worked with Dick on something? What harm could it do?” Jason asked. “He’s staring at the baseboards for Christ’s sake.”

I opened my mouth to say no, and Jason crossed his arms. “Bruce, you have to do something. You can’t both be like this. Give me a break. Focus on someone you can help. It might be fun. You and the O-G Boy Wonder. Like the good old days,” Jason suggested. It wasn’t malicious. He sounded desperate, feigning excitement for me.

“Do you wanna help me find out?” I asked. Dick turned to me, and he nodded. “Okay. Yeah, let’s get cleaned up, and we’ll talk about it on the way to the—. We’ll talk about it while we do this.”

Jason lingered in the background. “I made you smile… Everyone knows that, but I couldn’t make you smile anymore. Not the way I used to. I knew that the second I came home… And you weren’t always cold with Dick. What do you love about him? I won’t be jealous. You’ve always had two sons. I didn’t have to be the only one to mean something to you. Or do you think that little of me?” Jason questioned. “What did you love about Dick?”

I grabbed Dick’s wrist on the way out the door. “You added color to my life, Dick. You always have,” I confessed, “And I want you to stay here if you can spare the—.”

Dick hugged me. I had to get used to that. I hugged him back, but it had been so long since I’d hugged him this often. “I know that took a lot for you to say, but I appreciate you for saying it,” Dick replied.

He left me quickly afterward, and I hung back for a moment, staring at the little bit of blood on the baseboard. I was never this open with Dick. I was so young when we first started out. I had to do everything I could to pretend like I knew how to be a normal adult. It felt like we were both children for a while, and I thought if I could keep my insecurities and fears away from him I could be the parent he needed. I thought if I closed off the imperfect parts of myself I’d be the perfect father. Still, I did everything wrong, and I never had the chance to fix it. Perhaps this apparition or hallucination of Jason wanted to give me a second chance to get things right with Dick.

I wanted to try, but I was afraid. Dick wasn’t like Jason. He wasn’t guaranteed to return. Jason always came home. He always called. He never forsook me. Dick was much more free. I loved him, but he wasn’t just my son. He was a bird that perched on my window when he pleased. He belonged to everyone and no one at the same time. Maybe that was something I had to learn to accept.

Watching Dick rush out of the room, ready to investigate… I would’ve smiled if my heart hadn’t threatened to pull me underground at any moment. I thought I’d die if I tried to smile without him. It didn’t feel fair, but I had to focus on something else. I had to keep moving. If I didn’t, I’d kill him. I’d take the life of the man who killed my son.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready? You’ve got lots of work to do… You’ve got to dig your way through my life to give Dick some closure… We know it won’t be that easy for you. And you have to be mentally prepared. You didn’t know me as well as you think you did. If you dig into my private life, you might find yourself disillusioned. Are you willing to do that to yourself for Dick’s sake?” Jason asked. “Are you willing to kill your final image of me to save your living son?”

“What? I—. I—.” It was an impossible question. A question I made up in my mind, spoken to me by my son. How could I make an honest decision at either of their expense? Jason nodded, looking at me with his big blue eyes. Always dark. So dark. So weary. “I don’t have a choice.”

“So, stop feeling guilty like you had one, then,” Jason whispered as he lay with his forehead against the spot where he originally fell. When I blinked, he was gone.

I showered and got dressed before taking Jason’s suit down to the car. Dick met me there, holding Jason’s cell in his hand. “We should stop by Barbara’s later on. Maybe she could get into his phone and see his contacts,” Dick whispered.

“I want you to say something,” I mumbled. Dick looked at me. “I want you to say a few words at his funeral. I’m going to give the eulogy, but I need you to say something. As his brother, I just want you to say a few words about how you—. I just want you to tell a story about him or talk about—. I just want to hear how you felt from your heart. I won’t ask you for anything else.”

Dick smiled at me. His eyes were bright and warm, full of life. “I can do that,” Dick whispered, “Have you—? Have you decided on whether or not you’re doing something small and intimate or—?”

“Jason talked to me about it a while back. I didn’t want to hear him, but I listened. He wants your friends there, and he—. He wants Eddie and Danny… And he’d like everyone to wear a zinnia. It doesn’t matter which color,” I answered. I had to detach myself from the emotional parts to get things done. I had to pretend it wasn’t tearing me apart inside to bury him. How could I bury him? How could I do anything other than cry? It wasn’t normal. It wasn’t fair.

Dick clutched his knee as he swallowed hard, and he looked out the window. “Do you think Van is his therapist?” Dick questioned.

“Van’s probably short for Vanessa… But we won’t limit it to just that. We’ll start with therapists, and then I think we should talk to Eddie and Danny,” I suggested. Besides, as much as it hurt, I needed to know who she was for my own peace of mind. He didn’t ask for me that night when he was agitated and confused. In his paranoia and pain-induced breakdown, he asked for Van. Whoever she was, she meant something to him. I just needed to meet her. I needed to look into her eyes and see the person that made Jason feel safe. It wouldn’t make things alright for me, but it would be a comfort to Dick.

#fic #batfam #one in the chamber fic #Jason Todd #Bruce Wayne #Dick Grayson #Roy Harper #Barbara Gordon #Grant Emerson #Eddie Bloomberg #Danny Chase #Jason Todd Dies #Bruce Wayne Hallucinates #Angst #Hurt/Comfort #Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson Have a Complicated Relationship #Bruce Wayne's POV

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starry-bi-sky · 6 months ago

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Childhood Friends Danny and Jason: Ch2 Remastered

-------------------------------------------------------------- late at night when the stars don't look quite right -------------------------------------------------------------- there's something burning in the empty room inside of my head fill it up with doubt let it in, let it spread

Jason nearly falls flat on his face when he sees the photo of Danny. He’s in a warehouse, finishing up with a gang selling drugs on his turf. The guys he’s got tied up are cursing up a storm at him, throwing every insult under the sun his way that he’s all heard before. His eyes drag over to them, and silently Jason adjusts his jacket to reveal the guns strapped to his thighs, his hand hovering over the handle of one.

They all fall silent, and Jason moves his hand away. His phone in his other hand, texting Oracle to alert the police. Jason hates that he has to; these guys will be out of their cells in a matter of months, and nothing will change.

But he’ll play nice.

And then his phone buzzes, and when Jason looks down he sees a banner from Tim. A message he planned on ignoring, but his eyes skim over the text on instinct, and suddenly the air is stolen right from his lungs, and his thumb is hitting the screen before he can really think it through.

[Hey Jason, your best friend just appeared in Gotham for the first time since your funeral.]

Impossible. He thinks, yanking his phone close to his nose, as if that will make it any less real or fake. Danny hasn’t been in Gotham in years, Jason checked. But then the image loads, and then he’s staring Danny Fenton in the face. And then he’s greedily tracing every minute, new detail he can find. The gang left half-forgotten in his mind.

Danny’s got an undercut, it looks self-done. It looks good. He looks taller. He’s got piercings in his ears, gold and jewels lining up the sides like a magpie’s find. He’s got an eyebrow piercing.

Something old, something new; Danny is smiling and it still looks just as Jason remembers it. Crooked, lopsided, warm like the sun and belying the mischief underneath it. He remembers to breathe in that moment, and the sound comes in sharp. Danny’s eyes are as blue as they’ve ever been.

(“I don’ get why books talk so much about peoples’ eyes.” Danny complains to him one day when he’s visiting the manor, his legs thrown over Jason’s back like an anchor tied to its ship. They’re sunk into the mattress of Jason’s bed, sunlight peering through the windows. “They’re just eyes! I don’t need t’know that they’re ‘as blue as the sky,’ or- or the ocean, or whatever blue thing in the world there is.”)

(Jason’s smile comes to him like breathing, and he twists around to lay on his back. His arms trap Danny’s legs to his stomach. “Pretty sure it’s jus’ for emphasis on how much they’re noticing the person’s face.”)

(Danny’s face scrunches up, and Jason’s smile splits into a grin, heart swelling three sizes on instinct. “I think it’s stupid, s’just some fuckin’ eyes.”)

(“Eyes are windows to the soul, Dan.” Jason retorts, barking out a laugh when Danny gives him a deadpan look. His hands creep for a pillow, one of the soft downy ones wrapped in silk, and he throws it at Danny’s face. “And besides, speak for yourself! Your eyes are the bluest thing I’ve ever seen.”)

But most importantly, Danny looks tired.

Hiding is something that comes free with the purchase of living in Gotham, and Danny’s good at hiding things, he always has, but Jason knows him like the palm of his hands. He looks tired, and Jason wants to reach through the screen and ask him why. There’s an age-worn look there, catching in the flint of his iris, where his smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

Jason gets the ETA from Oracle, then leaves as fast as his legs can carry him and his grappling hook can zip through the air. He needs to see Danny with his own eyes, to confirm himself that Danny was here, and that it wasn’t his mind playing tricks on him. Or that it was Tim playing a cruel joke on him — and if it was, he’ll have to rethink his whole killing thing.

Gotham’s air is warm and suffocating, but her winds bite at him as he soars through it.

It’s second nature for him to find the west end balcony, and Jason finds himself with his feet locked in place on the building beside it. Grappling hook in hand, and a balloon in his lungs, all swelled up and squishing the air out of him.

It’s just his luck —with whatever he has left— that Danny is there as well. In the same spot he’s always been, with a cigarette caught between his teeth. He’s stuck halfway, head tilting, eyes closed, with the shadows of Gotham on his back and the light of the gala at his front.

For a moment, for a fleeting, terrifying moment, Jason thinks Danny’s going to tilt himself back off the side.The thought has him blindly tilting himself forward with his heart in his throat. Hands reaching for his grappling hook, swinging down to drop down beside him.

Danny is staring at him before his feet even hit the ground, face nigh unreadable beyond the small, wary furrow of his brows. Danny’s never looked at him like that before, it feels like stumbling on the last step of the stairs.

Then, like fire to black powder something flashes and ignites in Danny’s eyes. Mouth curling, eyes burning, for a moment, just a moment, they’re kids again, getting into fights and turning soft hands punch-rough. Danny looks at Jason like he’s going to tear him to shreds.

Jason’s mouth runs dry like a desert in the summer, but his blood chills in fear cold in his veins. Why are you looking at me like that? His mouth opens, but his tongue is leaden in his throat, and no sound comes out. It’s me. Don’t you recognize me?

Danny yanks the cigarette from his mouth like it burns him, his free hand gripping onto the railing like it’s the tether to a leash, nails threatening to turn into talons. “Red Hood.” He says, voice low and timbre, smoke dripping from his lips like dragon’s breath.

Oh.

That’s right. Jason suffocates on his heart as it sinks and soars with relief. Danny doesn’t know it’s him. In his tunnel vision, he forgot that simple, easy fact. It’s not because it’s Jason that he’s angry. It still doesn’t explain, though, why Danny looks at him like he ought to sink his teeth into his throat and rip him open.

He’s half-distracted by that, and then distracted by the need to drink in the sight of Danny again. A photo is one thing; the real person is another, and with his fear subsiding, Jason rakes his eyes over his best friend and swallows him whole. His eyes are bluer in person, his memory and Tim’s photo doesn’t do them justice, and Danny inherited his dad’s height. He’s gotten so tall. They both have. They both used to be such scrawny kids.

So distracted is he, that he forgets to respond to Danny, to say anything. Not until Danny tries to dismiss himself, and Jason kickstarts into gear. White hot panic fills in his lungs, burning him up like magma. No, no, no, he’s moving without thinking, always when he’s with him, and he nearly latches onto Danny. Nearly wraps his hands around his arm to hold him in place. Don’t leave. You’re finally here; don’t go.

Danny stays, but he stares at Jason’s reaching hands like he’ll bite them off, stares at Jason with his eyes burning, watchful. Jason’s excuse is lousy and he knows it, but he wants, wants, wants to stay and figure out every new thing about Danny.

And he feels like he’s losing something. Time bleeds together beside him and Jason feels trapped behind a glass wall of his own making. Something old, something new. The distance of which Danny keeps him at is foreign to him. He hates it.

Tell me everything, he thinks, because he can’t find the words to say it. He hands Danny a cigarette instead, and hopes that it’s enough. Tell me everything and more, tell me what I’ve missed.

In the end, he still feels like he’s losing something, but he also feels like he’s missing something. Answers that are water, and that water is slipping through his fingers. Danny leaves him with more questions than answers; something that’s never happened before, and Jason watches him walk back inside with a spinning mind.

What do you mean you spoke to my ghost?

I told you that the Joker killed me?

Have I told you anything else? Have I already told you everything I’ve wanted to?

What happened while I was gone?

Is that why you’re scarred?

Because Jason isn’t blind, he’s never been. Not in Crime Alley, not as Robin, not now. And not when it comes to his best friend. He sees the silver lightning scars ripped jagged up Danny’s arm, sees that they disappear under his sleeves. He saw, faded as they were, invisible until the light hit right, as they spread like tree roots up his throat and across the side of his face.

Scars that Danny’s never had before. Scars he didn’t have when Jason was alive the first time. Scars he didn’t have the last time Jason saw him. Or — what he remembers to be the last time he saw him, because apparently he saw him as a ghost. He sees the curve of his ears and how they point more than a human’s should, he saw the glint of his canines, sharper than they should be; sharper than he remembers. Metaphorical fangs turned real.

Jason should’ve asked where he got them from, should’ve taken Danny by the front of his collar and stopped him from leaving. Who did this to you? He should have said, a fire burning in his chest and wrapping around his throat, pulling his voice into a snarl. He should have said, his guns weighing heavy on his sides; Who did it. I’ll take care of it. Just tell me who. Tell me everything.

Instead, something crawled into his mouth and died, and his tongue is glued to the roof of it. And he doesn’t say anything, because saying something means telling his best friend who he is. It means having to take off his helmet and mask. It means telling his best friend that he’s alive, that he has been. That despite being two halves of a whole, Jason spent five years letting him think he was dead.

He can’t tell him, not when he’s in too deep already. Not when Jason is so unrecognizable to who he used to be that if he told him, Danny would hate him.

And Danny is still grieving him. So plain as day mourning, still angry over his death. Angry enough that he wants the Joker dead, angry enough that he wants to hang the noose and kick the chair out himself.

Jason wishes he told him that he looks tired.

Instead he’s standing alone on the balcony, trying to get his thoughts in order as music blares muffled through the gold-light door. He’s left staring at the crushed cigarette laying on the ground, Gotham’s ambience at his back and a poem hanging in the air that he has no words for. It’s already there. Like stars on a painted ceiling.

And there are so many questions he needs answers for.

Like his ghost. His ghost.

What did Danny mean by his ghost?

Does he really want to kill the Joker himself? Was it just the grief talking? Jason knows — or thinks he knows — Danny like the palm of his hands. He’s been through everything with him, he’s seen him say something and then immediately follow through with it. He knows when he’s being serious, he knows when he’s not.

Danny wants to kill the Joker. Stealing is one thing; murder is another. And Danny wore a look on his face that looked like he meant it when he told Red Hood that he wanted to kill Joker. But saying and doing are two different things. Jason doesn’t know what to think.

Something old, something new. Danny is still the same, and yet he’s changed so much.

What did Danny mean by his ghost?

Jason doesn’t ever remember being a ghost. But Danny knows the Joker killed him. He knows how he killed him. Danny’s parents are ghost scientists, and Jason remembers the letter he got one day telling him about the portal they were building in the basement.

He remembers thinking about telling Bruce — this was something beyond the glowing green samples stored in the fridge, giving life to the food inside. This was beyond the weapons, the inventions they made that only saw the light of day when the Drs. Fenton brought them up to showcase them.

And he didn’t, because if he hadn’t told Bruce about everything before, he wasn’t going to start. He admits, it was part fear that Bruce might intervene and prevent him from seeing Danny that he didn’t.

Neither of them had expected it to work — but it sounds like it did.

(Jason has avoided Amity Park for a reason. He knows he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from going there if he didn’t. But now, he just might have to look into it. He’s missed too much.)

And Danny wants to kill the Joker, and Jason isn’t sure if he means it or not. Because the look on his face when he said it is oh-so familiar. It’s the one he wore when he needed Jason to distract the clerk while he snuck behind the counter to steal cigarettes from the shelves. It was the one he wore when an older kid cornered them near one of Gotham’s many alleys, threatening them over something Jason can no longer remember clearly.

(He remembers puffing himself up, rearing for a fight. Danny, with glass in his teeth and blood between his fingers, lands a square kick to the spot between the kid’s legs. His knees hit the ground, and Danny’s hand found Jason’s to drag them both out of there.)

It’s the look of a boy, Gotham-touched grime in his soul, soft fingers turned calloused and scarred, about to do something he’s not going to regret. It’s the look of a boy that has set his mind to something and is going to do it. Some might call it the eyes of a cornered animal, but Danny’s never been cornered, not when Jason’s been with him.

(But Jason hasn’t been with him. Not for the last five years. So can he really say it wasn’t the eyes of a cornered animal?...Yes.)

Jason gets off the balcony before he can be seen, and he shouldn’t, but he loiters. He should get back to patrol, the night is never over. Not in Gotham. But he stays, hidden atop the roof nearby.

—---------------

An hour later, Danny walks out the doors with a man Jason recognizes as Vlad Masters — another new mystery for him to uncover. The paparazzi have long since left. Gotham’s nights are dangerous and everyone knows that, not even the vultures would stick around for a scoop, not unless there was something worth seeing.

A black limousine pulls up beside them, and Masters walks around the back to reach the other side. He’s bristled like an angry cat. “I thought I told you not to embarrass me.” He hisses, eyes snake-narrowed.

Danny, for the most part, just looks unbothered, his hands shoved into his pockets without a care. But he narrows his eyes right back, an expression made of stone. “You have a pretty low bar for what you think is embarrassing.”

Masters just scowls, “I don’t understand you, I would have thought you’d spend the whole time mingling with the Waynes, badger.” He says. Danny ruffles at the nickname, lips curling into a snarl. Jason finds himself unconsciously mimicking him. “And yet, I find you sequestered away in the corner like a little fly on the wall. Were they not up to your standards?”

‘Sequestered’ Danny mouths mockingly, eyes burning like he was going to claw his hand down Masters’ face. Instead, his hands dig into his arms. “I did talk to them, that’s more than I can say for you. You couldn’t even keep Mister Wayne’s attention for more than a minute.”

Jason frowns, and Masters scoffs, puffing up like an owl with its ego bruised. “Regardless, I am not the one losing here. Or did you forget what you promised me?”

Jason’s frown deepens. Danny doesn’t promise anything. At least, he doesn’t promise with just anyone. He deals; he repays; he indebts. But he does not promise. Promises were power, with only one side benefiting. It was trust to promise someone something. Danny doesn’t trust easily, neither of them do.

Something that hasn’t changed. Danny rears up angrily, mouth twisting, teeth baring, snarling out a fury sound. A wire cut live and sparking. He grabs the door handle and yanks it open harshly. “I didn’t promise you anything, Vlad.” He hisses, Jason strains to hear him. “I offered and you agreed. Do not fucking twist my words.”

There it is. Jason should’ve known better, guilt string-plucking in his chest for his doubt. Danny doesn’t promise things; not to people like this Masters guy, at least.

Danny grabs something from the car and throws himself back. “Don’t wait up.” He snarls, a wild thing just as Jason is, and yanks on a red hoodie over his arms. It zips up, and hangs off him, smothering the vest and button-up beneath. “I’ll meet you back at the hotel.”

Then he slams the door shut, shoulders hunched and with a scowl carved into his face. They’re both made of broken glass; independence — disobedience — and rebellion cut into them from every broken beer bottle shattered on the streets.

(Jason makes a mental note to look into Vlad Masters — Danny’s never told him about him, so they must have met after he died. The man leaves a rot in Jason’s mouth, and there is a greed festering inside him that Jason knows has left him in decay.)

(He doesn’t like how close Masters acts with him, doesn’t like the affiliations between them both. Masters reminds him of Luthor and every other rich socialite with their hands in something dirty. He hates even more that Danny is making deals with him. What has he missed?)

Jason follows after Danny, partially concerned that Danny is wandering Gotham alone. Regardless of what he can do, Gotham is still dangerous. It is bone-rotting, lung-choking and unforgiving. Danny knows this, Jason knows he does. He’s partially curious to know just where he’s going, and whether or not it was important enough to visit in the dead of Gotham’s bloody nights.

Danny surprises him — slipping between alleyways, sticking close to the shadows. Someone taught him how to be stealthy — or, at least, refined what stealth Danny already had. More new things that Jason needs to learn. More things he will never get to know.

Who taught you that?

Just what, exactly, have I missed?

I want to know everything.

Five years is a long, long time to be away from someone. If a caterpillar can become a butterfly in two weeks, then what can five years do to a human? It’s a long time to change, to become something else entirely. Jason’s become someone new, and he thinks, so has Danny.

Dread pools in his ribs, into his lungs, and weighs heavy on his heartstrings. The urge to drop down in front of Danny, to grab him by the arms and ask him to tell him everything, returns with a vengeance. This is why he avoided Amity Park.

Will I still know you like I used to? Jason trails behind Danny from the rooftops, like a ghost. Do you still love the stars? Do you still take tea over coffee? Will you tell me, if I ask?

And if he doesn’t? If he doesn’t ask, like he isn’t right now?

If he doesn’t ask about his ghost — something that still boggles his mind, because it means the Fentons were right and that portal might have worked, and Danny found Jason’s ghost? If he doesn’t ask what his ghost told him, if he told him anything else? Did his ghost tell you that he was Robin, like he always wanted to?

He will just have to keep his questions to himself. He will just have to tuck them into a folder in his mind, and file it under all of his other regrets.

He feels like he’s Robin again; keeping secrets and hiding things from his best friend because it simply wasn’t safe enough for him to know. It’s maddening.

Why has nothing changed since he died? Why has nothing changed, now that he was alive?

—---------------

Danny leads him to the Gotham Cemetery. Jason freezes outside the gates. Oh, he thinks.

Oh.

He thinks back to what he thought earlier.

What could possibly be so important that he’d go to it in the dead of Gotham’s night? The cemetery. Of course. Something old, something new, something bittersweet sets over his tongue that he swallows down.

Jason forces himself to follow.

“Hey.” Danny says as Jason settles behind a tree, voice gentle in foreign familiarity. He’s standing at Jason’s grave, his hands shoved into his pockets. The light is low but it doesn’t stop Jason from seeing the starlight-soft look in Danny’s eyes and his half-tilted smile, the smile that Jason is more familiar with than the wary scowls. “Sorry I’m late.”

Guiltish misery wraps its hands around Jason’s lungs. Pin-prickingly, stabbing at his heartstrings, Jason’s mouth moves on its own; “It’s okay.” but no sound comes out. Danny doesn’t hear him, and neither does Jason himself.

Danny sits down before Jason’s tombstone, groaning low and tiredly as his legs fold beneath him. He’s older than Jason, and immediately his mind switches over to all the jokes he used to lob him with.

(“Need help crossing the street, old man?” Jason, eight years old, asks with a grin so wide and painful across his face; giggles in his chest. He hooks his elbow with Danny, and keeps him tight against his ribs. “You’ll need all the help you can get in your ancient age.”)

(“I’m not that old.” Danny says, glaring at him before they scurry across the street with the light still green. Traffic laws are a joke in Crime Alley, it’s like a game of frogger as the sound of honking horns and screeching tires follows their heels. “We’re six months apart!”)

(“Six months and four days, actually.” Jason corrects when they reach the other side, snickering as they race down the sidewalk. Drivers lean out their windows and curse them out as they get away, Danny dodges an empty soda can thrown at his head. “Can’t forget the four days.”)

“I would’ve come sooner.” Danny tells him, pulling him from child-fuzzy memories and back into reality. Jason peers around the tree to see him running a hand through his hair, head ducked down. His palm splaying against his neck. “Sorry I didn’t. I got scared.”

Scared? Jason blinks, he leans against the bark and bumps his helmet against the wood. The thunk is loud in his ears, but Danny makes no indication that he heard. Of what?

But Danny doesn’t say what, he drops his hand and glances off to the side. He sits like a man who isn’t quite sure what to do, his mouth pressed into a thin line, his eyes scrunched. Grief carves into the lines of his face like a sculptor carving into marble.

“I was gonna get you flowers on my way here.” Danny continues. His voice cracks, begins to wobble, and Jason sees Danny’s jaw tighten and his eyes close for a moment. When they open, there’s a wobbling sheen on his bottom lashes; tears threatening to bleed.

Danny flicks at the tears with the nail of his thumb, it does nothing. It just makes his breath hitch. “Um, but they- uh, didn’t have any open on the way here.” He says, giving Jason’s grave a tremulous smile. “Sorry, I’ll make sure to pick some up on my next visit.”

Next visit. Jason’s heart squeezes uncomfortably, before he reels at the words. Danny’s going to be visiting again, after five years of being out of Gotham? Next visit, why are you visiting again? Was this the reason he came to Bruce’s little charity ball with Vlad Masters? So that he could come visit Jason’s grave?

It couldn’t have been. There are other ways to get to Gotham that don’t require making deals with shady rich men. Danny’s smart, smarter than Danny himself gives him credit for. He’s brilliant. Why did he need Masters’ help to get him to Gotham?

There had to be another reason why.

God, there were so many questions that Jason wants the answers to. He’ll find them, one way or another.

But, he focuses in again. Danny is only here for the night. One night, and he doesn’t know when he’ll be back again. Jason wants to commit every detail of his best friend to memory before he leaves.

“You like zinnias, right?” Danny pets the grass at his side absently, and yes. Yes, Jason does, and Danny remembers. Even five years from his death, he remembers. Of course he does.

“Yeah, you do. You used to pick the petals up off the sidewalk from those uh, fuck — the vendors. The Victorian flower language too, I think. Got a book on that somewhere. I’ll get you red an’ yellow ones.”

Grief traps in Jason’s chest, and he barely tamps down the bitter laugh forcing itself out of the chokehold of his throat. You fucking sap, you big fuckin’ sap.

Red zinnias. Steadfast beating of the heart. The irony. It’s got double the meaning now, now that he’s alive. But Danny doesn’t know that, so the heart that’s beating could only belong to him. But even with Jason alive, he’s hiding. Between the both of them, the only one here with a beating heart is Danny.

(Between the two of them, the only heart here is one that's made between the two of them.)

Yellow zinnias. Daily remembrance. Of course. That doesn’t need any explanation, the writing is right there on the wall. Raised, so that even the blind may read it. It doesn’t need to be said what that means, Jason can hear it on the wind, in the grass, in the trees. His heart crumpling like a rag being twisted out to drain the dirty water soaking in it.

I miss you.

I’m right here. Is what Jason wants to say. It’s what he should say. He should step out from behind the tree; should speak up and say something. To announce his presence. To do something to let Danny know that he’s speaking to someone who is more than a ghost (who feels like one anyways) and a corpse in the ground.

Here I am. Here I am. HERE I AM.

His feet are gravebound to the dirt, his tongue cut out of his mouth and shoved into a jar. He feels, in some way, like he’s clawing out of his own grave again, but the dirt keeps falling and his arms are burning. His lungs are filled with more soil than air. He’s not getting out.

Shame burns cigarette smoke in the back of his throat, shriveling up what little remains of his tar-filled heart. It should be his lungs, and it’s got that too. His feet are grave-bound to the floor.

Danny’s begun to cry, much to Jason’s horror. It should be more incentive for Jason to step out. He doesn’t. His best friend sniffles and scrubs at his face, soaking tears into his hoodie’s sleeve. “I’m sorry for not visitin’ sooner,” he says, voice spiraling with grief, “I don’t have an excuse. I should’ve come sooner. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Don’t be, Jason thinks. Finds himself surprised by the truth of it. He should be upset. Five years and not a single visit. He abandoned him like everyone else. Except he didn’t.

He’s not upset, he can’t be. Not when Danny’s finally here. Not when he’s still crying over him five years after the fact. Not when he’s going to put flowers on his grave that means he thinks of him daily. Not when Danny knows who killed him and wants him dead.

Jason isn’t sure of what to think of that still. He wants Bruce to kill the Joker. More importantly he wants change in Gotham. He wants something to be done. He doesn’t know if Danny is being honest or not — and honesty doesn’t mean anything if someone doesn’t act on it.

Danny continues talking to his grave, his voice full with sorrow. He talks about the gala, about running into Bruce and talking to him again.

Jason listens in dutiful silence, soaking in Danny’s voice like a sponge. This is what he was expecting on the balcony; this easy conversation. Except it’s not a conversation, Danny is talking and not expecting a response. Jason feels like a stranger imposing on his own grave.He should slink away, let Danny have his peace on his own.

He refuses to move. He can’t bring himself to.

If he closes his eyes, he can pretend that he's sitting in front of him. He can pretend he’s thirteen again, with him and Danny crawled under the bed at the manor and trading all the stories they couldn’t fit in their letters. Danny tells him about another fight he had with Dash Baxter, eyes rolling but smug teeth flashing in a stifled smile. Then he tells him about something Sam and Tucker did; about one of Sam’s protests she led against the biology lab, and Tucker coding his PDA to play Doom. Easy, stupid middle schooler shit.

They’d sneak out to the balcony for their vices, Danny clutching a carton of cheap cigarettes in hand. Alfred always finds the ones Jason hides, so they usually share whenever Danny comes to visit. Jason tells him about Gotham Academy, about the people there and the classes. Prep school is another beast entirely, he likes seeing Danny’s reactions to the politics that goes on inside.

Or, further back, they’re eight again, climbing a rickety fire escape to the rooftop and hanging their feet over the edge to find Batman and Robin. Danny was in the lead before he left for Amity Park. Jason remembers it clearly; they’d spent all night outside on that rooftop.

Jason doesn’t close his eyes.

Jazz decided to change career goals; psychology’s become more of a hobby for her, and she’s going to go to med school instead. She’s thinking of doing an internship in Metropolis. Danny says he’s glad that it’s not Gotham, and when he told Jazz this, she laughed at him and told him that she was going to save that for later.

She’s Gotham-touched too, she knows it’s blood just as much as Danny does. She wants to help the people there, but knows what Gotham’s like. She knows what she can and cannot do. Determination doesn’t equate skill, it just means the willingness to learn.

Sam is staying in Amity Park and doing online classes for college, but Tucker got a full ride scholarship in software engineering. Danny’s thick with pride as he tells Jason’s headstone. Jason’s happy for him — they weren’t close, not like he and Danny were, but they were still friends.

Jason soaks it all in; tell him more. He wants to know everything.

"I don't know what I want to do." Danny says when he’s finally done talking about everyone else, his chin laying on his knees. “S’not like I can be an astronaut anymore, but there’s not anything I can see myself doing.”

The corner of his mouth coils, sardonic. “I’ve had five years to come up with somethin’ new, and I’ve come up with nothin’ at all.” He huffs. It’s a rough, bitter sound. Gotham has been steadily seeping back into his voice since he arrived in the graveyard, and now it comes out thick, like it never left.

Danny’s face falls slack, like a puppet losing its strings, and he sinks into himself. “I guess I…” He exhales slow. “I’ve just been distracted.” A faraway glaze eclipses his eyes, and before they close, tears begin to bleed onto his eyelids. Again, grief mars the lines of his skin, settling into the curve of his mouth and threading between his brows like second nature.

Fuck, it’d be so easy for Jason to just step out. Move. His best friend is grieving. He could save him the pain of it and tell him now. Move, move, move.

He doesn’t move.

For a while, there’s nothing but silence, just Jason hiding in his shame; a rat on the street would be bolder than him. Danny’s eyes don’t open. Eventually, his head tilts and slumps into his knees, Jason almost thinks, somehow, that he’s fallen asleep — but Danny’s hand threads into the hair on the back of his head, his finger beginning to tap an invisible beat into his skull.

It’s the perfect opportunity for him to slip away. Danny’s distracted; lost in his thoughts. He won’t notice if Jason slinks off now. He could go and hide away on a roof nearby, ensuring that Danny gets his rightful privacy without leaving him to the teeth of the streets.

Jason still doesn’t move.

Danny begins to hum. It’s a low, breathy sound, and it shakes unevenly. There’s no discernible melody, but a breeze picks it up and travels it through the air anyway, rooting Jason to his spot. His throat swells, and his back sinks into the bark behind him.

For a full minute, maybe two, Danny just hums. It’s a simple tune, but it fills the graveyard with the sound. When it goes up, he sharpens, when he goes down again, it flats, and sometimes it wobbles.

When he lifts his head, when he finally opens his eyes, he’s still humming. Soon it dies down, and the next time Danny exhales, it comes out tumultuous and slow. His hand slips heavy from his head and drops into the grass.

“Where’d you go, Jay?” Danny mutters, and despite his voice coming flat, he still sounds so tired. Danny’s eyes flick up, lifting off the grass to burn into the headstone. He’s not even looking at him, and yet Jason still freezes up, he still feels pinned under the weight of his stare. “I know you’re still out there, somewhere. I know it.”

Jason breathes in shakily, a sting deep in the back of his throat. He gives no answer; guilt is an animal with claws, and it burrows deep into Jason’s heart to make itself a home between the tendons. He’s right here.

Silence falls over them again, and this time it’s only the sound of the city around them that bleeds into the air. Danny stares at Jason’s grave, staring like he’s expecting an answer. He doesn’t get one.

Danny sighs out low, and stands. His knees tremble slightly, and he rubs his sleeve into his eyes, catching the stray tears falling from his lashes. Like breaking a spell, Jason jolts from the fog of sorrow hanging in the air.

“I’ll see you later, an’ I’ll make sure to bring you those flowers you like.” He tells him, and miraculously, a shadow of a smile flits over Danny’s mouth. “Y’better be here when I get back, alright? I’ll kick y’fucking ass if you’re not.”

Jason bites back a huff, his mouth upturning in a wobble. I will, he thinks, and watches Danny trail out of the graveyard with his hands in his pockets. He waits until he’s disappeared behind the gate before following.

Guilt is a thing with claws, and Jason leaves the cemetery with it eating his tongue. But he makes sure Danny gets back to his hotel safe before he slinks back to Crime Alley; he might not be a ghost anymore, but he can still trail behind Danny like he is.

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ayy i finally got chapter 2 of CFAU/TMWS edited/redone! It had to get rewritten because a lot of stuff became obsolete in the wake of the new chapter 1. and also it just kinda. fucking sucked imo lmao

(you can also read it here on my ao3!)

#dpxdc #dp x dc #danny fenton is not the ghost king #dp x dc crossover #cw swearing #dpxdc crossover #childhood friends au #cfau #dead on main #dp x dc fanfic #dpxdc fanfic #dpdc #banshee danny fenton #got to let jason be Slightly More Unhinged about Danny in this version which i had fun with. i love writing unhealthy attachments it just #adds a little spice ✨ im like an evil scientist marveling over their unethical creation. someone call me olivia octavia #fun fact that i learned recently: jazz also wanted to be also be an accountant or a brain surgeon! so she's getting a little break from #being the Therapist Friend. :]#jason @ danny: whose hurt you. tell me i'll kill them. talk to me tell me everything. don't leave my side please.#danny would be pr similar if he knew red hood was jason :P. uhh. after the initial shock wore off.

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